Michael reactions phase-transfer catalysis

A biphenyl and ct-methylnaphthylamine-derived chiral quaternary ammonium salt 23d, which was shown by Lygo to be effective for the asymmetric alkylation of Schiffs base 20, was also effective in the Michael reaction (Scheme 7.12) [43]. Notably, the enantioselectivity was highly dependent on the reaction conditions and substrates used. The Michael reaction of imine esters such as benzhydryl and benzyl esters with a,p-unsaturated ketones under solid-liquid phase-transfer catalysis conditions afforded the Michael adduct in up to 94% ee and 91% ee, respectively, while the tert-butyl ester showed moderate enantioselectivity (Scheme 7.12). Interestingly, in contrast to earlier reports, acrylate [42] and acrylamides failed to undergo the Michael reaction under these optimized conditions. 

Whilst simple alkylations of enolates and Michael additions have been successfully catalyzed by phase-transfer catalysts, aldol-type processes have proved more problematic. This difficulty is due largely o the reversible nature of the aldol reaction, resulting in the formation of a thermodynamically more stable aldol product rather than the kinetically favored product. However, by trapping the initial aldol product as soon as it is formed, asymmetric aldol-type reactions can be carried out under phase-transfer catalysis. This is the basis of the Darzens condensation (Scheme 8.2), in which the phase-transfer catalyst first induces the deprotonation of an a-halo... 

In the Michael-addition, a nucleophile Nu is added to the / -position of an a,fi-unsaturated acceptor A (Scheme 4.1) [1], The active nucleophile Nu is usually generated by deprotonation of the precursor NuH. Addition of Nu to a prochiral acceptor A generates a center of chirality at the / -carbon atom of the acceptor A. Furthermore, the reaction of the intermediate enolate anion with the electrophile E+ may generate a second center of chirality at the a-carbon atom of the acceptor. This mechanistic scheme implies that enantioface-differentiation in the addition to the yfi-carbon atom of the acceptor can be achieved in two ways (i) deprotonation of NuH with a chiral base results in the chiral ion pair I which can be expected to add to the acceptor asymmetrically and (ii) phase-transfer catalysis (PTC) in which deprotonation of NuH is achieved in one phase with an achiral base and the anion... 

Michael-aldol reaction as an alternative to the Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction 14 recent results in conjugate addition of nitroalkanes to electron-poor alkenes 15 asymmetric cyclopropanation of chiral (l-phosphoryl)vinyl sulfoxides 16 synthetic methodology using tertiary phosphines as nucleophilic catalysts in combination with allenoates or 2-alkynoates 17 recent advances in the transition metal-catalysed asymmetric hydrosilylation of ketones, imines, and electrophilic C=C bonds 18 Michael additions catalysed by transition metals and lanthanide species 19 recent progress in asymmetric organocatalysis, including the aldol reaction, Mannich reaction, Michael addition, cycloadditions, allylation, epoxidation, and phase-transfer catalysis 20 and nucleophilic phosphine organocatalysis.21... 

Attempted 1,4-cycloaddition of dichlorocarbene with 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran was unsuccessful (Houben-Weyl, Vol.E19b, pi562). The formation of 8,8-dichloro-2-(2-phenylethyl)-2,3-dihydro-l,3-methano-l//-isoindole-l-carbonit ile (31) by the reaction of chloroform with isoindole derivative 30 under phase-transfer catalysis conditions has probably been misinterpreted as 1,4-addition of dichlorocarbene.This reaction may involve the Michael addition of trichloromethyl anion to isoindole followed by the cyclization of the adduct. 

The steroidal a-(isocyanomethyl)phosphonates (130) and (133) have been synthesized by methylation of the carbanions (129) and (132), respectively.66 Compounds (130) and (133) behave as N,P-ketals in that they can be hydrolysed to the corresponding ketones (131) and (134) (Scheme 10). A range of a-substituted a-aminophosphonic acids (136) have been prepared in moderate to excellent yield by the alkylation of the protected a-aminophosphonate (135) with alkyl and aryl halides and Michael acceptors under phase transfer catalysis (Scheme 11).67 The reactions of the lithium carbanion of diethyl prop-2-enyIphosphonate (137) with a,P-unsaturated ketones and esters have been investigated.6S Attack can be at the a- or y-positions in the phosphonate although in all cases Michael addition to the a, p-unsaturated carbonyl is preferred to attack at carbonyl carbon. In some examples simple adducts (138) are formed, but in more complex cases addition is followed by cyclisation to give (139) (Scheme 12). The bisphosphonate (141), which is a potent inhibitor of myo-inositol monophosphatase, has been prepared with the phosphonylation of the carbanion of (140) as a key step.6 9... 

Nevertheless, not all the reactions proceeding under PTC conditions are carried out in an aqueous/organic biphasic mixture. In many cases, the inorganic base is incorporated as a solid reagent to a solution of the Michael donor, the Michael acceptor and the catalyst in an organic solvent and therefore the dynamic processes involved in the translation of reagents between the two phases have to occur at the interface of the solid reagent. These conditions are known as solid-liquid phase-transfer catalysis conditions. 

The use of ot,p-unsaturated aldehydes as Michael acceptors always represents a challenging situation because of the tendency of enals to undergo 1,2- rather than the desired 1,4- addition reaction. Moreover, working under phase-transfer catalysis conditions incorporates an additional element of difficulty, because of the propensity of enolizable enals to undergo self-condensation side reactions. For this reason, there are only a few examples reporting enantioselective Michael reactions with ot,p-unsaturated aldehydes as Michael acceptors under PTC conditions, both coming from the Maruoka research team and also both making use of chiral tV-spiro quaternary ammonium salts as catalysts. 

Enantioselective phase-transfer catalysis has also been successfiilly applied to intramolecular aza-Michael reactions, as elegantly exemplified by Bandini and Umani-Ronchi in the reaction of amide tethered indolyl a,p-unsaturated esters to yield 3,4-dihydropyrazino[l,2-a]-indol-l(2/i)-ones [109]. With the general assumption that the annulation reaction proceeds to give products with (5) configuration, a proposal for the transition state of the enantioselective step of the reaction was made by the same group two years later [110]. In this transition step a favorable ir-stacking interaction between the indole and the benzyl-CF3 groups was postulated (Scheme 11.30). 

The paramount importance of Michael additions as versatile C-C bond forming transformations was discussed in some detail earlier in this volume. Thus, it is not surprising that, besides the use of chiral PTCs in asymmetric a-alkylation reactions, their use for stereoselective Michael additions is one of the most carefully investigated reactions in asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis (328, 329). Accordingly, the additional use of this methodology in asymmetric total synthesis has been reported on several occasions. 

Scheme 1.1 Use of chiral bases and phase-transfer catalysis in Michael reactions.

Cyclopropanecarboxylic esters have been prepared, in 75—86 % yield, by intramolecular alkylation of 4-chloroalkyl esters, using phase-transfer catalysis. Monoalkylation of nitro-alkenes by acrylic esters occurs in a controlled manner if a two-phase system is used, to give products of Michael addition in 45—65 % yield for five examples. An interesting variant on this reaction involves the generation of the a-nitro-carbanion by conjugate reduction of a nitroalkene with sodium borohydride followed by its conjugate addition to methyl acrylate yields of 62—95% are reported for five cases (Scheme 39). ... 

Scheme 22.10 Chiral phase-transfer catalysis of the asymmetric Michael reaction in an IL medium.

I.3.I. Chiral Phase-Transfer Catalysis The exploration of modified cinchona alkaloid organocatalysts for asymmetric synthesis indicates that the quaternary ammonium salt derived from cinchona alkaloids is one of the best catalysts in the asymmetric Michael reaction. In 2000, Perrard and co-workers used A/-meth-ylanthracenylquininium (or quinidinium) chloride salt (Q-a or QD-a) for catalyzing the asymmetric Michael addition of dimethyl malonate to 2-pentyl-2-cyclo-penten-l-one (Scheme 9.6). ... 

Taddol has been widely used as a chiral auxiliary or chiral ligand in asymmetric catalysis [17], and in 1997 Belokon first showed that it could also function as an effective solid-liquid phase-transfer catalyst [18]. The initial reaction studied by Belokon was the asymmetric Michael addition of nickel complex 11a to methyl methacrylate to give y-methyl glutamate precursors 12 and 13 (Scheme 8.7). It was found that only the disodium salt of Taddol 14 acted as a catalyst, and both the enantio- and diastereos-electivity were modest [20% ee and 65% diastereomeric excess (de) in favor of 12 when 10 mol % of Taddol was used]. The enantioselectivity could be increased (to 28%) by using a stoichiometric amount of Taddol, but the diastereoselectivity decreased (to 40%) under these conditions due to deprotonation of the remaining acidic proton in products 12 and 13. Nevertheless, diastereomers 12 and 13 could be separated and the ee-value of complex 12 increased to >85% by recrystallization, thus providing enantiomerically enriched (2S, 4i )-y-methyl glutamic add 15. 

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