Imines epoxidation, enantioselective

The current research areas with ruthenium chemistry include the effective asymmetric hydrogenation of other substrates such as imines and epoxides, the synthesis of more chemoselective and enantioselective catalysts, COz hydrogenation and utilization, new methods for recovering and recycling homogeneous catalysts, new solvent systems, catalysis in two or three phases, and the replace-... 

Snapper and Hoveyda reported a catalytic enantioselective Strecker reaction of aldimines using peptide-based chiral titanium complex [Eq. (13.11)]. Rapid and combinatorial tuning of the catalyst structure is possible in their approach. Based on kinetic studies, bifunctional transition state model 24 was proposed, in which titanium acts as a Lewis acid to activate an imine and an amide carbonyl oxygen acts as a Bronsted base to deprotonate HCN. Related catalyst is also effective in an enantioselective epoxide opening by cyanide "... 

As the follow up to our studies in connection to the development of Ti-cat-alyzed cyanide additions to meso epoxides [4], we developed the corresponding catalytic enantioselective additions to imines [5]. A representative example is shown in Scheme 1 chiral non-racemic products maybe readily converted to the derived cx-amino acids (not available through catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation methods). In these studies, we further developed and utilized the positional optimization approach effected by examination of parallel libraries of amino acid-based chiral ligands (e.g., 1 and 2). Thus, the facile modularity of these ligands and their ease of synthesis were further exploited towards the development of a new catalytic enantioselective method that delivers various ar-... 

To explain the enantioselectivity obtained with semi-stabilized ylides (e.g., benzyl-substituted ylides), the same factors as for the epoxidation reactions discussed earlier should be considered (see Section 10.2.1.10). The enantioselectivity is controlled in the initial, non-reversible, betaine formation step. As before, controlling which lone pair reacts with the metallocarbene and which conformer of the ylide forms are the first two requirements. The transition state for antibetaine formation arises via a head-on or cisoid approach and, as in epoxidation, face selectivity is well controlled. The syn-betaine is predicted to be formed via a head-to-tail or transoid approach in which Coulombic interactions play no part. Enantioselectivity in cis-aziridine formation was more varied. Formation of the minor enantiomer in both cases is attributed to a lack of complete control of the conformation of the ylide rather than to poor facial control for imine approach. For stabilized ylides (e.g., ester-stabilized ylides), the enantioselectivity is controlled in the ring-closure step and moderate enantioselectivities have been achieved thus far. Due to differences in the stereocontrolling step for different types of ylides, it is likely that different sulfides will need to be designed to achieve high stereocontrol for the different types of ylides. 

Whilst the chiral manganese complexes can epoxidize alkenes with high enantioselectivity (> 90% e.e.), they are not particularly stable. This instability is probably due to the easily oxidizable imine and phenoxide ligands on the complex. Attempts are currently being made to immobilize Schiff-bases in order to increase their stability in a similar manner to the metalloporphyrins discussed earlier. 

The —N=C— bond in imines, especially Schiff bases formed from aromatic aldehydes and amines, can be epoxidized by peracids to form oxaziridines [N(0)C].326 Unlike epoxides, oxaziridines will oxygen-transfer.327 Chiral oxaziridines have been used to carry out enantioselective epoxidations,328 although these compounds are often prepared by non-peroxygen routes.329 Oxaziridines can also be rearranged to oximes or nitrones (Figure 3.85).330... 

As with the epoxides, there are two broad categories of synthetic approach to the aziridine moiety (a) addition of a nitrogen center onto an existing alkene or (b) addition of a carbon center onto an imine. The reader is directed to an excellent review of both approaches within the context of enantioselective catalytic aziridination <03CR2905>. Illustrative additional offerings from the past year s literature are also included below. 

Analogous to epoxides, aziridines can be prepared by the methylenation of imines. In this case, ethyl diazoacetate is the most common source of carbenes. For example, the imine derived from p-chlorobenzaldehyde 148 is converted to the c/j-aziridinyl ester 149 upon treatment with ethyl diazoacetate in the presence of lithium perchlorate <03TL5275>. These conditions have also been applied to a reaction medium of the ionic liquid l-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (bmimPFe) with excellent results <03TL2409>. An interesting enantioselective twist to this protocol has been reported, in which a diazoacetate derived from (TJ)-pantolactone 150 is used. This system was applied to the aziridination of trifluoromethyl-substituted aldimines, which were prepared in situ from the corresponding aminals under the catalysis of boron trifluoride etherate <03TL4011>. 

Reactions of carbonyl compounds and imines. The salt 4 obtained from reaction of cinchonine with m-xylylene dibromide is shown to promote enantioselective transfer of the trifluoromethyl group from Me3SiCF3 to aryl ketones Also obtained from quinidine the salt containing a trifluorobenzyl group (5) promotes the condensation of chloromethyl phenyl sulfones with ArCFlO to give benzenesulfonyl epoxides ... 

Starting with (5)-1 -phenylethyl amine, a chiral sulfonyloxaziridine has been prepared by A,T-sul-fonylation and subsequent formation of an imine with an aromatic aldehyde (best example pentafluorobenzaldehyde). Oxidation leads to a 1 1 mixture of diastereomeric oxaziridines 77 which can be separated by HPLC76. The compounds behave similarly to the chiral camphor-derived sulfonyloxaziridines, as they are able to epoxidize alkenes not containing special functional groups with some enantioselectivity (Section D.4.5.2.1.). Another attractive starting material is cheap commercial saccharin. Reaction with alkyl- or aryllithium compounds leads to addition... 

So far aziridination reactions have, in some ways, had more in common with cyclopropanation reactions (see Section 9.1) than with epoxidation reactions. Nevertheless, the aziridination reaction is more synthetically akin to epoxidation, and on that basis, is included in the present chapter. Aziridines maybe prepared by nitrene transfer to alkenes or by carbene transfer to imines and both approaches have been performed in an enantioselective sense using enantiomerically pure metal-based catalysts. 

The sulfoniutn ylide-mediated epoxidation procedure developed by Aggarwal (see Section 4.8) has been adapted to the enantioselective synthesis of aziridines from imines bearing electron withdrawing groups on nitrogen. The... 

Some other very important events in the historic development of asymmetric organocatalysis appeared between 1980 and the late 1990s, such as the development of the enantioselective alkylation of enolates using cinchona-alkaloid-based quaternary ammonium salts under phase-transfer conditions or the use of chiral Bronsted acids by Inoue or Jacobsen for the asymmetric hydro-cyanation of aldehydes and imines respectively. These initial reports acted as the launching point for a very rich chemistry that was extensively developed in the following years, such as the enantioselective catalysis by H-bonding activation or the asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis. The same would apply to the development of enantioselective versions of the Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction,to the use of polyamino acids for the epoxidation of enones, also known as the Julia epoxidation or to the chemistry by Denmark in the phosphor-amide-catalyzed aldol reaction. ... 

From a historical perspective, the Monsanto process for the preparation of (l.)-DOPA in 1974 laid the foundation stone for industrial enantioselective catalysis. Since then it has been joined by a number of other asymmetric methods, such as enantioselective Sharpless epoxidation (glycidol (ARCO) and disparlure (Baker)), and cyclopropanation (cilastatin (Merck, Sumitomo) and pyre-throids (Sumitomo)). Nevertheless, besides the enantioselective hydrogenation of an imine for the production of (S)-metolachlor(a herbicide from Syngenta), the Takasago process for the production of (-)-menthol remains since 1984 as the largest worldwide industrial application of homogeneous asymmetric catalysis. [124]... 

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