Prolinol-derived catalysts Michael addition

S.2.3.2. 0L, -Unsaturatecl Aldehydes as Acceptors. As an alternative strategy for the synthesis of y-nitro aldehyde compounds, the asymmetric Michael addition of nitroalkanes to a,(3-unsaturated aldehydes was also investigated in recent years. Due to the high reactivity of aldehydes, the competitive 1,2-addition reaction is the major limitation for the development of such a reaction. Disubstituted prolinol silyl ether derivatives [72] proved to be effective catalysts to tackle this synthetic challenge, and excellent results were obtained with 7 in the presence of acid or base additive (Scheme 5.35). 

Finally, a remarkable four-component tandem Michael-aza-Henry-hemi-aminalisation-dehydration tandem reaction was recently developed by Lin and co-workers on the basis of a dual organocatalysis involving a chiral diaryl prolinol trimethylsilyl ether and a chiral cinchona alkaloid." As shown in Scheme 2.37, the reaction began with the Michael addition of an aldehyde to a nitroalkene catalysed by the L-proline-derived catalyst, giving the corresponding intermediate aldehyde. The latter intermediate... 

Later, the same group succeeded in achieving a cascade Michael/nitro-Mannich/ acetalization reaction by the combination of covalent enamine catalysis and noncovalent bifunctional base/Br0nsted acid catalysis [32]. The fuUy substituted piperidines with diverse substitution patterns were prepared efficiently starting from simple aliphatic aldehydes, Ts-protected imines, and trani -P-nitro alkenes (Scheme 9.36). This finding effectively incorporated prolinol silyl ether-catalyzed Michael addition of aldehyde 65 to nitroalkene 75 and valine-derived bifunctional thiourea-mediated nitro-Mannich reaction of y-nitro aldehyde 106 to imine 105 in the cascade process, providing a complementary contribution to the well-known single catalyst-promoted triple cascade reactions and two catalyst-promoted reaction cascades. 

The modified prolinol derivative (324) has been developed as a readily recyclable catalyst for the Michael addition of malonates CH2E2 (E = C02RO to enals RCH=CHCH=0, which proceeds at 10mol% loading in the presence of PhC02H (40%) as the Brpnsted acid cocatalysts in a mixture of H2O and Pr OH (3 2). The Michael adducts RCH(CHE2)CHCH=0 were thus obtained in <97% ee ... 

Proline and proline derivatives have been utilized extensively as chiral catalysts for a wide range of asymmetric transformations [40, 132]. Gelman has documented a remarkable case in which enolizable aldehydes undergo selective Michael additions to enone acceptors (Equation 28) [133]. Diphenylpro-linol methyl ether (165) proved superior to other prolinol derivatives in terms of enantioselectivity and reactivity. As an example, the addition of oc-tanal (163) to ethyl vinyl ketone (164) in the presence of 5 mol% of 165 was carried out without solvent to furnish 166 in 87% yield and >95% ee. 

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