Ketones Corey—Itsuno oxazaborolidine catalyst

The organocatalytic enantioselective reduction of C=C, C=0, and C=N double bonds is a relatively young area for which many new and exciting developments can be expected in the near future. Hantzsch esters are useful organic hydrides, and a recent review has summarized the results obtained to date in organocataly-sis [27]. The case of silicon hydrides is convenient for imine or ketone reductions, as a chiral base can act as an organic catalyst. The asymmetric reductions of ketones catalyzed by oxazaborolidines and pioneered by Itsuno [28] and Corey [29] could not be included in this chapter. 

Prolinol or diphenylprolinol were found by Corey et al. [87] and Itsuno et al. [88] to catalyze the enantioselective diborane reduction of many ketones. Corey et al. developed this new route greatly, often called CBS reduction (from the names of the authors of Ref. [87]). An oxazaborolidine which is either formed in situ or can be preformed, is the actual catalyst. A mechanistic picture has been proposed [87]. 

E. J. Corey, C. J. Helal, Angew. Chem. 1998, 110, 2092 Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 1998, 37, 1986 (Reduction of Carbonyl Compounds with Chiral Oxazaborolidine Catalysts A New Paradigm for Enantioselective Catalysis and a Powerful New Synthetic Method.), S. Itsuno, in Organic Reactions , Ed. L. A. Paquette, John Wiley Sons, New York, 1998, Vol. 52, pp. 395-576 (Enantioselective Reduction of Ketones). 

CBS (Corey, Bakshi, and Shtbata) Catalyst Itsuno [67] paved the way for the discovery of oxazaborolidines as chiral catalysts for the borane-mediated enantioselective reduction of a wide variety of achiral ketones, the so-called CBS reduction. Scheme 2.139 summarizes some of these results and the proposed transition state [68], These data show that the CBS reduction process results in exceUent enanti-oselectivities and leads to a product whose absolute configuration can be predicted from the relative effective steric bulk of the two carbonyl appendages. It is noteworthy that the oxazaborolidine catalyst behaves like an enzyme in the sense that it binds with both ketone and borane and brings... 

The pioneering studies by Itsuno [1] and Corey [2] on the development of the asymmetric hydroboration of ketones using oxazaborolidines have made it possible to easily obtain chiral secondary alcohols with excellent optical purity [3]. Scheme 1 shows examples of Corey s (Corey-Bakshi-Shibata) CBS reduction. When oxazaborolidines 1 were used as catalysts (usually 0.01-0.1 equiv), a wide variety of ketones were reduced by borane reagents with consistently high enan-tioselectivity [2]. The sense of enantioselection was predictable. Many important biologically active compounds and functional materials have been synthesized using this versatile reaction [2-4]. 

Borane is one of the most common agents for reducing C=0 and C=N bonds and its applications for the enantioselective reduction of ketones and imines have been extensively studied in past decades [77]. Among such agents, the Corey-Bakshi-Shibata (CBS) catalyst, a chiral oxazaborolidine complex, which was discovered by Itsuno in 1981 [78] and further developed by Corey in 1987 [79], was widely considered as the most successful catalytic system. Several excellent reviews are already available [77a, 80]. In this chapter, we only give limited coverage of the organocatalytic asymmetric reduction of ketones by catalytic systems other than chiral oxazaborolidines. 

A number of chiral oxazaborolidines have been investigated as catalysts in the enantioselective reduction of ketones, with early pioneering studies reported by Itsuno [132]. In 1987, Corey documented the new catalyst 187, which has been widely adopted in countless applications [114, 120, 133]. 

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