Ketones enantioselective reduction with

The first report in this regard described a method for direct formation of the desired optically active (S)-alcohol 32a, via enantioselective reduction with a chiral amine complex of lithium aluminum hydride (Scheme 14.9). Therefore, the necessary chiral hydride complex 38 was preformed in toluene at low temperature from chiral amino alcohol 37. The resulting hydride solution was then immediately combined with ketone 31 to afford the desired (S)-alcohol 32a in excellent yield and enantiomeric excess. In addition to providing a more efficient route to the desired drug molecule, this work also led to the establishment of the absolute configuration of duloxetine (3) as S). 

In 1979, Johnson reported the enantioselective reduction of ketones with stoichiometric amounts of optically active (1-hydroxy sulfoximine-borane complexes.131 Prochiral alkyl phenyl ketones (RCOPh) undergo enantioselective reduction with enantiomerically pure p-hydroxy sulfoximine borane complexes (301 and 302). These complexes are prepared by reaction of the corresponding P-hydroxy sulfoximine with borane at -78 °C. The structures 301 and 302 have been suggested for these complexes. In the case of the borane complex 301, the enantioselectivity increased as the steric bulk of the R substituent of the ketone (RCOPh) was decreased from IV to Me. The analogous reductions of methyl alkyl ketones (MeCOR) with these borane complexes were less enantioselective (3-27% ee).131... 

Chiral Ligand of LiAlH4 for the Enantioselective Reduction of a,p-Unsaturated Ketones. Enantioselective reductions of a,p-unsaturated ketones afford optically active ally lie alcohols which are useful intermediates in natural product synthesis. Enantioselective reduction of a,p-unsaturated ketones with LiAlH4 modified with chiral amino alcohol (1) affords optically active (S)-allylic alcohols with high ee s. When 2-cyclohexen-l-one is employed, (5)-2-cyclohexen-l-ol with 100% ee is obtained in 95% yield (eq 2). This is comparable with the results obtained using LiAlH4-chiral binaphthol and chiral 1,3,2-oxazaborolidine. ... 

Synthesis of the acyclic portion began, as in the previous synthesis, with enantiomerically pure citronellol (25). Protection of the alcohol as the benzyl ether and oxidative cleavage of the olefin to the aldehyde gave 26 (85%). Chain extension via the masked acyl anion equivalent 27, alcohol protection, and concomitant -elimination and isomerization of the allene to die alkyne with butyl lithium gave 28. The resulting protected ketone must now be converted to the P-alcohol required for the completion of the synthesis. Thus hydrolysis to die ketone followed by enantioselective reduction with (—)-N-methylephedrine-... 

Hypercoordinate silicates formed by reaction of PMHS with KF, TBAF, or other nucleophiles, can reduce ketones, aldehydes, and esters (eq 12). With proper nucleophile choice, aldehydes can be reduced selectively over ketones, and ketones over esters (eq 13). Halides, nitriles, nitro groups, and olefins survive these conditions, but enones often undergo both 1,2- and 1,4-reductions. PMHS is worse than other silanes for performing enantioselective reductions with chiral fluoride sources, affording alcohols in only 9-36% ee. ... 

The next addition of the reagent 5 was to the aldehyde 10. The adduct 11 was deproto-nated with -Btii to effect a limination, providing, after protection of the alcohol, the aU e. up g of 12 with the amide 7 gave a ketone, enantioselective reduction of which under Itsnno-Corey conditions led, again after protection of the alcohol, to the alkyne 13. 

The hydride-donor class of reductants has not yet been successfully paired with enantioselective catalysts. However, a number of chiral reagents that are used in stoichiometric quantity can effect enantioselective reduction of acetophenone and other prochiral ketones. One class of reagents consists of derivatives of LiAlH4 in which some of die hydrides have been replaced by chiral ligands. Section C of Scheme 2.13 shows some examples where chiral diols or amino alcohols have been introduced. Another type of reagent represented in Scheme 2.13 is chiral trialkylborohydrides. Chiral boranes are quite readily available (see Section 4.9 in Part B) and easily converted to borohydrides. 

Resting cell of G. candidum, as well as dried cell, has been shown to be an effective catalyst for the asymmetric reduction. Both enantiomers of secondary alcohols were prepared by reduction of the corresponding ketones with a single microbe [23]. Reduction of aromatic ketones with G. candidum IFO 5 767 afforded the corresponding (S)-alcohols in an excellent enantioselectivity when amberlite XAD-7, a hydro-phobic polymer, was added to the reaction system, and the reduction with the same microbe afforded (R)-alcohols, also in an excellent enantioselectivity, when the reaction was conducted under aerobic conditions (Figure 8.31). 

An attractive alternative to these novel aminoalcohol type modifiers is the use of 1-(1-naphthyl)ethylamine (NEA, Fig. 5) and derivatives thereof as chiral modifiers [45-47]. Trace quantities of (R)- or (S)-l-(l-naphthyl)ethylamine induce up to 82% ee in the hydrogenation of ethyl pyruvate over Pt/alumina. Note that naphthylethylamine is only a precursor of the actual modifier, which is formed in situ by reductive alkylation of NEA with the reactant ethyl pyruvate. This transformation (Fig. 5), which proceeds via imine formation and subsequent reduction of the C=N bond, is highly diastereoselective (d.e. >95%). Reductive alkylation of NEA with different aldehydes or ketones provides easy access to a variety of related modifiers [47]. The enantioselection occurring with the modifiers derived from NEA could be rationalized with the same strategy of molecular modelling as demonstrated for the Pt-cinchona system. 

The following reducing agents effect enantioselective reduction of ketones. Propose a transition structure that is in accord with the observed enantioselec-tivity. 

On the other hand a direct hydrogen transfer through a Meerwein-Ponndorf mechanism, involving coordination of both the donor alcohol and the ketone to the copper site may also be considered. In this case, by using alcohols other than 2-propanol, we could expect some difference in stereochemistry. This would also imply the possibility of carrying out the enantioselective reduction of a prochiral ketone with a chiral alcohol as donor. 

Groeger, H., Chamouleau, F., Orologas, N. et al. (2006) Enantioselective reduction of ketones with designer cells at high substrate concentrations highly efficient access to functionalized optically active alcohols. Angewandte Chemie-Intemational Edition, 45 (34), 5677-5681. 

The hydrogenation of ketones with O or N functions in the a- or / -position is accomplished by several rhodium compounds [46 a, b, e, g, i, j, m, 56], Many of these examples have been applied in the synthesis of biologically active chiral products [59]. One of the first examples was the asymmetric synthesis of pantothenic acid, a member of the B complex vitamins and an important constituent of coenzyme A. Ojima et al. first described this synthesis in 1978, the most significant step being the enantioselective reduction of a cyclic a-keto ester, dihydro-4,4-dimethyl-2,3-furandione, to D-(-)-pantoyl lactone. A rhodium complex derived from [RhCl(COD)]2 and the chiral pyrrolidino diphosphine, (2S,4S)-N-tert-butoxy-carbonyl-4-diphenylphosphino-2-diphenylphosphinomethyl-pyrrolidine ((S, S) -... 

TABLE 6-4. Enantioselective Reduction of Aromatic Ketones with BINAL-H (R"0=C2H50) ... 

BINAL-H reagents 45 are not effective in the enantioselective reduction of dialkyl ketones.53 For example, reaction of benzyl methyl ketone with (S)-45 gives (S )-l-phenyl-2-propanol in only 13% ee (71% yield). Reaction of 2-octanone with (R)-45 produces (S )-2-octanol in 24% ee (67% yield).53 This drop of ee values in the reaction may be explained by the lower energy difference between the favored transition state 48 and unfavored transition state 49 caused by the lack of the above-mentioned n-n repulsion between the reductant and the substrate dialkyl ketone. 

It is well accepted that the asymmetric reduction of simple dialkyl ketones generally proceeds with low enantioselectivity.68 Ohkuma et al.69 reported that hydrogenation of simple ketones can be achieved using Ru(II) catalysts in the presence of diamine and alcoholic KOH in 2-propanol. Promising results have been achieved in the asymmetric hydrogenation of alkyl aryl ketones with a mixture of an Ru-BINAP complex, chiral diamine, and KOH (Scheme 6-33). 

Asymmetric reduction of ketones. Pioneering work by Ohno et al. (6, 36 7, 15) has established that l-benzyl-l,4-dihydronicotinamide is a useful NADH model for reduction of carbonyl groups, but only low enantioselectivity obtains with chiral derivatives of this NADH model. In contrast, this chiral 1,4-dihydropyridine derivative (1) reduces a-keto esters in the presence of Mg(II) or Zn(II) salts in >90% ee (equation I).1 This high stereoselectivity of 1 results from the beneficial effect... 

Chiral oxazaborolidines. Enantioselective reduction of ketones with a reagent prepared from BH, and the chiral vic-amino alcohol 1 (12,31) is now known to involve an oxazaborolidine. Thus BH3 and (S)-l, derived from valine, react rapidly in THF to form 2, m.p. 105-110°, which can serve as an efficient catalyst... 

Enantioselective reduction of ketones.1 The ability of diborane in combination with the vic-amino alcohol (S)-2-amino-3-methyl-l,l-diphenyl-l-butanol (12, 31) to effect enantioselective reduction of alkyl aryl ketones involves formation of an intermediate chiral oxazaborolidine, which can be isolated and used as a catalyst for enantioselective borane reductions (equation I). 

---