Generation of a configurationally stable, enantioenriched α-oxy-α-methylbenzyllithium: Stereodivergence of its electrophilic substitution

Sustainable Asymmetric Organolithium Chemistry: Enantio- and Chemoselective Acylations through Recycling of Solvent, Sparteine, and Weinreb "Amine"

The well-established Hoppe-Beak chemistry, which involves enantioselective generation of organolithium compounds in the presence of (-)-sparteine, was revisited and applied to unprecedented acylations with Weinreb amides to access highly enantioenriched α-oxyketones and cyclic α-aminoketones. Recycling of the sustainable solvent cyclopentyl methyl ether, sparteine, and the released Weinreb "amine" [HNMe(OMe)] was possible through a simple work-up procedure that enabled full recovery of these precious materials. The methodology features a robust scope and flexibility, thus allowing the enantioselective preparation of scaffolds amenable of further derivatization.

Investigation of the Deprotonative Generation and Borylation of Diamine-Ligated α-Lithiated Carbamates and Benzoates by in Situ IR spectroscopy

Diamine-mediated α-deprotonation of O-alkyl carbamates or benzoates with alkyllithium reagents, trapping of the carbanion with organoboron compounds, and 1,2-metalate rearrangement of the resulting boronate complex are the primary steps by which organoboron compounds can be stereoselectively homologated. Although the final step can be easily monitored by ¹¹B NMR spectroscopy, the first two steps, which are typically carried out at cryogenic temperatures, are less well understood owing to the requirement for specialized analytical techniques. Investigation of these steps by in situ IR spectroscopy has provided invaluable data for optimizing the homologation reactions of organoboron compounds. Although the deprotonation of benzoates in noncoordinating solvents is faster than that in ethereal solvents, the deprotonation of carbamates shows the opposite trend, a difference that has its origin in the propensity of carbamates to form inactive parasitic complexes with the diamine-ligated alkyllithium reagent. Borylation of bulky diamine-ligated lithiated species in toluene is extremely slow, owing to the requirement for initial complexation of the oxygen atoms of the diol ligand on boron with the lithium ion prior to boron-lithium exchange. However, ethereal solvent, or very small amounts of THF, facilitate precomplexation through initial displacement of the bulky diamines coordinated to the lithium ion. Comparison of the carbonyl stretching frequencies of boronates derived from pinacol boronic esters with those derived from trialkylboranes suggests that the displaced lithium ion is residing on the pinacol oxygen atoms and the benzoate/carbamate carbonyl group, respectively, explaining, at least in part, the faster 1,2-metalate rearrangements of boronates derived from the trialkylboranes.

Formation of Olefins by Eliminative Dimerization and Eliminative Cross-Coupling of Carbenoids: A Stereochemical Exercise

Two carbenoids combine to generate an olefin by a mechanism involving formation of an ate complex, 1,2-metalate rearrangement, and β-elimination. As each stage of this eliminative coupling is stereospecific, the overall stereochemical outcome can be understood and, in principle fully controlled, providing that the absolute stereochemical configurations of the reacting carbenoid species are defined. In contrast to traditional alkene syntheses, the eliminative cross-coupling of carbenoids offers a connective approach to olefins capable of precisely targeting a given isomer regardless of the nature of the features distinguishing the isomers. The formation of olefins by the eliminative dimerization and eliminative cross-coupling of carbenoids is reviewed with a range of illustrative examples, including the reactions of α-lithiated haloalkanes, epoxides, and carbamates. An emphasis is placed on stereochemical analysis and methods to generate sp³ -hybridized carbenoids in stereodefined form are surveyed.

Full chirality transfer in the synthesis of hindered tertiary boronic esters under in situ lithiation-borylation conditions

Hindered tertiary neopentyl glycol boronic esters can be prepared by using in situ lithiation-borylation of enantiopure secondary benzylic carbamates at -20 °C with full chirality transfer.

Mechanistic interrogation of the asymmetric lithiation-trapping of N-thiopivaloyl azetidine and pyrrolidine

A fundamental mechanistic study of the s-BuLi/chiral diamine-mediated lithiation-trapping of N-thiopivaloyl azetidine and pyrrolidine is reported. We show that lithiated thiopivalamides are configurationally unstable at -78 °C. Reaction then proceeds via a dynamic resolution of diastereomeric lithiated intermediates and this accounts for the variable sense and degree of asymmetric induction observed compared to N-Boc heterocycles.

Stereochemical Course of Deprotonation-Acylation of N-Boc- and N-Carbamoyl-2-cyano-6-methylpiperidines

The stereochemical course of electrophilic substitution of α-nitrile metallocarbanions generated by deprotonation from N-Boc- and N-carbamoyl-2-cyano-6-methylpiperidines was investigated. Deprotonation in the presence of an electrophile taking advantage of the high acidity of α-nitrile protons allowed examination of the effects of a chelating group on the nitrogen atom, a countercation, and the reactivity of an electrophile on the steric course. Analyses of reactions using aroyl chlorides and methyl iodide revealed the following: (1) the substitution reactions basically proceed with retention of configuration, (2) the extent of an inversion product increases with decreasing chelating ability of the N-substituent and with increasing leaving ability (ionic character) of a countercation (Li, Na, K) of the anionic species, and (3) the use of a more reactive electrophile results in an increase of the retention product.

Enantioselective installation of adjacent tertiary benzylic stereocentres using lithiation-borylation-protodeboronation methodology. Application to the synthesis of bifluranol and fluorohexestrol

1,2-Diaryl ethanes bearing 1,2-stereogenic centres show interesting biological activity but their stereocontrolled synthesis has not been reported forcing a reliance of methods involving diastereomer and enantiomer separation. We have found that this class of molecules can be prepared with very high stereocontrol using lithiation-borylation methodology. The reaction of an enantioenriched benzylic lithiated carbamate with an enantioenriched benzylic secondary pinacol boronic ester gave a tertiary boronic ester with complete diastereo- and enantiocontrol. It was essential to use MgBr2/MeOH after formation of the boronate complex, both to promote the 1,2-migration and to trap any lithiated carbamate/benzylic anion that formed from fragmentation of the ate complex, anions that would otherwise racemise and re-form the boronate complex eroding both er and dr of the product. When the benzylic lithiated carbamate and benzylic secondary pinacol boronic ester were too hindered, boronate complex did not even form. In these cases, it was found that the use of the less hindered neopentyl boronic esters enabled successful homologation to take place even for the most hindered reaction partners, with high stereocontrol and without the need for additives. Protodeboronation of the product boronic esters with TBAF gave the target 1,2-diaryl ethanes bearing 1,2-stereogenic centres. The methodology was applied to the stereocontrolled synthesis of bifluranol and fluorohexestrol in just 7 and 5 steps, respectively.

Lithiation-borylation methodology and its application in synthesis

Developing new methods that enable the synthesis of new and complex molecules with complete control of their 3-D shape is central to the advancement of synthetic chemistry with applications spanning from medicine to materials. Our approach consists of the iterative combination of small building blocks through the use of boron chemistry to essentially "grow" molecules. This approach, which we term assembly-line synthesis (ALS), resembles the way that nature assembles natural products (e.g., the polyketide synthase machinery) and has the advantage that many structural variations can be easily introduced and the products can be evaluated in structural or biological contexts. Chiral boronic esters have been recognized as valuable building blocks due to their unique chemical properties. They are both chemically and configurationally stable, and they can be prepared with very high levels of enantioselectivity. Additionally they undergo a broad array of transformations that lead to the stereocontrolled formation of C-C and C-X (X = heteroatom) bonds. This versatility makes boronic acids ideal building blocks for iterative molecular assembly. A powerful reaction platform for chemical diversification using chiral boronic esters is their homologation using lithium carbenoids via 1,2-metalate rearrangement. In the 1980s, Matteson described the use of boronic esters bearing a chiral diol in a two-step homologation process with dichloromethyl lithium and Grignard reagents (substrate-controlled approach). We have focused on reagent control and have found that Hoppe's chiral lithiated carbamates can be used as carbenoid equivalents in conjunction with achiral boronic esters. This reagent-controlled process offers many advantages due to the easy access of both the chiral lithiated carbamates and stable boronic esters. The carbamates can be derived from primary or secondary alcohols, and a broad range of functionalized boronic esters and boranes can be employed. Multiple homologations can be carried out in a one-pot sequence thereby streamlining the process to a single operation. This methodology has enabled the synthesis of many molecules containing multiple contiguous stereogenic centers with exquisite 3-D control. In this Account, we trace our own studies to establish the lithiation-borylation methodology and describe selected synthetic applications.

Stereospecific conversion of alcohols into pinacol boronic esters using lithiation–borylation methodology with pinacolborane

The synthesis of primary and secondary pinacol boronic esters via lithiation–borylation of carbamates and benzoates with pinacolborane is described.

Asymmetric synthesis of 1-heteroaryl-1-arylalkyl tertiary alcohols and 1-pyridyl-1-arylethanes by lithiation-borylation methodology

The synthesis of highly enantioenriched α-heterocyclic tertiary alcohols has been achieved via lithiation-borylation of a configurationally stable lithiated carbamate and heterocyclic pinacol boronic esters followed by oxidation. Protodeboronation of the α-heterocyclic tertiary boronic esters using TBAF·3H2O or CsF gave highly enantioenriched 1-pyridyl-1-arylethanes in high er.

Enantioselective synthesis of (R)-tolterodine using lithiation/borylation–protodeboronation methodology

The synthesis of the pharmaceutical (R)-tolterodine is reported using lithiation/borylation–protodeboronation of a homoallyl carbamate as the key step. This step was tested with two permutations: an electron-neutral aryl Li-carbamate reacting with an electron-rich boronic ester and an electron-rich aryl Li-carbamate reacting with an electron-neutral boronic ester. It was found that the latter arrangement was considerably better than the former. Further improvements were achieved using magnesium bromide in methanol leading to a process that gave high yield and high enantioselectivity in the lithiation/borylation reaction. The key step was used in an efficient synthesis of (R)-tolterodine in a total of eight steps in a 30% overall yield and 90% ee.

Synthetic applications and inversion dynamics of configurationally stable 2-lithio-2-arylpyrrolidines and -piperidines

In diethyl ether, N-Boc-2-lithio-2-arylpiperidines have been found to be configurationally stable at -80 °C, whereas N-Boc-2-lithio-2-arylpyrrolidines are configurationally stable at -60 °C. Several tertiary benzylic carbanions derived from enantioenriched 2-aryl heterocycles have been successfully alkylated or acylated with little to no loss of enantiopurity. The scope of the reactions has been explored. The enantiomerization dynamics of N-Boc-2-lithio-2-phenylpyrrolidine and N-Boc-2-lithio-2-phenylpiperidine have been studied in the presence of different solvents and achiral ligands.

Enantiodivergent conversion of chiral secondary alcohols into tertiary alcohols

From receptors in the nose to supramolecular biopolymers, nature shows a remarkable degree of specificity in the recognition of chiral molecules, resulting in the mirror image arrangements of the two forms eliciting quite different biological responses. It is thus critically important that during a chemical synthesis of chiral molecules only one of the two three-dimensional arrangements is created. Although certain classes of chiral molecules (for example secondary alcohols) are now easy to make selectively in the single mirror image form, one class-those containing quaternary stereogenic centres (a carbon atom with four different non-hydrogen substituents)-remains a great challenge. Here we present a general solution to this problem which takes easily obtainable secondary alcohols in their single mirror image form and in a two-step sequence converts them into tertiary alcohols (quaternary stereogenic centres). The overall process involves removing the hydrogen atom (attached to carbon) of the secondary alcohol and effectively replacing it with an alkyl, alkenyl or aryl group. Furthermore, starting from a single mirror image form of the secondary alcohol, either mirror image form of the tertiary alcohol can be made with high levels of stereocontrol. Thus, a broad range of tertiary alcohols can now be easily made by this method with very high levels of selectivity. We expect that this methodology could find widespread application, as the intermediate tertiary boronic esters can potentially be converted into a range of functional groups with retention of configuration.

Highly enantioselective reactions of configurationally labile epimeric diamine complexes of lithiated S-benzyl thiocarbamates

Substitution reactions that employ primary-carbamoyl-protected arylmethanethiols are described. The enantiodetermining step was found to occur in the post-deprotonation step as a dynamic thermodynamic resolution with a chiral bis(oxazoline) ligand. The configurationally labile lithium complexes were trapped with various electrophiles to yield different substitution products in good to excellent yields and enantiomeric excesses. The absolute configurations of the substitution products were determined, and the stereochemical pathway of the substitution reaction was elucidated for different classes of electrophiles. The temperature-dependent epimerization process was monitored by 1H and 6Li NMR spectroscopy.

C-metalated nitriles: electrophile-dependent alkylations and acylations

Sequential carbonyl addition-conjugate addition of Grignard reagents to 3-oxocyclohex-1-ene-1-carbonitrile generates C-magnesiated nitriles whose alkylation stereoselectivities intimately depend on the nature of the electrophile. The alkylation of these C-magnesiated nitriles with alkyl halides, sulfonates, and unstrained ketones occurs with the retention of the C-Mg configuration, whereas aldehyde and acyl cyanide acylations proceed with inversion of the stereochemistry. Mechanistic probes indicate that the stereoselectivity is controlled by stereoelectronic effects for most electrophiles, except allylic, benzylic, and cyclopropyl halides where single-electron-transfer processes intervene. Screening numerous alkylations of C-magnesiated nitriles with a diverse range of electrophiles reveals the reaction scope and delineates the fundamental stereoelectronic effects responsible for the highly unusual electrophile-dependent alkylations.

A DFT computational study on electrophilic substitutions upon alpha-oxy-substituted benzylorganolithium compounds: lithium catalysis is the hidden piece of the puzzle

A detailed DFT (B3LYP/6-31+G*) study upon alpha-oxybenzylorganolithium compounds such as alpha-carbamoyloxybenzyllithium 1 has revealed two relevant issues concerning the outcome of electrophilic substitutions (1) lithium salts catalyze these reactions, and (2) some pi lithium complexes can provide an extra position to which electrophiles can anchor and thus drive invertive (at the carbanionic carbon) processes. Calculations have shown that carboxylation, alkylation, and acylation should take place with inversion at the original C-Li bond.

Metalated Nitriles: Electrophile-Dependent Alkylations

[reaction: see text] Sequential carbonyl addition-conjugate addition to oxonitriles generates a C-magnesiated nitrile exhibiting electrophile-dependent alkylation stereoselectivities. Alkylations with alkyl halides, sulfonates, and ketones proceed with retention of stereochemistry, whereas aldehyde and acyl cyanide acylations proceed with inversion of stereochemistry. BuLi-initiated conversion of the C-magnesiated nitrile to the corresponding N-lithiated nitrile reverses the alkylation stereoselectivity, providing a facile route to diastereomeric nitriles that vary at a single, quaternary stereocenter.

Hydroxy alkenenitriles: diastereoselective conjugate addition-alkylations

Chelation-controlled conjugate addition of Grignard reagents to cyclic and acyclic gamma-hydroxyalkenenitriles stereoselectively generates beta-substituted hydroxynitriles. t-BuMgCl-induced deprotonation of gamma-hydroxyalkenenitriles followed by chloride-alkyl exchange from a second Grignard reagent, generates an alkylmagnesium alkoxide that triggers conjugate addition. Alkylation of the resulting magnesiated nitrile with alkyl halide and carbonyl electrophiles efficiently installs two new bonds and up to three stereocenters in a single synthetic operation.

A DFT-derived model predicts solvation-dependent configurational stability of organolithium compounds: a case study of a chiral alpha-thioallyllithium compound

Density functional theory calculations (B3LYP/6-31+G*) were performed to evaluate a model previously published by us which suggests that aggregation and solvation of organolithium compounds can be of large importance for their configurational stability. In this study, we demonstrate how THF solvation of the monomer of a chiral alpha-thioallyllithium compound impedes the racemization, while upon dimerization the inversion process accelerates. These findings agree with experiments performed by Hoppe and co-workers. These findings may be used to further develop organolithium compounds which should be designed to resist aggregation and efficient transition-state solvation.