Organocatalytic Enantioselective Amination of Morita-Baylis-Hillman Carbonates with Masked Ammonia: A Facile Method for the Synthesis of Unprotected α-Methylene-β-Amino Esters

Enantioselective Lewis base catalysed allylation of picoline- and quinaldine-based latent pronucleophiles

Picolines and quinaldines are valuable building blocks and intermediates in the synthesis of natural products and pharmaceuticals. Functionalization of the methyl group in picolines and quinaldines under mild conditions is challenging. We report that the concept of latent pronucleophiles enables Lewis base catalysed allylation of picolines and quinaldines with allylic fluorides starting from silylated picolines and quinaldines. Reactions afford enantioenriched allylation products when chiral Lewis base catalysts are used. The allylation products can be rapidly transformed to quinolizine-4-ones.

Synthesis of β-Amino Acid Derivatives via Enantioselective Lewis Base Catalyzed N-Allylation of Halogenated Amides with Morita-Baylis-Hillman Carbonates

Trifluoro- and trichloroacetamides serving as pronucleophiles undergo enantioselective Lewis base catalyzed N-allylation with Morita-Baylis-Hillman carbonates to produce enantioenriched β-amino acid derivatives. The reactions proceed as a kinetic resolution to give the allylation products and the remaining carbonates in good yields and high enantioselectivity. The obtained products are amenable to diastereoselective derivatization to produce a library of spiro-isoxazoline lactams.

Lewis-Base-Catalyzed N-Allylation of Silyl Carbamate Latent Pronucleophiles with Allylic Fluorides

Silyl carbamates, latent pronucleophile surrogates of carbamates, undergo allylation using allylic fluorides in the presence of common Lewis base catalysts. The reactions are rendered enantioselective in the presence of chiral Lewis base catalysts and produce suitably protected derivatives of enantioenriched chiral β-amino acids. The design of the latent pronucleophile featuring both a silyl group and an electron-deficient carbamate is instrumental in lowering the nucleophilicity of nitrogen and enabling enantioselective allylation in the presence of chiral cinchona alkaloid-based catalysts.

Magnesium catalyzed [3 + 3] heteroannulation of α-enolic dithioesters with MBH acetate: access to functionalized 3,4-dihydro-2H-thiopyrans

Magnesium catalysis proved to be efficient towards [3 + 3] chemo- and diastereoselective heteroannulation employing racemic Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) acetate as the C3 unit and α-enolic dithioester as the C2S1 unit, leading to highly substituted 3,4-dihydro-2H-thiopyrans in excellent yields. The compatibility with a wide range of functional groups makes this domino formation of C-C and C-S bonds interesting. DFT analyses for the regioselective formation of the intermediate was performed.

Asymmetric α-Allylation of Glycinate with Switched Chemoselectivity Enabled by Customized Bifunctional Pyridoxal Catalysts

Owing to the strong nucleophilicity of the NH₂ group, free-NH₂ glycinates react with MBH acetates to usually deliver N-allylated products even in the absence of catalysts. Without protection of the NH₂ group, chiral pyridoxal catalysts bearing an amide side chain at the C3 position of the naphthyl ring switched the chemoselectivity of the glycinates from intrinsic N-allylation to α-C allylation. The reaction formed chiral multisubstituted glutamic acid esters as S_N 2'-S_N 2' products in good yields with excellent stereoselectivity (up to 86 % yield, >20 : 1 dr, 97 % ee). As compared to pyridoxal catalysts bearing an amide side arm at the C2 position, the pyridoxals in this study have a bigger catalytic cavity to enable effective activation of larger electrophiles, such as MBH acetates and related intermediates. The reaction is proposed to proceed via a cooperative bifunctional catalysis pathway, which accounts for the high level of diastereo- and enantiocontrol of the pyridoxal catalysts.

Enantioselective carbene insertion into the N-H bond of benzophenone imine

Efficient enantioselective insertion of α-diazoesters into the N-H bond of N-sp2-hybridized benzophenone imine was realized by using Rh2(esp)2 and chiral guanidine cooperative catalysis. Both aliphatic and aromatic substituted α-amino esters were obtained in high yields (up to 99%) and good enantioselectivities (up to 95.5 : 4.5 er) under mild reaction conditions.

Asymmetric allylic alkylation of Morita-Baylis-Hillman carbonates with α-fluoro-β-keto esters

In the presence of a commercially available Cinchona alkaloid as catalyst, the asymmetric allylic alkylation of Morita–Baylis–Hillman carbonates, with α-fluoro-β-keto esters as nucleophiles, have been successfully developed. A series of important fluorinated adducts, with chiral quaternary carbon centres containing a fluorine atom, was achieved in good yields (up to 93%), with good to excellent enantioselectivities (up to 96% ee) and moderate diastereoselectivities (up to 4:1 dr).

Catalytic asymmetric construction of spiro(γ-butyrolactam-γ-butyrolactone) moieties through sequential reactions of cyclic imino esters with Morita-Baylis-Hillman bromides

Spiro(γ-butyrolactam-γ-butyrolactone): a route to enantioenriched spiro(γ-butyrolactam-γ-butyrolactone) compounds, a valuable motif for drug discovery, was developed by use of a highly efficient copper(I)/TF-BiphamPhos-catalyzed tandem Michael addition-elimination of homoserine lactone derived cyclic imino esters with Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) bromides, followed by treatment with para-toluenesulfonic acid.

Organocatalytic asymmetric allylic amination of Morita-Baylis-Hillman carbonates of isatins

The investigation of a Lewis base catalyzed asymmetric allylic amination of Morita–Baylis–Hillman carbonates derived from isatins afforded an electrophilic pathway to access multifunctional oxindoles bearing a C3-quaternary stereocenter, provided with good to excellent enantioselectivity (up to 94% ee) and in high yields (up to 97%).