Stereocontrolled cyanohydrin ether synthesis through chiral Brønsted acid-mediated vinyl ether hydrocyanation

Vinyl ethers can be protonated to generate oxocarbenium ions that react with Me3SiCN to form cyanohydrin alkyl ethers. Reactions that form racemic products proceed efficiently upon conversion of the vinyl ether to an α-chloro ether prior to cyanide addition in a pathway that proceeds through Brønsted acid-mediated chloride ionization. Enantiomerically enriched products can be accessed by directly protonating the vinyl ether with a chiral Brønsted acid to form a chiral ion pair. Me3SiCN acts as the nucleophile and PhOH serves as a stoichiometric proton source in a rare example of asymmetric bimolecular nucleophilic addition into an oxocarbenium ion. Computational studies have provided a model for the interaction between the catalyst and the oxocarbenium ion.

Enantioselective Michael addition/iminium ion cyclization cascades of tryptamine-derived ureas

A Michael addition/iminium ion cyclization cascade of enones with tryptamine-derived ureas under BINOL phosphoric acid (BPA) catalysis is reported. The cascade reaction tolerates a wide variety of easily synthesized tryptamine-derived ureas, including those bearing substituents on the distal nitrogen atom of the urea moiety, affording polyheterocyclic products in good yields and good to excellent enantioselectivities.

Towards Tartaric-Acid-Derived Asymmetric Organocatalysts

Tartaric acid is one of the most prominent naturally occurring chiral compounds. Whereas its application in the production of chiral ligands for metal-catalysed reactions has been exhaustively investigated, its potential to provide new organocatalysts has been less extensively explored. Nevertheless, some impressive results, such as the use of TADDOLs as chiral H-bonding catalysts or of tartrate-derived asymmetric quaternary ammonium salt catalysts, have been reported over the last decade. The goal of this article is to provide a representative overview of the potential and the limitations of tartaric acid or TADDOLs in the creation of new organocatalysts and to highlight some of the most spectacular applications of these catalysts, as well as to summarize case studies in which other classes of chiral backbones were better suited.

Chiral Brønsted acid catalyzed enantioselective synthesis of anti-homopropargyl alcohols via kinetic resolution-aldehyde allenylboration using racemic allenylboronates

A chiral phosphoric acid catalyzed kinetic resolution/allenylboration of racemic allenylboronates with aldehydes is described. Allenylboration of aldehydes with 2.8 equiv of allenylboronate (±)-1 in the presence of 10 mol % of catalyst (R)-2 provided anti-homopropargyl alcohols 3 in 83-95% yield with 9:1 to 20:1 diastereoselectivity and 73-95% ee. The catalyst enables the kinetic resolution of the racemic allenylboronate (±)-1 to set the methyl stereocenter and biases the facial attack of the aldehyde to set the stereochemistry of the hydroxyl group in 3.

Origins of stereoselectivities in chiral phosphoric acid catalyzed allylborations and propargylations of aldehydes

The chiral BINOL-phosphoric acid catalyzed allylboration and propargylation reactions are studied with density functional theory (B3LYP and B3LYP-D3). Two different models were recently proposed for these reactions by Goodman and our group, respectively. In Goodman's model for allylborations, the catalyst interacts with the boronate pseudoaxial oxygen. By contrast, our model for propargylations predicts that the catalyst interacts with the boronate pseudoequatorial oxygen. In both models, the phosphoric acid stabilizes the transition state by forming a strong hydrogen bond with the oxygen of the boronate and is oriented by a formyl hydrogen bond (Goodman model) and by other electrostatic attractions in our model. Both of these models have now been reinvestigated for both allylborations and propargylations. For the most effective catalyst for these reactions, the lowest energy transition state corresponds to Goodman's axial model, while the best transition state leading to the minor enantiomer involves the equatorial model. The high enantioselectivity observed with only the bulkiest catalyst arises from the steric interactions between the substrates and the bulky groups on the catalyst, and the resulting necessity for distortion of the catalyst in the disfavored transition state.

The water–boryl radical as a proton-coupled electron transfer reagent for carbon dioxide, formic acid, and formaldehyde — Theoretical approach

The thermochemistry of the hydrogen atom transfer reactions from the H2O–BX2 radical system (X = H, CH3, NH2, OH, F) to carbon dioxide, formic acid, and (or) formaldehyde, which produce hydroxyformyl, dihydroxymethyl, and hydroxymethyl radicals, respectively, were investigated theoretically at ROMP2/6–311+G(3DF,2P)//UB3LYP/6–31G(D) and UG3(MP2)-RAD levels of theory. Surprisingly, in the cases of a strong Lewis acid (X = H, CH3, F), the spin transfer process from the water–boryl radical to the carbonyl compounds was barrier-free and associated with a dramatic reduction in the B–H bond dissociation energy (BDE) relative to that of isolated water–borane complexes. Examining the coordinates of these reactions revealed that the entire hydrogen atom transfer process is governed by the proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) mechanism. Hence, the elucidated mechanism has been applied in the cases of weak Lewis acids (X = NH2, OH), and the variation in the accompanied activation energy was attributed to the stereoelectronic effect interplaying in CO2 and HCOOH compared with HCHO. We ascribed the overall mechanism as a SA-induced five-center cyclic PCET, in which the proton transfers across the so-called complexation-induced hydrogen bond (CIHB) channel, while the SOMOB–LUMOC=O′ interaction is responsible for the electron migration process. Owing to previous reports that interrelate the hydrogen-bonding and the rate of proton-coupled electron-transfer reactions, we postulated that “the rate of the PCET reaction is expected to be promoted by the covalency of the hydrogen bond, and any factor that enhances this covalency could be considered an activator of the PCET process.” This postulate could be considered a good rationale for the lack of a barrier associated with the hydrogen atom transfer from the water-boryl radical system to the carbonyl compounds. Light has been shed on the water–boryl radical reagent from the thermodynamic perspective.