Molecular assembly of an achiral phosphine and a chiral primary amine: a highly efficient supramolecular catalyst for the enantioselective Michael reaction of aldehydes with maleimides

Asymmetric Conjugate Addition of Ketones to Maleimides Organocatalyzed by a Chiral Primary Amine-Salicylamide

Enantioenriched substituted succinimides are interesting compounds, and their asymmetric organocatalytic synthesis by the conjugated addition of ketones to maleimides has been scarcely explored. This study shows the enantioselective conjugate addition of ketones to maleimides organocatalyzed by a simple primary amine-salicylamide derived from a chiral trans-cyclohexane-1,2-diamine, which provides the desired succinimides in good to excellent yields (up to 98%) and with moderate to excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99%).

Functional Chirality: From Small Molecules to Supramolecular Assemblies

Many structures in nature look symmetric, but this is not completely accurate, because absolute symmetry is close to death. Chirality (handedness) is one form of living asymmetry. Chirality has been extensively investigated at different levels. Many rules were coined in attempts made for many decades to have control over the selection of handedness that seems to easily occur in nature. It is certain that if good control is realized on chirality, the roads will be ultimately open towards numerous developments in pharmaceutical, technological, and industrial applications. This tutorial review presents a report on chirality from single molecules to supramolecular assemblies. The realized functions are still in their infancy and have been scarcely converted into actual applications. This review provides an overview for starters in the chirality field of research on concepts, common methodologies, and outstanding accomplishments. It starts with an introductory section on the definitions and classifications of chirality at the different levels of molecular complexity, followed by highlighting the importance of chirality in biological systems and the different means of realizing chirality and its inversion in solid and solution-based systems at molecular and supramolecular levels. Chirality-relevant important findings and (bio-)technological applications are also reported accordingly.

N-Primary-amine tetrapeptide-catalyzed highly asymmetric Michael addition of aliphatic aldehydes to maleimides

The highly asymmetric Michael addition reaction between maleimides and aliphatic aldehydes catalyzed by low-loading β-turn tetrapeptides with excellent yields and enantioselectivities at room temperature was reported. α-Branched and α-unbranched aldehydes both are suitable nucleophiles. N-Aryl, alkyl and hydrogen maleimides all are well tolerated and led to high yields and enantioselectivities. The transformation can be enlarged to the gram scale without decrease in the yield and enantioselectivity. Furthermore, the succinimides were converted into γ-lactams and γ-lactones, showing good practicality of this work. Some reaction intermediates in the proposed reaction mechanism can be captured with the HR-MS method.

Enantioselective Michael Addition of Aldehydes to Maleimides Organocatalyzed by a Chiral Primary Amine-Salicylamide

A primary amine-salicylamide derived from chiral trans-cyclohexane-1,2-diamine was used as an organocatalyst for the enantioselective conjugate addition of aldehydes, mainly α,α-disubstituted to N-substituted maleimides. The reaction was performed in toluene as a solvent at room temperature. The corresponding enantioenriched adducts were obtained with high yields and enantioselectivities up to 94%. Theoretical calculations were used to justify the stereoinduction.

Phosphine Organocatalysis

The hallmark of nucleophilic phosphine catalysis is the initial nucleophilic addition of a phosphine to an electrophilic starting material, producing a reactive zwitterionic intermediate, generally under mild conditions. In this Review, we classify nucleophilic phosphine catalysis reactions in terms of their electrophilic components. In the majority of cases, these electrophiles possess carbon-carbon multiple bonds: alkenes (section 2), allenes (section 3), alkynes (section 4), and Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) alcohol derivatives (MBHADs; section 5). Within each of these sections, the reactions are compiled based on the nature of the second starting material-nucleophiles, dinucleophiles, electrophiles, and electrophile-nucleophiles. Nucleophilic phosphine catalysis reactions that occur via the initial addition to starting materials that do not possess carbon-carbon multiple bonds are collated in section 6. Although not catalytic in the phosphine, the formation of ylides through the nucleophilic addition of phosphines to carbon-carbon multiple bond-containing compounds is intimately related to the catalysis and is discussed in section 7. Finally, section 8 compiles miscellaneous topics, including annulations of the Hüisgen zwitterion, phosphine-mediated reductions, iminophosphorane organocatalysis, and catalytic variants of classical phosphine oxide-generating reactions.

Asymmetric Michael Addition Organocatalyzed by α,β-Dipeptides under Solvent-Free Reaction Conditions

The application of six novel α,β-dipeptides as chiral organocatalysts in the asymmetric Michael addition reaction between enolizable aldehydes and N-arylmaleimides or nitroolefins is described. With N-arylmaleimides as substrates, the best results were achieved with dipeptide 2 as a catalyst in the presence of aq. NaOH. Whereas dipeptides 4 and 6 in conjunction with 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) and thiourea as a hydrogen bond donor proved to be highly efficient organocatalytic systems in the enantioselective reaction between isobutyraldehyde and various nitroolefins.

A phosphotungstic acid-supported multifunctional organocatalyst containing 9-amino(9-deoxy)epi-cinchonidine and Brønsted acid and its application in asymmetric aldol reaction

Phosphotungstic acid-supported multifunctional 9-amino(9-deoxy)epi-cinchonidine containing Brønsted acid was developed through facile precipitation for the first time and afforded aldol adducts in excellent catalytic performance with good reusability.

An efficient approach toward formation of polycyclic coumarin derivatives via carbocation-initiated [4+2] cycloaddition and atom-economical photo-irradiated cyclization

Polycyclic coumarin derivatives were easily prepared by carbocation initiated [4+2] cycloaddition of propargyl silyl ethers with ynamides and fluorescent analysis-oriented photo-irradiated cyclization.

One-step Barton decarboxylation by micellar catalysis – application to the synthesis of maleimide derivatives

Maleimides being studied or used in various applications, for the first time, a facile entry to Barton decarboxylation in aqueous media is described to obtain in one step substituted N-phenylmaleimide synthons.

Enantioselective copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne click cycloaddition to desymmetrization of maleimide-based bis(alkynes)

A copper catalyst system derived from TaoPhos and CuF2 was used successfully for catalytic asymmetric Huisgen [3+2] cycloaddition of azides and alkynes to give optically pure products containing succinimide- and triazole-substituted quaternary carbon stereogenic centers. The desired products were obtained in good yields (60-80 %) and 85:15 to >99:1 enantiomeric ratio (e.r.) in this click cycloaddition reaction.