Stoichiometric enantiomeric excesses

The reason for the decrease in the enantiomeric excess observed in changing from stoichiometric to catalytic conditions was demonstrated to be due to a second catalytic cycle in which the chiral... 

Mejorado investigated the asymmetric addition of various organometallic nucleophiles using method A, but the reaction could not be catalyzed. The intermediates proved to be far too reactive. However, he established that the addition of a stoichiometric amount of a preformed chiral complex [an admixture of Taddol (r/om-a, -(dimethyl-1,3-dioxolane-4,5-diyl)bis(diphenyl methanol)) and EtMgBr] to 5 affords some enantiomeric excess in the resulting phenol product 6 (Fig. 4.12).13... 

Mono-, di-, and trisubstituted olefins undergo osmium-catalyzed enantioselective dihydroxylation in the presence of the (R)-proline-substituted hydroquinidine 3.9 to give diols in 67-95% yields and in 78-99% ee.75 Using potassium osmate(VI) as the catalyst and potassium carbonate as the base in a tm-butanol/water mixture as the solvent, olefins are dihydroxylated stereo- and enantioselectively in the presence of 3.9 and potassium ferricyanide with sodium chlorite as the stoichiometric oxidant the yields and enantiomeric excesses of the... 

The enantiomeric excess (ee) obtained under catalytic conditions was similar to that found when the hydride transfer was carried out in a stoichiometric reaction (Eq. (40)) these stoichiometric reactions were carried out in the presence of excess CH3CN, which captures the 16-electron cationic Ru complex following hydride transfer. 

Ukaji et al.117 reported an enantioselective cyclopropanation reaction in which moderate enantiomeric excess was obtained when a stoichiometric amount of diethyl tartrate was used as a chiral modifier. Takahashi et al.118 achieved better results using the C2-symmetric chiral disulfonamide 205 as the chiral ligand. 

The application of a chiral auxiliary or catalyst, in either stoichiometric or catalytic fashion, has been a common practice in asymmetric synthesis, and most of such auxiliaries are available in homochiral form. Some processes of enantiodifferentiation arise from diastereomeric interactions in racemic mixtures and thus cause enhanced enantioselectivity in the reaction. In other words, there can be a nonlinear relationship between the optical purity of the chiral auxiliary and the enantiomeric excess of the product. One may expect that a chiral ligand, not necessarily in enantiomerically pure form, can lead to high levels of asymmetric induction via enantiodiscrimination. In such cases, a nonlinear relationship (NLE) between the ee of the product and the ee of the chiral ligand may be observed. 

In 1986, Puchot et al.104 studied the nonlinear correlation between the enantiomeric excess of a chiral auxiliary and the optical yield in an asymmetric synthesis, either stoichiometric or catalytic. Negative NLEs [(—)-NLEs] were observed in the asymmetric oxidation of sulfide and in [.S ]-proline-mediated asymmetric Robinson annulation reactions, while a positive NLE [(+)-NLEs]... 

Cyclopropanations with diazomethane can proceed with surprisingly high diastereo-selectivities (Table 3.4) [643,662-664]. However, enantioselective cyclopropanations with diazomethane and enantiomerically pure, catalytically active transition metal complexes have so far furnished only low enantiomeric excesses [650,665] or racemic products [666]. These disappointing results are consistent with the results obtained in stoichiometric cyclopropanations with enantiomerically pure Cp(CO)(Ph3P)Fe=CH2 X , which also does not lead to high asymmetric induction (see Section 3.2.2.1). 

Although efficient organocatalytic methods for the electrophilic a-fluorination of aldehydes and ketones have recently been developed [7], high enantiomeric excesses can only be reached with aldehydes so far. The asymmetric inductions in the case of ketone fluorinations have remained low ee < 36%) [7a]. Thus, the a-silyl ketone-controlled stoichiometric asymmetric synthesis of a-fluoroketones 10 (Scheme 1.1.1) still constitutes a practical method. 

The hydroformylation reaction of vinyl aromatics (Table 4)60 lends itself to the synthesis of a number of 2-arylpropionic acids in high enantiomeric excess that are nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agents.61 Previous asymmetric syntheses of these acids required the use of stoichiometric amounts of chiral auxiliaries, which in most cases are not easily recovered. The branched aldehyde was oxidized to (S)-(+)-na-proxen,62 in 84% yield. 

Stoichiometric and catalytic asymmetric reactions of lithium enolate esters with imines have been developed using an external chiral ether ligand that links the components to form a ternary complex.36 The method affords /i-lactams in high enantiomeric excess. 

Preparatively more relevant is the use of chiral lithium amide bases, which have been successfully used both for enantioselective generation of allylic alcohols from meso-epoxides and for the related kinetic resolution of racemic epoxides [49, 50]. In many instances, chiral amide bases such as 58, 59, or 60 were used in stoichiometric or over-stoichiometric quantities, affording synthetically important allylic alcohols in good yields and enantiomeric excesses (Scheme 13.28) [49-54], Because of the scope of this review, approaches involving stoichiometric use of chiral bases will not be discussed in detail. 

Bruns and Haufe have described the first examples of a transition metal complex mediated asymmetric ring opening (ARO) of both meso- and racemic epoxides via formal hydro-fluorination [23]. Initial attempts with chiral Euln complexes led to very low asymmetric induction. Opening of cyclohexene oxide 30 with potassium hydrogendifluoride in the presence of 18-crown-6 and a stoichiometric amount of Jacobsens chiral chromium salen complex 29 [24a] finally yielded two products 31 and 32 in a 89 11 ratio and 92% combined yield, the desired product 31 being formed with 55% ee. Limiting 29 to a catalytic amount of 10 mol% led to an increase in the ratio of 31, however, with the enantiomeric excess dropping to 11% (Scheme 5). 

Spontaneous asymmetric synthesis has been envisaged by theoretical models for more than 50 years [1-7]. This process features the generation and amplification of optical activity during the course of a chemical reaction. It stands in contrast to asymmetric procedures, such as stoichiometric resolution, conglomerate crystallization, or chiral chromatography, in which the optical activity can be increased but no additional chiral product is formed [8]. It is also different from classical asymmetric synthesis, in which new chiral product is obtained but the resulting enantiomeric excess (ee) is usually less than or, at most, equal to that of the chiral initiator or catalyst1. 

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