Catalytic Asymmetric Alkylations of Ketoimines. Enantioselective Synthesis of N-Substituted Quaternary Carbon Stereogenic Centers by Zr-Catalyzed Additions of Dialkylzinc Reagents to Aryl-, Alkyl-, and Trifluoroalkyl-Substituted Ketoimines

Copper-Catalyzed Enantioselective Alkylation of Enolizable Ketimines with Organomagnesium Reagents

Inexpensive and readily available organomagnesium reagents were used for the catalytic enantioselective alkylation of enolizable N-sulfonyl ketimines. The low reactivity and competing enolization of the ketimines was overcome by the use of a copper-phosphine chiral catalyst, which also rendered the transformation highly chemoselective and enantioselective for a broad range of ketimine substrates.

Highly efficient synthesis of chiral quaternary 3-aminooxindoles promoted by zinc(ii) chloride via Et2Zn-catalysed addition of Grignard reagents to isaltin-derived N-tert-butanesulfinyl ketimines

An approach to chiral quaternary 3-aminooxindoles via Et₂Zn catalyzed diastereoselective addition of various Grignard reagents to broad isaltin-derived N-tert-butanesulfinyl ketimines promoted by zinc(ii) chloride.

Catalytic enantioselective addition of Grignard reagents to aromatic silyl ketimines

α-Chiral amines are of significant importance in medicinal chemistry, asymmetric synthesis and material science, but methods for their efficient synthesis are scarce. In particular, the synthesis of α-chiral amines with the challenging tetrasubstituted carbon stereocentre is a long-standing problem and catalytic asymmetric additions of organometallic reagents to ketimines that would give direct access to these molecules are underdeveloped. Here we report a highly enantioselective catalytic synthesis of N-sulfonyl protected α-chiral silyl amines via the addition of inexpensive, easy to handle and readily available Grignard reagents to silyl ketimines. The key to this success was our ability to suppress any unselective background addition reactions and side reduction pathway, through the identification of an inexpensive, chiral Cu-complex as the catalytically active structure.

The Synthesis of α,α-Disubstituted α-Amino Acids via Ichikawa Rearrangement

An approach to α,α-disubstituted α-amino acids is reported. The key step is allyl cyanate-to-isocyanate rearrangement. As demonstrated, the resultant allyl isocyanates can be directly trapped with various nucleophiles, for instance, alcohols, amines, and organometallic reagents, to provide a broad range of N-functionalized allylamines. The developed method has been successfully applied in the synthesis of two bioactive peptides: 2-aminoadamantane-2-carboxylic acid derived P2X7-evoked glutamate release inhibitor and 4-amino-tetrahydropyranyl-4-carboxylic acid derived dipeptide GSK-2793660, which is currently in clinical trials as cathepsin C inhibitor for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, noncystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, ANCA-associated vasculitis and bronchiectasis.

Enantioselective palladium-catalyzed arylation of N-tosylarylimines with arylboronic acids using a chiral 2,2′-bipyridine ligand

An enantioselective palladium-catalyzed arylation of N-tosylarylimines with arylboronic acids was developed by using an axially chiral 2,2′-bipyridine ligand C3-ACBP, affording chiral diarylmethamines with up to 94% ee under exogenous-base-free conditions.

Biocatalytic asymmetric Mannich reaction of ketimines using wheat germ lipase

Wheat germ lipase (WGL) was used for the first time as a biocatalyst in asymmetric Mannich reaction of ketimines.

Ni(II)-Catalyzed Highly Stereo- and Regioselective Syntheses of Isoindolinones and Isoquinolinones from in Situ Prepared Aldimines Triggered by Homoallylation/Lactamization Cascade

An efficient route to isoindolinones and isoquinolinones has been achieved via a domino Ni-catalyzed homoallylation/lactamization from in situ prepared imines, derived from o-formyl benzoates and o-formyl arylacetates, with conjugated dienes promoted by diethylzinc. The reaction proceeds smoothly at room temperature for a variety of aldehydes, amines, and dienes. The method involves one C-C and two C-N bond forming events under operationally simple conditions.

Catalytic asymmetric umpolung reactions of imines

The carbon-nitrogen double bonds in imines are fundamentally important functional groups in organic chemistry. This is largely due to the fact that imines act as electrophiles towards carbon nucleophiles in reactions that form carbon-carbon bonds, thereby serving as one of the most widely used precursors for the formation of amines in both synthetic and biosynthetic settings. If the carbon atom of the imine could be rendered electron-rich, the imine could react as a nucleophile instead of as an electrophile. Such a reversal in the electronic characteristics of the imine functionality would facilitate the development of new chemical transformations that convert imines into amines via carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions with carbon electrophiles, thereby creating new opportunities for the efficient synthesis of amines. The development of asymmetric umpolung reactions of imines (in which the imines act as nucleophiles) remains uncharted territory, in spite of the far-reaching impact such reactions would have in organic synthesis. Here we report the discovery and development of new chiral phase-transfer catalysts that promote the highly efficient asymmetric umpolung reactions of imines with the carbon electrophile enals. These catalysts mediate the deprotonation of imines and direct the 2-azaallyl anions thus formed to react with enals in a highly chemoselective, regioselective, diastereoselective and enantioselective fashion. The reaction tolerates a broad range of imines and enals, and can be carried out in high yield with as little as 0.01 mole per cent catalyst with a moisture- and air-tolerant operational protocol. These umpolung reactions provide a conceptually new and practical approach to chiral amino compounds.

2-Vinyl Threoninol Derivatives via Acid-Catalyzed Allylic Substitution of Bisimidates

A diastereoselective synthesis of 4-vinyl oxazolines syn-2 was developed based on an acid-catalyzed cyclization of bistrichloroacetimidates (E)-1. The reaction likely involves an allyl carbenium ion intermediate in which the adjacent stereocenter directs the stereoselectivity for C-N bond formation. Oxazolines syn-2 were transformed to C-quaternary threoninol, threoninal, and threonine derivatives which can be further incorporated into complex natural compounds.

Synthesis and crystal structure of a novel prochiral ketoimine: (E)-acetophenoneO-diphenylphosphoryl oxime

A novel activated prochiral ketoimine, (E)-acetophenoneO-diphenylphosphoryl oxime, C20H18NO2P, with an electron-withdrawing substituent on the imine N atom similar to other prochiral ketoimines, has been synthesized and the X-ray crystal stucture determined. The molecules pack together in the solid stateviaweak intermolecular C—H...O interactions and both face-to-face and edge-to-face π-stacking interactions.

Pd(ii)-catalyzed asymmetric addition of arylboronic acids to cyclic N-sulfonyl ketimine esters and a DFT study of its mechanism

A highly efficient palladium-catalyzed asymmetric arylation of cyclic ketimine esters is developed, which provides the desired product in up to 99% yield with up to 99% ee. The mechanism of enantioselection is studied using DFT calculation.

Rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric addition of arylboronic acids to cyclic N-sulfonyl ketimines towards the synthesis of α,α-diaryl-α-amino acid derivatives

Rhodium/chiral diene complex-catalyzed asymmetric addition of arylboronic acids to cyclic ketimines having an ester group proceeded to give the corresponding α-amino acid derivatives in high yields with high enantioselectivity.

Asymmetric synthesis of α-allyl-α-aryl α-amino acids by tandem alkylation/π-allylation of α-iminoesters

The first asymmetric synthesis of α-allyl-α-aryl α-amino acids by means of a three-component coupling of α-iminoesters, Grignard reagents, and cinnamyl acetate is reported. Notably, the enolate from the tandem process provides a much higher level of reactivity and selectivity than the same enolate generated via direct deprotonation, presumably due to differences in the solvation/aggregation state. A novel method for removal of a homoallylic amine protecting group delivers the free amine congeners. The α-allyl group offers a means to generate further valuable α-amino acid structures as exemplified by ring closing metathesis to generate a higher ring homologue of α-aryl-proline.

Stereoselective formation of amines by nucleophilic addition to azomethine derivatives

This chapter describes state-of-the-art methods to prepare α-chiral amines by the addition of nonstabilized nucleophiles to imine derivatives. The first part of the chapter illustrates the most effective diastereoselective addition reaction (substrate controlled and chiral auxiliary based methods) whereas the second part focuses on catalytic asymmetric methods.

An efficient synthesis of optically active trifluoromethyl aldimines via asymmetric biomimetic transamination

This communication describes a chiral base-catalyzed asymmetric [1,3]-proton shift of trifluoromethyl ketimines, giving a wide variety of trifluoromethyl aldimines containing various functional groups with up to 94% ee.