Enantioselective Halo-oxy- and Halo-azacyclizations Induced by Chiral Amidophosphate Catalysts and Halo-Lewis Acids

Enantioselective Organocatalytic Amine-Isocyanate Capture-Cyclization: Regioselective Alkene Iodoamination for the Synthesis of Chiral Cyclic Ureas

Ureas of chiral diamines are prominent features of therapeutics, chiral auxiliaries, and intermediates in complex molecule synthesis. Although many methods for diamine synthesis are available, metal-free enantioselective alkene functionalizations to make protected 1,2- and 1,3-diamines from simple achiral starting materials are rare, and a single reagent that accesses a cross-section of each congener with high enantiomeric excess is not available. We describe a method to synthesize enantioenriched cyclic 5- and 6-membered ureas from allylic amines and an isocyanate using a C2-symmetric BisAmidine (BAM) catalyst that delivers N-selectivity from an ambident sulfonyl imide intermediate, overcoming electronic and steric deactivation at nitrogen. The geometry of 1,2-disubstituted alkenes is correlated to 5-exo and 6-endo cyclizations without altering alkene face selectivity, which is unexpectedly opposite that observed with O-nucleophiles. Straightforward product manipulations to diamine and imidazolidinone derivatives are underscored by the synthesis of an NK1 antagonist.

Asymmetric Catalytic Halofunctionalization of α,β-Unsaturated Carbonyl Compounds

Halofunctionalization methods enable the vicinal difunctionalization of alkenes with heteroatom nucleophiles and halogen moieties. As a fundamental transformation in organic synthesis, the catalytic asymmetric variants have only recently been reported. In sharp contrast to the asymmetric halocyclization of simple alkenes which involves a nucleophile-assisted alkene activation process, the asymmetric halofunctionalization of enones developed by our laboratory features an electrophile-assisted 1,4-addition pathway. Our work in this area has resulted in the development of several different types of regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselective processes, including inter- and intramolecular haloaminations, haloetherifications, and haloazidations. The scope, updated mechanism, limitations, and future perspective of these reactions are discussed.

Design of Chiral Bifunctional Dialkyl Sulfide Catalysts for Regio-, Diastereo-, and Enantioselective Bromolactonization

Although a wide variety of chiral organocatalysts have been developed for asymmetric transformations, effective chiral dialkyl sulfide organocatalysts remain relatively rare and under-developed, despite the potential utility of dialkyl sulfide catalysts. Herein, we report the development of chiral bifunctional dialkyl sulfide catalysts possessing a urea moiety for regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselective bromolactonization. The importance of the bifunctional design of chiral sulfide catalysts was clearly demonstrated in the present work. The roles of both the sulfide and urea moieties of the catalyst were clarified based on the results of experimental and theoretical investigation.

Synthesis of Enantioenriched Bromohydrins via Divergent Reactions of Racemic Intermediates from Anchimeric Oxygen Borrowing

We report a chiral phosphoric acid catalyzed bromocyclization/regiodivergent reaction of racemic intermediates sequence, which is enabled by anchimeric oxygen borrowing. Different types of alkenes are applicable, and both enantiomers of the bromohydrin products were obtained in generally excellent yields and enantioselectivities. In addition, an example of enantioconvergent synthesis from the two isomeric products is presented.