(Enantio)selective Hydrogen Autotransfer: Ruthenium-Catalyzed Synthesis of Oxazolidin-2-ones from Urea and Diols

Iron- and base-catalyzed C(α)-alkylation and one-pot sequential alkylation-hydroxylation of oxindoles with secondary alcohols

The utilization of economical and environmentally benign transition metals in crucial catalytic processes is pivotal for sustainable advancement in synthetic organic chemistry. Iron, as the most abundant transition metal in the Earth's crust, has gained significant attention for this purpose. A combination of FeCl2 (5 mol%) in the presence of phenanthroline (10 mol%) and NaOtBu (1.5 equivalent) proved effective for the C(α)-alkylation of oxindole, employing challenging secondary alcohol as a non-hazardous alkylating agent. The C(α)-alkylation of oxindole was optimized in green solvent or under neat conditions. The substrate scope encompasses a broad array of substituted oxindoles with various secondary alcohols. Further post-functionalization of the C(α)-alkylated oxindole products demonstrated the practical utility of this catalytic alkylation. One-pot C-H hydroxylation of alkylated oxindoles yielded 3-alkyl-3-hydroxy-2-oxindoles using air as the most sustainable oxidant. Low E-factors (3.61 to 4.19) and good Eco-scale scores (74 to 76) of these sustainable catalytic protocols for the alkylation and one-pot sequential alkylation-hydroxylation of oxindoles demonstrated minimum waste generation. Plausible catalytic paths are proposed on the basis of past reports and control experiments, which suggested that a borrowing hydrogen pathway is involved in this alkylation.

Metal-Catalyzed Enantioconvergent Transformations

Enantioconvergent catalysis has expanded asymmetric synthesis to new methodologies able to convert racemic compounds into a single enantiomer. This review covers recent advances in transition-metal-catalyzed transformations, such as radical-based cross-coupling of racemic alkyl electrophiles with nucleophiles or racemic alkylmetals with electrophiles and reductive cross-coupling of two electrophiles mainly under Ni/bis(oxazoline) catalysis. C-H functionalization of racemic electrophiles or nucleophiles can be performed in an enantioconvergent manner. Hydroalkylation of alkenes, allenes, and acetylenes is an alternative to cross-coupling reactions. Hydrogen autotransfer has been applied to amination of racemic alcohols and C-C bond forming reactions (Guerbet reaction). Other metal-catalyzed reactions involve addition of racemic allylic systems to carbonyl compounds, propargylation of alcohols and phenols, amination of racemic 3-bromooxindoles, allenylation of carbonyl compounds with racemic allenolates or propargyl bromides, and hydroxylation of racemic 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds.

Enantioconvergent transformations of secondary alcohols through borrowing hydrogen catalysis

Direct substitution of readily available alcohols is recognized as a key research area in green chemical synthesis. Starting from simple racemic secondary alcohols, the achievement of catalytic enantioconvergent transformations of the substrates will be highly desirable for efficient access to valuable enantiopure compounds. To accomplish such attractive yet challenging transformations, the strategy of the enantioconvergent borrowing hydrogen methodology has proven to be uniquely effective and versatile. This review aims to provide an overview of the impressive progress made on this topic of research that has only thrived in the past decade. In particular, the conversion of racemic secondary alcohols to enantioenriched chiral amines, N-heterocycles, higher-order alcohols and ketones will be discussed in detail.

N-Alkylation of Amines by C1-C10 Aliphatic Alcohols Using A Well-Defined Ru(II)-Catalyst. A Metal-Ligand Cooperative Approach

A Ru(II)-catalyzed efficient and selective N-alkylation of amines by C1-C10 aliphatic alcohols is reported. The catalyst [Ru(L^1a)(PPh₃)Cl₂] (1a) bearing a tridentate redox-active azo-aromatic pincer, 2-((4-chlorophenyl)diazenyl)-1,10-phenanthroline (L^1a) is air-stable, easy to prepare, and showed wide functional group tolerance requiring only 1.0 mol % (for N-methylation and N-ethylation) and 0.1 mol % of catalyst loading for N-alkylation with C3-C10 alcohols. A wide array of N-methylated, N-ethylated, and N-alkylated amines were prepared in moderate to good yields via direct coupling of amines and alcohols. 1a efficiently catalyzes the N-alkylation of diamines selectively. It is even suitable for synthesizing N-alkylated diamines using (aliphatic) diols producing the tumor-active drug molecule MSX-122 in moderate yield. 1a showed excellent chemo-selectivity during the N-alkylation using oleyl alcohol and monoterpenoid β-citronellol. Control experiments and mechanistic investigations revealed that the 1a-catalyzed N-alkylation reactions proceed via a borrowing hydrogen transfer pathway where the hydrogen removed from the alcohol during the dehydrogenation step is stored in the ligand backbone of 1a, which in the subsequent steps transferred to the in situ formed imine intermediate to produce the N-alkylated amines.

Iridium-Catalyzed Enantioconvergent Borrowing Hydrogen Annulation of Racemic 1,4-Diols with Amines

We present an enantioconvergent access to chiral N-heterocycles directly from simple racemic diols and primary amines, through a highly economical borrowing hydrogen annulation. The identification of a chiral amine-derived iridacycle catalyst was the key for achieving high efficiency and enantioselectivity in the one-step construction of two C-N bonds. This catalytic method enabled a rapid access to a wide range of diversely substituted enantioenriched pyrrolidines including key precursors to valuable drugs such as aticaprant and MSC 2530818.

Simultaneous Kinetic Resolution and Asymmetric Induction within a Borrowing Hydrogen Cascade Mediated by a Single Catalyst

The mechanistic uniqueness and versatility of borrowing hydrogen catalysis provides an opportunity to investigate the controllability of a cascade reaction, and more importantly, to realize either one or both of chiral recognition and chiral induction simultaneously. Here we report that, in a borrowing hydrogen cascade starting from racemic allylic alcohols, one of the enantiomers could be kinetically resolved, while the other enantiomer could be purposely converted to various targeted products, including α,β-unsaturated ketones, β-functionalized ketones and γ-functionalized alcohols. By employing a robust Ru-catalyst, both kinetic resolution and asymmetric induction were achieved with remarkable levels of efficiency and enantioselectivity. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest that corresponding catalyst-substrate π-π interactions are pivotal to realize the observed stereochemical diversity.

Redox-enabled direct stereoconvergent heteroarylation of simple alcohols

The direct transformation of racemic feedstock materials to valuable enantiopure compounds is of significant importance for sustainable chemical synthesis. Toward this goal, the radical mechanism has proven uniquely effective in stereoconvergent carbon-carbon bond forming reactions. Here we report a mechanistically distinct redox-enabled strategy for an efficient enantioconvergent coupling of pyrroles with simple racemic secondary alcohols. In such processes, chirality is removed from the substrate via dehydrogenation and reinstalled in the catalytic reduction of a key stabilized cationic intermediate. This strategy provides significant advantage of utilizing simple pyrroles to react with feedstock alcohols without the need for leaving group incorporation. This overall redox-neutral transformation is also highly economical with no additional reagent nor waste generation other than water. In our studies, oxime-derived iridacycle complexes are introduced, which cooperate with a chiral phosphoric acid to enable heteroarylation of alcohols, accessing a wide range of valuable substituted pyrroles in high yield and enantioselectivity.

Synthesizing complex structures of high enantiomeric excess from racemic feedstock is an enduring challenge. Here, the authors couple racemic secondary alcohols with pyrroles to form enantioenriched 2-substituted heteroarenes, via a borrowing hydrogen mechanism using the combination of an iridium catalyst and chiral phosphoric acid.

Catalytic Diastereo- and Enantioconvergent Synthesis of Vicinal Diamines from Diols through Borrowing Hydrogen

We present herein an unprecedented diastereoconvergent synthesis of vicinal diamines from diols through an economical, redox-neutral process. Under cooperative ruthenium and Lewis acid catalysis, readily available anilines and 1,2-diols (as a mixture of diastereomers) couple to forge two C-N bonds in an efficient and diastereoselective fashion. By identifying an effective chiral iridium/phosphoric acid co-catalyzed procedure, the first enantioconvergent double amination of racemic 1,2-diols has also been achieved, resulting in a practical access to highly valuable enantioenriched vicinal diamines.

Tandem Catalytic Indolization/Enantioconvergent Substitution of Alcohols by Borrowing Hydrogen to Access Tricyclic Indoles

An efficient tandem catalysis method is achieved for the direct conversion of alcohol-containing alkynyl anilines to valuable chiral 2,3-fused tricyclic indoles. This method relies on a tandem indolization followed by enantioconvergent substitution of alcohols via borrowing hydrogen to construct two rings in one step, enabled by relay and cooperative catalysis of a chiral iridium complex with a chiral phosphoric acid. Highly diastereoselective transformations of the tricyclic indole products also provide efficient access to a diverse array of complex polycyclic indoline compounds.

Borrowing Hydrogen for Organic Synthesis

Borrowing hydrogen is a process that is used to diversify the synthetic utility of commodity alcohols. A catalyst first oxidizes an alcohol by removing hydrogen to form a reactive carbonyl compound. This intermediate can undergo a diverse range of subsequent transformations before the catalyst returns the "borrowed" hydrogen to liberate the product and regenerate the catalyst. In this way, alcohols may be used as alkylating agents whereby the sole byproduct of this one-pot reaction is water. In recent decades, significant advances have been made in this area, demonstrating many effective methods to access valuable products. This outlook highlights the diversity of metal and biocatalysts that are available for this approach, as well as the various transformations that can be performed, focusing on a selection of the most significant and recent advances. By succinctly describing and conveying the versatility of borrowing hydrogen chemistry, we anticipate its uptake will increase across a wider scientific audience, expanding opportunities for further development.

Design of chiral ferrocenylphosphine-spiro phosphonamidite ligands for ruthenium-catalyzed highly enantioselective coupling of 1,2-diols with amines

A series of chiral ferrocene-backbone phosphines-spiro phosphonamidite ligands was developed for ruthenium-catalyzed enantioselective access to a broad range of β-amino alcohols from 1,2-diols and amines via the borrowing-hydrogen prciniple.

Synthesis of Chiral Amines via Asymmetric Hydrogen Borrowing

Chiral amines have been widely used in pharmaceutical, agrochemical and fine-chemical industries. With water as the only byproduct and requiring no extra reducing reagent, the reaction of alcohols with amines via a ‘hydrogen borrowing’ pathway is a green route to prepare chiral amines. This paper gives a brief summary of progress on asymmetric amination of alcohols to produce chiral amines via the ‘hydrogen borrowing’ strategy.

Control of Absolute Stereochemistry in Transition-Metal-Catalysed Hydrogen-Borrowing Reactions

Hydrogen-borrowing catalysis represents a powerful method for the alkylation of amine or enolate nucleophiles with non-activated alcohols. This approach relies upon a catalyst that can mediate a strategic series of redox events, enabling the formation of C-C and C-N bonds and producing water as the sole by-product. In the majority of cases these reactions have been employed to target achiral or racemic products. In contrast, the focus of this Minireview is upon hydrogen-borrowing-catalysed reactions in which the absolute stereochemical outcome of the process can be controlled. Asymmetric hydrogen-borrowing catalysis is rapidly emerging as a powerful approach for the synthesis of enantioenriched amine and carbonyl containing products and examples involving both C-N and C-C bond formation are presented. A variety of different approaches are discussed including use of chiral auxiliaries, asymmetric catalysis and enantiospecific processes.

Conversion of racemic alcohols to optically pure amine precursors enabled by catalyst dynamic kinetic resolution: experiment and computation

An unprecedented base metal catalysed asymmetric synthesis of α-chiral amine precursors from racemic alcohols is reported.

Enantioconvergent alkylation of ketones with racemic secondary alcohols via hydrogen borrowing catalysis

An enantioconvergent hydrogen borrowing strategy enables the catalytic asymmetric alkylation of ketone enolates with unactivated, racemic secondary alcohols.

A hydrogen borrowing annulation strategy for the stereocontrolled synthesis of saturated aza-heterocycles

A hydrogen borrowing annulation strategy enables the stereocontrolled synthesis of C2, C3 and C4-substituted saturated aza-heterocycles.

Stereoconvergent, Redox-Neutral Access to Tetrahydroquinoxalines through Relay Epoxide Opening/Amination of Alcohols

We present an economical catalytic procedure to convert readily available 1,2-diaminobenzenes and terminal epoxides into valuable 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoxalines in a highly enantioselective fashion. This procedure operates through relay zinc and iridium catalysis, and achieves redox-neutral and stereoconvergent production of valuable chiral heterocycles from racemic starting materials with water as the only side product. The use of commercially available reagents and catalysts and a convenient procedure also make this catalytic method attractive for practical application.

Transition-Metal-Free Hydrogen Autotransfer: Diastereoselective N-Alkylation of Amines with Racemic Alcohols

A practical method for the synthesis of α-chiral amines by alkylation of amines with alcohols in the absence of any transition-metal catalysts has been developed. Under the co-catalysis of a ketone and NaOH, racemic secondary alcohols reacted with Ellman's chiral tert-butanesulfinamide by a hydrogen autotransfer process to afford chiral amines with high diastereoselectivities (up to >99:1). Broad substrate scope and up to a 10 gram scale production of chiral amines were demonstrated. The method was applied to the synthesis of chiral deuterium-labelled amines with high deuterium incorporation and optical purity, including examples of chiral deuterated drugs. The configuration of amine products is found to be determined solely by the configuration of the chiral tert-butanesulfinamide regardless of that of alcohols, and this is corroborated by DFT calculations. Further mechanistic studies showed that the reaction is initiated by the ketone catalyst and involves a transition state similar to that proposed for the Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley (MPV) reduction, and importantly, it is the interaction of the sodium cation of the base with both the nitrogen and oxygen atoms of the sulfinamide moiety that makes feasible, and determines the diastereoselectivity of, the reaction.

Nanolayered cobalt-molybdenum sulphides (Co-Mo-S) catalyse borrowing hydrogen C-S bond formation reactions of thiols or H2S with alcohols

Nanolayered cobalt-molybdenum sulphide (Co-Mo-S) materials have been established as excellent catalysts for C-S bond construction. These catalysts allow for the preparation of a broad range of thioethers in good to excellent yields from structurally diverse thiols and readily available primary as well as secondary alcohols. Chemoselectivity in the presence of sensitive groups such as double bonds, nitriles, carboxylic esters and halogens has been demonstrated. It is also shown that the reaction takes place through a hydrogen-autotransfer (borrowing hydrogen) mechanism that involves Co-Mo-S-mediated dehydrogenation and hydrogenation reactions. A novel catalytic protocol based on the thioetherification of alcohols with hydrogen sulphide (H2S) to furnish symmetrical thioethers has also been developed using these earth-abundant metal-based sulphide catalysts.