Catalytic Formation of Silyl Enol Ethers and Its Applications for Aldol-Type Condensation and Aminomethylation Reactions

The Silicon-Hydrogen Exchange Reaction: A Catalytic σ-Bond Metathesis Approach to the Enantioselective Synthesis of Enol Silanes

The use of chiral enol silanes in fundamental transformations such as Mukaiyama aldol, Michael, and Mannich reactions as well as Saegusa-Ito dehydrogenations has enabled the chemical synthesis of enantiopure natural products and valuable pharmaceuticals. However, accessing these intermediates in high enantiopurity has generally required the use of either stoichiometric chiral precursors or stoichiometric chiral reagents. We now describe a catalytic approach in which strongly acidic and confined imidodiphosphorimidates (IDPi) catalyze highly enantioselective interconversions of ketones and enol silanes. These "silicon-hydrogen exchange reactions" enable access to enantiopure enol silanes via tautomerizing σ-bond metatheses, either in a deprotosilylative desymmetrization of ketones with allyl silanes as the silicon source or in a protodesilylative kinetic resolution of racemic enol silanes with a carboxylic acid as the silyl acceptor.

N-bromosuccinimide/1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.1]undec-7-ene combination: β-amination of chalcones via a tandem bromoamination/debromination sequence

A one-pot cascade transformation of chalcones into β-imidoketones has been developed, in which NBS provides both electrophilic bromine and nucleophilic nitrogen sources, and DBU functions as a nucleophilic reagent to activate NBS to be a more electrophilic bromine species and to further remove the bromine of α-bromoketones. The whole process involves tandem bromoamination and debromination, which represents a unique example of preparing β-aminoketones by the reaction of chalcones with the NBS/DBU combination.