Asymmetric α-chlorination of β-ketoesters using bifunctional ammonium salt catalysis

Synthesis and Catalytic Activity of Bifunctional Phase-Transfer Organocatalysts Based on Camphor

Ten novel bifunctional quaternary ammonium salt phase-transfer organocatalysts were synthesized in four steps from (+)-camphor-derived 1,3-diamines. These quaternary ammonium salts contained either (thio)urea or squaramide hydrogen bond donor groups in combination with either trifluoroacetate or iodide as the counteranion. Their organocatalytic activity was evaluated in electrophilic heterofunctionalizations of β-keto esters and in the Michael addition of a glycine Schiff base with methyl acrylate. α-Fluorination and chlorination of β-keto esters proceeded with full conversion and low enantioselectivities (up to 29% ee). Similarly, the Michael addition of a glycine Schiff base with methyl acrylate proceeded with full conversion and up to 11% ee. The new catalysts have been fully characterized; the stereochemistry at the C-2 chiral center was unambiguously determined.

(Thio)urea containing chiral ammonium salt catalysts

(Thio)-urea-containing bifunctional quaternary ammonium salts emerged as powerful non-covalently interacting organocatalysts over the course of the last decade. The most commonly employed catalysts in this field are either based on Cinchona alkaloids, α-amino acids, or trans-cyclohexane-1,2-diamine. Our group has been heavily engaged in the design and use of such catalysts, i. e. trans-cyclohexane-1,2-diamine-based ones for around 10 years now, and it is therefore the intention of this short personal account to provide an overview of the, at least in our opinion, most significant and pioneering achievements in this field by looking on catalyst design and asymmetric method development, with a special focus on our own contributions.

Study of Ground State Interactions of Enantiopure Chiral Quaternary Ammonium Salts and Amides, Nitroalkanes, Nitroalkenes, Esters, Heterocycles, Ketones and Fluoroamides

Chiral phase-transfer catalysis provides high level of enantiocontrol, however no experimental data showed the interaction of catalysts and substrates. 1 H NMR titration was carried out on Cinchona and Maruoka ammonium bromides vs. nitro, carbonyl, heterocycles, and N-F containing compounds. It was found that neutral organic species and quaternary ammonium salts interacted via an ensemble of catalyst + N-C-H and (sp2 )C-H, specific for each substrate studied. The correspondent BArF salts interacted with carbonyls via a diverse set of + N-C-H and (sp2 )C-H compared to bromides. This data suggests that BArF ammonium salts may display a different enantioselectivity profile. Although not providing quantitative data for the affinity constants, the data reported proofs that chiral ammonium salts coordinate with substrates, prior to transition state, through specific C-H positions in their structures, providing a new rational to rationalize the origin of enantioselectivity in their catalyses.

Asymmetric α-Chlorination of β-Keto Esters Using Hypervalent Iodine-Based Cl-Transfer Reagents in Combination with Cinchona Alkaloid Catalysts

We herein report an unprecedented strategy for the asymmetric α-chlorination of β-keto esters with hypervalent iodine-based Cl-transfer reagents using simple Cinchona alkaloid catalysts. Our investigations support an α-chlorination mechanism where the Cinchona species serves as a nucleophilic catalyst by reacting with the chlorinating agent to generate a chiral electrophilic Cl-transfer reagent in situ. Using at least 20 mol-% of the alkaloid catalyst allows for good yields and enantioselectivities for a variety of different β-keto esters under operationally simple conditions.

Stereoselective α-Chlorination of β-Keto Esters in the Presence of Hybrid Amide-Based Cinchona Alkaloids as Catalysts

We report an enantioselective phase transfer α-chlorination of β-keto esters catalyzed by hybrid amide-based Cinchona derivatives. The chlorination process proceeds with proper quantitative yields (up to <99%) and high asymmetric induction (up to 97% ee). We show that the use of only 0.5 mol % hybrid catalyst based on a Cinchona core allows the chlorination reaction to be conducted in a highly enantioselective manner with various indanone and tetralone carboxylate esters.

Catalytic Asymmetric Chlorination of β-Ketoesters Using N-PFB-PyBidine-Zn(OAc)2

A PyBidine-Zn(OAc)2 complex catalyzed asymmetric chlorination of β-ketoesters. With assistance of NaHCO3, a newly developed N-pentafluorobenzyl-PyBidine (N-PFB-PyBidine)-Zn(OAc)2 catalyst promoted the reaction of α-benzyl-β-ketoesters with N-chlorosuccinimide (NCS) to give the chlorinated products with up to 82% ee. Results of a mechanistic study suggested that zinc-enolate of β-ketoesters was formed on the basic (N-PFB-PyBidine)-Zn(OAc)2 catalyst. The α-chlorinated-β-ketoester was successfully transformed into the chiral epoxide through sequential asymmetric chlorination/cyano-epoxidation in a one-pot synthesis.

Ammonium Salt-Catalyzed Ring-Opening of Aryl-Aziridines with β-Keto Esters

We herein report an ammonium salt-catalyzed protocol for the regioselective ring opening of aryl-aziridines with β-keto esters. The reaction gives access to a variety of highly functionalized target molecules with two consecutive stereo-genic centers and can be rendered enantioselective (up to e.r. = 91:9) by using bifunctional chiral ammonium salt catalysts.

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.

Towards an Asymmetric Organocatalytic α-Azidation of β-Ketoesters

Detailed investigations concerning the organocatalytic (asymmetric) α-azidation of prochiral β-ketoesters were carried out. It was shown that the racemic version of such a reaction can either be carried out under oxidative conditions using TMSN₃ as the azide-source with quaternary ammonium iodides as the catalysts, or by using hypervalent iodine-based electrophilic azide-transfer reagents with different organocatalysts. In addition, the latter strategy could also be carried out with modest enantioselectivities when using simple cinchona alkaloid catalysts, albeit with relatively low yields.

Chiral phase-transfer catalysis in the asymmetric α-heterofunctionalization of prochiral nucleophiles

Chiral phase-transfer catalysis is one of the major catalytic principles in asymmetric catalysis. A broad variety of different catalysts and their use for challenging applications have been reported over the last decades. Besides asymmetric C–C bond forming reactions the use of chiral phase-transfer catalysts for enantioselective α-heterofunctionalization reactions of prochiral nucleophiles became one of the most important field of application of this catalytic principle. Based on several highly spectacular recent reports, we thus wish to discuss some of the most important achievements in this field within the context of this review.

Asymmetric Chlorination of β-Keto Esters Using Diaminomethylenemalononitrile Organocatalyst

Diaminomethylenemalononitrile organocatalysts promote the asymmetric chlorination of simple cyclic β-keto esters such as methyl, ethyl, and benzyl esters of 1-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-indene-2-carboxylic acid. This affords the corresponding chiral α-chlorinated carbonyl products in excellent yields with high enantioselectivities.

A new generation of chiral phase-transfer catalysts

Phase-transfer catalysis has long been recognized as a versatile method for organic synthesis. In particular, over more than the past three decades, asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis based on the use of structurally well-defined chiral catalysts has become a topic of great scientific interest. Although various effective chiral catalysts have already been reported and these catalysts were utilized for practical asymmetric transformations, further design and development of new chiral phase-transfer catalysts are still attractive research subjects in organic chemistry due to the high utility and practicability of phase-transfer-catalyzed reactions. This review focuses on the recent examples of newly designed effective chiral phase-transfer catalysts.