Thiourea double hydrogen bonding catalysts

For organizational reasons, several catalytic systems possessing multiple hydrogen bond donating functionalities have been included in this section which may not be classified as BBAs. For example, the bistrifylamide Mikami catalyst could perhaps be classified as a double-hydrogen bond donor catalyst akin to thiourea catalysis. 

The organocatalytic activation of electrophiles through (double) hydrogen bonding has been exploited in the transfer hydrogenation of imines and nitroolefins using Hanztsch esters. Unsubstituted thiourea was reported as efficient catalyst for the one-pot reductive animation of both aldehydes [77] and ketones [78] with various... 

Urea, Thiourea and Squaramide Catalysts - Double Hydrogen Bonding Catalysis... 

Thioureas are most commonly prepared from reaction of isothiocyanates with amines. Also there are some reports on reactions of anime or carbodiimides with several thionating reagents. AA -Disubstituted thioureas bearing double NH groups have been developed as sensors, and as catalysts because of their hydrogen bonding ability. A,A -Disubstituted thiourea-linked sugar chains have been prepared by the reaction of isothiocyanate with amine. 

As expected, the reaction is fastest in water due to its hydrogen-bonding ability and high dielectric constant. Addition of 1 mol% of the thiourea catalyst 10 increases the yields after 1 h in cyclohexane and chloroform by about 60% a 40 mol% catalyst doubles the yield. A sizeable catalytic effect of the m-trifluoromethyl-substi luted thiourea was also found in water. Explanations for the surprising fact that this hydrogen-bond donor is catalytically active even in a highly competitive solvent such as water will be given in Section III.D.3. 

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