Rh BINAP

In 2000, Morken et al. reported the first examples of catalytic asymmetric reductive aldol reactions [21]. Using Rh(BINAP) (5mol%) as catalyst and Et2MeSiH as reductant, the syn-selective (1.7 1) coupling of benzalde-hyde and methyl acrylate produced the diastereomers 35-syn and 35-anti in 91% ee and 88% ee, respectively. Using phenyl acrylate as the nucleophilic partner, a favorable yield of 72% was obtained for the aldol product 36 (Scheme 12). Several aldehydes were examined, which exhibit higher levels of syn-selectivity. Expanding the scope of substrates and acrylates under... 

Krische and coworkers [44] developed a Rh-catalyzed asymmetric domino Michael/aldol reaction for the synthesis of substituted cyclopentanols and cyclohex-anols. In this process, three contiguous stereogenic centers, including a quaternary center, are formed with excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivity. Thus, using an enantiopure Rh-BINAP catalyst system and phenyl boronic acid, substrates 2-108 are converted into the correspondding cyclized products 2-109 in 69-88% yield and with 94 and 95% ee, respectively (Scheme 2.24). 

In order to establish the industrial application, [Rh(BINAP)2]C104 was developed as a new catalyst, which has excellent thermal stability allowing multiple repetition of the catalyst recovery. A further improvement of the catalyst was accomplished by the use of [Rh(TolBINAP)2]Cl04, which possessed a better solubility in organic solvents and achieved even higher optical yields (>98% ee) for the isomerization of allylamines such as geranylamine and nerylamine.15... 

Methoprene is an insect growth regulator and it is also used as an insecticide for cockroaches. The enantioselective isomerization of 7-methoxygeranylamine in the presence of [Rh((+)-BINAP)2]+ followed by acid hydrolysis provides the intermediate, 7-methoxycitronellal, in high yield with high optical purity (97%, 98% ee, Scheme 6).9 Alternatively, methoxylation of ( -citronellalenamine (98% ee) with methanol in the presence of 97% sulfuric acid followed by hydrolysis gives 7-methoxycitronellal in 79% yield without racemiza-tion (Scheme 6).9... 

Metal-catalyzed isomerization of allylamides is slower than that of allylamines. The isomerization was examined at higher temterature (>100°C) using [Rh((+)-BINAP) (cod)]+. Although the enantioselecdvity was high, the yield of the desired enamide was low due to the formation of dienamide (Equation (5)).9... 

In parallel to the asymmetric catalytic isomerization of allylamines, [Rh(BINAP) (solvent)2]C104 is a very efficient catalyst for the isomerization of allylic alcohols.9,11 By employing 0.5mol% of the catalyst, good to excellent conversions were achieved even in the case of substrates that are more difficult to isomerize, such as allylic alcohols having two alkyl groups in the terminal position (R1 = R2 = Me) and 2-cyclohexen-l-ol (Scheme 19). 

When the optically active catalyst [Rh((—)-BINAP)]+ was employed, a prochiral substrate was transformed to the corresponding chiral aldehyde with 18% ee (Scheme 23).45 Since the enantioselectivity-determining step in this... 

The methanol complex [Rh(BINAP) (MeOH)2]ClC>4 and the complex resulting from loss of MeOH from it are used as catalysts [47]. Both BINAP enantiomers were employed. 

BINAP (40a) was first reported as a ligand in an enantioselective hydrogenation in 1980 [172], and provides good selectivity for the reductions of dehydroamino acid derivatives [173], enamides, allylic alcohols and amines, and a,p-unsaturated acids [4, 9, 11, 12, 174, 175]. The fame of the ligand system really came with the reduction of carbonyl groups with ruthenium as the metal [11, 176]. The Rh-BINAP systems is best known for the enantioselective isomerizations... 

In contrast to the high enantioselectivity achieved for the Z-isomeric substrates, hydrogenation of the S-isomeric substrates usually proceeds at a much lower rate and gives poor enantioselectivities [86]. With the Rh-BINAP system as the catalyst and tetrahydrofuran (THF) as solvent, hydrogenation of the Z-and S-isomeric substrates generates products with different configurations [2]. 

In the Rh-BINAP-catalyzed allyl amine isomerization step used in Takasago s Menthol process, the catalyst is inhibited by water through the formation of a hydroxyl-bridged rhodium trinuclear complex [ Rh(BINAP) i(/<2-0H)2]C104 [61]. 

Isomerization of allylic amines is another example of the application of the BINAP complex. Rh BINAP complex catalyzes the isomerization of N,N-diethylnerylamine 40 generated from myrcene 39 with 76-96% optical yield. Compound (R)-citronellal (R)-42. prepared through hydrolysis of (R)-41, is then cyclized by zinc bromide treatment.49 Catalytic hydrogenation then completes the synthesis of (—)-menthol. This enantioselective catalysis allows the annual production of about 1500 tons of menthol and other terpenic substances by Takasago International Corporation.50... 

Such an isomerization of 4-hydroxy-2-cyclopentenone (2) results in 1,3-cyclopen-tanedione (3) via the keto enol. On exposure of racemic 2 to the optically active Rh-BINAP complex (R)-l, the (S)-enantiomer isomerizes more rapidly than (R)-2 to give, after 14 days at 0°, a mixture of 3 and (R)-2 in 91% ee. 

This procedure can be used to synthesize the key intermediate 34 of Merck s HIV protease inhibitor Crixivan 35 (Fig. 5) [25]. This reaction is done using dichloroacetaldehyde 26 instead of chloroacetaldehyde, forming the classical Ugi product 30. This intermediate is then treated with triethylamine to obtain the corresponding vinylchloride 31. Cyclization with KO Bu followed by stereoselective hydrogenation using the chiral catalyst Rh-BINAP afforded the Crixivan intermediate 34. (Scheme 5) The classical way to make this intermediate requires five steps, and thus makes the MCR route more attractive [25]. 

Separation of catalysts from high-value products such as fine chemicals or pharmaceuticals is often accomplished by precipitating the catalyst from the product solution. Recycling of these catalysts is feasible, provided that they do not decompose. In industry, catalyst recovery by means of catalyst precipitation is applied only in relatively small batch processes. An example of such a process is the production of (—)-menthol (id) in which an Rh-BINAP isomerization catalyst converts the allylic amine substrate into (R)-citronellal (after hydrolysis of the enamine) in high yield (99%) and with high enantioselectivity (98.5% ee). After distillation of the solvent (THF) and product, the catalyst is recovered from the residue by precipitation with -heptane. 

Wan and Davis135,138 modified rhodium complexes with the water soluble chiral tetrasulfonated binap ligand 26 (Table 2) and used them as catalysts in the asymmetric hydrogenation of 2-acetamidoacrylic acid in aqueous media. The e.e. observed in neat water using Rh/26 was approximately the same as that obtained with the unsulfonated Rh/binap in ethanol (68-70% versus 67%).135... 

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