Unraveling the Role of Water in the Stereoselective Step of Aqueous Proline-Catalyzed Aldol Reactions

Computational Study of the Stability of Pyrrolidine-Derived Iminium Ions: Exchange Equilibria between Iminium Ions and Carbonyl Compounds

The tendency of carbonyl compounds to form iminium ions by reaction with pyrrolidine or chiral pyrrolidine derivatives (in other words, the relative stability to hydrolysis of these iminium ions) has been computationally examined, mainly using the M06-2X/6-311+G(d,p) method. We have thus obtained the equilibrium positions for R-CH=O + CH₂=CH-CH=N⁺R₂* → R-CH=N⁺R₂* + CH₂=CH-CH=O reactions and for related exchanges. In these exchanges, there is a transfer of a secondary amine between two carbonyl compounds. Their relative energies may be used to predict which iminium species can be predominantly formed when two or more carbonyl groups are present in a reaction medium. In the catalytic Michael additions of nucleophiles to iminium ions arising from conjugated enals, dienals, and trienals, if the formation of the new Nu-C bond is favorable, the chances of amino-catalyzed reactions to efficiently proceed, with high conversions, depend on the calculated energy values for these exchange equilibria, where the iminium tetrafluoroborates of the adducts (final iminium intermediates) must be more prone to hydrolysis than the initial iminium tetrafluoroborates. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that the MacMillan catalysts and related oxazolidinones are especially suitable in this regard.

Exploring Free Energy Profiles of Enantioselective Organocatalytic Aldol Reactions under Full Solvent Influence

We present a computational study on the enantioselectivity of organocatalytic proline-catalyzed aldol reactions between aldehydes in dimethylformamide (DMF). To explore the free energy surface of the reaction, we apply two-dimensional metadynamics on top of ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations with explicit solvent description on the DFT level of theory. We avoid unwanted side reactions by utilizing our newly developed hybrid AIMD (HyAIMD) simulation scheme, which adds a simple force field to the AIMD simulation to prevent unwanted bond breaking and formation. Our condensed phase simulation results are able to nicely reproduce the experimental findings, including the main stereoisomer that is formed, and give a correct qualitative prediction of the change in syn:anti product ratio with different substituents. Furthermore, we give a microscopic explanation for the selectivity. We show that both the explicit description of the solvent and the inclusion of entropic effects are vital to a good outcome-metadynamics simulations in vacuum and static nudged elastic band (NEB) calculations yield significantly worse predictions when compared to the experiment. The approach described here can be applied to a plethora of other enantioselective or organocatalytic reactions, enabling us to tune the catalyst or determine the solvent with the highest stereoselectivity.

Reaction Mechanism of Organocatalytic Michael Addition of Nitromethane to Cinnamaldehyde: A Case Study on Catalyst Regeneration and Solvent Effects

The Michael addition of nitromethane to cinnamaldehyde has been computationally studied in the absence of a catalyst and the presence of a biotinylated secondary amine by a combined computational and experimental approach. The calculations were performed at the density functional theory (DFT) level with the M06-2X hybrid functional, and a polarizable continuum model has been employed to mimic the effect of two different solvents: dichloromethane (DCM) and water. Contrary to common assumption, the product-derived iminium intermediate was absent in both of the solvents tested. Instead, hydrating the C1–C2 double bond in the enamine intermediate directly yields the tetrahedral intermediate, which is key for forming the product and regenerating the catalyst. Enamine hydration is concerted and found to be rate-limiting in DCM but segregated into two non-rate-limiting steps when the solvent is replaced with water. However, further analysis revealed that the use of water as solvent also raises the energy barriers for other chemical steps, particularly the critical step of C–C bond formation between the iminium intermediate and nucleophile; this consequently lowers both the reaction yield and enantioselectivity of this LUMO-lowering reaction, as experimentally detected. These findings provide a logical explanation to why water often enhances organocatalysis when used as an additive but hampers the reaction progress when employed as a solvent.

Mechanisms and reactivity differences of proline-mediated catalysis in water and organic solvents

Several key issues regarding the mechanisms of proline catalysis are unravelled by first-principles calculations that can guide future catalyst design.

The reaction mechanism of polyalcohol dehydration in hot pressurized water

The use of high-temperature liquid water (HTW) as a reaction medium is a very promising technology in the field of green chemistry.

A Direct, Concise, and Enantioselective Synthesis of 2-Substituted 4,4,4-Trifluorobutane-1,3-diols Based on the Organocatalytic In Situ Generation of Unstable Trifluoroacetaldehyde

A direct, concise, and enantioselective synthesis of 2-substituted 4,4,4-trifluorobutane-1,3-diols based on the organocatalytic asymmetric direct aldol reaction of an ethyl hemiacetal of trifluoroacetaldehyde with various aldehydes was examined. A catalytic amount (30 mol %) of commercially available and inexpensive l-prolinamide is quite effective as an organocatalyst for the catalytic in situ generation of gaseous and unstable trifluoroacetaldehyde from its hemiacetal, and a successive asymmetric direct aldol reaction with various aldehydes in dichloromethane at 0 °C, followed by reduction with sodium borohydride, gives 2-substituted 4,4,4-trifluorobutane-1,3-diols in moderate to good yields (31-84%) with low diastereoselectivities and good to excellent enantioselectivities (64-97% ee).

Design and application of the recyclable poly(l-proline-co-piperidine) catalyst for the synthesis of mesityl oxide from acetone

A novel bi-component poly(l-proline-co-piperidine) catalyst was developed for the synthesis of mesityl oxide from acetone. The catalyst is more eco-friendly than traditional inorganic bases, avoiding the generation of corrosive solid, and the catalytic mechanism was studied.

Highly enantioselective cross-aldol reactions of acetaldehyde mediated by a dual catalytic system operating under site isolation

Polystyrene-supported (PS) diarylprolinol catalysts 1 a (Ar = phenyl) and 1 b (Ar = 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl) have been developed. Operating under site-isolation conditions, PS-1 a/1 b worked compatibly with PS-bound sulfonic acid catalyst 2 to promote deoligomerization of paraldehyde and subsequent cross-aldol reactions of the resulting acetaldehyde in one pot, affording aldol products in high yields with excellent enantioselectivities. The effect of water on the performance of the catalytic system has been studied and its optimal amount (0.5 equiv) has been determined. The dual catalytic system (1/2) allows repeated recycling and reuse (10 cycles). The potential of this methodology is demonstrated by a two-step synthesis of a phenoperidine analogue (68% overall yield; 98% ee) and by the preparation of highly enantioenriched 1,3-diols 4 and 3-methylamino-1-arylpropanols 5, key intermediates in the synthesis of a variety of druglike structures.

Parallel water/aromatic interactions of non-coordinated and coordinated water

The parallel interactions of non-coordinated and coordinated water molecules with an aromatic ring were studied by analyzing data in the Cambridge structural database (CSD) and by using quantum chemical calculations. The CSD data show that water/aromatic contacts prefer parallel to OH/π interactions, which indicates the importance of parallel interactions. The results reveal the influence of water coordination to a metal ion; the interactions of aqua complexes are stronger. Coordinated water molecules prefer a parallel-down orientation in which one OH bond is parallel to the aromatic ring, whereas the other OH bond points to the plane of the ring. The interactions of aqua complexes with parallel-down water/benzene orientation are as strong as the much better known OH/π orientations. The strongest calculated interaction energy is -14.89 kcal mol(-1) . The large number of parallel contacts in crystal structures and the quite strong interactions indicate the importance of parallel orientation in water/benzene interactions.