Dipeptide-Derived Multifunctional Quaternary Phosphonium Salt Catalyzed Asymmetric Cyclizations via a Tandem Michael Addition/SN2 Sequence

Design and Application of Peptide-Mimic Phosphonium Salt Catalysts in Asymmetric Synthesis

Chiral phosphonium salt catalysis, traditionally classified as a type of phase transfer catalysis, has proven to be a powerful strategy for the stereoselective preparation of diverse optically active molecules. However, there still remain numerous forbidding issues of reactivity and selectivity in such well-known organocatalysis system. Accordingly, the development of new and high-performance phosphonium salt catalysts with unique chiral backbones is highly desirable, yet challenging. This Minireview describes the prominent endeavours in the development of a new family of chiral peptide-mimic phosphonium salt catalysts with multiple hydrogen-bonding donors and their applications in a plethora of enantioselective synthesis during the past few years. Hopefully, this minireview will pave a way for further developing much more efficient and privileged chiral ligands/catalysts featuring exclusively catalytic ability in asymmetric synthesis.

Amide phosphonium salt catalyzed enantioselective Mannich addition of isoxazole-based nucleophiles to β,γ-alkynyl-α-ketimino esters

An enantioselective Mannich addition of 3,5-disubstituted 4-nitroisoxazoles to β,γ-alkynyl-α-ketimino esters promoted by an amide phosphonium salt-based catalyst has been developed. N-Cbz-protected ketimino esters with various aryl substituents attached to the alkyne unit were reacted with a series of isoxazoles with different substitution patterns. Chiral tertiary propargylic amine products were obtained with moderate to good yields and enantioselectivities. TIPS- and cyclopropyl-substituted alkynyl ketimines were also examined in the current system and the desired products were obtained with moderate yields and enantioselectivities. The potential scalability and utility of the current protocol were demonstrated by carrying out a relatively larger scale reaction followed by further transformations.

Asymmetric catalytic alkynylation of thiazolones and azlactones for synthesis of quaternary α-amino acid precursors

Asymmetric alkynylation of thiazolones and azlactones with alkynylbenziodoxolones as the electrophilic alkyne source catalyzed by thiourea phosphonium salt is described. By using thiazolones as nucleophiles, the desired alkyne functionalized thiazolones were obtained in 55-89% yields with 31-86% ee. Azlactones gave the desired products in comparable yields with lower enantioselectivities. Ring-opening of the alkynylation products led to α,α-disubstituted α-amino acid derivatives efficiently without loss of enantioselectivity.

Enantioselectivity switch in asymmetric Michael addition reactions using phosphonium salts

Efficient access to two enantiomers of one chiral compound is critical for the discovery of drugs. However, it is still a challenging problem owing to the difficulty in obtaining two enantiomers of one chiral catalyst. Here, we report a general method to obtain both enantiomeric products via fine tuning the hydrogen-bonding interactions of phosphonium salts. Amino acid derived phosphonium salts and dipeptide derived phosphonium salts exhibited different properties for controlling the transition state, which could efficiently promote the Michael addition reaction to give opposite configurations of products with high yields and enantioselectivities. Preliminary investigations on the mechanism of the reaction and applications of the products were also performed.

N-Protecting group tuning of the enantioselectivity in Strecker reactions of trifluoromethyl ketimines to synthesize quaternary α-trifluoromethyl amino nitriles by ion pair catalysis

An enantioselective Strecker reaction to construct trifluoromethylated quaternary stereocenters with N-PMP and unexplored N-Boc trifluoromethyl ketimines catalyzed using an organophosphine dual-reagent catalyst has been developed. The enantioselectivities of the corresponding products with the same catalyst could be switched by using different N-protecting groups (N-PMP or N-Boc). The trifluoromethyl amino nitriles were obtained in high yield and high enantioselectivity in a short time and could be easily converted to a variety of useful trifluoromethyl-containing compounds.

Asymmetric synthesis of benzothiazolopyrimidines with high catalytic efficiency and stereoselectivity under bifunctional phosphonium salt systems

Bifunctional phosphonium salt-mediated formal [4+2] annulation towards chiral benzothiazolopyrimidine compounds with excellent yields and stereoselectivities.

Highly Enantioselective Synthesis of Fused Tri- and Tetrasubstituted Aziridines: aza-Darzens Reaction of Cyclic Imines with α-Halogenated Ketones Catalyzed by Bifunctional Phosphonium Salt

The first enantioselective aza-Darzens reaction of cyclic imines with α-halogenated ketones was realized under mild reaction conditions by using amino-acid-derived bifunctional phosphonium salts as phase-transfer promoters. A variety of structurally dense tri- and tetrasubstituted aziridine derivatives, containing benzofused heterocycles as well as spiro-structures, were readily synthesized in high yields with excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivities (up to >20:1 d.r. and >99.9 % ee). The highly functionalized aziridine products could be easily transformed into different classes of biologically active compounds.

Chiral Phase-Transfer Catalysts with Hydrogen Bond: A Powerful Tool in the Asymmetric Synthesis

Asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis has been widely applied into organic synthesis for efficiently creating chiral functional molecules. In the past decades, chiral phase-transfer catalysts with proton donating groups are emerging as an extremely significant strategy in the design of novel catalysts, and a large number of enantioselective reactions have been developed. In particular, the proton donating groups including phenol, amide, and (thio)-urea exhibited unique properties for cooperating with the phase-transfer catalysts, and great advances on this field have been made in the past few years. This review summarizes the seminal works on the design, synthesis, and applications of chiral phase-transfer catalysts with strong hydrogen bonding interactions.

Asymmetric synthesis of spiro-structural 2,3-dihydrobenzofuransviathe bifunctional phosphonium salt-promoted [4 + 1] cyclization ofortho-quinone methides with α-bromoketones

A practical and scalable method for highly stereoselective construction of spiro-2,3-dihydrobenzofuransviacyclization ofortho-quinone methides and α-bromoketones by bifunctional phosphonium salt catalysis was developed.

Enantioselective amination of nitroolefins under base-free and water-rich conditions using chiral bifunctional phase-transfer catalysts

A highly enantioselective amination of nitroolefins was realized with l-tert-leucine derived squaramide-scaffold bifunctional phase-transfer catalysts under base-free and water-rich conditions.

Chiral Tertiary Sulfonium Salts as Effective Catalysts for Asymmetric Base-Free Neutral Phase-Transfer Reactions

Although chiral quaternary ammonium and phosphonium salts are commonly used for asymmetric organocatalysis, the catalytic ability of chiral tertiary sulfonium salts has yet to be demonstrated in asymmetric synthesis. Herein, we show that chiral bifunctional trialkylsulfonium salts catalyze highly enantioselective conjugate additions of 3-substituted oxindoles to maleimides under base-free neutral phase-transfer conditions.

Effective asymmetric vinylogous Mannich reaction of isatin imines with α,α-dicyanoolefins in the presence of a simple chiral amide phosphonium bifunctional phase transfer catalyst

A Mannich reaction between N-Boc isatin imine and α,α-dicyanoolefin as well as subsequent oxidative cleavage of the malonic nitrile moiety were described.

Asymmetric [4 + 2] annulation of 5H-thiazol-4-ones with a chiral dipeptide-based Brønsted base catalyst

Versatile synthetic strategies that access diverse chemical substrates in a highly chemo- and stereo-selective manner are crucial but demanding. Construction of chiral molecules with multiple (hetero)-quaternary carbon stereocenters in a single fashion is a particularly significant challenge, with important applications in the synthesis of a range of bioactive compounds containing the 1,4-sulfur bridged piperidinone structural motif. The asymmetric synthesis of these entities is complicated due to the need to build at least two hetero-quaternary stereocenters concurrently. In order to achieve this, we have developed a new family of dipeptide-based multifunctional Brønsted base organocatalysts that are highly capable of the first asymmetric [4 + 2] annulation reaction of 5H-thiazol-4-ones with electron-deficient alkenes. This protocol could be applied to a series of alkenes such as nitroalkenes, 4-oxo-4-arylbutenones, 4-oxo-4-arylbutenoates and methyleneindolinones, providing an efficient approach to valuable chiral 1,4-sulfur bridged piperidinones and their derivatives with multiple hetereo-quaternary stereogenic centers in high yields and enantioselectivities. Density functional theory studies involving 5H-thiazol-4-one and nitroolefin catalysis propose stereochemical insights into the origin of enantio- and chemo-selectivity.