Organic synthesis enantioselective catalysis

Enantioselective catalysis that rivals enzymes in selectivity is a major development in homogeneous catalysis. As a result, many earlier processes in the pharmaceutical and perfumery industries are being replaced by more elegant syntheses using soluble catalysts in which handedness is introduced in the critical step of the process, thus avoiding the costly separation of racemic mixtures. In view of its importance in organic synthesis, enantioselective (or asymmetric) catalysis was briefly introduced in Chapter 6 and is again considered as a powerful synthetic tool in Chapter 9. 

Stavenger, R.A. and Schreiber, S.L., Asymmetric catalysis in diversity-oriented organic synthesis enantioselective synthesis of 4320 encoded and spatially segregated dihydropyrancarboxamides, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 40, 3417, 2001. 

Clearly, there is a need for techniques which provide access to enantiomerically pure compounds. There are a number of methods by which this goal can be achieved . One can start from naturally occurring enantiomerically pure compounds (the chiral pool). Alternatively, racemic mixtures can be separated via kinetic resolutions or via conversion into diastereomers which can be separated by crystallisation. Finally, enantiomerically pure compounds can be obtained through asymmetric synthesis. One possibility is the use of chiral auxiliaries derived from the chiral pool. The most elegant metliod, however, is enantioselective catalysis. In this method only a catalytic quantity of enantiomerically pure material suffices to convert achiral starting materials into, ideally, enantiomerically pure products. This approach has found application in a large number of organic... 

The same reasoning applies to the synthesis of pure enantiomers as to organic synthesis in general processes should be atom efficient and have low E factors, i.e. involve catalytic methodologies. This is reflected in the increasing attention being focused on enantioselective catalysis, using either enzymes or chiral metal complexes. 

The methods of organic synthesis have continued to advance rapidly and we have made an effort to reflect those advances in this Fifth Edition. Among the broad areas that have seen major developments are enantioselective reactions and transition metal catalysis. Computational chemistry is having an expanding impact on synthetic chemistry by evaluating the energy profiles of mechanisms and providing structural representation of unobservable intermediates and transition states. 

Lewis acid catalysis is not limited to cases in which increased yields or enhanced selectivities are desired. Lewis acids offer also the possibility to induce chiral information leading to enantioselective product formation. The enantioselective induction by chiral Lewis acids found widespread application in organic synthesis, especially in the synthesis of natural products with many chiral centres. An enantioselective Diels-Alder reaction is the key step in the synthesis of an iodolactone prostaglandine precursor (Scheme 6).88... 

Recently, the power of designer acid catalysts has generally increased as a result of the development of the catalytic enantioselective versions described here. In particular, combined acid catalysis is still very much in a state of infancy, and there is still much more to learn with regard to new reactivity. The ultimate goal is a more reactive, more selective, and more versatile catalyst. We beheve that the realization of such an objective would be a tremendous benefit for the further development of organic synthesis, including green chemistry. 

The enantioselective addition of ally organometallics to carbonyls has become one of the workhorses of organic synthesis. Dennis Hall of the University of Alberta reports (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 125 10160, 2003) the scandium triflate catalysis chiral allylboronic acids become more effective tools. The best of these, the Hoffmann camphor derivative 2, adds to aldehydes under Sc(OTf), catalysis with excellent enantiomeric excess. The reaction works equally well for methallyl, and for the E and Z crotyl boronic acids. The crotyl derivatives react with the expected high diastereocontrol. A limitation to the boronate additions is that branched chain aldehydes give low yields. 

Selected recent developments in the area of asymmetric organocatalysis in our laboratory have been briefly summarized. Enamine catalysis, Brpnsted acid catalysis, and iminium catalysis turn out to be powerful new strategies for organic synthesis. Using Hantzsch ester as the hydride source, highly enantioselective transfer hydrogenantion reactions have been developed. We have also developed an additional new con-... 

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