Synthesis of triptoquinone H and its C-5 epimer via efficient asymmetric dearomative cyclization

P-Stereogenic Phosphorus Ligands in Asymmetric Catalysis

Chiral phosphorus ligands play a crucial role in asymmetric catalysis for the efficient synthesis of useful optically active compounds. They are largely categorized into two classes: backbone chirality ligands and P-stereogenic phosphorus ligands. Most of the reported ligands belong to the former class. Privileged ones such as BINAP and DuPhos are frequently employed in a wide range of catalytic asymmetric transformations. In contrast, the latter class of P-stereogenic phosphorus ligands has remained a small family for many years mainly because of their synthetic difficulty. The late 1990s saw the emergence of novel P-stereogenic phosphorus ligands with their superior enantioinduction ability in Rh-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation reactions. Since then, numerous P-stereogenic phosphorus ligands have been synthesized and used in catalytic asymmetric reactions. This Review summarizes P-stereogenic phosphorus ligands reported thus far, including their stereochemical and electronic properties that afford high to excellent enantioselectivities. Examples of reactions that use this class of ligands are described together with their applications in the construction of key intermediates for the synthesis of optically active natural products and therapeutic agents. The literature covered dates back to 1968 up until December 2023, centering on studies published in the late 1990s and later years.

Recent advances in Pd-catalyzed asymmetric cyclization reactions

Over the past few decades, there have been major developments in transition metal-catalyzed asymmetric cyclization reactions, enabling the convenient access to a wide spectrum of structurally diverse chiral carbo- and hetero-cycles, common skeletons found in fine chemicals, natural products, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and materials. In particular, a plethora of enantioselective cyclization reactions have been promoted by chiral palladium catalysts owing to their outstanding features. This review aims to collect the latest advancements in enantioselective palladium-catalyzed cyclization reactions over the past eleven years, and it is organized into thirteen sections depending on the different types of transformations involved.

sSPhos: A General Ligand for Enantioselective Arylative Phenol Dearomatization via Electrostatically-Directed Palladium Catalysis

Arylative phenol dearomatization affords complex, cyclohexanone-based scaffolds from simple starting materials, and asymmetric versions allow access to valuable enantioenriched structures. However, bespoke chiral ligands must typically be identified for each new scaffold variation. We have addressed this limitation by applying the concept of electrostatically-directed palladium catalysis whereby the chiral sulfonated ligand sSPhos engages in electrostatic interactions with a phenolate substrate via its associated alkali metal cation. This approach allows access to highly enantioenriched spirocyclohexadienones, a process originally reported by Buchwald and co-workers in a predominantly racemic manner. In addition, sSPhos is proficient at forming two other distinct scaffolds, which had previously required fundamentally different chiral ligands, as well as a novel oxygen-linked scaffold. We envisage that the broad generality displayed by sSPhos will facilitate the expansion of this important reaction type and highlight the potential of this unusual design principle, which harnesses attractive electrostatic interactions.

Triptoquinone A and B exercise a therapeutic effect in systemic lupus erythematosus by regulating NLRC3

The autoimmune disorder systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is multifaceted, with limited therapeutic alternatives and detrimental side effects, particularly on bones and joints. This research endeavors to examine the curative potential and underlying mechanisms of in addressing SLE-associated bone and joint complications. Triptoquinone A and triptoquinone B, constituents of Tripterygium wilfordii polyglycoside tablets (TGTs), exhibit antioxidant and anti-inflammatory attributes; nonetheless, its function in SLE therapy remains elusive. This investigation delves into the role of oxidative stress in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and probes the prospective remedial effects of triptoquinone A and triptoquinone B on inflammation and cartilage deterioration in SLE-affected joints. Employing bioinformatics analyses, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and protein-protein interactions were discerned in SLE, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and osteoarthritis (OA) datasets. Enrichment analyses unveiled shared genes implicated in immune system regulation and toll-like receptor signaling pathways, among others. Subsequent examination of triptoquinone A and triptoquinone B revealed their capacity to diminish NLRC3 expression in chondrocytes, resulting in decreased pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and cartilage degradation enzyme expression. Suppression of NLRC3 augmented the protective effects of triptoquinone A and B, implying that targeting NLRC3 may constitute a potential therapeutic strategy for inflammation and cartilage degeneration-associated conditions in SLE patients. Our discoveries indicate that triptoquinone A and triptoquinone B may impede SLE progression via the NLRC3 axis, offering potential benefits for SLE-affected bone and joint health.

Construction of Bridged Polycyclic Skeletons via Transition-Metal Catalyzed Carbon-Carbon Bond-Forming Reactions

Transition-metal catalysis has become one of most important methods for constructing molecules with diverse architectures. Bridged polycyclic skeletons are often considered one of most challenging structures in organic synthesis. This Minireview summarizes the recent progress on synthesis of bridged polycyclic skeletons by transition-metal-catalyzed carbon-carbon bond-forming reaction. Four main ring-forming strategies including connection via olefin or carbonyl functionality, enolate intermediacy, C-H functionality, and aryl functionality are detailed and some effective methods are discussed with particular emphasis on reaction design and mechanism.

Palladium-catalyzed asymmetric dearomative cyclization in natural product synthesis

Asymmetric catalysis is a rapidly growing field in modern organic chemistry and has been indispensable for the synthesis of enantioenriched materials to meet demands from the academies to pharmaceutical industries. Asymmetric dearomative cyclization catalyzed by transition metals has been a hot research area in the last decade. Fascinated by its ability to construct sterically hindered quaternary stereogenic center(s) through dearomatization and simultaneously forging new ring structure(s) through cyclization, palladium-catalyzed asymmetric dearomative cyclization has been applied to the synthesis of structurally complicated natural products and it is increasingly prevalent in the literature. In particular, the resultant product from dearomative cyclization, which usually carries one or more unsaturated C-C bond(s), allows further functional group transformations. Previously reported applications of palladium-catalyzed asymmetric dearomative cyclization in natural product synthesis are presented here and discussed in depth.

Efficient Enantioselective Syntheses of Chiral Natural Products Facilitated by Ligand Design

The employment of enantioselective transition-metal-catalyzed transformations as key steps in asymmetric natural product syntheses have attracted considerable attention in recent years owing to their versatile synthetic utilities, mild conditions and high efficiency in chirality generation. The chiral catalysts or supporting ligands are believed to be crucial for the requisite reactivity and enantioselectivity. Therefore, the rational design of chiral ligands is at the heart of developing new asymmetric transition-metal catalyzed reactions and provides an avenue to the asymmetric synthesis of natural products. Our group has been engaged in the development of transition-metal-catalyzed enantioselective cross-coupling, cyclization and other related reactions and the application of these methodologies to natural product syntheses. In this account, we summarized our recent synthetic efforts towards the efficient total syntheses of several different types of natural products including terpenes, alkaloids and polyketides facilitated by the design of a series of versatile P-chiral phosphorous ligands.

P-Chiral Phosphorus Ligands Based on a 2,3-Dihydrobenzo[ d][1,3]oxaphosphole Motif for Asymmetric Catalysis

Despite the rapid progress in the field of asymmetric catalysis, the search for new, efficient, and practical asymmetric catalytic transformations to facilitate the green synthesis of chiral natural products and drugs will continue to be a major ongoing effort in organic chemistry. Chiral phosphorus ligands have played a significant role in recent advances in transition-metal-catalyzed asymmetric transformations. However, there remain numerous challenging issues of reactivity and selectivity in catalysis. The development of new and efficient chiral phosphorus ligands with new structural motifs remains highly desirable. P-Chiral phosphorus ligands have been overlooked and are underdeveloped, except for the early success of DIPAMP, introduced first by Knowles in the early 1970s. It was not until the late 1990s that the development of P-chiral phosphorus ligands regained attention with the advent of bisP*, TangPhos, etc. Nonetheless, most P-chiral phosphorus ligands were either difficult to prepare or operationally inconvenient. The development of efficient, practical, and operationally convenient P-chiral phosphorus ligands with new structural motifs remains an important subject of research. This Account introduces the design and development of a series of practical and efficient P-chiral bis- and monophosphorus ligands based on a 2,3-dihydrobenzo[ d][1,3]oxaphosphole motif. Their unique structural and physical properties include conformational unambiguousness, high tunability of electronic and steric properties, and operational simplicity as air-stable solids, which make them practical and exceptional ligands for asymmetric catalysis. Chiral bisphosphorus ligands such as MeO-BIBOP (L3), WingPhos (L4), and iPr-BABIBOP (L7) have demonstrated excellent enantioselectivities and unprecedented turnover numbers (TONs) in various asymmetric hydrogenations and other transformations, providing practical and efficient solutions leading to chiral amines, alcohols, carboxylic acids, and α- and β-amino acids. Chiral biaryl monophosphorus ligands, including BI-DIME (L9), AntPhos (L15), iPr-BI-DIME (L11), etc., have proven to be a class of versatile and powerful ligands for a number of catalytic asymmetric transformations, including asymmetric Suzuki-Miyaura coupling, asymmetric palladium-catalyzed dearomative cyclization, asymmetric hydroboration/diboration, asymmetric nickel-catalyzed reductive coupling, asymmetric palladium-catalyzed intramolecular arylation, asymmetric alkene aryloxyarylation, asymmetric α-arylation, asymmetric Heck reaction, and asymmetric nucleophilic addition, providing efficient solutions leading to various synthetically challenging chiral structures such as chiral biaryls, chiral tertiary alcohols, chiral α-amino tertiary boronic esters, and chiral all-carbon quaternary stereocenters. The high enantioselectivities and TONs obtained with these ligands have resulted in the syntheses of several chiral natural products and therapeutic agents in concise and highly efficient manners. While our efforts on the development of P-chiral phosphorus ligands are ongoing, it should be emphasized that the development of ligands and catalysts with new structural motifs should continue in the search for new reactivity and selectivity to tackle current synthetic challenges. Such effort is destined to promote the advances of asymmetric catalysis as well as synthetic organic chemistry.

Efficient syntheses of (-)-crinine and (-)-aspidospermidine, and the formal synthesis of (-)-minfiensine by enantioselective intramolecular dearomative cyclization

Palladium-catalyzed enantioselective dearomative cyclization has enabled the concise and enantioselective total syntheses of (–)-crinine and (–)-aspidospermidine, as well as a formal total synthesis of (–)-minfiensine.

Polycyclic alkaloids bearing all-carbon quaternary centers possess a diversity of biological activities and are challenging targets in natural product synthesis. The development of a general and asymmetric catalytic method applicable to the efficient syntheses of a series of complex polycyclic alkaloids remains highly desirable in synthetic chemistry. Herein we describe an efficient palladium-catalyzed enantioselective dearomative cyclization which is capable of synthesizing two important classes of tricyclic nitrogen-containing skeleton, chiral dihydrophenanthridinone and dihydrocarbazolone derivatives bearing all-carbon quaternary centers, in excellent yields and enantioselectivities. The P-chiral monophosphorus ligand AntPhos is crucial for the reactivity and enantioselectivity, and the choice of the N-phosphoramide protecting group is essential for the desired chemoselectivity. This method has enabled the enantioselective total syntheses of three distinctive and challenging biologically important polycyclic alkaloids, specifically a concise and gram-scale synthesis of (–)-crinine, an efficient synthesis of indole alkaloid (–)-aspidospermidine and a formal enantioselective synthesis of (–)-minfiensine.

Diterpenoids of terrestrial origin

This review covers the isolation and chemistry of diterpenoids from terrestrial as opposed to marine sources and includes labdanes, clerodanes, abietanes, pimaranes, kauranes, cembranes and their cyclization products. The literature from January to December, 2016 is reviewed.