Organocatalytic oxidation. Asymmetric epoxidation of olefins catalyzed by chiral ketones and iminium salts

One-bead-one-catalyst approach to aspartic acid-based oxidation catalyst discovery

We report an approach to the high-throughput screening of asymmetric oxidation catalysts. The strategy is based on application of the one-bead-one-compound library approach, wherein each of our catalyst candidates is based on a peptide scaffold. For this purpose, we rely on a recently developed catalytic cycle that employs an acid-peracid shuttle. To implement our approach, we developed a compatible linker and demonstrated that the library format is amenable to screening and sequencing of catalysts employing partial Edman degradation and MALDI mass spectrometry analysis. The system was applied to the discovery (and rediscovery) of catalysts for the enantioselective oxidation of a cyclohexene derivative. The system is now poised for application to unprecedented substrate classes for asymmetric oxidation reactions.

A convergent route to the CDEF-tetracycle of pectenotoxin-2

A convergent synthesis of the CDEF-tetracyclic region of pectenotoxin-2 (PTX-2) is described. The synthetic pathway derives from a head-to-tail union of 2 equiv of linalool to establish a stereodefined DEF-tricyclic aldehyde. Subsequent coupling with a "northern" fragment enolate, followed by a tandem Sharpless epoxidation/cyclization, delivers the C10-C26 polycyclic region of the natural product.

Chiral epoxides via borane reduction of 2-haloketones catalyzed by spiroborate ester: application to the synthesis of optically pure 1,2-hydroxy ethers and 1,2-azido alcohols

An enantioselective borane-mediated reduction of a variety of 2-haloketones with 10% spiroaminoborate ester 1 as catalyst is described. By a simple basic workup of 2-halohydrins, optically active epoxides are obtained in high yield and with excellent enantiopurity (up to 99% ee). Ring-opening of oxiranes with phenoxides or sodium azide is investigated under different reaction conditions affording nonracemic 1,2-hydroxy ethers and 1,2-azido alcohols with excellent enantioselectivity (99% ee) and in good to high chemical yield.

Metallacycle-Mediated Cross-Coupling with Substituted and Electronically Unactivated Alkenes

This perspective surveys the history of- and recent advances in- metallacycle-mediated coupling chemistry of substituted alkenes. While the reaction of preformed metal-π complexes with ethylene was reported nearly 30 years ago, the generalization of this mode of bimolecular C-C bond formation to the regio- and stereoselective union of complex substrates has only recently begun to emerge. This perspective discusses early observations in this area, the challenges associated with controlling such processes, the evolution of a general strategy to overcome these challenges, and a summary of highly regio- and stereoselective convergent coupling reactions that are currently available by metallacycle-mediated cross-coupling with substituted alkenes.

Nucleophilic ring-opening of epoxide and aziridine acetates for the stereodivergent synthesis of β-hydroxy and β-amino γ-lactams

A highly regio- and stereoselective synthesis of novel β,γ-disubstituted γ-lactams with either an anti or syn relative configuration was developed from readily available epoxide and aziridine acetates. The key steps include the regio- and diastereocontrolled nucleophilic ring-opening of these three-membered heterocycles followed by mild reductive cyclization of the γ-azido ester intermediate. The method was also extended to an asymmetric synthesis of (4R,5S)-4-hydroxy-5-phenylpyrrolidin-2-one from a chiral epoxide acetate. The main features of this versatile synthesis of functionalized γ-lactams include the involvement of inexpensive reagents and mild conditions together with high chemical efficiency.

cis-Dihydroxylation of alkenes with oxone catalyzed by iron complexes of a macrocyclic tetraaza ligand and reaction mechanism by ESI-MS spectrometry and DFT calculations

[Fe(III)(L-N(4)Me(2))Cl(2)](+) (1, L-N(4)Me(2) = N,N'-dimethyl-2,11-diaza[3.3](2,6)pyridinophane) is an active catalyst for cis-dihydroxylation of various types of alkenes with oxone at room temperature using limiting amounts of alkene substrates. In the presence of 0.7 or 3.5 mol % of 1, reactions of electron-rich alkenes, including cyclooctene, styrenes, and linear alkenes, with oxone (2 equiv) for 5 min resulted in up to >99% substrate conversion and afforded cis-diol products in up to 67% yield, with cis-diol/epoxide molar ratio of up to 16.8:1. For electron-deficient alkenes including α,β-unsaturated esters and α,β-unsaturated ketones, their reactions with oxone (2 equiv) catalyzed by 1 (3.5 mol %) for 5 min afforded cis-diols in up to 99% yield with up to >99% substrate conversion. A large-scale cis-dihydroxylation of methyl cinnamate (9.7 g) with oxone (1 equiv) afforded the cis-diol product (8.4 g) in 84% yield with 85% substrate conversion. After catalysis, the L-N(4)Me(2) ligand released due to demetalation can be reused to react with newly added Fe(ClO(4))(2)·4H(2)O to generate an iron catalyst in situ, which could be used to restart the catalytic alkene cis-dihydroxylation. Mechanistic studies by ESI-MS, isotope labeling studies, and DFT calculations on the 1-catalyzed cis-dihydroxylation of dimethyl fumarate with oxone reveal possible involvement of cis-HO-Fe(V)═O and/or cis-O═Fe(V)═O species in the reaction; the cis-dihydroxylation reactions involving cis-HO-Fe(V)═O and cis-O═Fe(V)═O species both proceed by a concerted but highly asynchronous mechanism, with that involving cis-HO-Fe(V)═O being more favorable due to a smaller activation barrier.

Photopromoted Ru-catalyzed asymmetric aerobic sulfide oxidation and epoxidation using water as a proton transfer mediator

Ru(NO)-salen complexes were found to catalyze asymmetric aerobic oxygen atom transfer reactions such as sulfide oxidation and epoxidation in the presence of water under visible light irradiation at room temperature. Oxidation of sulfides including alkyl aryl sulfides and 2-substituted 1,3-dithianes using complex 2 as the catalyst proceeded with moderate to high enantioselectivity of up to 98% ee, and epoxidation of conjugated olefins using complex 3 as the catalyst proceeded with good to high enantioselectivity of 76-92% ee. Unlike biological oxygen atom transfer reactions that need a proton and electron transfer system, this aerobic oxygen atom transfer reaction requires neither such a system nor a sacrificial reductant. Although the mechanism of this oxidation has not been completely clarified, some experimental results support the notion that an aqua ligand coordinated with the ruthenium ion serves as a proton transfer agent for the oxygen activation process, and it is recycled and used as the proton transfer mediator during the process. Thus, we have achieved catalytic asymmetric oxygen atom transfer reaction using molecular oxygen that can be carried out under ambient conditions.

Recent advances in catalytic asymmetric epoxidation using the environmentally benign oxidant hydrogen peroxide and its derivatives

There has been a recent drive to develop asymmetric catalytic methods to produce epoxides using environmentally benign oxidants, especially hydrogen peroxide. This critical review discusses the advances that have been made using both metal-based and organocatalytic homogeneous catalysts (142 references).

Stereocontrolled synthesis of quaternary cyclopropyl esters

Treatment of a variety of enantiopure terminal epoxides with the anion of a range of 2-substituted triethylphosphonoacetates leads to an array of quaternary cyclopropyl esters with high yield and diastereocontrol.

Zirconium(IV)- and hafnium(IV)-catalyzed highly enantioselective epoxidation of homoallylic and bishomoallylic alcohols

In this report, zirconium(IV)- and hafnium(IV)-bishydroxamic acid complexes were utilized in the highly enantioselective epoxidation of homoallylic alcohols and bishomoallylic alcohols, which used to be quite difficult substrates for other types of asymmetric epoxidation reactions. The performance of the catalyst was improved by adding polar additive and molecular sieves. For homoallylic alcohols, the reaction could provide epoxy alcohols in up to 83% yield and up to 98% ee, while, for bishomoallylic alcohols, up to 79% yield and 99% ee of epoxy alcohols rather than cyclized tetrahydrofuran compounds could be obtained in most cases.

Spirodiepoxide strategy to the C ring of pectenotoxin 4: synthesis of the C1-C19 sector

The synthesis of a C1-C19 precursor to pectenotoxin 4 is presented. The strategy employed the functionalized allene shown. Key features include: olefin metathesis of two simple fragments to prepare the left portion of the allene-precursor, diastereoselective propargylation of an epoxy aldehyde to form the right portion, use of the DMDO-stable m-fluorobenzyl ether, and an allene spirodiepoxidation/C-ring formation cascade.

Synthesis of marine polycyclic polyethers via endo-selective epoxide-opening cascades

The proposed biosynthetic pathways to ladder polyethers of polyketide origin and oxasqualenoids of terpenoid origin share a dramatic epoxide-opening cascade as a key step. Polycyclic structures generated in these biosynthetic pathways display biological effects ranging from potentially therapeutic properties to extreme lethality. Much of the structural complexity of ladder polyether and oxasqualenoid natural products can be traced to these hypothesized cascades. In this review we summarize how such epoxide-opening cascade reactions have been used in the synthesis of ladder polyethers and oxasqualenoid natural products.

An organocatalytic asymmetric chlorolactonization

A reagent controlled organocatalytic enantioselective chlorolactonization reaction has been developed. Several 4-aryl pentenoic acids were cyclized in the presence of 0.1 equiv of (DHQD)(2)PHAL, employing various N-chlorinated hydantoins as the terminal chlorenium source. Ten examples are presented with selectivities ranging from 43 to 90% ee. This work represents the first example of an enantioselective reagent-controlled chlorolactonization that approaches synthetically useful enantioselectivities.

Synthetic and mechanistic studies on Pd(0)-catalyzed diamination of conjugated dienes

Various dienes and a triene can be regioselectively diaminated at the internal double bond with good yields and high diastereoselectivity using di-tert-butyldiaziridinone (5) as the nitrogen source and Pd(PPh(3))(4) (1-10 mol %) as the catalyst. Kinetic studies with (1)H NMR spectroscopy show that the diamination is first-order in total Pd catalyst and inverse first-order in PPh(3). For reactive dienes, such as 1-methoxybutadiene (6g) and alkyl 1,3-butadienes (6a, 6j), the diamination is first-order in di-tert-butyldiaziridinone (5) and zero-order in the olefin. For olefins with relatively low reactivity, such as (E)-1-phenylbutadiene (6b) and (3E,5E)-1,3,5-decatriene (6i), similar diamination rates were observed when 3.5 equiv of olefins were used. Pd(PPh(3))(2) is likely to be the active species for the insertion of Pd(0) into the N-N bond of di-tert-butyldiaziridinone (5) to form a four-membered Pd(II) complex (A), which can be detected by NMR spectroscopy. The olefin complex (B), formed from intermediate A via ligand exchange between the olefin substrate and the PPh(3), undergoes migratory insertion and reductive elimination to give the diamination product and regenerate the Pd(0) catalyst.

Enantioselective epoxidation of nonconjugated cis-olefins by chiral dioxirane

A variety of nonconjugated cis-olefins has been enantioselectively epoxidized with chiral ketones 2, and up to 92% ee has been obtained. The two prochiral faces of an olefin are likely stereodifferentiated by the relative hydrophobicity of the olefin substituents and/or allylic oxygen functionality.

Asymmetric epoxidation of fluoroolefins by chiral dioxirane. Fluorine effect on enantioselectivity

The asymmetric epoxidation of various fluoroolefins has been studied using chiral ketone catalyst, and up to 93% ee was achieved with fructose-derived ketone 1.

C-H hydroxylation using a heterocyclic catalyst and aqueous H2O2

Substituted benzoxathiazines function as catalysts for the selective hydroxylation of tertiary C-H bonds. Mechanistic studies have revealed an unanticipated disparity between oxaziridine reactivity and catalyst performance and have given way to a new catalyst and an aqueous H(2)O(2) reaction protocol that greatly facilitate such transformations (see scheme).