New Entries in Organocatalysts from an Alkaloid Library; Development of Aminal Catalysis for a Michael Reaction Based on Calycanthine

Natural products have historically been actively evaluated for their biological activity in the development of pharmaceuticals, while their evaluation as asymmetric catalysts has rarely been explored. In this study, we evaluated the catalytic activity of the natural product library. Three naturally occurring alkaloids, gardnerine, spiradine A, and calycanthine, were found to catalyze an asymmetric Michael reaction using oxindole and nitrostyrene. We further studied (+)-calycanthine, which is characterized by its aminal structure. Concise synthetic and extraction protocols were developed to provide both enantiomers of calycanthine. Further derivatization of this alkaloid led to improved enantioselectivity in a model reaction. Computational studies suggested that the aminal moiety of the catalyst activated nucleophiles and electrophiles through multiple hydrogen bonding interactions, including nonclassical hydrogen bonds between carboxylic acid and the aminal C-H.

Stable Axially Chiral Cyclohexylidenes from Catalytic Asymmetric Knoevenagel Condensation

Axially chiral cycloalkylidenes are interesting but less developed axially chiral molecules. Here, a bispidine-based chiral amine catalytic system was developed to promote efficiently the asymmetric Knoevenagel condensation of N-protected oxindoles and benzofuranones with 4-substituted cyclohexanones. A variety of alkylidenecycloalkanes with stable axial chirality were obtained in good yields and fairly good er (enantiomeric ratio). Based on the absolute configuration determination of product and DFT calculations, a possible mechanism of stereoselective induction was proposed.

Sparteine Thiourea: The Synthesis of an N Chiral Bispidine-Quinolizidine-Derived Organocatalyst and Applications in Asymmetric Synthesis of Dihydropyrano[c]chromenes

Bispidine, a bridged bicyclic diamine, has been widely utilized as a rigid scaffold in chiral chelating ligands in asymmetric synthesis. In particular, a chiral bispidine-quinolizidine hybrid, such as sparteine, was utilized in asymmetric synthesis involving a metal, exhibiting superior catalytic activity. In this study, we report the design and synthesis of a series of sparteine-derived organocatalysts and the utilization of these catalysts in tandem Michael addition-cyclization reactions. These catalysts have shown excellent catalytic reactivity and enantioselectivity, and the corresponding dihydropyrano[c]chromenes have been prepared in ≤99% yield and ≤99% ee with a low catalyst loading. The recycled catalysts maintain a good catalytic performance even after four cycles, and a gram-scale reaction with a 1% catalyst loading is also performed, providing the product in 96% yield and 98% ee.

Water enables diastereodivergency in bispidine-based chiral amine-catalyzed asymmetric Mannich reaction of cyclic N-sulfonyl ketimines with ketones

Tuning diastereoselectivity is a great challenge in asymmetric catalysis for the inherent stereochemical bias of the substrates. Here, we report a diastereodivergent asymmetric Mannich reaction of cyclic N-sulfonyl ketimines with ketones catalyzed by a bispidine-based chiral amine catalyst, in which additional water switches the diastereoselectivity efficiently. Both chiral anti- and syn-benzosultams with potential anti-HIV-1 activity are obtained in excellent yields and good to excellent ee values. Control experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations were applied to study the diastereodivergent mechanism, which reveal that the diastereodivergent catalysis should be state-determined, and the water reverses the energies of states to realize the diastereodivergency. The findings are quite new and might inspire more diastereodivergent asymmetric synthesis.

A diastereodivergent asymmetric Mannich reaction of cyclic N-sulfonyl ketimines with ketones is realized by employing bispidine-based chiral amine as catalyst and additional water switching the diastereoselectivity.

A Bispidine-Based Chiral Amine Catalyst for Asymmetric Mannich Reaction of Ketones with Isatin Ketimines

A unique chiral amine organocatalyst with a bispidine structure was found to be efficient for the diastereo- and enantioselective Mannich reaction of isatin ketimines with ketones. A series of 3-substituted 3-amino-2-oxindoles bearing vicinal tertiary and quaternary chiral stereogenic centers were obtained in excellent yields with excellent dr and ee values. The gram-scale synthesis and transformation of the product showed the practicability of this methodology. In addition, a possible transition state model was proposed to explain the origin of the stereoselectivity.

Application of chiral bi- and tetra-dentate bispidine-derived ligands in the copper(ii)-catalyzed asymmetric Henry reaction

Rationalized bispidinone-based ligands were reacted with copper(ii) salts, which afforded effective catalysts for asymmetric Henry reactions.

Pushing the limits of aminocatalysis: enantioselective transformations of α-branched β-ketocarbonyls and vinyl ketones by chiral primary amines

Enantioselective α-functionalizations of carbonyl compounds are fundamental transformations for the asymmetric synthesis of organic compounds. One of the more recent developments along this line is in aminocatalysis, which leads to the direct α-functionalization of simple aldehydes and ketones. However, most of the advances have been achieved with linear aldehydes and ketones as substrates. Effective aminocatalysis with α-branched carbonyls, particularly α-branched ketones, has remained elusive. The primary difficulty arises from the space-demanding α-substituent, which impedes iminium/enamine formation. In 2005, synthetic organic chemists revived catalysis using primary amines, which brought new attention to these challenges, because of the conformational flexibility of primary amines. On the basis of early biomimetic studies by Hine, in 2007 we developed the bioinspired chiral primary amine catalysts featuring primary-tertiary diamines. This type of catalyst involves enamine/iminium catalysis, and we could apply this chemistry to all of the major types of ketones and aldehydes. In this Account, we present research from our laboratory that significantly expands aminocatalysis to include α-branched ketones such as β-ketocarbonyls and α-substituted vinyl ketones. Our primary amine catalysis methodology, when used alone or in conjunction with metal catalysts, provides convenient access to both enantiopure α-tertiary and quaternary ketones, structures that are not available via other approaches. Our mechanistic studies showed that acidic additives play the critical role in facilitating catalytic turnover, most likely by shuttling protons during the enamine/iminium tautomerizations. These additives are also critical to induce the desired stereochemistry via ammonium N-H hydrogen bonding. Proton transfer by shuttling is also stereoselective, resulting in enantioselective enamine protonation as observed in the reactions of α-substituted vinyl ketones. In addition, we have carried out density functional theory studies that help to delineate the origins of the stereoselectivity in these reactions.

Organocatalytic asymmetric Michael addition of aldehydes and ketones to nitroalkenes catalyzed by adamantoyl l-prolinamide

A series of adamantoyl l-prolinamides have been synthesized.

Amide-based bifunctional organocatalysts in asymmetric reactions

A series of amide-based bifunctional organocatalysts have been utilized in asymmetric reactions. Prolinamide analogues have been designed to catalyze asymmetric reactions via enamine intermediates with the assistance of tunable hydrogen bonding. In addition, the combination of various Lewis base functional groups, such as guanidine, N-oxide and phosphane, with an amide moiety have also constituted efficient bifunctional organocatalysts with unique reactivity and selectivity.