Asymmetric Direct Vinylogous Aldol Reaction of Furanone Derivatives Catalyzed by an Axially Chiral Guanidine Base

Beyond classical reactivity patterns: shifting from 1,4- to 1,6-additions in regio- and enantioselective organocatalyzed vinylogous reactions of olefinic lactones with enals and 2,4-dienals

Organocatalysis is shown to expand the classical reactivity pattern for conjugate addition reactions. It is demonstrated that the site selectivity can be extended from 1,4- to 1,6-additions for the enantioselective vinylogous additions of methyl-substituted vinylogous lactones to enals and 2,4-dienals. This novel reactivity is demonstrated for methyl-substituted olefinic azlactones and butyrolactones. Their synthetic potential is first highlighted by the development of the organocatalytic regioselective vinylogous 1,4-addition to enals which proceeds with a very high level of double-bond geometry control and excellent enantioselectivity. The concept is developed further for the unprecedented intermolecular enantioselective organocatalyzed vinylogous 1,6-addition to linear 2,4-dienals, by which the site selectivity of the process is extended from the β-position to the remote δ-position of the 2,4-dienal. The organocatalyst controls the newly generated stereocenter six bonds away from the stereocenter of the catalyst with a high level of enantiocontrol, and the products are obtained with full control of double-bonds configuration. The scope of these new reaction concepts is demonstrated for a series of aliphatic and aryl-substituted enals and 2,4-dienals undergoing enantioselective vinylogous reactions with methyl-substituted olefinic azlactones and butyrolactones. Furthermore, mechanistic considerations are presented which can account for the change from 1,4- to 1,6-selectivity. Finally, a number of different transformations of the optically active 1,4- and 1,6-addition products are demonstrated.

The chemistry and biology of organic guanidine derivatives

The chemistry and biology of organic natural guanidines are reviewed, including the isolation, structure determination, synthesis, biosynthesis and biological activities of alkaloids, non-ribosomal peptides, guanidine-bearing terpenes, polyketides and shikimic acid derivatives from natural sources.

Synthesis of (+)-L-733,060, (+)-CP-99,994 and (2S,3R)-3-hydroxypipecolic acid: application of an organocatalytic direct vinylogous aldol reaction

The γ-butenolide obtained from an organocatalyzed, direct vinylogous aldol reaction of γ-crotonolactone and benzaldehyde serves as the key starting material in the expedient synthesis of a 3-hydroxy-2-phenyl piperidine intermediate which is converted to the target 2,3-disubstituted piperidines.

TBHP-mediated oxidative thiolation of an sp3 C-H bond adjacent to a nitrogen atom in an amide

The first example of molecular sieve-promoted TBHP-mediated direct oxidative thiolation of an sp(3) C-H bond adjacent to a nitrogen atom with disulfides under metal-free conditions, which allows for preparation of numerous S,N-containing compounds, is presented. Moreover, diverse benzothiazoles and a fipronil analog can be synthesized through this strategy.

DNA-damaging disinfection byproducts: alkylation mechanism of mutagenic mucohalic acids

Hydroxyhalofuranones form a group of genotoxic disinfection byproduct (DBP) of increasing interest. Among them, mucohalic acids (3,4-dihalo-5-hydroxyfuran-2(5H)-one, MXA) are known mutagens that react with nucleotides, affording etheno, oxaloetheno, and halopropenal derivatives. Mucohalic acids have also found use in organic synthesis due to their high functionalization. In this work, the alkylation kinetics of mucochloric and mucobromic acids with model nucleophiles aniline and NBP has been studied experimentally. Also, the alkylation mechanism of nucleosides by MXA has been studied in silico. The results described allow us to reach the following conclusions: (i) based on the kinetic and computational evidence obtained, a reaction mechanism was proposed, in which MXA react directly with amino groups in nucleotides, preferentially attacking the exocyclic amino groups over the endocyclic aromatic nitrogen atoms; (ii) the suggested mechanism is in agreement with both the product distribution observed experimentally and the mutational pattern of MXA; (iii) the limiting step in the alkylation reaction is addition to the carbonyl group, subsequent steps occurring rapidly; and (iv) mucoxyhalic acids, the hydrolysis products of MXA, play no role in the alkylation reaction by MXA.

Combined C-H functionalization/Cope rearrangement with vinyl ethers as a surrogate for the vinylogous Mukaiyama aldol reaction

Vinyl ethers selectively undergo the combined C-H functionalization/Cope rearrangement reaction via an s-cis/boat transition state. With chiral dirhodium catalysts, products are generated in a highly diastereoselective and enantioselective fashion. This reaction can be considered as a surrogate to the traditional vinylogous Mukaiyama aldol reaction. Effective kinetic resolution has been achieved, leading to the recovery of a cyclic vinyl ether with axial chirality of high enantiomeric purity.

Expanding the utility of Brønsted base catalysis: biomimetic enantioselective decarboxylative reactions

As a result of the low reactivity of simple esters, the use of them as nucleophiles in direct asymmetric transformations is a long-standing challenge in synthetic organic chemistry. Nature approaches this difficulty through a decarboxylative mechanism, which is used for polyketide synthesis. Inspired by nature, we report guanidine-catalyzed biomimetic decarboxylative C-C and C-N bond-formation reactions. These highly enantioselective decarboxylative Mannich and amination reactions utilized malonic acid half thioesters as simple ester surrogates. It is proposed that nucleophilic addition precedes decarboxylation in the mechanism, which has been investigated in detail through the identification of intermediates by using electrospray ionization (ESI) mass-spectrometric analysis and DFT calculations.