Prochiral anhydrides

The desymmetrization of prochiral cyclic anhydrides promoted by cinchona alkaloid derivatives is archetypal of this reaction class. First investigated by the groups of Oda and Aitken using cinchonine and quinine respectively, Bolm subsequently showed that cinchona alkaloids could desymmetrize prochiral anhydrides with exquisite enantioselectivities, with the pseudoenantiomeric... 

Enantioselective alcoholysis of racemic, prochiral, or meso cyclic anhydrides can be catalyzed by hydrolases, yielding the corresponding monoesters (Eigure 6.25). In most cases, the enantioselectivity was moderate ]75-77]. Organometallic catalysts or organocatalysts such as cinchona alkaloids are often more efficient than enzymes for the stereoselective ring opening of cyclic anhydrides. 

Asymmetric conjugate addition of dialkyl or diaryl zincs for the formation of all carbon quaternary chiral centres was demonstrated by the combination of the chiral 123 and Cu(OTf)2-C H (2.5 mol% each component). Yields of 94-98% and ee of up to 93% were observed in some cases. Interestingly, the reactions with dialkyl zincs proceed in the opposite enantioselective sense to the ones with diaryl zincs, which has been rationalised by coordination of the opposite enantiofaces of the prochiral enone in the alkyl- and aryl-cuprate intermediates, which precedes the C-C bond formation, and determines the configuration of the product. The copper enolate intermediates can also be trapped by TMS triflate or triflic anhydride giving directly the versatile chiral enolsilanes or enoltriflates that can be used in further transformations (Scheme 2.30) [110],... 

Hydrosilylation of imine compounds was also an efficient method to prepare amines. The hydrosilylation product TV-silylamines can readily be desilylated upon methanol or water treatment, yielding the corresponding amines. The amines can be converted to their corresponding amides by subsequent acyl anhydride treatment. The first attempt to hydrogenate prochiral imines with Rh(I) chiral phosphine catalysts was made by Kagan102 and others. These catalysts exhibited low catalytic activity, and only moderate ee was obtained. 

Stereoselective ring cleavage and monoesterification of chiral Meldrum s acid derivatives has been achieved in high yield with a 34% enantiomeric excess under phase-transfer catalytic conditions in the presence of A-benzylquininium chloride [29]. A similar asymmetric ring-opening of prochiral (meso) acid anhydrides with... 

Our final example is that of cyclic anhydrides, namely prochiral 3-sub-stituted glutaric anhydrides (7.101, R = Me, Et, or Pr). When incubated with lipase in an inert solvent in the presence of an alcohol (methanol, butan-l-ol, etc.), these compounds underwent nucleophilic ring opening with formation of a hemiester (7.102) of (/ -configuration (60-90% ee) [180]. This product enantioselectivity and, of course, the lack of reactivity in the absence of lipase show the enzymatic nature of the reaction. 

A hydrolase-type reaction is otherwise rare in homogeneous catalysis, but the opening of prochiral cyclic anhydrides mediated by cinchona alkaloid in the presence of methanol leads to optically active hemiesters (Bolm, 2000). Very structurally di-... 

This chapter covers the kinetic resolution of racemic alcohols by formation of esters and the kinetic resolution of racemic amines by formation of amides [1]. The desymmetrization of meso diols is discussed in Section 13.3. The acyl donors employed are usually either acid chlorides or acid anhydrides. In principle, acylation reactions of this type are equally suitable for resolving or desymmetrizing the acyl donor (e.g. a meso-anhydride or a prochiral ketene). Transformations of the latter type are discussed in Section 13.1, Desymmetrization and Kinetic Resolution of Cyclic Anhydrides, and Section 13.2, Additions to Prochiral Ketenes. 

Desymmetrization and Kinetic Resolution of Anhydrides Desymmetrization of meso-Epoxides and other Prochiral Substrates... 

Most work on this subject is based on the use of alcohols as reagents in the presence of enantiomerically pure nucleophilic catalysts [1, 2]. This section is subdivided into four parts on the basis of classes of anhydride substrate and types of reaction performed (Scheme 13.1) - desymmetrization of prochiral cyclic anhydrides (Section 13.1.1) kinetic resolution of chiral, racemic anhydrides (Section 13.1.2) parallel kinetic resolution of chiral, racemic anhydrides (Section 13.1.3) and dynamic kinetic resolution of racemic anhydrides (Section 13.1.4). 

Desymmetrization of prochiral cyclic anhydrides In the presence of the chiral nucleophilic catalyst (e.g. A, Scheme 13.1, top) one of the enantiotopic carbonyl groups of the prochiral (usually meso) cyclic anhydride substrate is selectively converted into an ester. Application of catalyst B (usually the enantiomer or a pseudoenantiomer of A) results in generation of the enantiomeric product ester. Ideally, 100% of one enantiomerically pure product can be generated from the starting anhydride. No reports of desymmetrizing alcoholyses of acyclic meso anhydrides appear to exist in the literature. 

In this chapter, we attempt to review the current state of the art in the applications of cinchona alkaloids and their derivatives as chiral organocatalysts in these research fields. In the first section, the results obtained using the cinchona-catalyzed desymmetrization of different types of weso-compounds, such as weso-cyclic anhydrides, meso-diols, meso-endoperoxides, weso-phospholene derivatives, and prochiral ketones, as depicted in Scheme 11.1, are reviewed. Then, the cinchona-catalyzed (dynamic) kinetic resolution of racemic anhydrides, azlactones and sulfinyl chlorides affording enantioenriched a-hydroxy esters, and N-protected a-amino esters and sulftnates, respectively, is discussed (Schemes 11.2 and 11.3). 

It should be finally noted that hydroxyphosphines can be converted under very smooth conditions into sulfonated phosphines by acylation with o-sulfobenzoic anhydride, as shown by Borner et al. (Eq. 5) [26]. With this methodology in hand the severe conditions commonly used for the incorporation of sulphonate groups in phosphines can be avoided. Acid-labile functional groups like acetals survive under these conditions. In comparison to the parent hydroxyphosphines the water solubility of the relevant Rh catalysts was strongly enhanced [27]. In the asymmetric hydrogenation of prochiral olefins, moderate enantioselectivities were achieved. 

Alcoholysis of prochiral glutaric anhydrides under the usual conditions gives, with moderate selectivities, the monoesters 3-8. 

A sensitive probe applied to understand the nature of the reaction mechanism of group transfer is the stereochemistry of the overall reaction. The reaction at a phosphoryl center normally is a degenerate question, since a monosubstituted phosphate ester or anhydride is proprochiral at the phosphate center. Phosphate centers at a diester or disubstituted anhydride are prochiral. Two related methods to analyze the stereochemistry at a phosphate center have been developed by the generation of chirality at the phosphorus center. The first approach was developed by Usher et al. (24) and gave rise to the formation of isotopi-cally chiral [ 0, 0]thiophosphate esters and anhydrides (I). Isotopically chiral [ 0, 0, 0]phosphates (II) have also been synthesized and the absolute configurations determined. Two primary problems must first be addressed with respect to both of the methods that have been developed the synthesis of the isotopically pure chiral thiophosphates and phosphates and the analysis of the isotopic chirality of the products. An example of the chiral starting substrates, as developed for ATP, is schematically demonstrated. Ad = adenosine. 

Perhaps the most interesting developments in the area of selective lithiations to appear this year have been concerned with the control of absolute stereochemistry. The application of chiral amide bases to the enantioselective deprotonation of epoxides was first described some years ago by Whitesell and co-workers, but this year several groups have reported on other aspects of these useful reaqents. Symmetrically substituted ketones (5 R=Me, CH2Ph) have been shown by Simpkins to undergo an enantioselective deprotonation under kinetically controlled conditions to give, after reaction with an electrophile (iodomethane, allyl bromide or acetic anhydride), optically active ketones (6) or enol acetates (7) (Scheme 2). The ability of a number of bases to discriminate between the two prochiral protons present in (5) were evaluated and the most effective of those studied was the camphor derivative (8) deprotonation of (5 R=Me) proceeded in 74% enantiomeric excess... 

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