Highly Efficient and Stereoselective Radical Addition of Tertiary Amines to Electron-Deficient Alkenes − Application to the Enantioselective Synthesis of Necine Bases

(S)-3-Chloro-4-(4-ethyl-piperazin-1-yl)-5-[(1R,2S,5R)-2-isopropyl-5-methyl-cyclo-hex-yloxy]furan-2(5H)-one

The title compound, C(20)H(33)ClN(2)O(3), was obtained via a tandem asymmetric Michael addition-elimination reaction of 3,4-dichloro-5-(S)-(l-menth-yloxy)furan-2(5H)-one and 1-ethyl-piperazine in the presence of potassium fluoride. The mol-ecular structure contains an approximately planar five-membered furan-one ring [maximum atomic deviation = 0.024 (2) Å] and two six-membered rings adopting chair conformations. Weak inter-molecular C-H⋯O hydrogen bonding is present in the crystal structure.

Photochemical key steps in the synthesis of surfactants from furfural-derived intermediates

Furfural is oxidized to 2[5H]-furanone by using hydrogen peroxide or to 5-hydroxy-2[5H]-furanone by using photo-oxygenation. An amine function is introduced by photochemically induced radical addition of tertiairy amines, some of which carry an n-alkyl side chain as hydrophobic moiety. These amines are produced from fatty aldehydes and cyclic secondary amines. The resulting adducts are transformed into amphoteric surfactants possessing an ammonium and a carboxylate function. Amphoteric (pK(N) and isoelectric point) and surfactant properties such as the critical micelle concentration and the adsorption efficiency are determined.

Theoretical and experimental studies on the mechanism of norbornadiene Pauson-Khand cycloadducts photorearrangement. Is there a pathway on the excited singlet potential energy surface?

The intermolecular Pauson-Khand reaction (PKR), a carbonylative cycloaddition between an alkyne and an alkene, is a convenient method to prepare cyclopentenones. Using norbornadiene as alkene, a myriad of tricyclo[5.2.1.0(2,6)]deca-4,8-dien-3-ones 1 can be easily prepared. The mechanism of the photochemical rearrangement of these adducts 1 into tricyclo[5.2.1.0(2,6)]deca-3,8-dien-10-ones 2 has been studied. The ground state (S(0)) and the three lowest excited states ((3)(pi pi*), (1)(n pi*), and (3)(n pi*)) potential energy surfaces (PESs) concerning the prototypical rearrangement of 1a (the cycloadduct of the PK carbonylative cycloaddition of norbornadiene and ethyne) to 2a have been thoroughly explored by means of CASSCF and CASPT2 calculations. From this study, two possible nonadiabatic pathways for the photochemical rearrangement arise: one starting on the (3)(pi pi*) PES and the other on the (1)(n pi*) PES. Both involve initial C-C gamma-bond cleavage of the enone, which leads to the formation of a bis-allyl or an allyl-butadienyloxyl diradical, respectively, that then decays to the S(0) PES through a (3)(pi pi*)/S(0) surface crossing or a (1)(n pi*)/S(0) conical intersection, each one lying in the vicinity of the corresponding diradical minimum. Once on the S(0) PES, the ring-closure to 2a occurs with virtually no energy barrier. The viability of both pathways was experimentally studied by means of triplet sensitization and quenching studies on the photorearrangement of the substituted Pauson-Khand cycloadduct 1b (R = TMS, R' = H) to 2b. Using high concentrations of either piperylene as a triplet quencher, or benzophenone as a triplet sensitizer, the reaction rate significantly slowed down. A Stern-Volmer type plot of product 2b concentration vs triplet quencher concentration showed an excellent linear correlation, thus indicating that only one excited state is involved in the photorearrangement. We conclude that, though there is a nonadiabatic pathway starting on the (1)(n pi*) PES, the reaction product is formed through the (3)(pi pi*) state because the energy barrier involved in the initial C-C gamma-bond cleavage of the enone is much lower in the (3)(pi pi*) PES than in the (1)(n pi*) PES.

Thiocarbonyl compounds as regulating reagent in the radical addition of tertiary amines with alkenes using photoelectron transfer conditions

The efficiency of the photoinduced radical addition of tertiary amines to olefinic double bonds is significantly enhanced and the stereoselectivity is influenced when thiocarbonyl compounds are added to the reaction mixture.

Catalytic enantioselective reactions driven by photoinduced electron transfer

Photoinduced electron transfer is an essential step in the conversion of solar energy into chemical energy in photosystems I and II (ref. 1), and is also frequently used by chemists to build complex molecules from simple precursors. During this process, light absorption generates molecules in excited electronic states that are susceptible to accepting or donating electrons. But although the excited states are straightforward to generate, their short lifetimes makes it challenging to control electron transfer and subsequent product formation-particularly if enantiopure products are desired. Control strategies developed so far use hydrogen bonding, to embed photochemical substrates in chiral environments and to render photochemical reactions enantioselective through the use of rigid chiral complexing agents. To go beyond such stoichiometric chiral information transmission, catalytic turnover is required. Here we present a catalytic photoinduced electron transfer reaction that proceeds with considerable turnover and high enantioselectivity. By using an electron accepting chiral organocatalyst that enforces a chiral environment on the substrate through hydrogen bonding, we obtain the product in significant enantiomeric excess (up to 70%) and in yields reaching 64%. This performance suggests that photochemical routes to chiral compounds may find use in general asymmetric synthesis.

Origin of Chiral Induction in Radical Reactions with the Diastereoisomers (5R)- and (5S)-5-l-Menthyloxyfuran-2[5H]-one

Acetalization of 5-hydroxyfuran-2[5H]-one with l-menthol yields (5R)- (1) and (5S)-5-l-menthyloxyfuran-2[5H]-one (2) in equal amounts. The diastereomer 1 crystallizes preferentially. For the first time, the isolation of pure diastereoisomer 2 is reported. Different diastereoselectivities were observed in the radical tandem reaction of 1 and 2 with N,N-dimethylaniline. The privileged conformations in solution of the substrates and the products of the radical reaction were then determined, and X-ray crystal structure analyses were carried out on the reaction products. The different stereoselectivities in both cases are explained by different orientations of the menthyloxy substituent.