Ligand, DBFOX

It is interesting that the use of excess ligand DBFOX/Ph led to a decreased en-antioselectivity for the endo cycloadduct, especially when the enantiomeric purity of the ligand was low. This phenomenon is closely related with the chirality enrichment mechanism operating in the solution. 

Complexes of nickel(II) or magnesium(II) with the chiral ligand DBFOX (Scheme 8) catalyze the DCR of nitrones with a-alkyl- and arylacroleins rendering preferentially the 5-carbaldehyde cycloadducts. However, the reactions with a-bromoacrolein catalyzed by the zinc(II) complex of the same ligand afford isoxazoline -carbaldehydes. The corresponding cobalt(II) complex is also active for the cycloaddition between cyclopenten-l-carbaldehyde and diphenylnitrone. 

The first effective enantioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of diazoalkanes catalyzed by chiral Lewis acids was reported in the year 2000 (139). Under catalysis using zinc or magnesium complexes and the chiral ligand (/ ,/ )-DBFOX/Ph, the reaction of diazo(trimethylsilyl)methane with 3-alkenoyl-2-oxazolidin-2-one 75 (R2 = H) gave the desilylated A2-pyrazolines (4S,5R)-76 (R =Me 87% yield, 99% ee at —40°C) (Scheme 8.18). Simple replacement of the oxazolidinone with the 4,4-dimethyloxazolidinone ring resulted in the formation of (4/ ,5S)-77 (R1 = Me 75% yield, 97% ee at -78 °C). 

The cationic aqua complexes prepared from traws-chelating tridentate ligand, R,R-DBFOX/Ph, and various transition metal(II) perchlorates induce absolute enantio-selectivity in the Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with 3-alkenoyl-2-oxazoli-dinone dienophiles. Unlike other bisoxazoline type complex catalysts [38, 43-54], the J ,J -DBFOX/Ph complex of Ni(C104)2-6H20, which has an octahedral structure with three aqua ligands, is isolable and can be stored in air for months without loss of catalytic activity. Iron(II), cobalt(II), copper(II), and zinc(II) complexes are similarly active. 

The three water ligands located at meridional positions of the J ,J -DBFOX/Ph aqua complexes may be replaced by another molecule of DBFOX/Ph ligand if steric hindrance is negligible. Based on molecular model inspection, the hetero-chiral enantiomer S,S-DBFOX/Ph looks like a candidate to replace the water ligands to form the heterochiral meso-2 l complex J ,J -DBFOX/Ph-S,S-DBFOX/... 

Among the J ,J -DBFOX/Ph-transition(II) metal complex catalysts examined in nitrone cydoadditions, the anhydrous J ,J -DBFOX/Ph complex catalyst prepared from Ni(C104)2 or Fe(C104)2 provided equally excellent results. For example, in the presence of 10 mol% of the anhydrous nickel(II) complex catalyst R,R-DBFOX/Ph-Ni(C104)2, which was prepared in-situ from J ,J -DBFOX/Ph ligand, NiBr2, and 2 equimolar amounts of AgC104 in dichloromethane, the reaction of 3-crotonoyl-2-oxazolidinone with N-benzylidenemethylamine N-oxide at room temperature produced the 3,4-trans-isoxazolidine (63% yield) in near perfect endo selectivity (endo/exo=99 l) and enantioselectivity in favor for the 3S,4J ,5S enantiomer (>99% ee for the endo isomer. Scheme 7.21). The copper(II) perchlorate complex showed no catalytic activity, however, whereas the ytterbium(III) triflate complex led to the formation of racemic cycloadducts. 

In conclusion, the transition metal aqua complexes of J ,J -DBFOX/Ph ligand have... 

Kanemasa et al. (365) showed that dibenzofuranyl-2,2 -bis(oxazoline) (DBFOX) is an excellent ligand for a variety of LAs (Scheme 12.80). This new type of catalyst... 

The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of diazoalkanes with alkenes has also been reported (395). Kanemasa and Kanai (395) used the chiral DBFOX-Ph ligand with various metals such as Ni, Zn, and Mg for the preparation of 255a-c. The reaction of TMS-diazomethane 171 with alkene 241 was catalyzed by 10 mol% of 255b to afford the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition product 296 in good yields and enantioselectivities of up to 99% ee (Scheme 12.96). Also, the Ni-catalyst 255a and the Mg-catalyst 255c were excellent catalysts for the reaction, resulting in >90% ee in both cases. 

The first examples of chiral Lewis acid catalysis in the opening of diactivated cyclopropane derivatives (224) with nitrones (225) has been demonstrated, giving rise to the tetrahydro-l,2-oxazines (226). High enantioselectivities (71-96% ee) were attained with Ni(C104)2 and Ph-DBFOX ligand (227).262... 

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