Mannich thioureas

Even if organocatalysis is a common activation process in biological transformations, this concept has only recently been developed for chemical applications. During the last decade, achiral ureas and thioureas have been used in allylation reactions [146], the Bayhs-Hillman reaction [147] and the Claisen rearrangement [148]. Chiral organocatalysis can be achieved with optically active ureas and thioureas for asymmetric C - C bond-forming reactions such as the Strecker reaction (Sect. 5.1), Mannich reactions (Sect. 5.2), phosphorylation reactions (Sect. 5.3), Michael reactions (Sect. 5.4) and Diels-Alder cyclisations (Sect. 5.6). Finally, deprotonated chiral thioureas were used as chiral bases (Sect. 5.7). 

Similar organocatalytic species to those successfully used for the Strecker reaction were used for the asymmetric Mannich reaction. Catalyst structure/ enantioselectivity profiles for the asymmetric Strecker and Mannich reactions were compared by the Jacobsen group [160]. The efficient thiourea... 

The reaction of 2,5-dimercapto-l,3,4-thiadiazolidine 34 with dialkylamines under Mannich reaction conditions gave N,S-aminomethylated thiadiazoles in 69-70% yields (Equation 24) <1998CHE1431>. With urea, thiourea, semicarbi-zide, or thiosemicarbazide, thiadiazolidine 34 gave N,N-aminomethylated thiadiazoles in 89-98% yields (Equation 25). 

Bifunctional thiourea-catalysed enantioselective Michael reaction has been achieved. The thiourea moiety and an amino group of the catalyst activated a nitroolefin and a 1,3-dicarbonyl compound, respectively afford the Michael adduct with high enantioselectivity.177,178 Thioureas work as one of the most effective and general enantioselective nitro-Mannich reaction and carbonyl cyanation catalyst.179,180... 

As a true testament to the potential long-term impact of H-bonding activation, a number of ureas, thioureas, and acid catalysts are now finding broad application in a large number of classical and modem carbon-carbon bond-forming processes. On one hand, Johnston s chiral amidinium ion 28 was elegantly applied to the asymmetric aza-Henry reactions (Scheme 11.12d). On the other hand, chiral phosphoric acids (e.g., 29 and 30), initially developed by Akiyama and Terada, have been successfully employed in Mannich reactions, hydrophosphonylation reac-tions, aza-Friedel-Crafts alkylations (Scheme 11.12e), and in the first example... 

In Ught of the recent developments in thiourea, diol, and phosphoric-acid-mediated catalysis, far fewer studies have focused on the use of chiral carboxyhc acids as suitable hydrogen bond donors. To this end, Mamoka synthesized binaphthyl-derived dicarboxylic acid 49 which catalyzes the asymmetric Mannich reaction of N-Boc aryl imines and tert-diazoacetate (Scheme 5.65) [120]. The authors postulate that catalytic achvity is enhanced by the presence of an addihonal car-boxyhc acid moiety given that use of 2-napthoic acid as catalyst provided only trace amounts of product... 

Wenzel and Jacobsen, in 2002, identified Schiff base thiourea derivative 48 as catalyst for the asymmetric Mannich addition [72] of tert-butyldimethylsilyl ketene acetals to N-Boc-protected (hetero)aromatic aldimines (Scheme 6.49) [201]. The optimized structure of 48 was found through the construction of a small, parallel... 

Pyrrole-containing thiourea derivatives 52 and 53 were developed and optimized for hydrogen-bonding activation of N-acyliminium ions [76] in the acyl-Pictet-Spengler [202, 205] (Schemes 6.50 and 52) and acyl-Mannich reaction [204] (Scheme 6.51). List et al. extended the applicability of this thiourea type to... 

Takemoto et al. discovered N-phosphinoyl-protected aldimines as suitable electrophilic substrates for the enantioselective aza-Henry [224] (nitro-Mannich) reaction [72] with nitromethane, when utilizing thiourea 12 (10mol%) as the catalyst in dichloromethane at room temperature [225]. The (S)-favored 1,2-addition of nitromethane to the electron-deficient C=N double bond allowed access to various P-aryl substituted N-phosphinoyl-protected adducts 1-5 in consistently moderate to good yields (72-87%) and moderate enantioselectivities (63-76%) as depicted in Scheme 6.73. Employing nitroethane under unchanged reaction conditions gave adduct 6 as a mixture of diastereomers (dr 73 27) at an ee value of 67% (83% yield) of the major isomer (Scheme 6.73). 

Scheme 6.74 Typical N-Boc-protected syn-P-nitroamines obtained from the enantio- and diastereoselective aza-Henry (nitro-Mannich) reaction between N-Boc-protected (hetero) aromatic aldimines and nitroalkanes in the presence of biflinctional thiourea catalyst 12.

Scheme 6.88 Asymmetric Mannich reaction of N-Boc-protected aldimines catalyzed by simplified thiourea 76.

Systematic investigations of the catalyst structure-enantioselectivity profile in the Mannich reaction [72] led to significantly simplified thiourea catalyst 76 lacking both the Schiff base unit and the chiral diaminocyclohexane backbone (figure 6.14 Scheme 6.88). Yet, catalyst 76 displayed comparable catalytic activity (99% conv.) and enantioselectivity (94% ee) to the Schiff base catalyst 48 in the asymmetric Mannich reaction of N-Boc-protected aldimines (Schemes 6.49 and 6.88) [245]. This confirmed the enantioinductive function of the amino acid-thiourea side chain unit, which also appeared responsible for high enantioselectivities obtained with catalysts 72, 73, and 74, respectively, in the cyanosilylation of ketones (Schemes 6.84 and 6.85) [240, 242]. 

Figure 6.33 Thiourea derivatives evaluated for catalytic efficiency in the Mannich addition of P-ylides to N-Boc-protected benzaldimine.

In 2008, Tang and co-workers reported the utilization of tertiary amine-functionalized saccharide-thiourea 211 as a bifunctional hydrogen-bonding catalyst for the enantioselective aza-Henry [224] (nitro-Mannich) addition [72] of... 

Richter et al. prepared /V-benzoyl-/V -(/V-aryloxamoyl) ureas 138 (R = Ph R = H, Me) by using a sequence of reactions involving ben-zoylation, reaction with oxalyl chloride, and, finally, reaction with anilines (Scheme 5) (78JOC4150). Karparov et al. found, in broad-spectrum antiviral screening, that Mannich bases 139 (m = 4,5) showed some activity, but that the parent urea (104) and thiourea (105) did not (84AF9). However, a later study revealed the two Mannich bases were inactive toward alphavi-rus models (86MI1). 

Cyclohexanediamine-derived amine thiourea 70, which provided high enantio-selectivities for the Michael addition [77] and aza-Henry reactions [78], showed poor activity in the MBH reaction. This fact is not surprising when one considers that a chiral urea catalyst functions by fundamentally different stereoinduction mechanisms in the MBH reaction, and in the activation of related imine substrates in Mannich or Streclcer reactions [80]. In contrast, the binaph-thylamine thiourea 71 mediated the addition of dihydrocinnamaldehyde 74 to cyclohexenone 75 in high yield (83%) and enantioselectivity (71% ee) (Table 5.6, entry 2) [79]. The more bulky diethyl analogue 72 displayed similar enantioselectivity (73% ee) while affording a lower yield (56%, entry 3). Catalyst 73 showed only low catalytic activity in the MBH reaction (18%, entry 4). 

Table 6.18 Thiourea-catalyzed Mukaiyama-Mannich reactions of aldimines.

Table 6.22 Thiourea-catalyzed acyl-Mannich reactions of substituted isoquinolines.

Significant levels of syn diastereoselectivities (5 1 to 16 1) were observed for all substrates, with the exception of an ortho-chloro-substituted aryl imine, which provided only 2 1 syn selectivity. The catalyst was viable for a variety of nitroalkanes, and afforded adducts in uniformly high enantioselectivities (92-95% ee). The sense of enantiofacial selectivity in this reaction is identical to that reported for the thiourea-catalyzed Strecker (see Scheme 6.8) and Mannich (see Tables 6.18 and 6.22) reactions, suggesting a commonality in the mode of substrate activation. The asymmetric catalysis is likely to involve hydrogen bonding between the catalyst and the imine or the nitronate, or even dual activation of both substrates. The specific role of the 4 A MS powder in providing more reproducible results remains unclear, as the use of either 3 A or 5 A MS powder was reported to have a detrimental effect on both enantioselectivities and rates of reaction. 

The use of bifunctional thiourea-substituted cinchona alkaloid derivatives has continued to gamer interest, with the Deng laboratory reporting the use of a 6 -thiourea-substituted cinchona derivative for both the Mannich reactions of malo-nates with imines [136] and the Friedel-Crafts reactions of imines with indoles [137]. In both reports, a catalyst loading of 10-20 mol% provided the desired products in almost uniformly high yields and high enantioselectivities. Thiourea-substituted cinchona derivatives have also been used for the enantioselective aza-Henry reactions of aldimines [138] and the enantioselective Henry reactions of nitromethane with aromatic aldehydes [139]. 

Thiourea-Catalyzed Mukaiyama-Mannich Reactions of Aldimines [12] (p. 215)... 

Mozolis, V. and Jokubaityte, S., Benzxttria-zolc and thiourea in the Mannich reaction, Liet. TSR Mokslu Akad. Darh. Ser. B. 129, 1970 Chem. Abstr., 73, 77152, 1970. 

Molecular modeling studies performed by Schaus [30] to rationalize the observed sense of stereoselectivity revealed that the nucleophile (i.e., the conjugate base of the malonate) is hydrogen-bonded to both the thiourea moiety and the protonated quinuclidine catalyst and that one face of the nucleophile is blocked by the quinoline ring. Accordingly, the Re-face attack of the nucleophile on the Z-aldimine was proposed to produce the observed (S)-Mannich product (Figure 8.5). 

In addition to chiral PTCs, cinchona-based thioureas have also been proved to serve as catalysts for nitro-Mannich reactions. In 2006, Ricci and coworkers first reported that the quinine-based thiourea 40 (20mol%) can catalyze the aza-Henry reaction between nitromethane and the N-protected imines 93 derived from aromatic aldehydes [40]. N-Boc-, N-Cbz-, and N-Fmoc protected imines gave the best results in terms of the chemical yields and enantioselectivities (up to 94% ee at —40°C) (Scheme 8.30). 

Propose a transition state for the direct vinylogous Mannich reaction with the bifunctional thiourea catalyst 51 reported by Chen and his group that accounts for the observed relative and absolute configurations of the products (Scheme 5.11). 

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