Alpha,alpha-diarylprolinol ethers: new tools for functionalization of carbonyl compounds

Organocatalysis as an enabling tool for enantioselective ring-opening reactions of cyclopropanes

The rich reactivity profile of cyclopropanes has been extensively explored to trigger new organic transformations that enable unusual disconnective approaches to synthesize molecular motifs that are not easily reached through conventional reactions. In particular, the chemistry of cyclopropanes has received special attention in the last decade, with multiple new approaches that capitalize on the use of organocatalysis for the activation of the cyclopropane scaffold. This situation has also opened the possibility of developing enantioselective variants of many reactions that until now were only carried out in an enantiospecific or diastereoselective manner. Our group has been particularly active in this field, focusing more specifically on the use of aminocatalysis and Brønsted acid catalysis as major organocatalytic activation manifolds to trigger new unprecedented transformations involving cyclopropanes that add to the current toolbox of general methodologies available to organic chemists for the enantioselective synthesis of chiral compounds.

Organocatalyst-mediated asymmetric one-pot/two domino/three-component coupling reactions for the synthesis of trans-hydrindanes

Highly substituted trans-hydrindanes were synthesized by the three-component coupling reactions of 1,3-diethyl 2-(2-oxopropylidene)propanedioate and two different α,β-unsaturated aldehydes catalyzed by diphenylprolinol silyl ether. The reaction proceeds via two successive independent catalytic domino reactions in a one-pot reaction by a single chiral catalyst. Domino reactions involve Michael/Michael and Michael/aldol reactions to afford trans-hydrindanes with excellent diastereoselectivity and nearly optically pure form.

Concept-Driven Chemoselective O/N-Derivatization of Prolinol: A Bee-Line Approach to Access Organocatalysts

An investigation into the sensitivity of reaction conditions to a highly utilized protocol has been reported, wherein the mono-Boc functionalization of prolinol could be controlled for the exclusive synthesis of either N-Boc, O-Boc, or oxazolidinone derivatives. Mechanistic investigation revealed that the elementary steps could possibly be controlled by (a) a requisite base to recognize the differently acidic sites (NH and OH) for the formation of the conjugate base, which reacts with the electrophile, and (b) the difference in nucleophilicity of the conjugate basic sites. Herein, a successful chemoselective functionalization of the nucleophilic sites of prolinol by employing a suitable base is reported. This has been achieved by exploiting the relative acidity difference of NH and OH along with the reversed nucleophilicity of the corresponding conjugate bases N^- and O^-. This protocol has also been used for the synthesis of several O-functionalized prolinol derived organocatalysts, few of which have been newly reported.

Diarylprolinol as an Effective Organocatalyst in Asymmetric Cross-aldol Reactions of Two Different Aldehydes

The aldol reaction is one of the most important carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions in organic chemistry. Asymmetric direct cross-aldol reaction of two different aldehydes has been regarded as a difficult reaction because of the side reactions such as self-aldol reaction and over reaction. We found that trifluoromethyl-substituted diarylprolinol, α,α-bis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-2-pyrrolidinemethanol (1), is an effective organocatalyst that promotes several cross-aldol reactions of aldehydes with excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivities. Acetaldehyde can be employed as a suitable nucleophilic aldehyde. Successful electrophilic aldehydes are ethyl glyoxylate, chloroacetaldehyde, dichloroacetaldehyde, chloral, α-alkyl-α-oxo aldehyde, trifluoroacetaldehyde, glyoxal, alkenyl aldehyde, alkynyl aldehyde, and formaldehyde. Some of the aldehydes are commercially available as a polymer solution, an aqueous solution, or in the hydrated form. They can be used directly in the asymmetric aldol reaction as a commercially available form, which is a synthetic advantage. Given that the obtained aldol products possess several functional groups along with a formyl moiety, they are synthetically useful chiral building blocks.

An enantio- and diastereoselective approach to indoloquinolizidines in continuous flow

A solvent-free enantioselective Michael addition mediated by a polymer-supported Jørgensen–Hayashi catalyst and a domino Pictet–Spengler plus lactamisation sequence has been reported in continuous flow.

Green Chemistry Meets Asymmetric Organocatalysis: A Critical Overview on Catalysts Synthesis

Can green chemistry be the right reading key to let organocatalyst design take a step forward towards sustainable catalysis? What if the intriguing chemistry promoted by more engineered organocatalysts was carried on by using renewable and naturally occurring molecular scaffolds, or at least synthetic catalysts more respectful towards the principles of green chemistry? Within the frame of these questions, this Review will tackle the most commonly occurring organic chiral catalysts from the perspective of their synthesis rather than their employment in chemical methodologies or processes. A classification of the catalyst scaffolds based on their E factor will be provided, and the global E factor (EG factor) will be proposed as a new green chemistry metric to consider, also, the synthetic route to the catalyst within a given organocatalytic process.

N,N-Dialkylhydrazones as Versatile Umpolung Reagents in Enantioselective Anion-Binding Catalysis

An enantioselective anion-binding organocatalytic approach with versatile N,N-dialkylhydrazones (DAHs) as polarity-reversed (umpolung) nucleophiles is presented. For the application of this concept, a highly ordered hydrogen-bond (HB) network between a carefully selected CF3 -substituted triazole-based multidentate HB-donor catalyst, the ionic substrate and the hydrazone in a supramolecular chiral ion-pair complex was envisioned. The formation of such a network was further supported by both experimental and computational studies, which showed the crucial role of the anion as a template unit. The asymmetric Reissert-type reaction of quinolines as a model test reaction chemoselectively delivered highly enantiomerically enriched hydrazones (up 95:5 e.r.) that could be further derivatized to value-added compounds with up to three stereocenters.

Direct catalytic synthesis of β-(C3)-substituted pyrroles: a complementary addition to the Paal-Knorr reaction

The synthesis of β-(C3)-functionalized pyrroles is a challenging task and requires a multistep protocol. An operationally simple direct catalytic synthesis of β-substituted pyrroles has been developed. This one-pot multicomponent method combined aqueous succinaldehyde as 1,4-dicarbonyl, primary amines, and isatins to access hydroxyl-oxindole β-tethered pyrroles. Direct synthesis of the β-substituted free NH-pyrrole is the central intensity of this work. DFT-calculations and preliminary mechanism investigation support the possible reaction pathway.

One-pot asymmetric synthesis of a hexahydrophenanthridine scaffold containing five stereocenters via an organocatalytic quadruple-cascade reaction

An organocatalytic enantioselective aza-Michael-Michael-Michael/aldol cyclization quadruple-cascade reaction of 2-amino-β-nitrostyrenes and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes has been developed for the construction of fully substituted hexahydrophenanthridine.

Pot-Economical Total Synthesis of Clinprost

The pot-economical synthesis of clinprost is reported, in which the core bicyclo[3.3.0]octenone structure was synthesized by two key steps: an asymmetric domino Michael/Michael reaction catalyzed by diphenylprolinol silyl ether and an intramolecular Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction. The trisubstituted endocyclic alkene was selectively introduced by 1,4-reduction followed by trapping of the generated enolate with Tf₂NPh and subsequent utilization of the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction. Chiral, nonracemic clinprost was synthesized in seven pots with a 17% total yield and excellent enantioselectivity.

Evidence for an enolate mechanism in the asymmetric Michael reaction of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones via a hybrid system of two secondary amine catalysts

The key nucleophile was found to be neither an enamine nor an enol, but an enolate in the direct Michael reaction of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes and non-activated ketones catalyzed by two amine catalysts namely diphenylprolinol silyl ether and pyrrolidine. This is a rare example of an enolate from a ketone serving as a key intermediate in the asymmetric organocatalytic reaction involving secondary amine catalysts because the ketone enolates are generally generated using a strong base, and the enamine is a common nucleophile in this type of reaction.

The key nucleophile was found to be neither an enamine nor an enol, but an enolate in the direct Michael reaction of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes and non-activated ketones catalyzed by two amine catalysts namely diphenylprolinol silyl ether and pyrrolidine.

Recent advances in continuous-flow organocatalysis for process intensification

The progresses on continuous-flow organocatalysis from 2016 to early 2020 are reviewed with focus on transition from batch to flow.

Asymmetric pyrone Diels-Alder reactions enabled by dienamine catalysis

Despite the proven value in utilizing pyrone dienes to create molecular complexity via Diels-Alder reactions with varied dienophiles, few examples of effective catalytic, asymmetric variants of this process have been developed. Herein, we show that the use of Jørgensen-Hayashi-type catalysts can convert an array of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes into chiral dienamines that can formally add in a Diels-Alder fashion to a number of electron-deficient pyrones of the coumalate-type to generate optically active [2.2.2]-bicyclic lactones. In most cases, the reactions proceed with good to excellent diastereo- and enantiocontrol (up to 99% ee). Models to explain that stereoselectivity, as well as several additional transformations of the resultant products, are also presented.

Enantiodivergence by minimal modification of an acyclic chiral secondary aminocatalyst

The development of enantiodivergent catalysis for the preparation of both enantiomers of a chiral compound is of importance in pharmaceutical and bioorganic chemistry. With the design of a class of reactive and stereoselective organocatalysts, acyclic chiral secondary amines, a method for achieving the enantiodivergence is developed simply by changing the secondary N-i-Bu- to N-Me-group within the catalyst architecture while maintaining the same absolute configuration of the catalysts, which modulates the catalyst conformation. This catalyst-controlled enantiodivergent method not only enables challenging asymmetric transformations to occur in an enantiodivergent manner but also features a high level of stereocontrol and broad scope that is demonstrated in eight different reactions (90 examples), all delivering both enantiomers of a range of structurally diverse products including hitherto less accessible, yet important, compounds in good yields with high stereoselectivities.

Enantiodivergent methods, which to access both enantiomers of the same compound, are of importance in drug synthesis. Here, the authors show that by simply changing a NiBu- to a NMe-group in readily available amine organocatalysts, high stereocontrol and broad scope are achieved in eight asymmetric reactions.

Enantioselective Construction of Octahydroquinolines via Trienamine-Mediated Diels-Alder Reactions

A trienamine-mediated asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction using a 5-nitro-2,3-dihydro-4-pyridone derivative as a dienophile in the presence of a secondary amine organocatalyst derived from cis-hydroxyproline was discovered. The reaction provides optically active octahydroquinolines through an endo-selective [4 + 2] cyclization pathway. The following stereoselective denitration, isomerization, and/or hydrogenation generated divergent stereoisomers of decahydroquinolines, which are useful synthons for the total synthesis of Lycopodium alkaloids.

Decarboxylative, trienamine mediated cycloaddition for the synthesis of 3,4-dihydrocoumarin derivatives

This Communication describes the first decarboxylative trienamine-mediated cycloaddition between 2,4-dienals and coumarin-3-carboxylic acids.

Organocatalytic enantioselective synthesis of acyclic pyrimidine nucleosides by aza-Michael reaction

An efficient diarylprolinol triphenylsilyl ether-catalyzed enantioselective aza-Michael reaction of pyrimidines as N-centered nucleophiles to α,β-unsaturated aldehydes, followed by reduction, provided chiral acyclic pyrimidine nucleosides in good yields (51-78% yields for two steps) and excellent enantioselectivities (91-98% ee). In addition, the chiral acyclic pyrimidine nucleoside having the tert-butyldiphenylsilyl-protected hydroxyl substituent was successfully applied to the synthesis of the corresponding chiral cyclic pyrimidine nucleoside analogue bearing the tetrahydrofuranyl ring.

Alkaloid Synthesis Using Organocatalysts

This chapter covers the literature since the advent, in the 21st century, of total syntheses of alkaloids using enantio- or diastereoselective organocatalytic reactions to construct the alkaloid scaffolds. The details of these alkaloid syntheses are described separately for each basic skeleton, including indole, indoline, oxindole, and piperidine alkaloids.

Stereodivergent synthesis with a programmable molecular machine

It has been convincingly argued that molecular machines that manipulate individual atoms, or highly reactive clusters of atoms, with Ångström precision are unlikely to be realized. However, biological molecular machines routinely position rather less reactive substrates in order to direct chemical reaction sequences, from sequence-specific synthesis by the ribosome to polyketide synthases, where tethered molecules are passed from active site to active site in multi-enzyme complexes. Artificial molecular machines have been developed for tasks that include sequence-specific oligomer synthesis and the switching of product chirality, a photo-responsive host molecule has been described that is able to mechanically twist a bound molecular guest, and molecular fragments have been selectively transported in either direction between sites on a molecular platform through a ratchet mechanism. Here we detail an artificial molecular machine that moves a substrate between different activating sites to achieve different product outcomes from chemical synthesis. This molecular robot can be programmed to stereoselectively produce, in a sequential one-pot operation, an excess of any one of four possible diastereoisomers from the addition of a thiol and an alkene to an α,β-unsaturated aldehyde in a tandem reaction process. The stereodivergent synthesis includes diastereoisomers that cannot be selectively synthesized through conventional iminium-enamine organocatalysis. We anticipate that future generations of programmable molecular machines may have significant roles in chemical synthesis and molecular manufacturing.