Asymmetric Synthesis of α-Alkylidene-β-Lactams through Copper Catalysis with a Prolinol-Phosphine Chiral Ligand

Computational molecular refinement to enhance enantioselectivity by reinforcing hydrogen bonding interactions in major reaction pathway

Computational analyses have revealed that the distortion of a catalyst and the substrates and their interactions are key to determining the stability of the transition state. Hence, two strategies "distortion strategy" and "interaction strategy" can be proposed for improving enantiomeric excess in enantioselective reactions. The "distortion strategy" is used as a conventional approach that destabilizes the TS (transition state) of the minor pathway. On the other hand, the "interaction strategy" focuses on the stabilization of the TS of the major pathway in which an enhancement of the reaction rate is expected. To realize this strategy, we envisioned the TS stabilization of the major reaction pathway by reinforcing hydrogen bonding and adopted the chiral phosphoric acid-catalysed enantioselective Diels-Alder reaction of 2-vinylquinolines with dienylcarbamates. The intended "interaction strategy" led to remarkable improvements in the enantioselectivity and reaction rate.

Metallosupramolecules of Pillar[5]arene with Two Flexible Thiopyridyl Arms: A Heterochiral Cyclic Dimer and Organic Guest-Assisted Homochiral Poly-Pseudo-Rotaxanes

The formation of a cyclic dimer complex (1) and a poly-pseudo-rotaxane (2) of a racemic A1/A2-thiopyridyl pillar[5]arene (rac-L) with different chirality is reported. A one-pot reaction of rac-L with HgCl₂ afforded a heterochiral cyclic dimer complex, [Hg₂(pR-L)(pS-L)Cl₄]·8CH₂Cl₂ (1), in which two Hg²⁺ atoms and one (pR-L)/(pS-L) enantiomeric pair form a [2:2] metallacycle via a metal coordination-based cyclization. Interestingly, the same reaction in the presence of the linear dinitrile guest, CN(CH₂)₈CN (G), yielded a one-dimensional poly-pseudo-rotaxane, {[Hg(G@pR-L)Cl₂][Hg(G@pS-L)Cl₂]}_n (2), probably due to the rigidified ligand structure resulting from the dinitrile guest (G) threading. In 2, pR-L and pS-L generate two separated homochiral poly-pseudo-rotaxanes in a crystal. Both products are new members of the pillararene-derivative family. This study improves our understanding of self-assembly in nature and leads to this approach being an engineering tool for the construction of mechanically interlocked supramolecules.

Recent Developments in Enantioselective Transition Metal Catalysis Featuring Attractive Noncovalent Interactions between Ligand and Substrate

Enantioselective transition metal catalysis is an area very much at the forefront of contemporary synthetic research. The development of processes that enable the efficient synthesis of enantiopure compounds is of unquestionable importance to chemists working within the many diverse fields of the central science. Traditional approaches to solving this challenge have typically relied on leveraging repulsive steric interactions between chiral ligands and substrates in order to raise the energy of one of the diastereomeric transition states over the other. By contrast, this Review examines an alternative tactic in which a set of attractive noncovalent interactions operating between transition metal ligands and substrates are used to control enantioselectivity. Examples where this creative approach has been successfully applied to render fundamental synthetic processes enantioselective are presented and discussed. In many of the cases examined, the ligand scaffold has been carefully designed to accommodate these attractive interactions, while in others, the importance of the critical interactions was only elucidated in subsequent computational and mechanistic studies. Through an exploration and discussion of recent reports encompassing a wide range of reaction classes, we hope to inspire synthetic chemists to continue to develop asymmetric transformations based on this powerful concept.

Development of TsDPEN based imine-containing ligands for the copper-catalysed asymmetric Kinugasa reaction

A novel class of chiral N,N,N imine-containing ligands derived from TsDPEN (N-(p-tosyl)-1,2-diphenylethylene-1,2-diamine) has been developed and applied to the copper-catalyzed asymmetric Kinugasa reaction. The copper(ii) salt proved to be an efficient catalyst precursor, and it provides an efficient way to synthesize enantioenriched cis-β-lactam. The pathway is air-tolerant and easily manipulated, and the ligands are easy to synthesize. A working model is proposed in which the stereocontrolling step is the [2 + 2] cycloaddition between ketene and imine to explain the observed stereoselectivities.

A novel class of chiral N,N,N imine-containing ligands derived from TsDPEN has been developed and applied to the copper-catalyzed asymmetric Kinugasa reaction.