Irreversible aldolization of ketones with bisdicyclohexylboron enediolates

Diastereo- and Enantioselective Reductive Mannich-type Reaction of α,β-Unsaturated Carboxylic Acids to Ketimines: A Direct Entry to Unprotected β2,3,3 -Amino Acids

Stereoselective construction of unprotected β-amino acids is a significant challenge owing to the lack of methods for the catalytic generation of highly enantioenriched carboxylic acid enolates. In this study, a novel copper-catalyzed diastereo- and enantioselective reductive Mannich-type reaction of α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids was developed, which provides a direct and scalable synthetic method for enantioenriched β^2,3,3 -amino acids with vicinal stereogenic centers. The protocol features in situ generation of transiently protected carboxylic acids by a hydrosilane and their diastereo- and enantioselective reductive coupling with ketimines. The synthetic utility of this process was demonstrated by a gram-scale reaction and the transformation of β-amino acids.

Siloxy Esters as Traceless Activators of Carboxylic Acids: Boron-Catalyzed Chemoselective Asymmetric Aldol Reaction*

The catalytic asymmetric aldol reaction is among the most useful reactions in organic synthesis. Despite the existence of many prominent reports, however, the late-stage, chemoselective, catalytic, asymmetric aldol reaction of multifunctional substrates is still difficult to achieve. Herein, we identified that in situ pre-conversion of carboxylic acids to siloxy esters facilitated the boron-catalyzed direct aldol reaction, leading to the development of carboxylic acid-selective, catalytic, asymmetric aldol reaction applicable to multifunctional substrates. Combining experimental and computational studies rationalized the reaction mechanism and led to the proposal of Si/B enediolates as the active species. The silyl ester formation facilitated both enolization and catalyst turnover by acidifying the α-proton of substrates and attenuating poisonous Lewis bases to the boron catalyst.