Enantioselective synthesis of cis-7-methoxy-calamenene via Claisen rearrangement of an enzymatically resolved allyl alcohol

Integrated Experimental and Computational Studies on the Organocatalytic Kinetic Resolution of β-Unfunctionalized Primary Alcohols Using a Chiral 1,2-Diamine: The Importance of Noncovalent Interactions

The enantioselective kinetic resolution of β-unfunctionalized primary alcohols with benzoyl chloride was carried out in the presence of a catalytic amount of a novel chiral 1,2-diamine derived from (S)-proline. Several valuable chiral 2-substituted propan-1-ols were obtained with good enantioselectivities. Density functional theory calculations revealed that the noncovalent interaction, such as CH-π interaction, is crucial for the enantioselectivity of the resolution. This study was conducted through an interplay between experiment and computation.

Enantioselective Transesterification of Allyl Alcohols with (E)-4-Arylbut-3-en-2-ol Motif by Immobilized Lecitase™ Ultra

Lecitase™ Ultra was immobilized on four different supports and tested for the first time as the biocatalyst in the kinetic resolution of racemic allyl alcohols with the (E)-4-arylbut-3-en-2-ol system in the process of transesterification. The most effective biocatalyst turned out to be the enzyme immobilized on agarose activated with cyanogen bromide (LU-CNBr). The best results (E > 200, ees and eep = 95–99%) were obtained for (E)-4-phenylbut-3-en-2-ol and its analog with a 2,5-dimethylphenyl ring whereas the lowest ee of kinetic resolution products (90%) was achieved for the substrate with a 4-methoxyphenyl substituent. For all substrates, (R)-enantiomers were esterified faster than their (S)-antipodes. The results showed that LU-CNBr is a versatile biocatalyst, showing high activity and enantioselectivity in a wide range of organic solvents in the presence of commonly used acyl donors. High operational stability of LU-CNBr allows it to be reused in three subsequent reaction cycles without negative effects on the efficiency and enantioselectivity of transesterification. This biocatalyst can become attractive to the commercial lipases in the process of the kinetic resolution of allyl alcohols.

Stereoselective Synthesis of Terpenoids through Lipase-Mediated Resolution Approaches

This review article focuses on the scientific developments concerning the lipase-mediated synthesis of terpenoids that have been reported in the literature during the last twenty years. More specifically, this review describes in depth the resolution approaches that allow the preparation of the chiral building blocks used for the stereoselective synthesis of bioactive terpenoids. The synthetic methods that have given new and innovative perspectives from a scientific standpoint, and the preparative approaches that possess industrial importance, are described thoroughly.

Stereoselective Synthesis of 2,15-Dihydroxycalamenene and 2-Methoxycalamenene. Determination of the Configuration of Natural 2,15-Dihydroxycalamenene

The enantioselective preparation of the two diastereoisomeric forms of 2,15-dihydroxycalamele‘ne and 2-methoxycalamenene is here described. The (7 S,10 R) and (7 R,10 R) isomers of these natural products were synthesized starting from (5 R,8 S)-methyl-4-hydroxy-8-isopropyl-5-methyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydronaphthalene-2-carboxylate and (5 R,8 R)-methyl-4-hydroxy-8-isopropyl-5-methyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydronaphthalene-2-carboxylate, respectively, in turn preparable from (-)-menthone and (+)-isomenthone. The NMR analysis of the obtained sesquiterpenes allow assigning (7 R,10 S) absolute configuration to the natural occurring 2,15-dihydroxycalamelene.

A novel carbamoyl radical based dearomatizing spiroacylation process

An easy access to novel spirodienonamides based on a dearomatizing spiroacylation process is described for the first time.

Enzyme-Mediated Synthesis of Sesquiterpenes

This review article focuses mainly on the scientific developments concerning the enzyme-mediated synthesis of sesquiterpenes which have been reported in the academic and patent literature during the last twenty years. Nevertheless, this is not a comprehensive description of every single biotransformation involving sesquiterpenes. Only synthetic approaches that have represented a new and innovative perspective from a scientific standpoint are reported. More specifically, the review describes in depth how the use of metabolic engineering of the microbial biotransformations and of the isolated enzymes were exploited in order to perform chemo- and stereoselective chemical transformations of interest for sesquiterpenes synthesis.

Chemoenzymatic collective synthesis of optically active hydroxyl(methyl)tetrahydronaphthalene-based bioactive terpenoids

Starting from succinic anhydride, a chemoenzymatic collective formal/total synthesis of optically active tetrahydronaphthalene based bioactive natural products has been presented.

Chiral diphosphine and monodentate phosphorus ligands on a spiro scaffold for transition-metal-catalyzed asymmetric reactions

The preparation of chiral compounds in enantiomerically pure form is a challenging goal in modern organic synthesis. The use of chiral metal complex catalysis is a powerful, economically feasible tool for the preparation of optically active organic compounds on both laboratory and industrial scales. In particular, the metals coordinated by one or more chiral phosphorus ligands exhibit amazing enantioselectivity and reactivity. Many chiral phosphorus ligands have been synthesized and used in transition-metal-catalyzed asymmetric reactions in past decades. However, a large number of reactions still lack effective chiral ligands, and the enantioselectivities in many reactions are substrate-dependent. The development of effective chiral phosphorus ligands, especially ligands having novel chiral backbones, is still an important task in the area of asymmetric catalysis. Molecules containing a spirocyclic framework are ubiquitous in nature. The synthesis of molecules with this spiro structure can be traced back to 100 years ago. However, the use of this spirocyclic framework to construct chiral phosphorus ligands is a recent event. This Account outlines the design and synthesis of a new family of chiral spiro phosphorus ligands including spiro diphosphines and spiro monodentate phosphorus ligands with 1,1'-spirobiindane and 9,9'-spirobifluorene backbone and their applications in transition-metal-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation and carbon-carbon bond formation reactions. The chiral spiro diphosphine lgands SDP with a 1,1'-spirobiindane backbone and SFDP with a 9,9'-spirobifluorene backbone, and the spiro monophosphorus ligands including phosphoramidites, phosphites, phosphonites, and phospholane with a 1,1'-spirobiindane backbone were synthesized in good yields from enantiomerically pure 1,1'-spirobiindane-7,7'-diol and 9,9'-spirobifluoren-1,1'-diol. The ruthenium complexes of chiral spiro diphosphine ligands proved to be very effective catalysts for asymmetric hydrogenations of ketones, alpha-arylaldehydes and alpha,beta-unsaturated acids. The rhodium complexes of chiral spiro monophosphorus ligands are highly enantioselective for the asymmetric hydrogenations of alpha- and beta-dehydroamino acid derivatives, alpha-arylethenyl acetamides and non- N-acyl enamines. The spiro monophosphorus ligands were demonstrated to be highly efficient for the Rh-catalyzed asymmetric addition of arylboronic acids to aldehydes and N-tosylarylimines, Pd-catalyzed asymmetric allylation of aldehydes with allylic alcohols, Cu-catalyzed asymmetric ring opening reactions with Grignard reagents, and Ni-catalyzed asymmetric hydrovinylation of styrene derivatives with ethylene. The chiral spiro phosphorus ligands show high enantioselectivities for a wide range of transition-metal-catalyzed asymmetric reactions. In most of these transformations, the enantioselectivities of spiro phosphorus ligands are superior to those obtained by using the corresponding phosphorus ligands with other backbones. These results arise from the intriguing chiral inducement of spiro structures of the ligands.