Iminium ions reaction with chiral

In recent years, the in situ generation of chiral iminium ions from a chiral secondary amine and the Michael acceptor, mostly a,P-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones, is used as a powerful strategy for a range of asymmetric cycloaddition reactions [24]. However, the chiral a,P-unsaturated iminium ions, provided by reversible condensation from a,P-unsaturated ketones with secondary amine, could not always work well in this asymmetric approach, probably because of poor generation of the corresponding iminium cations [25],... 

Recent advances have been made in the enantioselective cycloaddition of nitrones and alkenes. By using a chiral auxiliary attached to the nitrone or the alkene, moderate to good levels of asymmetric induction have been reported. A number of metal complexes with chiral ligands catalyse the cycloaddition reaction of nitrones, particularly for dipolarophiles containing two carbonyl groups for biden-tate co-ordination to the metal. An alternative approach, using a,p-unsaturated aldehydes and chiral secondary amines has been successful (3.138). The endo product is the major stereoisomer in these cycloaddition reactions and the catalysis is thought to proceed via the reactive intermediate iminium ion 210, with addition of the nitrone to the face of the alkene opposite the benzyl substituent. 

Recently, Jacobsen developed a new strategy for inducing enantioselectivity in reactions of protio-iminium ions, wherein a chiral urea 95 interacts with the highly reactive intermediate through a network of noncovalent interactions. This interaction leads to an attenuation of the reactivity of the iminium ion and allows high enantioselectivity in the Povarov reaction, giving lactam-substituted tetrahydroquinoline derivatives 98 in excellent enantioselectivities and diastereoselectivities. ... 

We identified an efficient DDQ-mediated CDC reaction between IV-phenyl THIQ and nitromethane that provides access to a number of rare chiral vicinal diamines [via 27d, Scheme 11.22). ° In the course of this work we observed NMR spectroscopic evidence for the long-supposed iminium ion and noted the precipitation of a solid in the reaction mixture which when isolated and then dissolved led to the reaction product. Subsequent focus on this solid using elemental analysis led to its suggested identity being 26c, where an iminium ion paired with the anion of the DDQ reaction product (the dihydroquinone) and this salt precipitated with another molecule of the protonated dihydroquinone (DDQHa). The solid was successfully... 

In all the reactions described so far a chiral Lewis acid has been employed to promote the Diels-Alder reaction, but recently a completely different methodology for the asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction has been published. MacMillan and coworkers reported that the chiral secondary amine 40 catalyzes the Diels-Alder reaction between a,/ -unsaturated aldehydes and a variety of dienes [59]. The reaction mechanism is shown in Scheme 1.73. An a,/ -unsaturated aldehyde reacts with the chiral amine 40 to give an iminium ion that is sufficiently activated to engage a diene reaction partner. Diels-Alder reaction leads to a new iminium ion, which upon hydrolysis af-... 

Clerici and Porta reported that phenyl, acetyl and methyl radicals add to the Ca atom of the iminium ion, PhN+Me=CHMe, formed in situ by the titanium-catalyzed condensation of /V-methylanilinc with acetaldehyde to give PhNMeCHMePh, PhNMeCHMeAc, and PhNMeCHMe2 in 80% overall yield.83 Recently, Miyabe and co-workers studied the addition of various alkyl radicals to imine derivatives. Alkyl radicals generated from alkyl iodide and triethylborane were added to imine derivatives such as oxime ethers, hydrazones, and nitrones in an aqueous medium.84 The reaction also proceeds on solid support.85 A-sulfonylimines are also effective under such reaction conditions.86 Indium is also effective as the mediator (Eq. 11.49).87 A tandem radical addition-cyclization reaction of oxime ether and hydrazone was also developed (Eq. 11.50).88 Li and co-workers reported the synthesis of a-amino acid derivatives and amines via the addition of simple alkyl halides to imines and enamides mediated by zinc in water (Eq. 11.51).89 The zinc-mediated radical reaction of the hydrazone bearing a chiral camphorsultam provided the corresponding alkylated products with good diastereoselectivities that can be converted into enantiomerically pure a-amino acids (Eq. 11.52).90... 

The stereoselective addition of the titanium enolate of A-acetyl-4-phenyl-l,3-thiazolidine-2-thione 153 to the cyclic A-acyl iminium ion 154 is utilized in the synthesis of (-)-stemoamide, a tricyclic alkaloid <06JOC3287>. The iminium ion addition product 155 undergoes magnesium bromide-catalyzed awtz-aldol reaction with cinnamaldehyde 156 to give adduct 157, which possesses the required stereochemistry of all chiral centers for the synthesis of (-)-stemoamide. 

An enantioselective organocatalytic 1,3-DC reaction, based on the activation of a,fi-unsaturated aldehydes through the reversible formation of iminium ions with chiral imidazolidinones 100, was described. Good levels of asymmetric induction and diastereocontrol were achieved (up to 94% ee and 94 6 dr) <00JA9874>. 

Another representative example is the preparation of (3A,5/ ,7a/ )-5-(benzotriazol-l-yl)-3-phenyl[2,l-A oxazolopyr-rolidine 238 that was synthesized from benzotriazole, (A)-phenylglycinol, and 2,5-dimethoxy-tetrahydrofuran at room temperature. This reaction entailed the formation of two heterocyclic rings and two new chiral centers in one step (Equation 33) by double Robinson-Schopf condensation of the dialdehyde with the amino group and benzotriazole intercepting the initially formed iminium ion (Equation 36) <1999JOC1979>. 

CuBr/QUINAP System The CuBr/QUlNAP system was initially used in the enan-tioselective synthesis of proparyl amines via the reaction of alkynes and enamines (Scheme 5.5). It was rationalized that the enamines reacted with protons in terminal alkynes in the presence of copper catalyst to form zwitterionic intermediates in which both the generated iminiums and alkyne anions coordinate to the copper metal center. After an intermolecular transfer of the alkyne moiety to the iminium ion, the desired products were released and the catalyst was regenerated. The combination of CuBr as catalyst and the chiral ligand QUEMAP is crucial for the good reactivities and enantioselectivities seen in the reaction. Another potential... 

A further example of the use of a chiral anion in conjunction with a chiral amine was recently reported by Melchiorre and co-workers who described the asymmetric alkylation of indoles with a,P-unsaturated ketones (Scheme 65) [212]. The quinine derived amine salt of phenyl glycine (159) (10-20 mol%) provided the best platform with which to perform these reactions. Addition of a series of indole derivatives to a range of a,P-unsaturated ketones provided access to the adducts with excellent efficiency (56-99% yield 70-96% ee). The substrates adopted within these reactions is particularly noteworthy. For example, use of aryl ketones (R = Ph), significantly widens the scope of substrates accessible to iminium ion activation. Expansion of the scope of nucleophiles to thiols [213] and oximes [214] with similar high levels of selectivity suggests further discoveries will be made. 

In 2004, List reported that several ammonium salts including dibenzylammonium trifluoroacetate catalyzed the chemoselective 1,4 reduction of a, 5-unsaturated aldehydes with Hantszch esters as hydride sources [40]. It is assumed that substrate activation via iminium ion formation results in selective 1,4 addition of hydride. Subsequently, List [41] and MacMillan [42] reported asymmetric versions of this reaction promoted by chiral imidazoUdinone salts. In this context, several reports of this metal-free reductive process catalyzed by chiral phosphoric acids have appeared in the recent literature. 

As indicated from computational studies, the catalyst-activated iminium ion MM3-2 was expected to form with only the (E)-conformation to avoid nonbonding interactions between the substrate double bond and the gem-dimethyl substituents on the catalyst framework. In addition, the benzyl group of the imidazolidinone moiety should effectively shield the iminium-ion Si-face, leaving the Re-face exposed for enantioselective bond formation. The efficiency of chiral amine 1 in iminium catalysis was demonstrated by its successful application in several transformations such as enantioselective Diels-Alder reactions [6], nitrone additions [12], and Friedel-Crafts alkylations of pyrrole nucleophiles [13]. However, diminished reactivity was observed when indole and furan heteroaromatics where used for similar conjugate additions, causing the MacMillan group to embark upon studies to identify a more reactive and versatile amine catalyst. This led ultimately to the discovery of the second-generation imidazolidinone catalyst 3 (Fig. 3.1, bottom) [14],... 

In line with the mechanistic rationale of LUMO-lowering iminium activation, MacMillan hypothesized that intermediate 2, generated from the secondary amine 1 and an a,/f-un saturated aldehyde, could be activated towards cydoaddi-tion with an appropriate diene (Scheme 3.1). The Diels-Alder reaction would form iminium ion cydoadduct 5 that, in the presence of water, would hydrolyze to yield the enantioenriched product 6 and regenerate the chiral imidazolidinone catalyst 1. 

From a mechanistic point of view, the first step is the formation of the iminium ion intermediate by reaction of the a,/i-unsaturated aldehyde with the chiral... 

A similar approach to the synthesis of tetracyclic indole alkaloid derivatives has been described [182], and the use of reactive chiral iminium ions allows the realisation of stereoselective aza Diels-Alder reactions even in aqueous solution [183,184]. Nevertheless it should be noted that reactions of electron-rich dienes with imines e. g. derived from amino acids do not necessarily proceed via a Diels-Alder mechanism. They may as well undergo a domino-Mannich-Michael sequence which also efficiently leads to useful nitrogen heterocycles [185-188]. 

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