Enantioselective diethylzinc additions to aldehydes catalyzed by chiral relay ligands

Relay PHOS: Ligands with Fluxional Chirality in Asymmetric Palladium-Catalyzed Allylic Alkylation

A modular route toward the synthesis of P,N ligands containing a fluxional group along the pyrazoline ring core is described. The racemic ligands were accessed in three steps from commercially available fluoroacetophenone in overall yields ranging from 18 to 76%. The enantiopure ligands were obtained using semi-preparative chiral high-performance liquid chromatography and chiral enantioselective phase-transfer catalysis. The effectiveness of the new ligands was assessed in palladium-catalyzed allylic alkylation with diphenylpropenyl acetate and dimethylpropenyl acetate. Under optimized conditions, diphenylpropenyl acetate underwent alkylation with dimethyl malonate in 98% yield and 94% ee. In general, the enantioselectivity for the product correlates with the size of the ligand fluxional group; the larger the fluxional group, the higher the selectivity.

Direct asymmetric syntheses of chiral aldehydes and ketones via N-acyl chiral auxiliary derivatives including chiral Weinreb amide equivalents

This article covers N-acyl chiral auxiliary-based approaches to the asymmetric synthesis of enantiopure aldehydes and ketones. The use of diastereoisomerically pure N-acyl derivatives of chiral auxiliaries (including chiral Weinreb amide equivalents) and their conversion to the corresponding enantiopure aldehydes and ketones in a single synthetic operation by treatment with a hydride reducing agent or an organometallic reagent, respectively, are highlighted.

Kinetic and mechanistic studies of geometrical isomerism in neutral square-planar methylpalladium complexes bearing unsymmetrical bidentate ligands of alpha-aminoaldimines

A series of hemilabile ligands of alpha-aminoaldimines and their methylpalladium complexes have been prepared and characterized. Neutral square-planar methylpalladium complexes in the form of [R(1)R(2)NCMe(2)CH horizontal lineNR]Pd(Me)Cl (R = Me, R(1) = R(2) = Me (3a); R = Me, R(1) = R(2) = Et (3b); R = Et, R(1) = R(2) = Me (4a); R = (n)Pr, R(1) = R(2) = Me (5a); R = (i)Pr, R(1) = R(2) = Me (6a); R = (i)Pr, R(1) = R(2) = Et (6b); R = (i)Pr, (R(1), R(2)) = c-C(4)H(8) (6c); R = (i)Pr, R(1) = (i)Pr, R(2) = H (6d); R = (i)Pr, R(1) = (t)Bu, R(2) = H (6e); R = (t)Bu, R(1) = R(2) = Me (7a); R = (t)Bu, R(1) = R(2) = Et (7b); R = (t)Bu, (R(1), R(2)) = c-C(4)H(8) (7c); R = (t)Bu, R(1) = (i)Pr, R(2) = H (7d); R = (t)Bu, R(1) = (t)Bu, R(2) = H (7e); R = Ph, R(1) = R(2) = Me (8a); R = Ph, R(1) = R(2) = Et (8b)) show geometrical isomerism. The relative ratios of trans/cis isomers appear to be predominated by the steric hindrance between the Pd-bound methyl group and imino or amino substituents (R and R(1) and R(2)). The NMR studies for the substitution reaction of (COD)Pd(Me)Cl with Et(2)NCMe(2)CH horizontal lineN(i)Pr at -20 degrees C indicate that cis-6b is the major kinetic product, which isomerizes to the thermodynamic product in trans form quantitatively above -5 degrees C. Kinetic results show that the ligand substitution reaction likely undergoes an associative pathway, and the isomerization reaction proceeds via an intramolecular process that comprises imine dissociation and recoordination.