From aryl bromides to enantioenriched benzylic alcohols in a single flask: Catalytic asymmetric arylation of aldehydes

Advances Toward Amphidinolides C, F and U: Isolations, Synthetic Studies and Total Syntheses

Amphidinolides C, F, and U, including C2-C4 analogs, are highly cytotoxic marine macrolides, mainly isolated from dinoflagellates of the genus Amphidinium. All these polyketides share a 75 % or more similar structure, highlighted by a macrolactone ring, at least one trans-2,5-substituted-THF motif and a characteristic polyenic side chain. From their isolation and absolute configurational assignment, the total synthesis of these marine macrolides represented an intense challenge to the organic synthesis community over the last 15 years, with around 14 research groups engaged in this inspiring task. In the first part of this review, we present the different approaches to the isolation and characterization of these natural products, including the most recent analogs, which may cast doubt on the biogenetic origin of these compounds. The various synthetic approaches to the total synthesis of C, F, and U amphidinolides are presented in a second part, focusing on key reactions and/or innovative strategies. The review concludes in a third section summarizing the successful approaches leading to the total synthesis of one of the members of this amphidinolide subfamily.

Design and Synthesis of Tunable Chiral 2,2'-Bipyridine Ligands: Application to the Enantioselective Nickel-Catalyzed Reductive Arylation of Aldehydes

A new class of chiral 2,2'-bipyridine ligands, SBpy, featuring minimized short-range steric hindrance and structural tunability was rationally designed and developed, and the effectiveness was demonstrated in the first highly enantioselective Ni-catalyzed addition of aryl halides to aldehydes. In comparison with known approaches using preformed aryl metallic reagents, this reaction is more step-economical and functional group tolerant. The reaction mechanism and a model of stereocontrol were proposed based on experimental and computational results.

Addition of Chloroprene Grignards to Aromatic Aldehydes: Synthesis of Homoallenyl Alcohols

A general procedure for the one-pot synthesis of racemic homoallenyl alcohols from the corresponding aldehyde and chloroprene-derived Grignards is described. Employing bis[2-dimethylaminoethyl]ether (BDMAEE) as an additive at low temperatures shifts the selectivity of the chloroprene Grignard addition to aldehydes such that it is almost exclusive toward allene formation. In a set of follow-up experiments, simple and more elaborate methods for further derivatization have been demonstrated, allowing quick access to more complex structures.

Computational design of syntheses leading to compound libraries or isotopically labelled targets

Although computer programs for retrosynthetic planning have shown improved and in some cases quite satisfactory performance in designing routes leading to specific, individual targets, no algorithms capable of planning syntheses of entire target libraries - important in modern drug discovery - have yet been reported. This study describes how network-search routines underlying existing retrosynthetic programs can be adapted and extended to multi-target design operating on one common search graph, benefitting from the use of common intermediates and reducing the overall synthetic cost. Implementation in the Chematica platform illustrates the usefulness of such algorithms in the syntheses of either (i) all members of a user-defined library, or (ii) the most synthetically accessible members of this library. In the latter case, algorithms are also readily adapted to the identification of the most facile syntheses of isotopically labelled targets. These examples are industrially relevant in the context of hit-to-lead optimization and syntheses of isotopomers of various bioactive molecules.

Enantioselective addition of ArTi(OiPr)3 to aldehydes catalyzed by a titanium complex of an N-sulfonylated amino alcohol

Asymmetric additions of ArTi(OⁱPr)₃ to aldehydes catalyzed by a titanium catalyst of N-sulfonylated amino alcohols to afford desired secondary alcohols in good yields with good to excellent enantioselectivities of up to 95% ee.

Asymmetric functional organozinc additions to aldehydes catalyzed by 1,1'-bi-2-naphthols (BINOLs)

Chiral alcohols are ubiquitous in organic structures. One efficient method to generate chiral alcohols is the catalytic asymmetric addition of a carbon nucleophile to a carbonyl compound since this process produces a C-C bond and a chiral center simultaneously. In comparison with the carbon nucleophiles such as an organolithium or a Grignard reagent, an organozinc reagent possesses the advantages of functional group tolerance and more mild reaction conditions. Catalytic asymmetric reactions of aldehydes with arylzincs, vinylzincs, and alkynylzincs to generate functional chiral alcohols are discussed in this Account. Our laboratory has developed a series of 1,1'-bi-2-naphthol (BINOL)-based chiral catalysts for the asymmetric organozinc addition to aldehydes. It is found that the 3,3'-dianisyl-substituted BINOLs are not only highly enantioselective for the alkylzinc addition to aldehydes, but also highly enantioselective for the diphenylzinc addition to aldehydes. A one-step synthesis has been achieved to incorporate Lewis basic amine groups into the 3,3'-positions of the partially hydrogenated H8BINOL. These H8BINOL-amine compounds have become more generally enantioselective and efficient catalysts for the diphenylzinc addition to aldehydes to produce various types of chiral benzylic alcohols. The application of the H8BINOL-amine catalysts is expanded by using in situ generated diarylzinc reagents from the reaction of aryl iodides with ZnEt2, which still gives high enantioselectivity and good catalytic activity. Such a H8BINOL-amine compound is further found to catalyze the highly enantioselective addition of vinylzincs, in situ generated from the treatment of vinyl iodides with ZnEt2, to aldehydes to give the synthetically very useful chiral allylic alcohols. We have discovered that the unfunctionalized BINOL in combination with ZnEt2 and Ti(O(i)Pr)4 can catalyze the terminal alkyne addition to aldehydes to produce chiral propargylic alcohols of high synthetic utility. The reaction was conducted by first heating an alkyne with ZnEt2 in refluxing toluene to generate an alkynylzinc reagent, which can then add to a broad range of aldehydes at room temperature in the presence of BINOL and Ti(O(i)Pr)4 with high enantioselectivity. It was then found that the addition of a catalytic amount of dicyclohexylamine (Cy2NH) allows the entire process to be conducted at room temperature without the need to generate the alkynylzincs at elevated temperature. This BINOL-ZnEt2-Ti(O(i)Pr)4-Cy2NH catalyst system can be used to catalyze the reaction of structurally diverse alkynes with a broad range of aldehydes at room temperature with high enantioselectivity and good catalytic activity. The work described in this Account demonstrates that BINOL and its derivatives can be used to develop highly enantioselective catalysts for the asymmetric organozinc addition to aldehydes. These processes have allowed the efficient synthesis of many functional chiral alcohols that are useful in organic synthesis.