Asymmetric catalysis with chiral cyclopentadienyl complexes to access privileged scaffolds

Rhodium-catalyzed atropodivergent hydroamination of alkynes by leveraging two potential enantiodetermining steps

A pair of enantiomers is known to have different biological activities. Two catalysts with opposite chirality are nearly always required to deliver both enantiomeric products. In this work, chiral rhodium(III) cyclopentadienyl complexes are repurposed as efficient catalysts for enantiodivergent and atroposelective hydroamination of sterically hindered alkynes. Products with opposite chirality have been both obtained using the same or closely analogous chiral catalyst in good efficiency and excellent enantioselectivity, and the enantiodivergence was mainly enabled by an achiral carboxylic acid and its silver salt. Mechanistic studies revealed the origin of the enantiodivergence ascribable to the switch of the enantiodetermining step (alkyne insertion versus protonolysis) under acid control, which constitutes a previously unidentified working mode of enantiodivergence by leveraging two elementary steps.

Asymmetric Intramolecular Amination Catalyzed with Cp*Ir-SPDO via Nitrene Transfer for Synthesis of Spiro-Quaternary Indolinone

An asymmetric intramolecular spiro-amination to high steric hindering α-C-H bond of 1,3-dicarbonyl via nitrene transfer using inactive aryl azides has been carried out by developing a novel Cp*Ir(III)-SPDO (spiro-pyrrolidine oxazoline) catalyst, thereby enabling the first successful construction of structurally rigid spiro-quaternary indolinone cores with moderate to high yields and excellent enantioselectivities. DFT computations support the presence of double bridging H-F bonds between [SbF6]- and both the ligand and substrate, which favors the plane-differentiation of the enol π-bond for nitrenoid attacking. These findings open up numerous opportunities for the development of new asymmetric nitrene transfer systems.

Electrooxidative Rhodium(III)/Chiral Carboxylic Acid-Catalyzed Enantioselective C-H Annulation of Sulfoximines with Alkynes

The combination of achiral Cp*Rh(III) with chiral carboxylic acids (CCAs) represents an efficient catalytic system in transition metal-catalyzed enantioselective C-H activation. However, this hybrid catalysis is limited to redox-neutral C-H activation reactions and the adopt to oxidative enantioselective C-H activation remains elusive and pose a significant challenge. Herein, we describe the development of an electrochemical Cp*Rh(III)-catalyzed enantioselective C-H annulation of sulfoximines with alkynes enabled by chiral carboxylic acid (CCA) in an operationally friendly undivided cell at room temperature. A broad range of enantioenriched 1,2-benzothiazines are obtained in high yields with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99 % yield and 98 : 2 er). The practicality of this method is demonstrated by scale-up reaction in a batch reactor with external circulation. A crucial chiral Cp*Rh(III) intermediate is isolated, characterized, and transformed, providing rational support for a Rh(III)/Rh(I) electrocatalytic cycle.

Rhodium-Catalyzed Asymmetric C-H Functionalization Reactions

This review summarizes the advancements in rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric C-H functionalization reactions during the last two decades. Parallel to the rapidly developed palladium catalysis, rhodium catalysis has attracted extensive attention because of its unique reactivity and selectivity in asymmetric C-H functionalization reactions. In recent years, Rh-catalyzed asymmetric C-H functionalization reactions have been significantly developed in many respects, including catalyst design, reaction development, mechanistic investigation, and application in the synthesis of complex functional molecules. This review presents an explicit outline of catalysts and ligands, mechanism, the scope of coupling reagents, and applications.

Rhodium-catalyzed enantioselective C-H alkynylation of sulfoxides in diverse patterns: desymmetrization, kinetic resolution, and parallel kinetic resolution

Rhodium-catalyzed enantioselective C-H alkynylation of achiral and racemic sulfoxides is disclosed with alkynyl bromide as the alkynylating reagent. A wide range of chiral sulfoxides have been constructed in good yield and excellent enantioselectivity (up to 99% ee, s-factor up to > 500) via desymmetrization, kinetic resolution, and parallel kinetic resolution under mild reaction conditions. The high enantioselectivity was rendered by the chiral cyclopentadienyl rhodium(iii) catalyst paired with a chiral carboxamide additive. The interactions between the chiral catalyst, the sulfoxide, and the chiral carboxylic amide during the C-H bond cleavage offer the asymmetric induction, which is validated by DFT calculations. The chiral carboxamide functions as a base to promote C-H activation and offers an additional chiral environment during the C-H cleavage.

The Highly Potent AhR Agonist Picoberin Modulates Hh-Dependent Osteoblast Differentiation

Identification and analysis of small molecule bioactivity in target-agnostic cellular assays and monitoring changes in phenotype followed by identification of the biological target are a powerful approach for the identification of novel bioactive chemical matter in particular when the monitored phenotype is disease-related and physiologically relevant. Profiling methods that enable the unbiased analysis of compound-perturbed states can suggest mechanisms of action or even targets for bioactive small molecules and may yield novel insights into biology. Here we report the enantioselective synthesis of natural-product-inspired 8-oxotetrahydroprotoberberines and the identification of Picoberin, a low picomolar inhibitor of Hedgehog (Hh)-induced osteoblast differentiation. Global transcriptome and proteome profiling revealed the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) as the molecular target of this compound and identified a cross talk between Hh and AhR signaling during osteoblast differentiation.

Rhodium-Catalyzed Atroposelective C-H Arylation of (Hetero)Arenes Using Carbene Precursors as Arylating Reagents

Rhodium(III)-catalyzed C-H activation-based arylation of sterically hindered (hetero)arenes has been realized using diazo compounds and triazoles as arylating reagents for atroposelective synthesis of two classes of biaryls. The coupling of 3-substituted indoles and N-sulfonyltriazoles afforded indoles with a C(2)-C chiral axis, while the arylation of 1-naphthylthioether with ortho-quinone diazide afforded chiral binaphthyls. These coupling systems proceeded under mild conditions via C-H activation and carbene insertion despite the steric hindrance of both the arenes and the carbene precursors.