Iminium epoxidation

Calculations [46] and studies of intramolecular oxaziridinium epoxidations [47] suggest that, like their dioxirane counterparts, these epoxidation processes proceed via spiro-transition states. However, the iminium epoxidations are generally more substrate-specific than those using dioxiranes, and models to explain the observed trends in stereocontrol have proved more difficult to construct. One complication is the possibility of formation of diastereomeric oxaziridinium salts from most of the iminium catalysts. Houk has rationalized computationally the observed enantioselectivity with Aggarwal s catalyst 16 [46]. The results of a recent study by Breslow suggest that hydrophobic interactions are important in these processes [48], and aromatic-aromatic interactions between catalyst and substrate may also play a role. 

Hsung and co-workers described the first epoxidation of 1-amidoallenes leading to highly reactive intermediate 292 (Scheme 8.76) [159]. Formation of bicyclic products 291 occurs via iminium enolate 293, which was trapped by cyclopentadiene 290 (X = CH2) or furan 290 (X = 0). [4+3] Cycloaddition of the intermediate 293furnished 291 in good yield as a mixture of mdo-diastereoisomers (-75 25). The best dia-stereoselectivity was found when the reaction was performed in the presence of 2 equiv. of zinc chloride (>96 4). 

The elfectiveness of imidazolidinone of type 11 was confirmed by successful application to a broad range of chemical transformations, including cycloadditions, conjugate additions, Friedel-Crafts alkylations, Mukaiyama-Michael additions, hydrogenations, cyclopropanations, and epoxidations. A summary of these enantio-selective iminium catalyzed processes is provided by reaction subclass. 

Miscellaneous Iminium Catalyzed Transformations The enantioselective construction of three-membered hetero- or carbocyclic ring systems is an important objective for practitioners of chemical synthesis in academic and industrial settings. To date, important advances have been made in the iminium activation realm, which enable asymmetric entry to a-formyl cyclopropanes and epoxides. In terms of cyclopropane synthesis, a new class of iminium catalyst has been introduced, providing the enantioselective stepwise [2 + 1] union of sulfonium ylides and ot,p-unsaturated aldehydes.As shown in Scheme 11.6a, the zwitterionic hydro-indoline-derived catalyst (19) enables both iminium geometry control and directed electrostatic activation of sulfonium ylides in proximity to the incipient iminium reaction partner. This combination of geometric and stereoelectronic effects has been proposed as being essential for enantio- and diastereocontrol in forming two of the three cyclopropyl bonds. 

The catalytic asymmetric epoxidation of a,p-unsaturated aldehydes has also been an important challenge in iminium catalysis and for chemical synthesis in general. More recently, Jprgensen and coworkers have developed an asymmetric organocatalytic approach to ot, (3-epoxy aldehydes using pyrrolidine catalyst 20 and H2O2 as the stoichiometric oxidant. The reaction appears to be extremely general and will likely receive wide attention from the chemical synthesis community (Scheme 11.6b). 

Chiral Ketone and Iminium Catalysts for Olefin Epoxidation... 

Abstract Organo-catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation has received much attention in the past 30 years and significant progress has been made for various types of olefins. This review will cover the advancement made in the field of chiral ketone and chiral iminium salt-catalyzed epoxidations. 

Keywords Asymmetric epoxidation Chiral iminium salt Chiral ketone... 

Asymmetric epoxidation of olefins is an effective approach for the synthesis of enan-tiomerically enriched epoxides. A variety of efficient methods have been developed [1, 2], including Sharpless epoxidation of allylic alcohols [3, 4], metal-catalyzed epoxidation of unfunctionalized olefins [5-10], and nucleophilic epoxidation of electron-deficient olefins [11-14], Dioxiranes and oxazirdinium salts have been proven to be effective oxidation reagents [15-21], Chiral dioxiranes [22-28] and oxaziridinium salts [19] generated in situ with Oxone from ketones and iminium salts, respectively, have been extensively investigated in numerous laboratories and have been shown to be useful toward the asymmetric epoxidation of alkenes. In these epoxidation reactions, only a catalytic amount of ketone or iminium salt is required since they are regenerated upon epoxidation of alkenes (Scheme 1). 

Scheme 1 Ketone/iminium salt-catalyzed epoxidations...

Table 7 Asymmetric epoxidation with iminium salts 71, 74, 76-82 ...

In 1998, Page and coworkers reported a series of dihydroisoquinoline-related iminium salts which can be readily synthesized in three steps from a chiral amine (Scheme 14) [140-143], Among the catalysts tested for asymmetric epoxidation, iminium salts 74 were found to be efficient catalysts (Fig. 24, Table 7, entries 2, 4-6, 17-19). Iminium salts 74a can epoxidize 4-phenyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene in up to 63% ee (Table 7, entry 17). 

In 1996, Aggarwal and coworkers synthesized binaphthyl-based iminium salt 76 via oxidation and methylation from binaphthylamine (Scheme 15) [147], Catalyst loading of 5 mol% is sufficient to catalyze the epoxidation of a number of olefins in good yield. Up to 71% ee can be obtained for 1-phenylcyclohexene oxide using this catalytic system (Table 7, entry 8). 

---