Efficient synthesis of (R)- and (S)-(6,6′-difluorobiphenyl-2,2′-diyl) bis(diphenylphosphine); electron-poor biphenyl-type ligands for transition metal catalysts

Palladium/Amino Acid Co-catalyzed Atroposelective C-H Olefination to Access Tetra-Ortho-Substituted Atropisomers Featuring 2,2'-Difluoro-1-biaryl Scaffolds

Despite the great advancement in atroposelective synthesis in the past decades, the enantioselective synthesis of 2,2'-difluoro-1-biaryls is unprecedented. Herein, a palladium and chiral amino acid catalyzed atroposelective C-H olefination to construct the axially chiral 2,2'-difluoro-1-biaryls is reported. A variety of polyfluoro-substituted biaryls were forged under mild conditions in good yields with excellent enantioselectivity (up to 99% ee). The potential application was demonstrated by a gram-scale synthesis and synthetic transformations.

Electronic and Steric Tuning of an Atropisomeric Disulfoxide Ligand Motif and Its Use in the Rh(I)-Catalyzed Addition Reactions of Boronic Acids to a Wide Range of Acceptors

A novel chiral disulfoxide ligand pair bearing fluorine atoms at the 6 and 6' position of its atropisomeric backbone, ( M, S, S)- and ( P, S, S)- p-Tol-6F-BIPHESO, was synthesized. Complexation to a rhodium(I) precursor gave rise to μ-Cl- and μ-OH-bridged rhodium dimer complexes incorporating the new ( M, S, S)- p-Tol-6F-BIPHESO ligand, while its sibling ( P, S, S)- p-Tol-6F-BIPHESO was not complexed efficiently to the rhodium precursor. The performance of this disulfoxide ligand [( M, S, S)- p-Tol-6F-BIPHESO] in catalysis was tested in both 1,4- and 1,2-addition reactions of arylboronic acids. We show that addition to both cyclic and acyclic enones as well as N-tosylarylimines proceeds with high yields and high enantioselectivities to give the corresponding products. The synthesis of enantiomerically pure p-Tol-6F-BIPHESO is straightforward and inexpensive which, together with the high catalytic performance and wide substrate scope for these addition reactions, makes it a very attractive alternative to more classical chiral ligand entities.

Complexes of Pd(II) and Pt(II) with 9-aminoacridine: reactions with DNA and study of their antiproliferative activity

Four new metal complexes {M = Pd(II) or Pt(II)} containing the ligand 9-aminoacridine (9AA) were prepared. The compounds were characterized by FT-IR and ¹H, ¹³C, and ¹⁹⁵Pt NMR spectroscopies. Crystal structure of the palladium complex of formulae [Pd(9AA)(μ-Cl)]₂ · 2DMF was determined by X-ray diffraction. Two 9-acridine molecules in the imine form bind symmetrically to the metal ions in a bidentate fashion through the imine nitrogen atom and the C(1) atom of the aminoacridine closing a new five-membered ring. By reaction with phosphine or pyridine, the Cl bridges broke and compounds with general formulae [Pd(9AA)Cl(L)] (where L = PPh₃ or py) were formed. A mononuclear complex of platinum of formulae [Pt(9AA)Cl(DMSO)] was also obtained by direct reaction of 9-aminoacridine and the complex [PtCl₂(DMSO₂]. The capacity of the compounds to modify the secondary and tertiary structures of DNA was evaluated by means of circular dichroism and electrophoretic mobility. Both palladium and platinum compounds proved active in the modification of both the secondary and tertiary DNA structures. AFM images showed noticeable modifications of the morphology of the plasmid pBR322 DNA by the compounds probably due to the intercalation of the complexes between base pairs of the DNA molecule. Finally, the palladium complex was tested for antiproliferative activity against three different human tumor cell lines. The results suggest that the palladium complex of formula [Pd(9AA)(μ-Cl)]₂ has significant antiproliferative activity, although it is less active than cisplatin.

(R)-3,5-diCF3-SYNPHOS and (R)-p-CF3-SYNPHOS, electron-poor diphosphines for efficient room temperature Rh-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition of arylboronic acids

Two new atropisomeric electron-poor chiral diphosphine ligand analogues of SYNPHOS were prepared, and their electronic properties are described. These two ligands afforded high performance for the Rh-catalyzed asymmetric 1,4-addition of arylboronic acids to α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds at room temperature.

Electroactive C2 Symmetry Receptors Based on the Biphenyl Scaffold and Tetrathiafulvalene Units

The synthesis of a family of biphenyl-tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) derivatives incorporating a binding site has been carried out in good to moderate yields through functionalization of the biphenyl scaffold. X-ray structure of one derivative (compound 3) of the series is provided and shows a dihedral angle of 74 degrees around the central Ar-Ar bond of the biphenyl unit in a cisoid conformation. (1)H NMR and cyclic-voltammetry studies demonstrate the critical importance of the nature of the substitution on the conformational rigidity and on the electrochemical behavior of the resulting biphenyl-TTF assemblies. This feature is underlined by an original electrochemical recognition process upon binding of Pb(2+), correlated to conformational changes occurring upon metal cation complexation.

Regiocontrolled synthesis of enantiopure 3,3'-thiosubstituted biphenyls

Sulfenylation of 6,6'-dimethoxy-2,2'-dihydroxybiphenyl, used as a racemic mixture and single enantiomers, by phthalimidesulfenyl chloride afforded the corresponding 3,3'-N,N'-dithiophthalimide with complete regioselectivity. Simple manipulations of the latter compound allowed access to the corresponding bis-thiol or o-thioquinone as useful intermediates for the synthesis of new sulfur-containing open-chain and macrocyclic C(2) enantiopure ligands. The application of this methodology to the preparation of a biphenyl bearing two cysteine units as potential HIV-1 protease inhibitor is also described.

Asymmetric Activation

While nonracemic catalysts can generate nonracemic products with or without the nonlinear relationship in enantiomeric excesses between catalysts and products, racemic catalysts inherently give only a racemic mixture of chiral products. Asymmetric catalysts, either in nonracemic or racemic form, can be further evolved into highly activated catalysts with association of chiral activators. This asymmetric activation process is particularly useful in racemic catalysis through selective activation of one enantiomer of the racemic catalyst. Recently, a strategy whereby a racemic catalyst is selectively deactivated by a chiral additive has been reported to yield nonracemic products. However, reported herein is an alternative and conceptually opposite strategy in which a chiral activator selectively activates, rather than deactivates, one enantiomer of a racemic chiral catalyst. The advantage of this activation strategy over the deactivation counterpart is that the activated catalyst can produce a greater enantiomeric excess in the products-even with the use of a catalytic amount of activator relative to chiral catalyst-than that attained by the enantiomerically pure catalyst on its own. Therefore, asymmetric activation could provide a general and powerful strategy for not only the use of atropisomeric, racemic ligands but also chirally flexible and proatropisomeric ligands without enantiomeric resolution!

Synthesis, resolution, and applications of 2, 2'-bis(diphenylphosphino)-3,3'- binaphtho[2,1-b]furan

[structure: see text] A short five-step synthesis of (+/-)-2,2'-bis(diphenylphosphino)-3, 3'-binaphtho[2,1-b]furan (BINAPFu, 1) starting from 2-naphthoxyacetic acid is reported. The resolution of BINAPFu 1 was possible using our newly developed resolution procedure for phosphines wherein (1S)-camphorsulfonyl azide was used to prepare the bisphosphinimine of BINAPFu via the Staundinger reaction. BINAPFu consistently outperformed BINAP in an asymmetric Heck reaction between 2,3-dihydrofuran and phenyl triflate.

F8BINOL, an electronically perturbed version of BINOL with remarkable configurational stability

[structure: see text] Substitution of hydrogens by fluorines at the 5, 5', 6, 6', 7, 7', 8, and 8' positions of BINOL strongly affects distribution of electron density within the biaryl skeleton but has a very small influence on the torsion angle. The most important consequence of this structural alteration is the dramatic increase in configurational stability of homochiral F8BINOL.