A Designed Amide as an Aldol Donor in the Direct Catalytic Asymmetric Aldol Reaction

Visible-Light-Induced Diradical-Mediated ipso-Cyclization towards Double Dearomative [2+2]-Cycloaddition or Smiles-Type Rearrangement

When mono-radical ipso-cyclization of aryl sulfonamides tend to undergo Smiles-type rearrangement through aromatization-driven C-S bond cleavage, diradical-mediated cyclization must perform in a distinct reaction pathway. It is interesting meanwhile challenging to tune the rate of C-S bond cleavage to achieve a chemically divergent reaction of (hetero) aryl sulfonamides in a visible-light induced energy transfer (EnT) reaction pathway involving diradical species. Herein a chemically divergent reaction based on the designed indole-tethered (hetero)arylsulfonamides is reported which involves a diradical-mediated ipso-cyclization and a controllable cleavage of an inherent C-S bond. The combined experimental and computational results have revealed that the cleavage of the C-S bond in these substrates can be controlled by tuning the heteroaryl moieties: a) If the (hetero)aryl is thienyl, furyl, phenanthryl, etc., the radical coupling of double dearomative diradicals (DDDR) precedes over C-S bond cleavage to afford cyclobutene fused indolines by double dearomative [2+2]-cycloaddition; b) if the (hetero)aryl is phenyl, naphthyl, pyridyl, indolyl etc., the cleavage of C-S bond in DDDR is favored over radical coupling to afford biaryl products.

Direct and Enantioselective Aldol Reactions Catalyzed by Chiral Nickel(II) Complexes

A direct and asymmetric aldol reaction of N‐acyl thiazinanethiones with aromatic aldehydes catalyzed by chiral nickel(II) complexes is reported. The reaction gives the corresponding O‐TIPS‐protected anti‐aldol adducts in high yields and with remarkable stereocontrol and atom economy. Furthermore, the straightforward removal of the achiral scaffold provides enantiomerically pure intermediates of synthetic interest, which involve precursors for anti‐α‐amino‐β‐hydroxy and α,β‐dihydroxy carboxylic derivatives. Theoretical calculations explain the observed high stereocontrol.

Unique Stereoselective Homolytic C-O Bond Activation in Diketopiperazine-Derived Alkoxyamines by Adjacent Amide Pyramidalization

Simple monocyclic diketopiperazine (DKP)-derived alkoxyamines exhibit unprecedented activation of a remote C-O bond for homolysis by amide distortion. The combination of strain-release-driven amide planarization and the persistent radical effect (PRE) enables a unique, irreversible, and quantitative trans→cis isomerization under much milder conditions than typically observed for such homolysis-limited reactions. This isomerization is shown to be general and independent of the steric and electronic nature of both the amino acid side chains and the substituents at the DKP nitrogen atoms. Homolysis rate constants are determined, and they significantly differ for both the labile trans diastereomers and the stable cis diastereomers. To reveal the factors influencing this unusual process, structural features of the kinetic trans diastereomers and thermodynamic cis diastereomers are investigated in the solid state and in solution. X-ray crystallographic analysis and computational studies indicate substantial distortion of the amide bond from planarity in the trans-alkoxyamines, and this is believed to be the cause for the facile and quantitative isomerization. Thus, these amino-acid-derived alkoxyamines are the first examples that exhibit a large thermodynamic preference for one diastereomer over the other upon thermal homolysis, and this allows controlled switching of configurations and configurational cycling.