Morita-Baylis-Hillman

Diastereoselective reductive coupling of MVK and p-nitrobenzaldehyde performed under an atmosphere of elemental deuterium provides an aldol adduct incorporating a single deuterium atom at the former enone f>-pos-ition [69]. Deuterium incorporation at the a-carbon is not observed, excluding Morita-Baylis-Hillman pathways en route to product. Incorporation of a single deuterium atom suggests irreversible enone hydrometallation (Scheme 5). 

Moreover, a twofold SN -type domino reaction was reported by Krische and coworkers for the synthesis of y-butenolides 2-229 (Scheme 2.53) [128]. Treatment of Morita-Baylis-Hillman acetates 2-226 with trimethylsilyloxyfuran (2-227) in the presence of triphenylphosphane in THF at 0 °C led to 2-229 in yields of up to 94% and diastereoselectivities of >95 5. 

Roush and coworkers developed a new one-pot sequence consisting of an intramolecular Diels-Alder- and an intramolecular vinylogous Morita-Baylis-Hillman-cyclization for the synthesis of spinosyns [31]. These compounds are poly-ketide natural products possessing extraordinary insecticidal activity. 

The reaction of 4-95 to give a 96 4-mixture of 4-96 and 4-97 containing the central core of 4-94 was performed by heating 4-95 for 67 h at 40 °C and then adding PMe3 to induce the Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction (Scheme 4.21). 

The product of the previous reaction provides a Baylis-Hillman type product via an intermolecular addition of an allenoate to an epoxide. The first example of a true Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction of an epoxide has recently been reported <06CC2977>. Treatment of enone 34 with Me3P provides a good yield of the epoxide-opened product 35. The reaction must be carried out at low concentrations in order to avoid the generation of a variety of side products. When the terminal end of the epoxide is substituted (e.g. 34) the exo-mode of cyclization is the only product observed. When the terminal end of the epoxide is unsubstituted (e.g. 36), the endo-mode of cyclization predominates providing 37. 

Also known as Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction, and occasionally known as Rauhut-Currier reaction. It is a carbon—carbon bond-forming transformation of an electron-poor alkene with a carbon electrophile. Electron-poor alkenes include acrylic esters, acrylonitriles, vinyl ketones, vinyl sulfones, and acroleins. On the other hand, carbon electrophiles may be aldehydes, a-alkoxycarbonyl ketones, aldimines, and Michael acceptors. 

Other successful H-bond catalysis apphcations have been introduced by Schaus and Sasai involving asymmetric Morita-Bayhs-Hilhnan (Scheme 11.13c) and aza-Morita-Baylis-Hillman reactions (Scheme 11.13d), respectively. Intriguingly, derivatized BINOL systems 33 and 34 provided optimal selectivities. 

The highly enantioselective Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction of cyclohexenone with aldehydes is catalyzed by a chiral BlNOL-derived Brpnsted acid 8 in the presence of triethylphosphine as the nucleophilic promoter (Scheme 12.6). ... 

NHC catalyzed reactions have been expanded to include reactions such as aza-Morita-Baylis-Hillman and Mnkaiyama aldol reactions. Ye and co-workers illustrate the utility of NHCs in a reaction that is traditionally catalyzed by amines and phosphines (Scheme 52) [169],... 

Fig. 11 Proposed catalytic cycle for the Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction...

Scheme 51 Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction using the dual catalysts 130 and 58...

The most efficient catalyst system for the Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction of methyl vinyl ketone has been reported by Miller [183, 184], Use of L-proline (58) (10 mol%) in conjunction with the A-methyl imidazole containing hexapeptide 131 (10 mol%) provided an efficient platform for the reaction of 125 with a series of aromatic aldehydes 127 (52-95% yield 45-81% ee) (Scheme 52). Importantly, it was shown that the absolute configuration of the proline catalyst was the major factor in directing the stereochemical outcome of the reaction and not the complex peptide backbone. 

Intramolecular versions of the Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction have also met with success using a dual Lewis acid/Lewis base catalyst system. Miller has shown that a combination of A-methyl imidazole (132) (10 mol%) and... 

An interesting alternative intramolecular cyclisation was discovered by Jprgensen and co-workers [187]. Although not strictly exploiting an enamine intermediate, the transformation represents a secondary amine catalysed Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction leading to a series of highly functionalised cyclohexene products. Reaction of the Nazarov reagent 137 with a,P-unsaturated aldehydes in the presence of the diarylprolinol ether 30 led to the cyclohexene products 138 (49-68% yield 86-96% ee) via a tandem Michael/Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction (Scheme 54). 

The promoters of the so-called chalcogenide Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction are Kataoka and co-workers who employed sulfide and TiCl for dual Lewis acid-base activation. Later, in 1996 the ability of the combination of sulfide/TBDMSOTf to promote the reaction was reported [110], Asymmetric version of the Baylis-Hillman reaction has been achieved by using chiral sulfide in place of SMe. The best ee was 94% in combination with a high yield of 88% in 5 h (Scheme 39) [ 111 ]. 

Scheme 37 The original Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction [85, 86]...

In related work, Sasai developed several bifunctional BINOL-derived catalysts for the aza-Morita-Baylis-Hillman (aza-MBH) reaction [111]. In early studies, careful optimization of the catalyst structure regarding the location of the Lewis base unit revealed 41 as an optimal catalyst for the aza-MBH reaction between acyclic a,P-unsaturated ketones and N-tosyl imines. Systematic protection or modification of each basic and acidic moiety of 41 revealed that all four heterofunctionalities were necessary to maintain both chemical and optical yields. As seen in Scheme 5.58, MO calculations suggest that one hydroxyl groups forms a... 

P-Amino carbonyl compounds containing an a-atkyUdene group are densely functionalized materials, which are widely applied in the synthesis of medicinal reagents and natural products [265]. These products are usually prepared through the classic aza-Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction [176, 177] of activated imines and electron-deficient alkenes catalyzed by tertiary amines or phosphines. Chen and co-workers, in 2008, identified bis-thiourea 106 as a suitable catalyst for the... 

M. Shi and Y.-L. Shi reported the synthesis and application of new bifunctional axially chiral (thio) urea-phosphine organocatalysts in the asymmetric aza-Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) reaction [176, 177] of N-sulfonated imines with methyl vinyl ketone (MVK), phenyl vinyl ketone (PVK), ethyl vinyl ketone (EVK) or acrolein [316]. The design of the catalyst structure is based on axially chiral BINOL-derived phosphines [317, 318] that have already been successfully utilized as bifunctional catalysts in asymmetric aza-MBH reactions. The formal replacement of the hydrogen-bonding phenol group with a (thio)urea functionality led to catalysts 166-168 (Figure 6.51). 

Some additional examples, where the stereochemical outcome of the cycloaddition to chiral alkenes has been explained in terms of the Honk—Jager model, should also be mentioned. The diastereomer ratio found in the reaction of y-oxy-a,p-unsamrated sulfones (166), with Morita-Baylis-Hillman adducts [i.e., ot-(a -hydro-xyalkyl)-acrylates (167)] (Scheme 6.27), with dispiroketal-protected 3-butene-l,2-diol (168), and with a,p-unsamrated carbonyl sugar and sugar nitroolefin (169) derivatives, all agree well with this model. 

Ab initio calculations also confirm that the use of an allyl magnesium alkoxide in place of the alcohol functionality will lead to high or complete stereoselectivity (138). When homoallylic alcohols are used, the Kanemasa protocol afforded the respective isoxazolines with poor stereoselectivity ( 55 45) in the case of terminal aUcenes, but with very high diastereoselectivity (up to 96 4) in the reaction of cis-1,2-disubstituted olefins (136). Extension of this concept to the reaction of a-silyl allyl alcohols also proved feasible and produced the syn (threo) adducts as nearly pure diastereomers (>94 6) (137). Thus, the normal stereoselectivity of the cycloaddition to the Morita-Baylis-Hillman adducts (anti > syn, see above) can be reversed by prior addition of a Grignard reagent (176,177). Both this reversal... 

---