Lewis acids Lanthanide triflates

Thus, a new type of Lewis acid, lanthanide triflates, is quite effective for the catalytic activation of imines, and has achieved imino Diels-Alder reactions of imines with dienes or alkenes. The unique reactivities of imines which work as both dienophiles and azadienes under certain conditions were also revealed. Three-component coupling reactions between aldehydes, amines, and dienes or alkenes were successfully carried out by using Ln(OTf)3 as catalysts to afford pyridine and quinoline derivatives in high yields. The triflates were stable and kept their activity even in the presence of water and amines. According to these reactions, many substituted pyridines and quinolines can be prepared directly from aldehydes, amines, and dienes or alkenes. A stepwise reaction mechanism in these reactions was suggested from the experimental results. 

Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions are of great interest due to their increased reactivity and selectivity under mild reaction conditions. A wide variety of reactions using Lewis acids have been developed, and they have been applied to the synthesis of natural and unnatural compounds. Traditionally, Lewis acids such as AICI3, BF3, TiCU, and SnCLt, have been employed in these reactions however, more than stoichiometric amounts of the Lewis acids are needed in many cases. Moreover, these Lewis acids are moisture sensitive and are easily decomposed or deactivated in the presence of even a small amount of water. Furthermore, these Lewis acids cannot be recovered and reused after the reactions are completed. In 1991, the first water-compatible Lewis acids, lanthanide triflates [Ln(OTf)3], was reported. ... 

Whereas lanthanide triflates are strong Lewis acids, lanthanide complexes such as Yb(fod)3 and Eu(fod)3 are mild catalysts that can be used when the cycloaddition involves acid-sensitive reagents and/or cycloadducts [34]. 

A combination of the promoting effects of Lewis acids and water is a logical next step. However, to say the least, water has not been a very popular medium for Lewis-acid catalysed Diels-Alder reactions, which is not surprising since water molecules interact strongly with Lewis-acidic and the Lewis-basic atoms of the reacting system. In 1994, when the research described in this thesis was initiated, only one example of Lewis-acid catalysis of a Diels-Alder reaction in water was published Lubineau and co-workers employed lanthanide triflates as a catalyst for the Diels-Alder reaction of glyoxylate to a relatively unreactive diene . No comparison was made between the process in water and in organic solvents. 

Although the Lewis acids used as co-reagents in Friedel-Crafts acylations are often referred to as catalysts, they are, in fact, consumed in the reaction, with the generation of strong acids. There has been considerable interest in finding materials which could function as true catalysts. Considerable success has been achieved using lanthanide triflates. ... 

To achieve catalytic enantioselective aza Diels-Alder reactions, choice of metal is very important. It has been shown that lanthanide triflates are excellent catalysts for achiral aza Diels-Alder reactions [5]. Although stoichiometric amounts of Lewis acids are often required, a small amount of the triflate effectively catalyzes the reactions. On the basis of these findings chiral lanthanides were used in catalytic asymmetric aza Diels-Alder reactions. The chiral lanthanide Lewis acids were first developed to realize highly enantioselective Diels-Alder reactions of 2-oxazolidin-l-one with dienes [6]. 

Rare earth metals and scandium trifluoromethanesulfonates (lanthanide and scandium triflates) are strong Lewis acids that are quite effective as catalysts in... 

Interest in the aqueous medium spread quickly and many, sometimes surprising, discoveries were made [3]. Today pericyclic [4], condensation [5], oxidation [6] and reduction [7] reactions are routinely carried out in aqueous medium. The recent discovery of water-tolerant Lewis acids such as lanthanide triflates, Bi(OTf)j, Sc(OTf)j and Y(OTf)j has revolutionized organometallic chemistry [5a, 7]. 

As mentioned several times Lewis acids are highly valuable catalysts but the most commonly used ones such as aluminium chloride and boron trifluoride are highly water sensitive and are not usually recovered at the end of a reaction, leading to a significant source of waste. In recent years there has been much research interest in lanthanide triflates (trifluoro-methanesulfonates) as water stable, recyclable Lewis acid catalysts. This unusual water stability opens up the possibility for either carrying out reactions in water or using water to extract and recover the catalyst from the reaction medium. 

The lanthanide salts are unique among Lewis acids in that they can be effective as catalysts in aqueous solution.61 Silyl enol ethers react with formaldehyde and benzaldehyde in water-THF mixtures using lanthanide triflates such as Yb(03SCF3)3. The catalysis reflects the strong affinity of lanthanides for carbonyl oxygen, even in aqueous solution. 

Entries 6 to 9 involve reactions conducted under catalytic conditions. Entry 6 uses a lanthanide catalyst that is active in aqueous solution. Entries 7 and 8 are examples of the use of (Cp)2Ti(03SCF3)2 as a Lewis acid. Entry 9 illustrates the TMS triflate-MABR catalytic combination. 

Scheme 2.25 shows some examples of additions of enolate equivalents. A range of Lewis acid catalysts has been used in addition to TiCl4 and SnCl4. Entry 1 shows uses of a lanthanide catalyst. Entry 2 employs LiC104 as the catalyst. The reaction in Entry 3 includes a chiral auxiliary that controls the stereoselectivity the chiral auxiliary is released by a cyclization using (V-methylhydroxylamine. Entries 4 and 5 use the triphenylmethyl cation as a catalyst and Entries 6 and 7 use trimethylsilyl triflate and an enantioselective catalyst, respectively. 

Kobayashi has found that scandium triflate, Sc(OTf)3,36 and lanthanide triflate, Ln(OTf)3, are stable and can be used as Lewis catalysts under aqueous conditions. Many other Lewis acids have also been reported to catalyze Diels-Alder reactions in aqueous media. For example, Engberts reported37 that the cyclization reaction in Eq. 12.7 in an aqueous solution containing 0.010 M Cu(N03)2 is 250,000 times faster than that in acetonitrile and about 1,000 times faster than that in water alone. Other salts, such as Co2+, Ni2+, and Zn2+, also catalyze the reaction, but not as effectively as Cu2+. However, water has no effect on the endo-exo selectivity for the Lewis-acid catalyzed reaction. 

As in the case of Diels-Alder reactions, aqueous aza-Diels-Alder reactions are also catalyzed by various Lewis acids such as lanthanide triflates.113 Lanthanide triflate-catalyzed imino Diels-Alder reactions of imines with dienes or alkenes were developed. Three-component aza-Diels-Alder reactions, starting from aldehyde, aniline, and Danishefsky s diene, took place smoothly under the influence of HBL4 in aqueous media to afford dihydro-4-pyridone derivatives in high yields (Eq. 12.46).114... 

S. Kobayashi, H. Ishitani, M Ueno, Facile Synthesis of a-Amino Nitriles Using Lanthanide Triflate as a Lewis Acid Catalyst Synlett. 1997,115-116. 

Several chiral lanthanide(III) Lewis acid catalysts, derived from chiral binaphthols, have been used in the cycloaddition reactions of cyclopentadiene with substituted iV-acryloyl-1,3-oxazolidin-2-ones. A catalyst derived from ytterbium triflate, (R)-binaphthol... 

Another example of the use of Lewis acids in organic reactions in water is the lan-thanide(III) triflate catalysed aza-Diels-Alder reaction, exemplified in Scheme 14. In this reaction the hetero-dienophile is formed in situ from a primary ammonium hydrochloride and a carbonyl compound followed by the actual Diels-Alder reaction288,289. This type of reaction proceeds readily in aqueous media290-296, and a dramatic increase in the yield upon addition of lanthanide triflates was observed288,289. The exact role of the catalyst, however, is not entirely clear. Although it was suggested that the catalyst binds to the dienophile, other mechanisms, such as simple proton catalysis, are also plausible. Moreover, these reactions are further complicated since they are often heterogeneous. 

Although several Lewis acids are known to catalyze the hetero-Diels-Alder reaction involving imino-dienes or imino-dienophiles (aza-Diels-Alder reaction), a large amount of the catalyst is often necessary. Bi(0Tf)3-xH20 showed higher activity than lanthanide triflates in catalyzing the reactions of imines with Danishefsky s diene (Scheme 15) [72]. 

Another approach to the "greening of catalysts has been the use of rare-earth compounds known as inflates. The term inflate is an abbreviation for the trifluoromethanesulfonate (SO3CF3) cation. Some typical triflates that have been used in research include the lanthanides, scandium, and hafnium. These triflates act as Lewis acids (electron acceptors) and can, therefore, be substituted for stronger mineral acids (such as sulfuric acid) with undesirable environmental... 

As in conventional AlCl3-promoted acylations the ketone product forms a strong complex with the chloroaluminate IL. Lanthanide triflates, in particular Sc(OTf)3, have been widely studied as water-tolerant Lewis acids in a variety of transformations, including Friedel-Crafts alkylations and... 

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