Complexation Phenomena and Dynamics at Work in the Lithiation Reactions of Small-Ring Heterocycles: Regio- and Stereoselectivity

Catalytic Aminium Radical-Cation Salt (Magic Blue)-Initiated SN2-Type Nucleophilic Ring-Opening Transformations of Aziridines

A simple and atom economic protocol for the construction of C-X/C-C bonds via catalytic aminium radical-cation salt (Magic Blue)-initiated SN2-type nucleophilic ring-opening transformations of racemic and nonracemic aziridines with different hetero and carbon nucleophiles to afford various amino ethers, thioethers, and amines in up to 99% yield, and with perfect enantiospecificity for some substrates but reduced ee with others (for nonracemic aziridines), is developed. This aminium radical-cation salt-initiated, SN2-type nucleophilic ring-opening strategy, along with various cyclization protocols, is employed to synthesize various biologically significant compounds.

Organoboron synthesis via ring opening coupling reactions

One of the most atom economical synthesis reactions of organoboron compounds can be achieved by addition reactions of boron reagents to unsaturated substrates. However, when the addition reaction takes place via carbanions promoting ring opening coupling reactions, the selective cleavage of the inherent bonds and the generation of new C-C bonds warrant the selective synthesis of organoboron systems with total efficiency. Here we describe new trends towards the selective synthesis of organoboron compounds where boron reagents and cyclic substrates participate in the generation of carbanions, in the presence of stoichiometric amounts of main-group metals or catalytic amounts of transition metal complexes, via ring opening coupling transformations. The generality and limitations of these new protocols are discussed.

Borylation and rearrangement of alkynyloxiranes: a stereospecific route to substituted α-enynes

1,3-Enynes are important building blocks in organic synthesis and also constitute the key motif in various bioactive natural products and functional materials. However, synthetic approaches to stereodefined substituted 1,3-enynes remain a challenge, as they are limited to Wittig and cross-coupling reactions. Herein, stereodefined 1,3-enynes, including tetrasubstituted ones, were straightforwardly synthesized from cis or trans-alkynylated oxiranes in good to excellent yields by a one-pot cascade process. The procedure relies on oxirane deprotonation, borylation and a stereospecific rearrangement of the so-formed alkynyloxiranyl borates. This stereospecific process overall transfers the cis or trans-stereochemistry of the starting alkynyloxiranes to the resulting 1,3-enynes.

Synthesis and kinetic resolution of substituted tetrahydroquinolines by lithiation then electrophilic quench

Treatment of N-Boc-2-aryl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolines with n-butyllithium in THF at -78 °C resulted in efficient lithiation at the 2-position and the organolithiums were trapped with a variety of electrophiles to give substituted products. Variable temperature NMR spectroscopy gave kinetic data that showed that the rate of tert-butoxycarbonyl (Boc) rotation was fast (ΔG‡ ≈ 45 kJ mol-1 at -78 °C) and in situ ReactIR spectroscopy showed fast lithiation at -78 °C. By carrying out the lithiation in the presence of the chiral ligand sparteine, kinetic resolutions with very high levels of enantioselectivity were achieved. The resulting enantioenriched N-Boc-2-aryltetrahydroquinolines were converted to 2,2-disubstituted products without significant loss in enantiopurity. Most electrophiles add at the 2-position and the chemistry provides a way to access tetrahydroquinolines that are fully substituted alpha to the nitrogen atom. Notably, either enantiomer of the 2,2-disubstituted tetrahydroquinolines can be obtained with high selectivity from the same enantiomer of the chiral ligand. Unusually, when methyl cyanoformate was used as the electrophile, substitution occurred in the ortho position of the aryl ring attached at C-2. This change in regioselectivity on changing the electrophile was probed by deuterium isotope studies and by DFT calculations which suggested that the binding of the cyanoformate altered the structure of the intermediate organolithium. Secondary amine products can be prepared by removing the Boc group with acid or by inducing the Boc group to rearrange to the 2-position in the presence of triethylborane and this carbonyl N-to-C rearrangement occurs with retention of configuration from the intermediate enantiomerically enriched organolithium species.

Recent advances in the chemistry of metallated azetidines

The almost unexplored four-membered azetidines represent a particularly interesting class of molecules, among the family of saturated nitrogen heterocycles. This review reports recent developments in direct metal-based functionalization of the azetidine ring, focusing on the regio- and stereoselectivity of these reactions.

Nitrogen Stereodynamics and Complexation Phenomena as Key Factors in the Deprotonative Dynamic Resolution of Alkylideneaziridines: A Spectroscopic and Computational Study

The present work is aimed at shedding light on the origin of the stereoselectivity observed in the reactions of chiral heterosubstituted organolithiums, generated by lithiation of alkylideneaziridines. Factors such as the nitrogen inversion barrier, the stereochemistry at the nitrogen atom, the substitution pattern of the alkylideneaziridines, and the reaction conditions are taken into consideration. The interplay between nitrogen stereodynamics and complexation phenomena seems to be crucial in determining the stereochemical outcome of the lithiation/trapping sequence. The findings were rationalized by a synergistic use of NMR experiments, run on the lithiated intermediates, alongside computational data. It has been demonstrated that, in such systems, the stereochemistry-determining step is the deprotonation reaction, and a model based on a deprotonative dynamic resolution has been proposed. Such findings could find application in dynamic systems other than aziridines.