Cinchona Squaramide-Based Chiral Polymers as Highly Efficient Catalysts in Asymmetric Michael Addition Reaction

Synthesis of cinchona urea polymers using Yamamoto coupling and their application to asymmetric reaction

Cinchona urea compounds having 3,5-diiodophenyl moieties were subjected to Yamamoto coupling polymerization to afford the chiral urea polymers. These polymers showed high activities as heterogeneous catalysts in asymmetric Michael reactions comparable with those of the corresponding monomeric catalyst in solution systems. Furthermore, the polymeric catalysts are easily recovered from their reaction mixtures due to their insolubility and can be reused several times without loss of catalytic activity.

Recent advances in organocatalytic asymmetric aza-Michael reactions of amines and amides

Nitrogen-containing scaffolds are ubiquitous in nature and constitute an important class of building blocks in organic synthesis. The asymmetric aza-Michael reaction (aza-MR) alone or in tandem with other organic reaction(s) is an important synthetic tool to form new C-N bond(s) leading to developing new libraries of diverse types of bioactive nitrogen compounds. The synthesis and application of a variety of organocatalysts for accomplishing highly useful organic syntheses without causing environmental pollution in compliance with 'Green Chemistry" has been a landmark development in the recent past. Application of many of these organocatalysts has been extended to asymmetric aza-MR during the last two decades. The present article overviews the literature published during the last 10 years concerning the asymmetric aza-MR of amines and amides catalysed by organocatalysts. Both types of the organocatalysts, i.e., those acting through non-covalent interactions and those working through covalent bond formation have been applied for the asymmetric aza-MR. Thus, the review includes the examples wherein cinchona alkaloids, squaramides, chiral amines, phase-transfer catalysts and chiral bifunctional thioureas have been used, which activate the substrates through hydrogen bond formation. Most of these reactions are accompanied by high yields and enantiomeric excesses. On the other hand, N-heterocyclic carbenes and chiral pyrrolidine derivatives acting through covalent bond formation such as the iminium ions with the substrates have also been included. Wherever possible, a comparison has been made between the efficacies of various organocatalysts in asymmetric aza-MR.

Synthesis of Nanosheets Containing Uniformly Dispersed PdII Ions at an Aqueous/Aqueous Interface: Development of a Highly Active Nanosheet Catalyst for Mizoroki-Heck Reaction

A method was developed to synthesize a nanosheet at the interface of an aqueous layer of Pd^II ions and an aqueous layer of hydrophilic polymer bearing a metal coordination unit (HPMC). The nanosheet was synthesized through generation of an interface by the addition of an aqueous solution of Pd^II ions with a low specific gravity (1.03 g/cm³) to a dispersed aqueous solution of HPMC with a high specific gravity (1.50 g/cm³), resulting in rapid cross-linking at the interface. An electron probe microanalysis mapping image showed that the Pd^II ions were uniformly dispersed in the nanosheet. The nanosheet showed a high catalyst activity for the Mizoroki-Heck cross-coupling reaction with a turnover number (TON) and turnover frequency (TOF) greater than 3,333,333 and 138,889 h^-1, respectively. These are the greatest TON and TOF values reported for heterogeneous polymeric catalysts for the Mizoroki-Heck reaction.

ADMET Polymerization of Dimeric Cinchona Squaramides for the Preparation of a Highly Enantioselective Polymeric Organocatalyst

Under the acyclic diene metathesis (ADMET) reaction condition, the C3-vinyl groups of cinchona alkaloids readily react with each other to form a C-C bond. A novel type of cinchona alkaloid polymers was synthesized from dimeric cinchona squaramides using the Hoveyda-Grubbs’ second-generation catalysts (HG2) by means of ADMET reaction. The chiral polymers, containing cinchona squaramide moieties in their main chains, were subsequently employed as catalysts for the enantioselective Michael reaction to give the corresponding chiral adducts in high yields with excellent enantioselectivity and diastereoselectivity. Both enantiomers from the asymmetric Michael reaction were distinctively prepared while using the polymeric catalysts, possessing pseudoenantiomeric structures. The catalysts were readily recovered from the reaction mixture and recycled several times due to the insolubility of the cinchona-based squaramide polymers.