The Mukaiyama Aldol

As part of a series, the Lewis base-catalysed Mukaiyama-directed aldol has been reviewed (57 references) on its 40th anniversary, focussing particularly on the work of 

Mukaiyama himself, and of Denmark. In addition to the development of its regio-, diastereo- and enantio-selectivities, its role as a proving ground for new concepts in (g) catalysis is described. 

A mild, convenient, asymmetric Mukaiyama aldol process uses chiral iron(in) or bis- muth(III) catalysts in water at 0  

The Kobayashi modification of the Mukaiyama aldol, in which lanthanide Lewis acids are used in aqueous solution, is a very attractive high-yielding green process, but the role of water is not understood.A computational smdy of the Eu +-catalysed reaction 0 between TMS cyclohexenolate and benzaldehyde seeks to probe the possibilities. Does water act as proton source Does it stabilize TMS dissociation Does it stabilize the syn-TSl These questions are addressed and answered using the AFiR method (artificial force-induced reaction) to probe the energy surfaces for the two most likely europium clusters, [Eu(H20)g] and [Eu(H20)9].  

A j yn-selective Kobayashi aldol reaction of acetals has been used for polyketide synthesis, with des up to 98%. 0 

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The use of indium in acpieous solution has been reported by Li and co-workers as a new tool in org nometallic chemistry. Recently Loh reported catalysis of the Mukaiyama-aldol reaction by indium trichloride in aqueous solution". Fie attributed the beneficial effect of water to a eg tion phenomena in connection with the high internal pressure of this solvenf This woric has been severely criticised by... 

A series of chiral boron catalysts prepared from, e.g., N-sulfonyl a-amino acids has also been developed and used in a variety of cycloaddition reactions [18]. Corey et al. have applied the chiral (S)-tryptophan-derived oxazaborolidine-boron catalyst 11 and used it for the conversion of, e.g., benzaldehyde la to the cycloaddition product 3a by reaction with Danishefsky s diene 2a [18h]. This reaction la affords mainly the Mukaiyama aldol product 10, which, after isolation, was converted to 3a by treatment with TFA (Scheme 4.11). It was observed that no cycloaddition product was produced in the initial step, providing evidence for the two-step process. 

The dihydropyrones are not produced directly in the initial BINOL-titanium(IV)-cat-alyzed reaction. The major product at this stage is the Mukaiyama aldol product which is subsequently cyclized by treatment with TFA [19fj. The formal cycloaddition product 3d (97% ee) obtained from a-(benzyloxy)acetaldehyde is an important intermediate for compactin and mevinolin. Scheme 4.13 outlines how the structural subunit 13 is available in three steps via this cycloaddition approach [19 fj. 

Chiral salen chromium and cobalt complexes have been shown by Jacobsen et al. to catalyze an enantioselective cycloaddition reaction of carbonyl compounds with dienes [22]. The cycloaddition reaction of different aldehydes 1 containing aromatic, aliphatic, and conjugated substituents with Danishefsky s diene 2a catalyzed by the chiral salen-chromium(III) complexes 14a,b proceeds in up to 98% yield and with moderate to high ee (Scheme 4.14). It was found that the presence of oven-dried powdered 4 A molecular sieves led to increased yield and enantioselectivity. The lowest ee (62% ee, catalyst 14b) was obtained for hexanal and the highest (93% ee, catalyst 14a) was obtained for cyclohexyl aldehyde. The mechanism of the cycloaddition reaction was investigated in terms of a traditional cycloaddition, or formation of the cycloaddition product via a Mukaiyama aldol-reaction path. In the presence of the chiral salen-chromium(III) catalyst system NMR spectroscopy of the crude reaction mixture of the reaction of benzaldehyde with Danishefsky s diene revealed the exclusive presence of the cycloaddition-pathway product. The Mukaiyama aldol condensation product was prepared independently and subjected to the conditions of the chiral salen-chromium(III)-catalyzed reactions. No detectable cycloaddition product could be observed. These results point towards a [2-i-4]-cydoaddition mechanism. 

The Mukaiyama aldol reaction refers to Lewis acid-catalyzed aldol addition reactions of silyl enol ethers, silyl ketene acetals, and similar enolate equivalents,48 Silyl enol ethers are not sufficiently nucleophilic to react directly with aldehydes or ketones. However, Lewis acids cause reaction to occur by coordination at the carbonyl oxygen, activating the carbonyl group to nucleophilic attack. 

Quite a number of other Lewis acids can catalyze the Mukaiyama aldol reaction, including Bu2Sn(03SCF3)2,51 Bu3SnC104,52 Sn(03SCF3)2,53 Zn(03SCF3)2,54 and... 

The Mukaiyama aldol reaction can provide access to a variety of (3-hydroxy carbonyl compounds and use of acetals as reactants can provide (3-alkoxy derivatives. The issues of stereoselectivity are the same as those in the aldol addition reaction, but the tendency toward acyclic rather than cyclic TSs reduces the influence of the E- or Z-configuration of the enolate equivalent on the stereoselectivity. 

Scheme 2.2 illustrates several examples of the Mukaiyama aldol reaction. Entries 1 to 3 are cases of addition reactions with silyl enol ethers as the nucleophile and TiCl4 as the Lewis acid. Entry 2 demonstrates steric approach control with respect to the silyl enol ether, but in this case the relative configuration of the hydroxyl group was not assigned. Entry 4 shows a fully substituted silyl enol ether. The favored product places the larger C(2) substituent syn to the hydroxy group. Entry 5 uses a silyl ketene thioacetal. This reaction proceeds through an open TS and favors the anti product. 

Scheme 2.8. Chiral Catalysts for the Mukaiyama Aldol Reactions...

Using a cyclic enone 2-29b and an ester-TMS enolate 2-30 in the presence of catalytic amounts of SmI2(THF)2, the Michael addition and the Mukaiyama/aldol reaction with the added aldehyde 2-32 led to the diastereomeric adducts 2-33 and 2-34 via 2-31 with a dr =80 20 to 98 2 and 70-77% yield (Scheme 2.7) [13]. The major product is the trans-l,2-disubstituted cycloalkanone. 

Notably, the Mukaiyama aldol/lactonizahon approach has been used in the total synthesis of panclicin D (2-258) [139b,c] and okinonellin B (2-261) (Scheme 2.61) [139d]. In the synthesis of 2-258, aldehyde 2-254 and the ketene acetal 2-255 were used to prepare the 3-lactone 2-256 with high simple and induced diastereoselectivity. There follows an esterification with the carboxylic acid 2-257. For the synthesis of 2-261, the aldehydes 2-259 and 2-252b were employed as substrates leading initially to the (1-lac tone 2-260. 

Silyloxy)alkenes were first reported by Mukaiyama as the requisite latent enolate equivalent to react with aldehydes in the presence of Lewis acid activators. This process is now referred to as the Mukaiyama aldol reaction (Scheme 3-12). In the presence of Lewis acid, anti-aldol condensation products can be obtained in most cases via the reaction of aldehydes and silyl ketene acetals generated from propionates under kinetic control. 

The isomerization of an O-silyl ketene acetal to a C-silyl ester is catalyzed by a cationic zirconocene—alkoxide complex [92], This catalysis was observed as a side reaction in the zirconocene-catalyzed Mukaiyama aldol reactions and has not yet found synthetic use. The solvent-free bis(triflate) [Cp2Zr(OTf)2] also catalyzes the reaction in nitromethane (no reaction in dichloromethane), but in this case there may be competitive catalysis by TMSOTf (cf. the above discussion of the catalysis of the Mukaiyama aldol reaction) [91] (Scheme 8.51). 

Ghosh et al. (228) investigated the cycloaddition of Danishefsky s diene (1-methoxy-3-trimethylsiloxybutadiene, 334) and glyoxylate esters. The reaction provides a mixture of the Mukaiyama aldol product (336) and dihydropyrone (335). Treatment of the unpurified reaction mixture with trifluoroacetic acid induced the cyclocondensation to provide dihydropyrone (335) in 70% combined yield and 72% ee, Eq. 188. 

The addition of an enolsilane to an aldehyde, commonly referred to as the Mukaiyama aldol reaction, is readily promoted by Lewis acids and has been the subject of intense interest in the field of chiral Lewis acid catalysis. Copper-based Lewis acids have been applied to this process in an attempt to generate polyacetate and polypropionate synthons for natural product synthesis. Although the considerable Lewis acidity of many of these complexes is more than sufficient to activate a broad range of aldehydes, high selectivities have been observed predominantly with substrates capable of two-point coordination to the metal. Of these, benzy-loxyacetaldehyde and pyruvate esters have been most successful. 

The salt 18 was explored in the Mukaiyama aldol reaction with acetophenone, and a yield of 96% was obtained after 1 h at -78 °C (Scheme 11). When MejSiOTf was used as a catalyst, a yield of 0% was observed. Me3SiNTf3 and Et3SiNTf3 resulted in 12% and 8% yield, respectively. 

During the past decades, the scope of Lewis acid catalysts was expanded with several organic salts. The adjustment of optimal counter anion is of significant importance, while it predetermines the nature and intensity of catalytic Lewis acid activation of the reactive species. Discovered over 100 years ago and diversely spectroscopically and computationally investigated [131-133], carbocations stiU remain seldom represented in organocatalysis, contrary to analogous of silyl salts for example. The first reported application of a carbenium salt introduced the trityl perchlorate 51 (Scheme 49) as a catalyst in the Mukaiyama aldol-type reactions and Michael transformations (Scheme 50) [134-142]. 

In order to enhance the catalytic activity of a carbocationic center, the novel Lewis acid 54 was designed by Mukaiyama [149-152]. The 1-oxoisoindolium-based carbenium salt 54 [149], possessing a weak coordinating borate counter anion, proved to be a very active catalyst in the aldoUzation (Scheme 58) [150]. The Mukaiyama aldol reaction was catalyzed by 1 mol% of salt 54 and proceeded in up to 97% yield in 30 min. 

While the ambiguity of the catalysis of the Diels-Alder reaction needs to be carefully elucidated, the application of the ferrocenyl carbocations in the Mukaiyama aldolization turned out evidently to be unrealisable due to their interaction with the TMS enol ether that produces TMSOTf, which proved readily to catalyze the aldolization [154]. 

The Mukaiyama aldol reaction is one of the most important means for C-C bond formation. Silyl end ethers react with aldehydes in the presence of Lewis acids to give (3-hydroxy carboxylates. 

Fig. 13). The cross-linked scandium-modified dendrimer was tested in a number of Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions, including Mukaiyama aldol additions to aldehydes and aldimines, Diels-Alder reactions, and Friedel-Crafts acylations. The dendritic catalyst was recovered by a simple filtration. The Mukaiyama aldol... 

In the Mukaiyama aldol additions of trimethyl-(l-phenyl-propenyloxy)-silane to give benzaldehyde and cinnamaldehyde catalyzed by 7 mol% supported scandium catalyst, a 1 1 mixture of diastereomers was obtained. Again, the dendritic catalyst could be recycled easily without any loss in performance. The scandium cross-linked dendritic material appeared to be an efficient catalyst for the Diels-Alder reaction between methyl vinyl ketone and cyclopentadiene. The Diels-Alder adduct was formed in dichloromethane at 0°C in 79% yield with an endo/exo ratio of 85 15. The material was also used as a Friedel-Crafts acylation catalyst (contain-ing7mol% scandium) for the formation of / -methoxyacetophenone (in a 73% yield) from anisole, acetic acid anhydride, and lithium perchlorate at 50°C in nitromethane. 

Lewis acids are quite often used as catalysts in organic synthesis. Although most Lewis acids decompose in water, it was found that rare earth triflates such as Sc(OTf)3, Yb(OTf)3, etc. can be used as Lewis acid catalysts in water or water-containing solvents (water-compatible Lewis acids) [6-9]. For example, the Mukaiyama aldol reactions of aldehydes with silyl enol ethers were catalyzed by Yb(OTf)3 in water-THF (1 4) to give the corresponding aldol adducts in high yields [10, 11]. Interestingly, when the reactions were carried out in dry THF (without water), the yield of the aldol adducts was very low (ca. 10%). Thus, this catalyst is not only compatible with water but also is activated by water, probably due to dissociation of the counteranions from the Lewis acidic metal. Furthermore, the catalyst can be easily recovered and reused. 

Bismuth triflate has been reported by Dubac as an efficient catalyst for the Mukaiyama aldol reaction with silyl enol ethers [27] and was recently used with a chiral ligand, as reported by Kobayashi in an elegant hydroxymethylation reaction... 

Initially, various solvents were screened for the Mukaiyama aldol reaction of benzal-dehyde with 2-(trimethylsilyloxy)furan in the presence of 1 mol% of Bi(0Tf)3-4H20. 

The success of their initial VMA studies led the Rawal group to further probe hydrogen bonding catalysis of the Mukaiyama aldol reaction between the highly... 

One of the early syntheses of orlistat (1) by Hoffmann-La Roche utilized the Mukaiyama aldol reaction as the key convergent step. Therefore, in the presence of TiCU, aldehyde 7 was condensed with ketene silyl acetal 8 containing a chiral auxiliary to assemble ester 9 as the major diastereomer in a 3 1 ratio. After removal of the amino alcohol chiral auxiliary via hydrolysis, the a-hydroxyl acid 10 was converted to P-lactone 11 through the intermediacy of the mixed anhydride. The benzyl ether on 11 was unmasked via hydrogenation and the (5)-7V-formylleucine side-chain was installed using the Mitsunobu conditions to fashion orlistat (1). 

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