Preparation of tricyclic imidazopyridines by asymmetric ketone hydrogenation in the presence of RuCl2[(S)-Xyl-P-Phos][(S)-DAIPEN]

Ag2O/squaramide cocatalyzed asymmetric interrupted Barton-Zard reaction of 8-nitroimidazo[1,2-a]pyridines

Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines are present in numerous biologically active compounds as the core structural motif. Herein, we report an asymmetric interrupted Barton-Zard reaction of electron-deficient imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines with α-substituted isocyanoacetates. The reaction enables the dearomatization of 8-nitroimidazo[1,2-a]pyridines and hence offers straightforward access to an array of optically active highly functionalized imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine derivatives that possess three contiguous stereogenic centers in good yields (up to 98%) with high stereoselectivities (>19:1 dr, >99% ee). It is worth noting that the catalytic system consisting of a chiral squaramide and silver oxide displays remarkable reactivity and stereoselectivity, and a gram-scale reaction is compatible with the catalyst loading of 0.5 mol%. In addition, the synthetic potential of this method was showcased by versatile transformations of the product.

Effect of the structure of the diamine backbone of P-N-N-P ligands in iron(II) complexes on catalytic activity in the transfer hydrogenation of acetophenone

The asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones can be efficiently accomplished using catalysts that are based on platinum group metals which are more toxic and less abundant than iron. For that reason the discovery of iron based catalysts for the use in this transformation is important. To address this issue, we synthesized a new series of iron(II)-based precatalysts trans-[Fe(Br)(CO)(PPh(2)CH(2)CH═NCHRCHRN═CHCH(2)PPh(2))]BPh(4) (5a-5d) containing P-N-N-P ligands with the diamines (R,R)-1,2-diaminocyclohexane (a), (R,R)-1,2-diphenyl-1,2-diaminoethane (b), (R,R)-1,2-di(4-methoxyphenyl)-1,2-diaminoethane (c), and ethylenediamine (d) incorporated in the backbone using a convenient one-pot synthesis using readily available starting materials. All of the complexes, when activated with a base, show a very high activity in the transfer hydrogenation catalysis of acetophenone, using 2-propanol as a reducing agent under mild conditions. A comparison of the TOF of complexes 5a-5d show that the catalytic activity of complexes increase as the size of the substituents in the backbone of ligands increases (d < a < b = c).