Nitromethane asymmetric Henry reaction

Scheme 6.146 Representative adducts obtained from the asymmetric Henry reaction between nitromethane and (hetero)aromatic aldehydes under bifunctional catalysis of C6 -thiourea-functionalized cinchona alkaloid 131.

The catalytic asymmetric Henry reaction has been reviewed.42 Mild and efficient enantioselective nitroaldol reactions of nitromethane with various aldehydes have been catalysed by chiral copper Schiff-base complexes yielding the corresponding adducts with high yields and good enantiometric excess.43,44... 

The asymmetric catalytic nitroaldol reaction, also known as the asymmetric Henry reaction, is another example of an aldol-related synthesis of high general interest. In this reaction nitromethane (or a related nitroalkane) reacts in the presence of a chiral catalyst with an aldehyde, forming optically active / -nitro alcohols [122], The / -nitro alcohols are valuable intermediates in the synthesis of a broad variety of chiral building blocks, e.g. / -amino alcohols. A highly efficient asymmetric catalytic nitroaldol reaction has been developed by the Shibasaki group, who used multifunctional lanthanoid-based complexes as chiral catalysts [122-125],... 

However, structural modification of the BINOL ligand system also plays an important role with regard to stereoselection in the asymmetric Henry reaction. Improved enantioselectivites were obtained using a number of (P)-BINOL derivatives 8 (3 mol equiv) in which the 6,6 -positions were substituted [21 ]. Their utility as asymmetric catalysts was assessed using the nitroaldol reaction of ni-tromethane with hydrocinnamaldehyde 1. Enantioselectivities up to 88% ee accompanied by chemical yields up to 85% were obtained using 3.3 mol % of various catalysts 9 and 10 equiv of nitromethane (-40 °C, 91 h) (Scheme 4). 

TABLE 53. Asymmetric Henry Reaction Between Nitromethane and Benzaldehyde Catalyzed by NAP-MgO with Different Ligands at —78 °C... 

TABLE 5.5. Asymmetric Henry Reaction between a-Keto Esters and Nitromethane Cataiyzed by NAP-MgO at -78 °C... 

A dinuclear zinc complex 26 of a novel chiral ligand is a very efficient chiral catalyst system to promote asymmetric Henry reaction. It is employed as the key step in the synthesis of (-)-denopamine, a selective Pi-adrenoceptor agonist, clinically effective in treating congestive cardiomyopathy. Aldehyde 27 condenses with nitromethane in the presence of 10% catalyst 26 in THF to afford vincinal nitroalcohol 28 in 88% yield with 90% ee. Hydrogenation of 28 catalyzed by palladium on carbon in ethanol furnishes aminoalcohol 29, which is then converted into the final product 30. 

A series of mono- and dialkylated, chiral 1,2-amino-phosphinamide ligands (752) have been successfully applied in the chiral phosphinamide-Zn(ii) catalysed asymmetric Henry reaction between benzaldehyde and nitromethane (Scheme 210). The effects of the N-substituent sizes of chiral ligands (752) on the enantioselectivities in this reaction have been correlated using a predictive quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) mathematical model. A quantitative correlation model has been also established based on subtractive Sterimol parameters. Ligand optimisation based on the QSAR model led to chiral 1,2-amino-phosphinamide ligand (752a), which produced (R)-p-nitroalcohol (753) in excellent yield (99%) and enantioselectivity (92% ee). ... 

Functionalization of the cinchona structure with a thiourea at the C6 position of the quinolone ring was demonstrated shortly after development of the C9 derivatives [69]. The transformation of the C6 methoxy group into a thiourea bearing a 3,5-di(trifluoromethyl)phenyl group, without affecting the stereochemistry at C9, resulted in a highly effective organocatalyst for the asymmetric Henry reaction of nitromethane with aromatic aldehydes (Scheme 6.28). 

The synthetic route to the structurally related bis-thioureas of type 32 from (R)-5,5, 6,6, 7,7, 8,8 -octahydro-l,T-binaphthyl-2,2 -diamine was reported by Shi. The effectiveness of the acid-base synergistic catalysis of parent 32a and N,N-diisopropylethylamine was verified by application to the asymmetric Henry reaction of nitromethane with aromatic aldehydes (Scheme 7.57) [86]. Moreover, the Morita-Bayhs-Hillman reaction between 2-cyclohexen-l-one or 2-cyclopenten-1-one and aromatic aldehydes was found to proceed with moderate to good levels of enantioselectivity under the catalysis of 32b, which has additional 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl groups at the 3,3 -positions of the octahydrobinaph-thyl backbone, and l,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) (Scheme 7.57) [87]. 

A chiral bis(oxazoline) ligand was covalently functionahzed onto a hierarchically ordered mesocellular mesoporous silica and applied to the asymmetric Henry reaction between various aldehydes and nitromethane at ambient temperature. As a chiral heterogeneous catalyst, this functionalized mesoporous material showed excellent enantioselectivity in the asymmetric Henry reaction when the free silanol groups of the mesoporous silica were capped by trimethylsilyl groups. And also this catalyst could be magnetically separated from the reaction mixture without significant loss of reactivity or enantioselectivity [94]. 

Jenner investigated the kinetic pressure effect on some specific Michael and Henry reactions and found that the observed activation volumes of the Michael reaction between nitromethane and methyl vinyl ketone are largely dependent on the magnitude of the electrostriction effect, which is highest in the lanthanide-catalyzed reaction and lowest in the base-catalyzed version. In the latter case, the reverse reaction is insensitive to pressure.52 Recently, Kobayashi and co-workers reported a highly efficient Lewis-acid-catalyzed asymmetric Michael addition in water.53 A variety of unsaturated carbonyl derivatives gave selective Michael additions with a-nitrocycloalkanones in water, at room temperature without any added catalyst or in a very dilute aqueous solution of potassium carbonate (Eq. 10.24).54... 

Scheme 12.22 Asymmetric nitroaldol (Henry) reaction of various aldehydes (Pe-h) with nitromethane.

Scheme 6.128 Product range of 121-catalyzed asymmetric aza-Henry reactions between N-protected aldimines and nitromethane. The configurations of the products were not determined.

The catalyst screening experiments were performed in the asymmetric Henry addition of nitromethane (10 equiv.) to 4-nitrobenzaldehyde in the presence of DABCO (20mol %) as the base and (thio)ureas 157, 158, 163, and 170-175 (each 10mol% loading). After 12h in reaction time at room temperature and in THF as the solvent, the corresponding Henry adduct was obtained in excellent yields (99%) but with very low ee values (7-17%) nearly independently of the sterical hindrance of the axiaUy chiral backbone skeleton (e.g., 172 and 174 each 99% yield 11% ee). Thioureas appeared slightly more enantioselective (e.g., 163 83% yield, 33% ee 171 99% yield, 15% ee) than their urea counterparts probably due... 

Since a-branched aldehydes gave rather higher asymmetric induction (Scheme 6.166), Nagasawa et al. extended the biphasic strategy to the diastereoselective Henry reaction of nitromethane with enantiomerically pure (S)-configured N,N -dibenzyl protected a-amino aldehydes and a-hydroxy aldehydes protected as silyl ethers. The screening reaction (Scheme 6.169) demonstrated a match/mismatch... 

Quite recently, Bandini, Umani-Ronchi and coworkers also reported the highly enantioselective Henry reaction of the various trifluoromethyl ketones 54 with nitromethane catalyzed by the C6 -hydroxy quinine derivatives S3 (5 mol%) [24]. Various aliphatic and aromatic ketones were smoothly converted to the desired tertiary carbinols SS in high yields and ee values (up to 99%) without any significant electronic or steric demands (Scheme 8.17). The difluoroketones 56 proved just as useful as substrates (Scheme 8.18). Of note, the parent alkaloid, quinine, as a catalyst did not give rise to any asymmetric induction. 

Herrera and Bernard have developed a new catalyhc enantioselechve approach to the asymmetric nucleophilic addition of nitromethane to N-carbamoyl imines generated from a-amido sulfones (aza-Henry reachon) [64]. The chiral phase-hansfer catalyst 85a acts in a dual fashion, first promohng the formation of the imine under mild reachon condihons and then achvahng the nucleophile for asymmetric addihon. This new strategy for the catalyhc aza-Henry reaction was... 

A fascinating variant of the enzymatic cyanohydrin formation consists in the use of nitroalkanes (as nonnatural nucleophiles) instead of cyanide (Scheme 2.209) [1568,1569]. Overall, this constitutes a biocatalytic equivalent to the Henry-reaction producing vicinal nitro-alcohols, which are valuable precursors for amino alcohols. Using (5)-HNL, the asymmetric addition of nitromethane to benzaldehyde gave the nitroalcohol in 92% e.e., while for p-nitrobenzaldehyde the stereoselectivity dropped sharply. With nitroethane, two stereocenters are created Whereas the stereoselectivity for the alcoholic center was high (e.e. 95%), the recognition for the adjacent center bearing the nitro moiety was modest and other (dia)stereomers were formed in up to 8%. 

Catalytic asymmetric nitroaldol (Henry) reactions of ketones lead to synthetically versatile chiral tertiary nitroaldols. Enantioselective nitroaldol reactions of a-keto esters have been achieved using chiral Cu and Mg complexes, and cinchona alkaloids [140]. However, there are no reports on the asymmetric synthesis of tertiary nitroaldols derived from simple ketones. Even for a racemic version, only a few methodologies with limited substrate scope are available. The difficulty arises from the attenuated reactivity of ketones and their strong tendency toward a retro-nitroaldol reaction under basic conditions. (S)-LLB catalyst was found suitable to promote retro-nitroaldol reaction and a kinetic resolution of racemic tert-nitroaldols was realized. (S)-LLB preferentially converted the matched (R)-enantiomer into ketone and nitromethane, whereas the mismatched (S)-enantiomer remained unchanged and was recovered in an enantiomerically... 

The asymmetric reaction of nitromethane with aldehydes as well as activated ketones (e.g., trifluoroacetophenone and a-ketoesters) is possible with various chiral metallic complexes or organocatalysts under atmospheric pressure with good yield and enantioselectivity. However, the Henry reaction of aryl alkyl ketones still remains problematic and challenging. Matsumoto s group also tested the very difficult reaction of acetophenone and nitromethane with quinidine. No product was observed under Ibar and only traces at 7 kbar, but application of 10 kbar resulted in a significant improvement in yield (31%) -unfortunately, no enantioselectivity was detected (Scheme 21.3). 

Fluorinated amino acids and amino alcohols have shown extensive biological activity [18]. In 2008, the Bandini and Umani-Ronchi group developed an efficient Henry reaction between nitromethane and fluoromethyl ketones catalyzed by cinchona alkaloids [19]. They showed that benzoylcupreines bearing electron-withdrawing substituents at the C9 position of the catalyst structure are essential for good results (Table 29.2,14 versus 15). Remarkably, comparable levels of asymmetric induction could be obtained with both aromatic and aliphatic ketones. 

Scheme 29.26 Asymmetric aza-Henry reaction of nitromethane and nitroethane under PTC conditions.

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