Enantioselective additions of diphenylzinc to aldehydes using chiral pyrrolidinylmethanol derivatives as catalysts

Fluorine in metal-catalyzed asymmetric transformations: the lightest halogen causing a massive effect

This review aims at providing an overview of the most significant applications of fluorine-containing ligands reported in the literature starting from 2001 until mid-2021. The ligands are classified according to the nature of the donor atoms involved. This review highlights both metal-ligand interactions and the structure-reactivity relationships resulting from the presence of the fluorine atom or fluorine-containing substituents on chiral catalysts.

Enantioselective addition of ArTi(OiPr)3 to aldehydes catalyzed by a titanium complex of an N-sulfonylated amino alcohol

Asymmetric additions of ArTi(OⁱPr)₃ to aldehydes catalyzed by a titanium catalyst of N-sulfonylated amino alcohols to afford desired secondary alcohols in good yields with good to excellent enantioselectivities of up to 95% ee.

Synthesis and characterization of some new C2 symmetric chiral bisamide ligands derived from chiral Feist's acid

The hemilabile chiral C2 symmetrical bidentate substituted amide ligands (1R,2R)-5(a-d) and (1S,2S)-6(a-d) were synthesized in quantitative yield from (1R,2R)-(+)-3-methylenecyclo-propane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid (1R,2R)-3 and (1S,2S)-(-)-3-methylene-cyclopropane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid (1S,2S)-3, in two steps, respectively. The chiral Feist's acids (1R,2R)-3 and (1S,2S)-3 were obtained in good isomeric purity by resolution of trans-(±)-3-methylene-cyclopropane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid from an 8:2 mixture of tert-butanol and water, using (R)-(+)-α-methylbenzyl amine as a chiral reagent. This process is reproducible on a large scale. All these new synthesized chiral ligands were characterized by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, IR, and mass spectrometry, as well as elemental analysis and their specific rotations were measured. These new classes of C2 symmetric chiral bisamide ligands could be of special interest in asymmetric transformations.

Practical catalytic asymmetric synthesis of diaryl-, aryl heteroaryl-, and diheteroarylmethanols

Enantioenriched diaryl-, aryl heteroaryl-, and diheteroarylmethanols exhibit important biological and medicinal properties. One-pot catalytic asymmetric syntheses of these compounds beginning from readily available aryl bromides are introduced. Thus, lithium-bromide exchange with commercially available aryl bromides and n-BuLi was followed by salt metathesis with ZnCl(2) to generate ArZnCl. A second equivalent of n-BuLi was added to form the mixed organozinc, ArZnBu. In the presence of enantioenriched amino alcohol-based catalysts, ArZnBu adds to aldehydes to afford essentially racemic diarylmethanols. The low enantioselectivities were attributed to a LiCl-promoted background reaction. To inhibit this background reaction, the chelating diamine TEEDA (tetraethylethylene diamine) was introduced prior to aldehyde addition. Under these conditions, enantioenriched diarylmethanols were obtained with >90% ee. Arylations of enals generated allylic alcohols with 81-90% ee. This procedure was unsuccessful, however, when applied to heteroaryl bromides, which was attributed to decomposition of the heteroaryl lithium under the salt metathesis conditions. To avoid this problem, the metathesis was conducted with EtZnCl, which enabled the salt metathesis to proceed at low temperatures. The resulting EtZn(Ar(Hetero)) intermediates (Ar(Hetero) = 2- and 3-thiophenyl, 2-benzothiophenyl, 3-furyl, and 5-indolyl) were successfully added to aldehydes and heteroaryl aldehydes with enantioselectivities between 81-99%. These are the first examples of catalytic and highly enantioselective syntheses of diheteroarylmethanols. In a similar fashion, ferrocenyl bromide was used to generate FcZnEt and the ferrocenyl group added to benzaldehyde and heteroaromatic aldehydes to form ferrocene-based ligand precursors in 86-95% yield with 96-98% ee. It was also found that the arylation and heteroarylation of enals could be followed by diastereoselective epoxidations to provide epoxy alcohols with high enantio- and diastereoselectivities in a one-pot procedure.

1,3-Bis[N-sulfonyl-(1R,2S)-1,3-diphenyl-2-aminopropanol]benzene: an excellent ligand for titanium-catalyzed asymmetric AlPh3(THF) additions to aldehydes

Asymmetric AlPh(3) (THF) additions to a wide variety of aldehydes catalyzed by a titanium catalyst of 20 mol % 1,3-bis[N-sulfonyl-(1R,2S)-1,3-diphenyl-2-aminopropanol]benzene (1) are reported. The catalytic system works excellently for aromatic aldehydes bearing either an electron-donating or an electron-withdrawing substituent on the aromatic ring to afford secondary diaryl alcohols in excellent isolated yields of >or=95% and excellent enantioselectivities of >or=94% ee. The phenyl addition to cinnamaldehyde or 2-furylaldehyde gave corresponding secondary alcohols in 85% and 95% ee, respectively. For aliphatic aldehydes, increasing enantioselectivities of the addition products in terms of increasing steric sizes of aldehydes are observed, and this trend goes from the linear 1-pentanal (87% ee), the secondary cyclohexylaldehyde (95% ee) or the 2-methylpropanal (97% ee), to the tertiary 2,2-dimethylpropanal (99% ee).

Evaluation of enantiopure N-(ferrocenylmethyl)azetidin-2-yl(diphenyl)methanol for catalytic asymmetric addition of organozinc reagents to aldehydes

A facile and practical approach to preparation of enantiopure N-(ferrocenylmethyl)azetidin-2-yl(diphenyl)methanol was developed from cheap and easily available l-(+)-methionine. Synthetic highlights include the three-step, one-pot construction of the chiral azetidine ring and the development of an improved one-step procedure for the synthesis of the key intermediate l-2-amino-4-bromobutanoic acid. Enantiopure N-(ferrocenylmethyl)azetidin-2-yl(diphenyl)methanol was evaluated for catalytic asymmetric addition of organozinc reagents to aldehydes. The asymmetric ethylation, methylation, arylation, and alkynylation of aldehydes achieved enantioselectivity of up to 98.4%, 94.1%, 99.0%, and 84.6% ee, respectively, in the presence of a catalytic amount of chiral N-(ferrocenylmethyl)azetidin-2-yl(diphenyl)methanol. Our results demonstrated further that the four-membered heterocycle-based backbone was a good potential chiral unit for the catalytic asymmetric induction reaction, and the hindrance of the bulky ferrocenyl group, compared to a phenyl group, played an important role in the enantioselectivities. A possible transition for the catalytic asymmetric addition has been proposed on the basis of the crystal structure of the chiral ligand 3b including two HOAc molecules and previous studies.

4-Substituted-α,α-diaryl-prolinols Improve the Enantioselective Catalytic Epoxidation of α,β-Enones

To seek novel metal-free organic catalysts for epoxidation with high stereoselectivity, a series of 4-substituted-alpha,alpha-diaryl-prolinols were synthesized in four steps from trans-4-hydroxyl-L-proline. These prolinol derivatives catalyzed the asymmetric epoxidation of alpha,beta-enones to give the corresponding chiral epoxides in good yields and high enantioselectivities under mild reaction conditions. Studies of substituent effects on enantioselectivity revealed that steric bulk and electronic effect promoted higher enantioselectivity, and prolinol 8a was found to be the best catalyst until now.

Asymmetric diethyl- and diphenylzinc additions to aldehydes by using a fluorine-containing chiral amino alcohol: a striking temperature effect on the enantioselectivity, a minimal amino alcohol loading, and an efficient recycling of the amino alcohol

A chiral pyrrolidinylmethanol derivative containing perfluoro-ponytails (5) was prepared from (S)-proline. The use of this perfluoro-substituted amino alcohol in catalytic asymmetric additions of organozinc reagents to aldehydes affords products with high enantioselectivities in both pure hexane and a mixture of hexane and FC-72 (perfluorohexane). Enantiomeric excesses up to 94 and 88 % ee have been achieved in Et(2)Zn and Ph(2)Zn additions, respectively. For the reactions in the biphasic solvent system a striking temperature effect was observed. Thus, when the temperature was raised from 0 to 40 degrees C the ee value of the product increased from 81 to 92 %. Furthermore, the catalyst loading could be remarkably low, and with only 0.1 mol % of amino alcohol 5 a product with 90 % ee was obtained in the Et(2)Zn addition to benzaldehyde in hexane. The perfluoro-ligand was easily recovered by simple phase separation, and until the ninth repetition its reuse proceeded without significant loss of enantioselectivity and reactivity.

Highly Enantioselective Addition of In Situ Prepared Arylzinc to Aldehydes Catalyzed by a Series of Atropisomeric Binaphthyl-Derived Amino Alcohols

The direct addition of in situ prepared arylzinc to aldehydes with chiral binaphthyl-derived amino alcohols as catalysts can afford optically active diarylmethanols in high yields and with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99 % ee, ee = enantiomeric excess). By using a single catalyst, both enantiomers of many pharmaceutically interesting diarylmethanols can be obtained by the proper combination of various arylzinc reagents with different aldehydes; this catalytic system also works well for the phenylation of aliphatic aldehydes to give up to 96 % ee.

Highly Effective and Recyclable Dendritic Ligands for the Enantioselective Aryl Transfer Reactions to Aldehydes

[reaction: see text] A series of chiral pyrrolidinylmethanol-based dendritic ligands were synthesized for application in enantioselective aryl transfer reactions to aldehydes with the (ArBO)3/ZnEt2 system in up to 98% ee.

New Insights into the Stereoselectivity of the Aryl Zinc Addition to Aldehydes

The addition of Ph(2)Zn to aldehydes has been investigated by DFT calculations. The experimentally observed increase in enantioselectivity upon addition of Et(2)Zn to the reaction mixture is rationalized from calculations of all isomeric transition states. Spectator ethyl groups in the transition state do not lower the intrinsic activation barrier, but instead increase it. In the presence of a bulky ligand, the inherently preferred all-phenyl transition state is selectively disfavored. The paths with less sterically demanding spectator ethyl groups will experience a more drastic ligand acceleration, and thus the influence of the ligand would be expected to be stronger in the presence of Et(2)Zn, in agreement with experimental observations.

Carbinol derivatives via rhodium-catalyzed addition of potassium trifluoro(organo)borates to aldehydes

Reaction of potassium aryltrifluoroborates with aldehydes, in the presence of a rhodium catalyst, afforded carbinol derivatives in high yields under mild aqueous conditions; this efficient reaction proved to be general, allowing the production of highly hindered diarylmethanols and aliphatic aldehydes were also reactive under these conditions.

Catalytic Asymmetric Addition of Alkylzinc and Functionalized Alkylzinc Reagents to Ketones

We describe our full report of the catalytic asymmetric addition of simple and functionalized dialkylzinc reagents to a broad range of saturated ketones and enones. The functionalized organozinc reagents contain esters, silyl ethers, alkyl chlorides, and alkyl bromides. In general, the resulting tertiary alcohol products are isolated with high ee's. With some substrates, yields are low as a result of the formation of aldol byproducts. Most substrates undergo additions with good yields reaching as high as 91%.

Catalytic asymmetric addition of diphenylzinc to cyclic alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones

We have examined the use of our bis(sulfonamide) diol ligand (1) in the asymmetric addition of phenyl groups to cyclic alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones. Good to excellent enantioselectivities have been obtained with cyclic enones bearing alkyl substituents in the 2 position (71-97% enantiomeric excess). Furthermore, excellent enantioselectivities have been observed in the asymmetric phenylation of cyclic enones with 2-iodo and 2-bromo substituents. The results of this study broaden the scope of the asymmetric additions to ketones promoted by the titanium catalyst derived from ligand 1.

Highly Enantioselective Catalytic Phenylation of Ketones with a Constrained Geometry Titanium Catalyst

[reaction: see text] The catalytic asymmetric addition of phenyl groups from diphenylzinc to ketones is reported. The catalyst, generated from a dihydroxy bis(sulfonamide) ligand and titanium tetraisopropoxide, gives good to excellent enantioselectivities with a range of substrates.

Modeling the stereoselectivity of the beta-amino alcohol-promoted addition of dialkylzinc to aldehydes

The title reaction has been modeled by a Q2MM force field, allowing for rapid evaluation of several thousand TS conformations. For 10 experimental systems taken from the literature, the pathway leading to the major enantiomer has been identified. Furthermore, several possible contributions to the minor enantiomer have been investigated, providing an identification of the reasons for the sometimes moderate enantioselectivity of the title reaction, and allowing for future rational improvement of existing ligands. The favored pathways to the minor enantiomer, which must be blocked for significant selectivity improvement, differ strongly among ligands. Thus, design ideas are not necessarily transferable between ligand classes, but must be developed for each reaction on the basis of the pathway that needs to be blocked in each specific case. However, we have identified some general structure-selectivity relationships.