New hydroxyproline based methacrylic polybetaines: Synthesis, pH sensitivity and catalytic activity

Bioinspired Polymer-Bound Organocatalysts for Direct Asymmetric Aldol Reaction: Experimental and Computational Studies

A series of poly(2-oxazoline) (POX) derivatives bearing prolinamide pendants were designed as organocatalysts and evaluated in the direct asymmetric aldol reaction between aromatic aldehydes and cyclic ketones. The structural variation of the alkyl spacer connecting the polymer backbone with the catalytic unit was applied so as to deduce structure–performance relationships combined with comparable experiments from model catalysts. Results showed that the POX-bound prolinamides can promote the aldol reaction more effectively as compared to their small-molecular and non-POX-bound analogs. The catalyst P3 containing the pyrrolidine moiety closer to the tertiary amide backbone exhibited the overall best catalytic efficiency, affording anti-products in 84% yield with 89% ee in the representative aldol addition of cyclohexanone to 4-nitrobenzaldehyde at a 10 mol.% catalyst loading. Furthermore, the influence of trifluoroacetic acid as an additive on the asymmetric transformation was investigated. Theoretical calculations revealed that the protonation of the aldehyde carbonyl group switched the activation mode of the aldol acceptor through hydrogen bond interactions, thereby changing the relative energy barrier of the enamine/aldehyde reaction transition states, which accounted well for the significant improvement in the enantioselectivity of the acidic additives observed experimentally.

A Pseudopeptide Polymer Micelle Used for Asymmetric Catalysis of the Aldol Reaction in Water

Micelles assembled from amphiphilic molecules have proved to be ideal scaffolds to construct artificial catalysts mimicking enzymatic catalytic behavior. In this paper, we describe the synthesis of amphiphilic poly(2-oxazoline) derivatives with l-prolinamide units in the side chain and their application in asymmetric aldol reactions. Upon dissolution in water, the pseudopeptide polymers self-assembled into particles with different sizes, relying on the copolymer composition and distribution of hydrophilic/hydrophobic segments in the polymer chain. A preliminary study has demonstrated that the catalytic activity of these polymeric organocatalysts are strongly dependent on the aggregated architecture. The micelle-type assemblies can act as nanoreactors to efficiently promote the direct aldolisation of cyclohexanone with aromatic aldehydes in aqueous media, affording anti-aldol products in excellent yields (88⁻99%) and higher stereoselectivities (90/10 dr, 86% ee) compared to their nonmicellar systems under identical conditions.

Amino acid-derived stimuli-responsive polymers and their applications

The recent advances achieved in the study of various stimuli-responsive polymers derived from natural amino acids have been reviewed.

A novel poly(N-isopropyl-acrylamine-co-l-proline) catalyst for aldol reaction: synthesis, catalytic performance and recyclability

A novel homogeneous copolymer catalyst, poly(N-isopropyl-acrylamine-co-l-proline), possesses excellent activity and stereoselectivities. Even after ten cycles, the catalytic activity and stereoselectivities remained almost unchanged. The circular dichroism spectra of the copolymer catalyst are apparently different from the corresponding monomer.

Hydrophobic substituent effects on proline catalysis of aldol reactions in water

Derivatives of 4-hydroxyproline with a series of hydrophobic groups in well-defined orientations have been tested as catalysts for the aldol reactions. All of the modified proline catalysts carry out the intermolecular aldol reaction in water and provide high diastereoselectivity and enantioselectivity. Modified prolines with aromatic groups syn to the carboxylic acid are better catalysts than those with small hydrophobic groups (1a is 43.5 times faster than 1f). Quantum mechanical calculations provide transition structures, TS-1a(water) and TS-1f(water), that support the hypothesis that a stabilizing hydrophobic interaction occurs with 1a.