Michael addition bifunctional catalysts

Dicarbonyl compounds are widely used in organic synthesis as activated nucleophiles. Because of the relatively high acidity of the methylenic C—H of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds, most reactions involving 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds are considered to be nucleophilic additions or substitutions of enolates. However, some experimental evidence showed that 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds could react via C—H activations. Although this concept is still controversial, it opens a novel idea to consider the reactions of activated C H bonds. The chiral bifunctional Ru catalysts were used in enantioselective C C bonds formation by Michael addition of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds with high yields and enantiomeric excesses. ... 

Scheme 6 Enantioselective Michael-addition of acetylacetone to nitrostyrene catalyzed by a bifunctional thiourea catalyst...

Papai et al. selected as model reaction the addition of 2,4-pentanedione (acetylacetone) to trans-(R)-mtrostyvQnQ, catalyzed by the bifunctional thiourea catalyst shown in Scheme 6 [46]. The analogous Michael-addition involving dimethyl malonate and nitroethylene as substrates, and a simplified catalyst was calculated at the same level of theory by Liu et al. [47]. Himo et al. performed a density functional study on the related cinchona-thiouTQa catalyzed Henry-reaction between nitromethane and benzaldehyde [48]. 

Following work on Michael addition of triazoles to nitro-olefins (discussed in Sect. 2.5), bifunctional chiral thiourea catalysts were used in the addition of triazoles to chalcones [83]. The catalytic system was applicable to enones bearing aromatic groups of varying electronic natures to provide good yields and moderate selectivity. a-Cyanoacetates [84] were also applied in Michael addition to chalcones under similar catalytic conditions (Scheme 33). 

Takemoto and co-workers reported the use of a similarly structured bifunctional catalyst for the first enantioselective organocatalytic Michael addition of malonitrile to... 

Chen and co-workers utilized the chiral bifunctional catalysts to directly access vinylogous carbon-carbon bonds via the asymmetric Michael addition of a,a-dicy-ano-olefms to nitro-olefms [102]. The scope of the reaction was explored with a variety of substituted a,a-dicyano-olefins and P-substituted nitro-olefms (Scheme 50). The authors propose the catalysf s tertiary amine functionality depro-tonates the cyano-olefm, activating the nucleophile to add to the -face of the pre-coordinated nitro-olefm. 

The modification of thiourea catalyst 93 through incorporation of the (S,S)-diaminocyclohexane backbone as an additional chirality element and a Schiff base imidazoyl-moiety led to the bifunctional catalyst 94 that, in contrast to 93 in the Strecker reaction (Scheme 6.99), exhibited enantioinduction (83-87% ee) in the nitro-Michael addition of acetone to trons-P-nitrostyrenes. The desired adducts were isolated in moderate yields (46-62%) as depicted in Scheme 6.100) [259]. 

Scheme 6.141 Mechanistic proposal for the 121-catalyzed asymmetric intramolecular Michael addition exemplified for the model substrates ( )-4-hydroxy-l-phenyl-2-buten-l-one (n = 0) and ( )-5-hydroxy-l-phenyl-2-buten-l-one (n = 1) 121 functions as push/pull-type bifunctional catalyst inducing the cyclization of boronic acid hemiester (1) to form intermediate (2) release ofdiol product (3) by oxidation.

A pyrrolidine-thiourea organocatalyst (69) facilitates Michael addition of cyclohexanone to both aryl and alkyl nitroalkenes with up to 98% de and ee 202 The bifunctional catalyst (69) can doubly hydrogen bond to the nitro group, leaving the chiral heterocycles positioned for cyclohexyl enamine formation over one face of the alkene. 

L-Prolinamides (71) with a pendant alcohol act as recoverable bifunctional catalysts of direct nitro-Michael addition of ketones to -nitrostyrenes, giving syn-de s up to 94% and ees up to 80%.204 The pyrrolidine provides enamine catalysis, and the side-chain donors can hydrogen-bond the nitro oxygens. 

A series of diaryl-2-pyrrolidinemethanols have been tested as catalysts for the enan-tioselective Michael addition of malonate esters to nitroalkenes.30 Bis-(3,5-dimethyl-phenyl)[(S)-pyrrolidin-2-yl]methanol (6), easily prepared from L-proline, has been found the most efficient bifunctional organocatalyst, providing up to 56% ee. 

Despite the importance of the Michael addition in organic synthesis, the tandem conjugate addition/enantioselective protonation has been little explored [14] and only a few publications have involved cinchona alkaloids as bifunctional catalysts B for controlling the configuration of the chiral carbon created during protonation (Scheme 7.9). 

Soon afterward, various types of carbon [40-44], oxygen [45], and phosphorous [46] Michael donors were successfully employed in the thiourea-catalyzed addition to nitroalkenes. In the presence of the bifunctional epi-9-amino-9-deoxy cinchonine-based thiourea catalyst 79a, the 5-aryl-l,3-dioxolan-4-ones 138 bearing an acidic a-proton derived from mandelic acid derivatives and hexafluoroacetone were identified by Dixon and coworkers as effective pronucleophiles in diastereo- and enantioselective Michael addition reactions to nitrostyrenes 124 [40]. While the diastereoselectivity obtained exceeded 98%, the enantiomeric excess recorded... 

A more simple thiourea catalyst with amino functionality catalyses the asymmetric Michael addition of 1,3-dicarbonyl compound to nitroolefin [29,30]. In the reaction of malonate to nitrostyrene (Table 9.11) the adduct is satisfactorily obtained when A-[3,5-bis(trifluor-omethyl)phenyl]-A -(2-dimethylaminocyclohexyl)thiourea is used as a catalyst (ran 1), whereas the reaction proceeds slowly when the 2-amino group is lacking (ran2). In addition, chiral amine without a thiourea moiety gives a poor yield and enantioselectivity of the product (run 3). These facts clearly show that both thiourea and amino functionalities are necessary for rate acceleration and asymmetric induction, suggesting that the catalyst simultaneously activates substrate and nucleophile as a bifunctional catalyst. 

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