Thiourea reactions, asymmetric

Even if organocatalysis is a common activation process in biological transformations, this concept has only recently been developed for chemical applications. During the last decade, achiral ureas and thioureas have been used in allylation reactions [146], the Bayhs-Hillman reaction [147] and the Claisen rearrangement [148]. Chiral organocatalysis can be achieved with optically active ureas and thioureas for asymmetric C - C bond-forming reactions such as the Strecker reaction (Sect. 5.1), Mannich reactions (Sect. 5.2), phosphorylation reactions (Sect. 5.3), Michael reactions (Sect. 5.4) and Diels-Alder cyclisations (Sect. 5.6). Finally, deprotonated chiral thioureas were used as chiral bases (Sect. 5.7). 

At almost the same time, Nagasawa s group developed the C2-symmetric chiral bis-thiourea-catalyzed asymmetric MBH reaction of cychc enones with aldehydes (Scheme 2.196). They found that the bis-thiourea catalyst 363 promoted the reaction of cyclohexenone with benzaldehyde in the presence of an additive (0.4 equiv) such as DMAP or imidazole to afford the allyhc alcohol (DMAP — 5 °C, 88%, 33% ee imidazole room temperature, 40%, 57% ee). Higher enantioselectivities were obtained in the reaction with aliphatic aldehydes (up to 90% ee). A transition state 364, in which both the aldehyde and the enone coordinate to the thiourea groups of 363 through hydrogen bonding interactions, was proposed to explain the stereochemistry of the product. 

A quantitative approach to nucleophilic organocatalysis 12BJ01458. Selective photocatalytic reactions with organic photocatalysts 13CS561. Terpene-derived bifunctional thioureas in asymmetric organocatalysis 13CAC2756. 

SCHEME 4.16. Chiral thiourea-catalyzed asymmetric nitro-Marmich-t3fpe reactions. 

Takemoto Y, Miyabe H (2007) The Amino Thiourea-Catalyzed Asymmetric Nucleophilic Reactions. Chimia 61 269... 

SCHEME 11.21 Bifunctional cinchona aUcaloid/thiourea-catalyzed asymmetric Mannich reaction. 

SCHEME 2.69 Thiourea-catalyzed asymmetric aldol/O-C cyclization reaction of a-isothiocyanato imide and aldehydes. 

SCHEME 2.76 Chiral thiourea-catalyzed asymmetric acyl-Pictet-Spengler reaction. 

Chiral amines and diamines are readily available substrates for the synthesis of ligands for transition metal-catalysed reactions since they can easily be transformed into chiral ureas and thioureas. Therefore, several groups have prepared chiral symmetrical ureas and thioureas, dissymmetrical ureas and thioureas, amino-urea and thiourea derivatives. Finally polyureas and non-soluble polythioureas were also prepared and tested as ligands for asymmetric catalysis. 

Similar organocatalytic species to those successfully used for the Strecker reaction were used for the asymmetric Mannich reaction. Catalyst structure/ enantioselectivity profiles for the asymmetric Strecker and Mannich reactions were compared by the Jacobsen group [160]. The efficient thiourea... 

Hoashi, Y., Yabuta, T., Takemoto, Y. (2004) Bifunctional Thiourea-Catalyzed Enantioselective Double Michael Reaction of y,5-Unsaturated fS-Ketoesterto Nitroalkene Asymmetric Synthesis of (—)-Epibatidine. Tetrahedron Letters, 45, 9185-9188. 

In 2000, better results were obtained by Bonnet et al. by using readily available chiral thioureas as new ligands in the asymmetric rhodium-catalysed hydroformylation of styrene. In general, the conversion of styrene and enantioselectivities were modest, but when the reaction was carried out in heptane as the solvent, an enantioselectivity of 41% ee was obtained (Scheme 10.6). 

The asymmetric reduction of the benzoxathiin is very appealing because of its simplicity (Scheme 5.3). It was envisioned that intermediate 16 could be prepared from thiol-phenol 7 and bro moke tone 17. Scheme 5.8 summarized the synthesis for 16. The l,3-benzoxathiol-2-one 35 was prepared from 1,4-benzoquinone and thiourea following a literature procedure with minor modifications. Benzylation of 35 with benzyl bromide in the presence of KI gave benzyl ether 36 as a crystalline solid. It was observed that the benzylation gave better results when the reaction was run under anaerobic conditions. Hydrolysis of thiocarbonate 36 gave free thiophenol 7 which was used directly in the next reaction. 

As a true testament to the potential long-term impact of H-bonding activation, a number of ureas, thioureas, and acid catalysts are now finding broad application in a large number of classical and modem carbon-carbon bond-forming processes. On one hand, Johnston s chiral amidinium ion 28 was elegantly applied to the asymmetric aza-Henry reactions (Scheme 11.12d). On the other hand, chiral phosphoric acids (e.g., 29 and 30), initially developed by Akiyama and Terada, have been successfully employed in Mannich reactions, hydrophosphonylation reac-tions, aza-Friedel-Crafts alkylations (Scheme 11.12e), and in the first example... 

Novel asymmetric conjugate-type reactions have been accomplished with Cinchona alkaloid-derived chiral thioureas, including less traditional reactions such as asymmetric decarboxylation [71]. In the following discussion, asymmetric reactions involving nitro-olefms, aldehydes and enones, and imines will be highlighted (Fig. 5). 

Asides from the application of imines on conjugate addition reactions, Deng [87, 88] reported the first asymmetric chiral thiourea catalyzed Friedel-Crafts reaction of indoles with iV-tosyl imines (Scheme 35). The reaction was receptive to various aromatic, heteroaromatic, and aliphatic imines in good yield and high enantioselec-tivity (Scheme 36). 

The conjugate additions of thiols to a,p-unsaturated electrophiles was extended by Wang [96]. Catalyst 166 promoted the addition of thioacetic acid to a variety of enones, including aliphatic, aromatic and heteroaromatic substituents (Scheme 42). Wang expanded the scope of the reaction to include asymmetric additions of thioacetic acid to nitro-olefms (Scheme 43) [97]. Thiourea catalyst 166 promoted the addition reactions in high yields and high enantiomeric ratios for a variety of P-substituted nitro-olefms. 

Fig. 7 Proposed role of cyclohexane-diamine thiourea 166 for the asymmetric aza-Henry reaction...

The Pictet-Spengler reaction is the method of choice for the preparation of tetrahydro-P-carbolines, which represent structural elements of several natural products such as biologically active alkaloids. It proceeds via a condensation of a carbonyl compound with a tryptamine followed by a Friedel-Crafts-type cyclization. In 2004, Jacobsen et al. reported the first catalytic asymmetric variant [25]. This acyl-Pictet-Spengler reaction involves an N-acyliminium ion as intermediate and is promoted by a chiral thiourea (general Brpnsted acid catalysis). 

In Ught of the recent developments in thiourea, diol, and phosphoric-acid-mediated catalysis, far fewer studies have focused on the use of chiral carboxyhc acids as suitable hydrogen bond donors. To this end, Mamoka synthesized binaphthyl-derived dicarboxylic acid 49 which catalyzes the asymmetric Mannich reaction of N-Boc aryl imines and tert-diazoacetate (Scheme 5.65) [120]. The authors postulate that catalytic achvity is enhanced by the presence of an addihonal car-boxyhc acid moiety given that use of 2-napthoic acid as catalyst provided only trace amounts of product... 

Figure 6.15 Polymer-bound Schiff base thiourea catalyst 41 bearing 5-pivaloyl-substitution and its nonimmobilized urea analog 42 optimized for the asymmetric Strecker reaction of aromatic and aliphatic aldimines.

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