Organocatalytic Enantioselective 1,12-Addition of Alkynyl Biphenyl Quinone Methides Formed In Situ

The chemistry of quinone methides formed in situ has been flourishing in recent years. In sharp contrast, the development and utilization of biphenyl quinone methides are rare. In this study, we achieved a remote stereocontrolled 1,12-conjugate addition of biphenyl quinone methides formed in situ for the first time. In the presence of a suitable chiral phosphoric acid, alkynyl biphenyl quinone methides were generated from α-[4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)phenyl]propargyl alcohols, followed by enantioselective 1,12-conjugate addition with indole-2-carboxylates. The strategy enabled the alcohols to serve as efficient allenylation reagents, providing practical access to a broad range of axially chiral allenes bearing a (1,1'-biphenyl)-4-ol unit, which were previously less accessible. Combined with control experiments, density functional theory calculations shed light on the reaction mechanism, indicating that enantioselectivity originates from the nucleophilic addition of alkynyl biphenyl quinone methides. Notably, not only the presence of biphenyl quinone methides as versatile intermediates was confirmed but also organocatalytic enantioselective 1,12-addition was established.

Organocatalytic Enantioselective Nucleophilic Addition of Indole Imine 5-Methides

Despite the enormous developments in the asymmetric transformations of indole imine methides (IIMs), the remote asymmetric induction involving IIMs remains challenging due to the spatial interaction requirement between the substrate and catalyst. Herein we report the first catalytic asymmetric nucleophilic addition to indole imine 5-methide (5-IIM), the only topological isomer of IIMs whose asymmetric addition remains unknown. Despite the challenging remote stereocontrol, high efficiency and respectable enantioselectivity were achieved to provide access to a range of enantioenriched indole-containing triaryl alkanes.