Nitrile enantioselectivity

Acylhydrazones, R CH=N-NHCOR , undergo stereoselective Mannich reactions with silyl ketene acetals to give j8-hydrazido esters, using activation by a chiral silicon Lewis acid. Alternatively, the use of silyl ketene imine gives a /3-hydrazido nitrile. Enantioselective (5)-l-amino-2-methoxymethylpyrrolidine (SAMP) hydrazone alkylation of aldehydes and ketones is the subject of a computational study, providing a useful screening method for possible new candidates. " ... 

Unsaturated Carboxylic Add Amides, Esters, and Nitriles Enantioselective hydroformylation of dialkylacrylamides was investigated by Clarke and coworkers in detail (Scheme 4.81) [56]. It was found that these substrates undergo hydroformylation more slowly than styrene. Up to 82% ee was realized in the best trials. A serious problem was caused by the epimerization of chiral aldehydes by the intermediarily formed umnodified rhodium hydride complexes. Therefore, the reaction times should be kept short, and low temperatures are recommended. 

There are two distinct classes of enzymes that hydrolyze nitriles. Nittilases (EC 3.5.5. /) hydrolyze nittiles directiy to corresponding acids and ammonia without forming the amide. In fact, amides are not substrates for these enzymes. Nittiles also may be first hydrated by nittile hydratases to yield amides which are then converted to carboxyUc acid with amidases. This is a two-enzyme process, in which enantioselectivity is generally exhibited by the amidase, rather than the hydratase. 

The first, and so far only, metal-catalyzed asymmetric 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of nitrile oxides with alkenes was reported by Ukaji et al. [76, 77]. Upon treatment of allyl alcohol 45 with diethylzinc and (l ,J )-diisopropyltartrate, followed by the addition of diethylzinc and substituted hydroximoyl chlorides 46, the isoxazolidines 47 are formed with impressive enantioselectivities of up to 96% ee (Scheme 6.33) [76]. 

Accordingly, cyclic nitronates can be a useful synthetic equivalent of functionalized nitrile oxides, while reaction examples are quite limited. Thus, 2-isoxazoline N-oxide and 5,6-dihydro-4H-l,2-oxazine N-oxide, as five- and six-membered cyclic nitronates, were generated in-situ by dehydroiodination of 3-iodo-l-nitropropane and 4-iodo-l-nitrobutane with triethylamine and trapped with monosubstituted alkenes to give 5-substituted 3-(2-hydroxyethyl)isoxazolines and 2-phenylperhydro-l,2-oxazino[2,3-fe]isoxazole, respectively (Scheme 7.26) [72b]. Upon treatment with a catalytic amount of trifluoroacetic acid, the perhydro-l,2-oxazino[2,3-fe]isoxazole was quantitatively converted into the corresponding 2-isoxazoline. Since a method for catalyzed enantioselective nitrone cycloadditions was established and cyclic nitronates should behave like cyclic nitrones in reactivity, there would be a good chance to attain catalyzed enantioselective formation of 2-isoxazolines via nitronate cycloadditions. 

A very efficient and universal method has been developed for the production of optically pue L- and D-amino adds. The prindple is based on the enantioselective hydrolysis of D,L-amino add amides. The stable D,L-amino add amides are effidently prepared under mild reaction conditions starting from simple raw materials (Figure A8.2). Thus reaction of an aldehyde with hydrogen cyanide in ammonia (Strecker reaction) gives rise to the formation of the amino nitrile. The aminonitrile is converted in a high yield to the D,L-amino add amide under alkaline conditions in the presence of a catalytic amount of acetone. The resolution step is accomplished with permeabilised whole cells of Pseudomonas putida ATCC 12633. A nearly 100% stereoselectivity in hydrolysing only the L-amino add amide is combined with a very broad substrate spedfidty. 

Nitrilases catalyze the synthetically important hydrolysis of nitriles with formation of the corresponding carboxylic acids [4]. Scientists at Diversa expanded the collection of nitrilases by metagenome panning [56]. Nevertheless, in numerous cases the usual limitations of enzyme catalysis become visible, including poor or only moderate enantioselectivity, limited activity (substrate acceptance), and/or product inhibition. Diversa also reported the first example of the directed evolution of an enantioselective nitrilase [20]. An additional limitation had to be overcome, which is sometimes ignored, when enzymes are used as catalysts in synthetic organic chemistry product inhibition and/or decreased enantioselectivity at high substrate concentrations [20]. 

Enantioselective transformations of several cyclopropane or oxirane-containing nitriles were studied using nitrile-transforming enzymes [78]. Microbial Rhodococcus sp. whole cells containing a nitrile hydratase/amidase system hydrolyzed a number... 

Both cis- and trans-chrysanthemic nitriles and amides were resolved into highly enantiopure amides and acids by Rhodococcus sp. whole cells [85]. The overall enantioselectivity of reactions of nitriles originated from the combined effects of a higher (lJ )-selective amidase and a (IJ )-selective nitrile hydratase (Figure 6.29). Chrysanthemic acids are related to constituents of pyrethrum flowers and insecticides. 

The addition of HCN to aldehydes or ketones produces cyanohydrins (a-hydroxy nitriles). Cyanohydrins racemize under basic conditions through reversible loss of FiCN as illustrated in Figure 6.30. Enantiopure a-hydroxy acids can be obtained via the DKR of racemic cyanohydrins in the presence of an enantioselective nitriletransforming enzyme [86-88]. Many nitrile hydratases are metalloenzymes sensitive to cyanide and a nitrilase is usually used in this biotransformation. The DKR of mandelonitrile has been extended to an industrial process for the manufacture of (R)-mandelic acid [89]. 

Ferrocen-l,l -diylbismetallacycles are conceptually attractive for the development of bimetal-catalyzed processes for one particular reason the distance between the reactive centers in a coordinated electrophile and a coordinated nucleophile is self-adjustable for specific tasks, because the activation energy for Cp ligand rotation is very low. In 2008, Peters and Jautze reported the application of the bis-palladacycle complex 56a to the enantioselective conjugate addition of a-cyanoacetates to enones (Fig. 31) [74—76] based on the idea that a soft bimetallic complex capable of simultaneously activating both Michael donor and acceptor would not only lead to superior catalytic activity, but also to an enhanced level of stereocontrol due to a highly organized transition state [77]. An a-cyanoacetate should be activated by enolization promoted by coordination of the nitrile moiety to one Pd(II)-center, while the enone should be activated as an electrophile by coordination of the olefinic double bond to the carbophilic Lewis acid [78],... 

Organocerium reagents also show excellent reactivity toward nitriles and imines,205 and organocerium compounds were found to be the preferred organometallic reagent for addition to hydrazones in an enantioselective synthesis of amines.206... 

The nitrilase from cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 was found to effect the stereoselective hydrolysis of phenyl-substituted /3-hydroxy nitriles to (S)-enriched /3-hydroxy carboxylic acids. The enzyme also effected the conversion of y-hydroxynitrile, albeit with lesser enantioselectivity (Table 8.10). Interestingly, this enzyme was also was found to hydrolyze aliphatic dinitriles, such that for 1,2-dicyanoethane and 1,3-dicyanopropane the... 

Yeom, S.-J., Kim, H.-J. and Oh, D.-K. (2007) Enantioselective production of 2,2-dimethylcyclopropane carboxylic acid from 2,2-dimethylcyclopropane carbonitrile using the nitrile hydratase and amidase of Rhodococcus erythropolis ATCC 25544. Enzyme and Microbial Technology, 41, 842-848. 

Song, L., Wang, M., Yang, X. and Qian, S. (2007) Purification and characterization of the enantioselective nitrile hydratase from Rhodococcus sp. AJ270. Biotechnology Journal, 2, 717-724. 

Catalytic enantioselective crossed aldehyde-ketone benzoin cyclizations of ketoaldehydes, such as 13, readily obtained from an aryl nitrile oxide and a 1,3-diketone, were studied in order to perform the synthesis of complex molecules. Significant asymmetric induction was observed with chiral triazolium salts such as 14, in the presence of DBU as base, leading to compound 15 in high yield and with 99% ee in favor of the R enantiomer <06AG(E)3492>. 

Diastereoselective intermolecular nitrile oxide—olefin cycloaddition has been used in an enantioselective synthesis of the C(7)-C(24) segment 433 of the 24-membered natural lactone, macrolactin A 434 (471, 472). Two (carbonyl)iron moieties are instrumental for the stereoselective preparation of the C(8)-C(ii) E,Z-diene and the C(i5) and C(24) sp3 stereocenters. Also it is important to note that the (carbonyl)iron complexation serves to protect the C(8)-C(ii) and C(i6)-C(i9) diene groups during the reductive hydrolysis of an isoxazoline ring. 

The a-arylation of carbonyl compounds (sometimes in enantioselective version) such as ketones,107-115 amides,114 115 lactones,116 azlactones,117 malonates,118 piperidinones,119,120 cyanoesters,121,122 nitriles,125,124 sul-fones, trimethylsilyl enolates, nitroalkanes, esters, amino acids, or acids has been reported using palladium catalysis. The asymmetric vinylation of ketone enolates has been developed with palladium complexes bearing electron-rich chiral monodentate ligands.155... 

Burk et al. showed the enantioselective hydrogenation of a broad range of N-acylhydrazones 146 to occur readily with [Et-DuPhos Rh(COD)]OTf [14]. The reaction was found to be extremely chemoselective, with little or no reduction of alkenes, alkynes, ketones, aldehydes, esters, nitriles, imines, carbon-halogen, or nitro groups occurring. Excellent enantioselectivities were achieved (88-97% ee) at reasonable rates (TOF up to 500 h ) under very mild conditions (4 bar H2, 20°C). The products from these reactions could be easily converted into chiral amines or a-amino acids by cleavage of the N-N bond with samarium diiodide. 

Secondary phosphine oxides are known to be excellent ligands in palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions and platinum-catalyzed nitrile hydrolysis. A series of chiral enantiopure secondary phosphine oxides 49 and 50 has been prepared and studied in the iridium-catalyzed enantioselective hydrogenation of imines [48] and in the rhodium- and iridium-catalyzed hydrogenation functionalized olefins [86]. Especially in benzyl substituted imine-hydrogenation, 49a ranks among the best ligands available in terms of ex. 

The ligands are synthesized from achiral starting materials using a ketocar-bene-nitrile cycloaddition as the key step (Scheme 29.8). The stereogenic center is introduced by enantioselective reduction of the carbonyl group in the cycloaddition product. 

Nitrile groups in the substrate may also cause problems. Minnaard, Feringa and de Vries reported the enantioselective hydrogenation of a range of substituted 2-acetamido-cinnamates at 5 bar pressure using Rh/MonoPhos. Whereas most substrates could be hydrogenated with turnover frequencies (TOFs) of between 200 IT1 and 600 h-1, the 4-cyano-substituted substrate was hydrogenated very slowly at this pressure with a TOF of only 4 h 1 [40]. 

Scheme 44.6 Overcoming inhibition by nitrile in enantioselective hydrogenation.

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