Prochiral compounds ketones, asymmetric reductive

The asymmetric reduction of prochiral ketones to their corresponding enantiomerically enriched alcohols is one of the most important molecular transformations in synthetic chemistry (20,21). The products are versatile intermediates for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, biologically active compounds and fine chemicals (22,23). The racemic reversible reduction of carbonyls to carbinols with superstoichiometric amounts of aluminium alkoxides in alcohols was independently discovered by Meerwein, Ponndorf and Verley (MPV) in 1925 (21—26). Only in the early 1990s, first successful versions of catalytic... 

The boron atom dominates the reactivity of the boracyclic compounds because of its inherent Lewis acidity. Consequently, there have been very few reports on the reactivity of substituents attached to the ring carbon atoms in the five-membered boronated cyclic systems. Singaram and co-workers developed a novel catalyst 31 based on dicarboxylic acid derivative of 1,3,2-dioxaborolane for the asymmetric reduction of prochiral ketones 32. This catalyst reduces a wide variety of ketones enantioselectively in the presence of a co-reductant such as LiBH4. The mechanism involves the coordination of ketone 32 with the chiral boronate 31 and the conjugation of borohydride with carboxylic acid to furnish the chiral borohydride complex 34. Subsequent transfer of hydride from the least hindered face of the ketone yields the corresponding alcohol 35 in high ee (Scheme 3) <20060PD949>. 

Asymmetric reduction of prochiral ketones is one of most efficient method of the introduction of chirality in the synthesis of non-racemic biologically active compounds. Derived from chiral (S)-diphenyl prolinole the amino borate ester 1 has been prepared, fully characterized and used as highly effective catalyst for asymmetric reduction of ketons with borane. The optically pure alcohols 3 have been prepared using only 1 mol % of catalyst 1 in enantioselectivity up to 97%. 

In summary, many attempts have been made at achieving enantioselective reduction of ketones. Modified lithium aluminum hydride as well as the ox-azaborolidine approach have proved to be very successful. Asymmetric hydrogenation catalyzed by a chiral ligand-coordinated transition metal complex also gives good results. Figure 6-7 lists some of the most useful chiral compounds relevant to the enantioselective reduction of prochiral ketones, and interested readers may find the corresponding applications in a number of review articles.77,96,97... 

In addition to molecules containing prochiral sites, racemic molecules can participate in catalytic asymmetric transformations. In some transformations, the stereocenter is destroyed in the course of the reaction, and equilibrating prochiral intermediates are formed. An example of such a process is the asymmetric arylation of ketones (Figure 14.8C). In other cases, one of the enantiomers of the substrate reacts with the asymmetric catalyst significantly faster than the other enantiomer. In this case, an enantioenriched product is formed, and the opposite enantiomer of the reactant remains. This last process is called a kinetic resolution and is illustrated for the conjugate reduction of enones via hydrosilylation (Figure 14.8D). In this case, the top and bottom faces of the C-C double bond are diastereotopic because reaction at each face of the enone generates diastereomeric products. This section of the chapter first presents the principles that relate to reactions at prochiral centers of achiral substrates and then presents the principles that relate to reactions of racemic or meso compounds. 

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