Ruthenium alcohol racemization

Scheme 5.11 Dynamic kinetic resolution of alcohol 18 by combination of enzymatic transesterification and ruthenium-catalyzed racemization.

Interestingly, for the transformation of both the racemic 1-hydroxyalkanephosphonates 41 and 2-hydroxyalkanephosphonates 43 into almost enantiopure acetyl derivatives 42 and 44, respectively, a dynamic kinetic resolution procedure was applied. Pamies and BackvalP used the enzymatic kinetic resolution in combination with a ruthenium-catalysed alcohol racemization and obtained the appropriate O-acetyl derivatives in high yields and with almost full stereoselectivity (Equation 25, Table 5). It should be mentioned that lowering... 

Scheme 1.5 A simplified mechanism for ruthenium-catalyzed racemization of sec-alcohol.

Pahnans et al. prepared 5 by the reaction of [RuCl2(p-cymene)]2 and 2-phenyl-2-aminopropionamide in the presence of potassium carbonate. They used 5 in an iterative tandem catalysis for the synthesis of chiral oligoesters. The enzymatic ring opening of 6-methyl-e-caprolactone was combined with ruthenium-catalyzed alcohol racemization to produce optically active oligomers of 6-methyl-e-capro-lactone [23] (Scheme 1.17). 

Dijksman, A. Elzinga, M., J. Li, Yu-Xin, Arends, I., Sheldon, R., A. Efficient ruthenium-catalyzed racemization of secondary alcohols application to dynamic kinetic resolution. Tetrahedron Asymmetry 2002, 13, 879-884. 

Fig. 9.5 Ruthenium complexes used as alcohol racemization catalysts.

One place to look for good alcohol racemization catalysts is in the pool of catalysts that are used for hydrogen transfer reduction of ketones. One class of complexes that are excellent catalysts for the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation comprises the ruthenium complexes of mono sulfonamides of chiral diamines developed by Noyori and coworkers [20, 21]. These catalysts have been used for the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of ketones [20] and imines [21] (Fig. 9.9). 

By analogy, it seemed plausible that alcohol racemizations catalyzed by the same type of ruthenium complexes involve essentially the same mechanism (Fig. 9.11), in which the active catalyst is first generated by elimination of HC1 by the added base. This 16e complex subsequently abstracts two hydrogens from the alcohol substrate to afford an 18e complex and a molecule of ketone. Reversal of these steps leads to the formation of racemic substrate. 

The ruthenium-catalyzed racemization of a-methylbenzyl alcohol was combined with an enzyme-catalyzed transesterification with lipase. Dinuclear ruthenium complex 64 effectively catalyzes the racemization of a-methylbenzyl alcohol and the combination of 64, p-chlorophenyl acetate, and enzyme N-435 in the reaction of racemic amethylbenzyl alcohol gave enantiomerically pure (R)-a-methylbenzyl acetate in the excellent yield (Eq. 12.26) [29]. 

Scheme 19.5 Dynamic kinetic resolution of a secondary alcohol based on ruthenium-catalyzed racemization and enzymatic acylation.

Ruthenium-based racemization catalysts for the DKR of secondary alcohols. 

Larsson, A. L. E., Persson, B. A., and Backvall, J.-E. (1997). Enzymatic resolution of alcohols coupled with ruthenium-catalyzed racemization of the substrate alcohol. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl., 36,1211-1212. 

Koh, J. H., Jung, H. M., Kim, M.-J., and Park, J. (1999). Enzymatic resolution of secondary alcohols coupled with ruthenium-catalyzed racemization without hydrogen mediator. Tetrahedron Lett., 40,6281-6284. 

Maviynsky D, Paivio M, LundeU K, Sillanpaa R, Kanerva LT, Leino R. Dicarbonylchloro(pentabenzylcyclopentadienyl) ruthenium as racemization catalyst in the dynamic kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols. Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2009 1317-1320. 

D KR of allylic alcohols can be also performed using ruthenium complexes for the racemization that occurs through hydrogen transfer reactions (vide infra) [16]. 

The research group of Backvall employed the Shvo s ruthenium complex (1) [21] for the racemization. This complex is activated by heat. For the KR they used p-chlorophenyl acetate as the acyl donor in combination with thermostable enzymes, such as CALB [20] (Figure 4.7). This was the first practical chemoenzymatic DKR affording acetylated sec-alcohols in high yields and excellent enantioselectivities. In the best case 100% conversion (92% isolated yield) with 99% ee was obtained. This method was subsequently applied to a variety of different substrates and it is employed (with a different ruthenium complex) by the Dutch company DSM for the large-scale production of (R)-phenylethanol [22]. 

Kim and Park subsequently reported that ruthenium precatalyst (2) racemizes alcohols svithin 30 minutes at room temperature [23]. However, when combined... 

Sheldon et al. have combined a KR catalyzed by CALB with a racemization catalyzed by a Ru(II) complex in combination with TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpi-peridine 1-oxyl free radical) [28]. They proposed that racemization involved initial ruthenium-catalyzed oxidation of the alcohol to the corresponding ketone, with TEMPO acting as a stoichiometric oxidant. The ketone was then reduced to racemic alcohol by ruthenium hydrides, which were proposed to be formed under the reaction conditions. Under these conditions, they obtained 76% yield of enantiopure 1-phenylethanol acetate at 70° after 48 hours. 

Figure 6.3 Racemization of a secondary alcohol in the presence of a ruthenium hydrogen-transfer catalyst.

The method is not restricted to secondary aryl alcohols and very good results were also obtained for secondary diols [39], a- and S-hydroxyalkylphosphonates [40], 2-hydroxyalkyl sulfones [41], allylic alcohols [42], S-halo alcohols [43], aromatic chlorohydrins [44], functionalized y-hydroxy amides [45], 1,2-diarylethanols [46], and primary amines [47]. Recently, the synthetic potential of this method was expanded by application of an air-stable and recyclable racemization catalyst that is applicable to alcohol DKR at room temperature [48]. The catalyst type is not limited to organometallic ruthenium compounds. Recent report indicates that the in situ racemization of amines with thiyl radicals can also be combined with enzymatic acylation of amines [49]. It is clear that, in the future, other types of catalytic racemization processes will be used together with enzymatic processes. 

In an effort directed at developing a racemization catalyst which works uniformly for all the substrates at room temperature, we designed and synthesized a novel aminocyclopentadienyl ruthenium chloride complex 5. The DKR of aromatic as well as aliphatic alcohols could be conducted at room temperature. In case of aromatic alcohols, the substituent effects were found insignificant in the DKR however, aromatic alcohols have comparatively faster conversion rates than their ahphatic counterparts. This is the first ever report of a catalyst... 

The (5 )-selective DKR of alcohols with subtilisin was also possible in ionic liquid at room temperature (Table 14). " In this case, the cymene-ruthenium complex 3 was used as the racemization catalyst. In general, the optical purities of (5 )-esters were lower than those of (R)-esters described in Table 5. 

Catalytic oxidant.1 In combination with N-methylmorpholine N-oxide (7,244) as the stoichiometric oxidant, this ruthenium compound can be used as a catalytic oxidant for oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes or ketones in high yield in CH2C12 at 25°. Addition of 4A molecular sieves is generally beneficial. Racemization is not a problem in oxidation of alcohols with an adjacent chiral center. Tetrabutylammonium perruthenate can also be used as a catalytic oxidant, but the preparation is less convenient. 

The enantioselective oxidative coupling of 2-naphthol itself was achieved by the aerobic oxidative reaction catalyzed by the photoactivated chiral ruthenium(II)-salen complex 73. 2 it reported that the (/ ,/ )-chloronitrosyl(salen)ruthenium complex [(/ ,/ )-(NO)Ru(II)salen complex] effectively catalyzed the aerobic oxidation of racemic secondary alcohols in a kinetic resolution manner under visible-light irradiation. The reaction mechanism is not fully understood although the electron transfer process should be involved. The solution of 2-naphthol was stirred in air under irradiation by a halogen lamp at 25°C for 24 h to afford BINOL 66 as the sole product. The screening of various chiral diamines and binaphthyl chirality revealed that the binaphthyl unit influences the enantioselection in this coupling reaction. The combination of (/f,f )-cyclohexanediamine and the (R)-binaphthyl unit was found to construct the most matched hgand to obtain the optically active BINOL 66 in 65% ee. 

Many different metal catalysts have been explored for racemization of secondary alcohols. Among them, ruthenium-based organometallic complexes have been most intensively tested as the racemization catalyst (Figure 1.1). 

These ruthenium catalysts catalyze the racemization of secondary alcohol through a dehydrogenation/hydrogenation cycle with or without releasing ketone as a byproduct (Scheme 1.5). Catalysts 6-9 display good activities at room temperature, while others show satisfactory activities at elevated temperatures. Catalyst 1, for example, requires a high temperature (70 °C) for dissociation into two monomeric species (la and lb) acting as racemization catalysts (Scheme 1.6). 

Most ruthenium catalysts except 8 and 9 are highly sensitive to oxygen or air and must be used under anaerobic conditions. The latter can be used under aerobic conditions. Currently, no rationale is available for explaining the difference in stability between these mthenium catalysts. In general, racemizations by these catalysts take place more rapidly with benzylic alcohols compared to non-benzylic or aliphatic alcohols. 

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