Thiourea Michael addition catalysts

Scheme 6 Enantioselective Michael-addition of acetylacetone to nitrostyrene catalyzed by a bifunctional thiourea catalyst...

Papai et al. selected as model reaction the addition of 2,4-pentanedione (acetylacetone) to trans-(R)-mtrostyvQnQ, catalyzed by the bifunctional thiourea catalyst shown in Scheme 6 [46]. The analogous Michael-addition involving dimethyl malonate and nitroethylene as substrates, and a simplified catalyst was calculated at the same level of theory by Liu et al. [47]. Himo et al. performed a density functional study on the related cinchona-thiouTQa catalyzed Henry-reaction between nitromethane and benzaldehyde [48]. 

The conjugate addition of nitro olefins under chiral Cmc/mna-thiourea catalysis has shown promising results with a variety of Michael donors. Dixon conducted a screen of various chiral thioureas and identified catalyst 117 as a versatile catalyst that works well with p-substituted nitro-olefms (78) [74]. Aromatic, heteroaromatic... 

Following work on Michael addition of triazoles to nitro-olefins (discussed in Sect. 2.5), bifunctional chiral thiourea catalysts were used in the addition of triazoles to chalcones [83]. The catalytic system was applicable to enones bearing aromatic groups of varying electronic natures to provide good yields and moderate selectivity. a-Cyanoacetates [84] were also applied in Michael addition to chalcones under similar catalytic conditions (Scheme 33). 

The scope of Michael additions with catalysts containing cyclohexane-diamine scaffolds was broadened by Li and co-workers [95]. When screening for a catalyst for the addition of phenylthiol to a,p-nnsatnrated imides, the anthors fonnd that thiourea catalyst 170 provided optimal enantioselectivities when compared to Cinchon alkaloids derivatives (Scheme 41). Electrophile scope inclnded both cyclic and acyclic substrates. Li attributed the enantioselectivity to activation of the diketone electrophiles via hydrogen-bonding to the thiourea, with simultaneous deprotonation of the thiol by the tertiary amine moiety of the diamine (170a and 170b). Based on the observed selectivity, the anthors hypothesized that the snbstrate-catalyst... 

Wang and co-workers reported a novel class of organocatalysts for the asymmetric Michael addition of 2,4-pentandiones to nitro-olefms [131]. A screen of catalyst types showed that the binaphthol-derived amine thiourea promoted the enantiose-lective addition in high yield and selectivity, unlike the cyclohexane-diamine catalysts and Cinchona alkaloids (Scheme 77, Table 5). 

The Takemoto group synthesized a series ofdiaminocyclohexane-based thiourea derivatives (e.g., 12, 40, 57, and 58) for catalysis of the Michael addition [149-152] ofmalonates to trons-j3-nitrostyrenes (Figure 6.18) [129, 207]. In the model, Michael addition of diethyl malonate to trons-]3-nitrostyrene at room temperature and in toluene as the solvent tertiary amine-functionalized thiourea 12 (10mol% loading) was identified to be the most efficient catalyst in terms of catalytic activity (86%... 

Figure 6.27 Representative (R,R)-l,2-diaminocyclohexane-derived thiourea derivatives incorporating a phthalimide (Phthal) and tetraphenylphthalimide (TPhP) moiety catalyst screening was performed in the Michael addition of acetophenone-derived morpholine enamine to trans-()-nitrostyrene in toluene as the solvent.

The modification of thiourea catalyst 93 through incorporation of the (S,S)-diaminocyclohexane backbone as an additional chirality element and a Schiff base imidazoyl-moiety led to the bifunctional catalyst 94 that, in contrast to 93 in the Strecker reaction (Scheme 6.99), exhibited enantioinduction (83-87% ee) in the nitro-Michael addition of acetone to trons-P-nitrostyrenes. The desired adducts were isolated in moderate yields (46-62%) as depicted in Scheme 6.100) [259]. 

The Jacobsen group independently focussed on the development of primary amine-functionalized thiourea derivatives and published, in 2006, the thioureas 100-103 incorporating the established tert-leucine (amide) motif (Figure 6.14) and the diaminocyclohexane or diphenylethylenediamine chiral backbone, respectively (Figure 6.31) [262]. The catalyst screening was carried out in the asymmetric Michael addition [149-152] of 2-phenylpropionaldehyde, an a,a-disubstituted aldehyde, to 1-nitrohex-l-ene (at 20mol% loading, DCM, rt, variable equiv. of H2O)... 

The Soos group, in 2005, prepared the first thiourea derivatives from the cinchona alkaloids quinine QN (8S, 9R-121), dihydroquinidine DHQD (8S, 9S-122), C9-epi-QN (8S, 9P-123), and quinidine QD (SR, 9R-124) via an experimentally simple one-step protocol with epimerization at the C9-position of the alkaloid starting material (Figure 6.39) [278]. The catalytic efficiency of these new thiourea derivatives and also of unmodified QN and C9-epi-QN was evaluated in the enan-tioselective Michael addition [149-152] of nitromethane to the simple model chal-cone 1,3-diphenyl-propenone resulting in adduct 1 in Scheme 6.119. After 99h reaction time at 25 °C in toluene and at 10 mol% catalyst loading QN turned out to be a poor catalyst (4% yield/42% ee (S)-adduct) and C9-epi-QN even failed to accelerate the screening reaction. In contrast, the C9-modified cinchona alkaloid... 

Figure 6.47 Various thiourea catalysts screened in the Michael addition of O-benzylhydroxylamine to 2,4-dimethyl pyrazole crotonate.

A pyrrolidine-thiourea organocatalyst (69) facilitates Michael addition of cyclohexanone to both aryl and alkyl nitroalkenes with up to 98% de and ee 202 The bifunctional catalyst (69) can doubly hydrogen bond to the nitro group, leaving the chiral heterocycles positioned for cyclohexyl enamine formation over one face of the alkene. 

Cyclohexanediamine-derived amine thiourea 70, which provided high enantio-selectivities for the Michael addition [77] and aza-Henry reactions [78], showed poor activity in the MBH reaction. This fact is not surprising when one considers that a chiral urea catalyst functions by fundamentally different stereoinduction mechanisms in the MBH reaction, and in the activation of related imine substrates in Mannich or Streclcer reactions [80]. In contrast, the binaph-thylamine thiourea 71 mediated the addition of dihydrocinnamaldehyde 74 to cyclohexenone 75 in high yield (83%) and enantioselectivity (71% ee) (Table 5.6, entry 2) [79]. The more bulky diethyl analogue 72 displayed similar enantioselectivity (73% ee) while affording a lower yield (56%, entry 3). Catalyst 73 showed only low catalytic activity in the MBH reaction (18%, entry 4). 

Disubstituted flavanones and chromanones are produced with good enantioselectivity from chalcones activated by an a-fert-butyl ester function through an intramolecular Michael addition catalysed by a chiral thiourea derivative. In situ decarboxylation enhances the ee and yields remain high <07JA3830>. A comprehensive study of the asymmetric cyclisation of 2 -hydroxychalcones to flavanones has refuted the ability of camphorsulfonic acid to achieve enantioselectivity but has shown that cinchona-based catalysts can be effective <07EJO5886>. 

In 2005, Chen and coworkers found that the epi-cinchonidine/cinchonine-derived thiourea catalysts, 79a,b, can serve as highly active promoters of the Michael addition ofthiophenol to the a,P-unsaturated imide 80 however, the reaction proceeded with low enantioselectivity (up to 17% ee) (Scheme 9.28) [22]. 

In 2006, Wang and coworkers reported the asymmetric Michael addition of a broad spectrum of nucleophiles to chalcones (25) using the thiourea catalyst 81a [24],... 

Soon afterward, various types of carbon [40-44], oxygen [45], and phosphorous [46] Michael donors were successfully employed in the thiourea-catalyzed addition to nitroalkenes. In the presence of the bifunctional epi-9-amino-9-deoxy cinchonine-based thiourea catalyst 79a, the 5-aryl-l,3-dioxolan-4-ones 138 bearing an acidic a-proton derived from mandelic acid derivatives and hexafluoroacetone were identified by Dixon and coworkers as effective pronucleophiles in diastereo- and enantioselective Michael addition reactions to nitrostyrenes 124 [40]. While the diastereoselectivity obtained exceeded 98%, the enantiomeric excess recorded... 

The use of naphthols 145 as the carbon nucleophilic readion component in Friedel-Crafts type Michael addition readions was also reported in 2007 by Chen and coworkers [43], In this system, the pronucleophile is activated by the quinuclidine unit of bifundional cinchona-based thiourea catalysts such as 81a. A range of aryl-and alkyl-substituted nitroalkene derivatives 124 were applicable to this system. The corresponding adducts 146 were obtained with 85-95% ee at low temperature... 

In 2006, Chen and coworkers reported that cinchona-based thioureas (79a or 81b) serve as catalysts for the Michael addition of a-phenyl cyanoacetate (94) to phenyl vinyl sulfone (177) at room temperature, affording the addition product 178. Nearly quantitative yields were obtained. However, the obtained ee values were only moderate (43-54% ee) (Scheme 9.62) [55]. 

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