Cooperative Bimetallic Asymmetric Catalysis: Comparison of a Planar Chiral Ruthenocene Bis-Palladacycle to the Corresponding Ferrocene

Redox-Active Triazole-Derived Mesoionic Imines with Ferrocenyl Substituents and their Metal Complexes: Directed Hydrogen-Bonding, Unusual C-H Activation and Ion-Pair Formation

We present herein the synthesis, characterization and complexation of ferrocenyl-substituted MIIs (mesoionic imines) and their metal complexes. In the free MIIs, strong hydrogen bonding interactions are observed between the imine-N and the C-H bonds of the ferrocenyl substituents both in the solid state and in solution. The influence of this hydrogen bonding is so strong that complexation of the MIIs with [IrCp*Cl2]2 yields unique six-membered iridacycles via C-H-activation of the corresponding C-H-site at the Fc-substituent and not the Ph-substituent. This result is in contrast to previous reports in which always a preferential C-H activation at the phenyl substituent is observed in competitive reactions in the presence of ferrocenyl substituents. The corresponding Ir complexes formed after in-situ halide exchange reaction exist in either [Ir-I] contact or as [Ir]+I- solvent separated ion-pairs depending on the solvent polarity. The iodide coordinated and solvent separated ion-pairs display drastically different physical properties. The TEP (Tolman-electronic-parameter) of these ligands was determined and lines up with previously reported MII-ligands. The redox properties were investigated by a combination of electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical methods. We show here how non-covalent interactions can have a drastic influence on the physical and chemical properties of these new class of compounds.

Advanced Application of Planar Chiral Heterocyclic Ferrocenes

This manuscript is reviewing the superior catalytic activity and selectivity of ferrocene ligands in a wide range of reactions: reduction of ketones, hydrogenation of olefins, hydroboration, cycloaddition, enantioselective synthesis of biaryls, Tsuji–Trost allylation. Moreover, the correlation between a ligand structure and its catalytic activity is discussed in this review.

Direct Enantioselective Addition of Alkynes to Imines by a Highly Efficient Palladacycle Catalyst

Enantiopure propargylic amines are highly valuable synthetic building blocks. Much effort has been devoted to develop methods for their preparation. The arguably most important strategy is the 1,2-addition of alkynes to imines. Despite remarkable progress, the known methods using Zn and Cu catalysts suffer from the need for high catalyst loadings, typically ranging from 2-60 mol % for neutral aldimine substrates. Here we report a planar chiral Pd complex acting as very efficient catalyst for direct asymmetric alkyne additions to imines, requiring very low catalyst loadings. Turnover numbers of up to 8700 were accomplished. Our investigation suggests that a Pd-acetylide complex is generated as a catalytically relevant intermediate by the aid of an acac ligand acting as internal catalytic base. It is shown that the catalyst is quite stable under the reaction conditions and that product inhibition is not an issue. A total of 39 examples is shown which all yielded almost enantiopure products.

Enantioenriched γ-Aminoalcohols, β-Amino Acids, β-Lactams, and Azetidines Featuring Tetrasubstituted Fluorinated Stereocenters via Palladacycle-Catalyzed Asymmetric Fluorination of Isoxazolinones

Enantiopure fluorine containing β-amino acids are of large biological and pharmaceutical interest. Strategies to prepare β-amino acid derivatives possessing a F-containing tetrasubstituted stereocenter at the α-C atom in a catalytic asymmetric sense are rare, in particular using an enantioselective electrophilic C-F bond formation. In the present study, a highly enantioselective palladacycle-catalyzed fluorination of isoxazolinones was developed. It is demonstrated that isoxazolinones are useful precursors toward enantiopure β-amino acid derivatives by diastereo- and chemoselective reduction. The formed γ-aminoalcohols served as valuable precursors toward β-amino acids, β-amino acid esters, and β-lactams, all featuring tetrasubstituted fluorinated stereocenters. In addition, by this work, enantioenriched fluorinated azetidines were accessible for the first time.

Stereospecific Asymmetric Synthesis of Tertiary Allylic Alcohol Derivatives by Catalytic [2,3]-Meisenheimer Rearrangements

Chiral acyclic tertiary allylic alcohols are very important synthetic building blocks, but their enantioselective synthesis is often challenging. A major limitation in catalytic asymmetric 1,2-addition approaches to ketones is the enantioface differentiation by steric distinction of both ketone residues. Herein we report the development of a catalytic asymmetric Meisenheimer rearrangement to overcome this problem, as it proceeds in a stereospecific manner. This allows for high enantioselectivity also for the formation of products in which the residues at the generated tetrasubstituted stereocenter display a similar steric demand. Low catalyst loadings were found to be sufficient and the reaction conditions were mild enough to tolerate even highly reactive functional groups, such as an enolizable aldehyde, a primary tosylate, or an epoxide. Our investigations suggest an intramolecular rearrangement pathway.

Recent Advances in Metal-Catalyzed Asymmetric 1,4-Conjugate Addition (ACA) of Nonorganometallic Nucleophiles

The metal-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition (ACA) reaction has emerged as a general and powerful approach for the construction of optically active compounds and is among the most significant and useful reactions in synthetic organic chemistry. In recent years, great progress has been made in this area with the use of various chiral metal complexes based on different chiral ligands. This review provides comprehensive and critical information on the enantioselective 1,4-conjugate addition of nonorganometallic (soft) nucleophiles and their importance in synthetic applications. The literature is covered from the last 10 years, and a number of examples from before 2007 are included as background information. The review is divided into multiple parts according to the type of nucleophile involved in the reaction (such as C-, B-, O-, N-, S-, P-, and Si-centered nucleophiles) and metal catalyst systems used.

Rhodium-Catalyzed Enantioselective Alkenylation of Cyclic Ketimines: Synthesis of Multifunctional Chiral α,α-Disubstituted Allylic Amine Derivatives

By employing a simple open-chain chiral phosphite-olefin ligand, a highly enantioselective rhodium-catalyzed alkenylation of 1,2,5-thiadiazole 1,1-dioxide-type cyclic ketimines with diverse vinylboronic acids was achieved under mild conditions at room temperature. This protocol provides an efficient and practical access to multifunctional α,α-disubstituted chiral allylic amines bearing quaternary stereocenters in high yields (up to 99%) with good to excellent ee's (up to 99%).

Diastereoselective synthesis, structure and reactivity studies of ferrocenyloxazoline gold(i) and gold(ii) complexes

In the last few decades, gold complexes have demonstrated huge potential for soft Lewis acid catalysis. Despite the intensive research on Au complexes and planar chiral metallacycles, enantiopure ferrocenylgold complexes have - surprisingly - not been reported until the studies presented in this article. Herein, we report the asymmetric synthesis of planar chiral ferrocenyl Au(i) complexes. These dinuclear species form helically chiral ten-membered (NCCCAu)₂ rings stabilized by aurophilic interactions. In supramolecular solid state structures, linear, zigzag or helical Au(i) wires with regular AuAu separations were observed. The dissolved dinuclear entities could be oxidized by Au(i) to unique ferrocenyl Au(ii) complexes featuring short Au(ii)-Au(ii) bonds, while the ferrocene core remained intact. However, our initial studies revealed the issue of configurational lability of the ferrocenyl Au(ii) complexes in terms of the element of planar chirality in the presence of the gold source, (Me₂S)AuCl. This was successfully addressed by a systematic study implementing permanent σ-donor ortho-protecting groups such as methyl and trimethylsilyl, which impede an epimerization event. Oxidation of the dinuclear Au(i) complexes was also accomplished by oxidative addition reactions with halogenated solvents, preferably CHCl₃. Additional reactivity studies revealed that dinuclear Au(ii) dihalide complexes are also formed with reactive alkylhalides such as iodomethane, benzylbromide and benzyliodide. Interestingly, the whole spectral range of colors (violet, blue, green, yellow, and red) is covered by the title complexes depending on the Au oxidation state and the anionic ligands in the Au(ii) complexes. This appears to be quite unusual for ferrocenes, which typically adopt orange to red colors in a non-oxidized state.

Palladacycles having normal and spiro chelate rings designed from bi- and tridentate ligands with an indole core: structure, synthesis and applications as catalysts

Palladacycles with normal and spiro rings catalyze Suzuki–Miyaura coupling of ArBr/ArCl/allylation of aldehydes at 0.001/1 mol% loading.

Azlactone Reaction Developments

Azlactones (also known as oxazolones) are heterocycles usually employed in the stereoselective synthesis of α,α-amino acids, heterocycles and natural products. The versatility of the azlactone scaffold arises from the numerous reactive sites, allowing its application in a diversity of transformations. This review aims to cover classical and recent applications of oxazolones, especially those involving stereoselective processes. After a short introduction on their structures and intrinsic reactivities, dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) processes as well as reactions involving stereoselective formation of a new σ C-C bond, such as alkylation/allylation/arylation, aldol, ene, Michael and Mannich reactions will be exposed. Additionally, cycloadditions, Steglich rearrangement and sulfenylation reactions will also be discussed. Recent developments of the well-known Erlenmeyer azlactones will be described. For the most examples, the proposed mechanism, activation modes and/or key reaction intermediates will be exposed to rationalize both the final product and the observed stereochemistry. Finally, this review gives an overview of the synthetic utility of oxazolones.

Dual Palladium(II)/Tertiary Amine Catalysis for Asymmetric Regioselective Rearrangements of Allylic Carbamates

The streamlined catalytic access to enantiopure allylic amines as valuable precursors towards chiral β- and γ-aminoalcohols as well as α- and β-aminoacids is desirable for industrial purposes. In this article an enantioselective method is described that transforms achiral allylic alcohols and N-tosylisocyanate in a single step into highly enantioenriched N-tosyl protected allylic amines via an allylic carbamate intermediate. The latter is likely to undergo a cyclisation-induced [3,3]-rearrangement catalysed by a planar chiral pentaphenylferrocene palladacycle in cooperation with a tertiary amine base. The otherwise often indispensable activation of palladacycle catalysts by a silver salt is not required in the present case and there is also no need for an inert gas atmosphere. To further improve the synthetic value, the rearrangement was used to form dimethylaminosulfonyl-protected allylic amines, which can be deprotected under non-reductive conditions.

Facile high-yield synthesis of unsymmetric end-off compartmental double Schiff-base ligands: easy access to mononuclear precursor and unsymmetric dinuclear complexes

Novel approach to unsymmetric end-off compartmental ligands with a selective high-yield synthesis and access to unsymmetric dinuclear complexes.

Direct catalytic enantioselective Mannich-type reaction of dichloroacetonitrile using bis(imidazoline)-Pd catalysts

The catalytic enantioselective Mannich-type reaction of dichloroacetonitrile with imines has been developed.

Regioselective Pd-Catalyzed Synthesis of 2,3,6-Trisubstituted Pyridines from Isoxazolinones

Substituted pyridines are prevalent heterocycles of fundamental importance. Their efficient regioselective preparation is often still a challenge despite a large number of reported synthetic methodologies. In this letter we report an operationally simple approach that makes use of readily accessible isoxazolinones. The protocol involves a Pd(II)-catalyzed C-regioselective 1,4-addition to vinylketones, followed by a Pd(0)-catalyzed transformation, which is assumed to proceed via vinylnitrene-Pd intermediates. Both hydrogen and air are necessary for the pyridine formation step and could be employed at ratios above the upper explosive limit thus avoiding a safety issue. This new strategy allows an effective, scalable and practical access to various previously unknown 2,3,6-trisubstituted pyridines.

Synthesis of phosphinoferrocene amides and thioamides from carbamoyl chlorides and the structural chemistry of Group 11 metal complexes with these mixed-donor ligands

The reaction of in situ generated 1'-(diphenylphosphino)-1-lithioferrocene with carbamoyl chlorides, ClC(E)NMe2, affords the corresponding (thio)amides, Ph2PfcC(E)NMe2 (E = O (), S (); fc = ferrocene-1,1'-diyl). These compounds as well as their analogues, Ph2PfcC(O)NHMe () and Ph2PfcC(O)NH2 (), prepared from 1'-(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene-1-carboxylic acid (Hdpf) were studied as ligands for the Group 11 metal ions. In the reactions with [Cu(MeCN)4][BF4], the amides give rise to bis-chelate complexes of the type [Cu(L-κ(2)O,P)2][BF4]. Similar products, [Ag(L-κ(2)O,P)2]ClO4, are obtained from silver(i) perchlorate and , or . In contrast, the reaction of AgClO4 with produces a unique molecular dimer [Ag()(ClO4-κO)]2, where the metal centres are bridged by the sulfur atoms of the P,S-chelating thioamides. The reactions of with [AuCl(tht)] (tht = tetrahydrothiophene) afford the expected gold(i)-phosphine complexes, [AuCl(L-κP)], containing uncoordinated (thio)amide moieties. Hemilabile coordination of the phosphinoamide ligands in complexes with the soft Group 11 metal ions is established by the crystal structure of a solvento complex, [Cu(-κ(2)O,P)(-κP)(CHCl3-κCl)][BF4], which was isolated serendipitously during an attempted crystallisation of [Cu(-κ(2)O,P)2][BF4]. All of the compounds are characterised by spectroscopic methods, and the structures of several representatives of both the free phosphinoamides and their complexes are determined by X-ray diffraction analysis and further studied by DFT calculations and cyclic voltammetry.

Dinuclear planar chiral ferrocenyl gold(i) & gold(ii) complexes

The first scalemic ferrocenyl gold(i) and gold(ii) complexes have been prepared and structurally analysed by X-ray, (spectro)electrochemical and DFT studies.

Catalytic asymmetric [3,3]-rearrangements of allylic acetimidates

The rearrangement of non-halogenated acetimidates in combination with an enzymatic amide hydrolysis is attractive to get almost enantiopure allylic amines.