Synthesis of enantiopure cyclic amino acid derivatives via a sequential diastereoselective Petasis reaction/ring closing olefin metathesis process

Petasis vs. Strecker Amino Acid Synthesis: Convergence, Divergence and Opportunities in Organic Synthesis

α-Amino acids find widespread applications in various areas of life and physical sciences. Their syntheses are carried out by a multitude of protocols, of which Petasis and Strecker reactions have emerged as the most straightforward and most widely used. Both reactions are three-component reactions using the same starting materials, except the nucleophilic species. The differences and similarities between these two important reactions are highlighted in this review.

Exciton-Coupled Circular Dichroism Characterization of Monotopically Binding Guests in Host-Guest Complexes with a Bis(zinc porphyrin) Tweezer

A stiff-stilbene-linked bisporphyrin tweezer with inherent helicity was used for exciton-coupled circular dichroism (ECCD) characterization of a series of monotopically binding amine guest molecules. CD signals were observed for a variety of monoamines at relatively low tweezer/amine (host/guest) ratios between 1 : 10 to 1 : 70. For the amines producing the most intense CD signals, a binding stoichiometry of 1 : 2 was found. A likely explanation is the presence of guest-guest interactions in the complexes. This is supported by the correlation observed between CD signal intensity and magnitude of possible noncovalent binding between the guests, which can be divided into three groups showing no, moderate and strong response, respectively. Further support for this rationalization comes from molecular modelling.

Reactivity and Synthetic Applications of Multicomponent Petasis Reactions

The Petasis boron-Mannich reaction, simply referred to as the Petasis reaction, is a powerful multicomponent coupling reaction of a boronic acid, an amine, and a carbonyl derivative. Highly functionalized amines with multiple stereogenic centers can be efficiently accessed via the Petasis reaction with high levels of both diastereoselectivity and enantioselectivity. By drawing attention to examples reported in the past 8 years, this Review demonstrates the breadth of the reactivity and synthetic applications of Petasis reactions in several frontiers: the expansion of the substrate scope in the classic three-component process; nonclassic Petasis reactions with additional components; Petasis-type reactions with noncanonical substrates, mechanism, and products; new asymmetric versions assisted by chiral catalysts; combinations with a secondary or tertiary transformation in a cascade- or sequence-specific manner to access structurally complex, natural-product-like heterocycles; and the synthesis of polyhydroxy alkaloids and biologically interesting molecules.

Dimethylamine adducts of allylic triorganoboranes as effective reagents for Petasis-type homoallylation of primary amines with formaldehyde

Dimethylamine adducts of triallyl-, triprenyl- and trans-cinnamyl(dipropyl)borane are effective reagents for mild homoallylation of primary amines with aqueous formaldehyde in MeOH without an inert atmosphere. A new concept is proposed for the explanation of the high stability of allylborane-amine adducts in aqueous MeOH.