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Cai Y, Zhao Y, Tang K, Zhang H, Mo X, Chen J, Huang Y. Amide C-N bonds activation by A new variant of bifunctional N-heterocyclic carbene. Nat Commun 2024; 15:496. [PMID: 38216571 PMCID: PMC10786861 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-44756-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 01/14/2024] Open
Abstract
We report an organocatalyst that combines a triazolium N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) with a squaramide as a hydrogen-bonding donor (HBD), which can effectively catalyze the atroposelective ring-opening of biaryl lactams via a unique amide C-N bond cleavage mode. The free carbene species attacks the amide carbonyl, forming an axially chiral acyl-azolium intermediate. Various axially chiral biaryl amines can be accessed by this methodology with up to 99% ee and 99% yield. By using mercaptan as a catalyst turnover agent, the resulting thioester synthon can be transformed into several interesting atropisomers. Both control experiments and theoretical calculations reveal the crucial role of the hybrid NHC-HBD skeleton, which activates the amide via H-bonding and brings it spatially close to the carbene centre. This discovery illustrates the potential of the NHC-HBD chimera and demonstrates a complementary strategy for amide bond activation and manipulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuxing Cai
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, 518055, Shenzhen, China
- Pingshan Translational Medicine Center, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, 518118, Shenzhen, China
| | - Yuxin Zhao
- Department of Chemistry, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Kai Tang
- Pingshan Translational Medicine Center, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, 518118, Shenzhen, China
| | - Hong Zhang
- Pingshan Translational Medicine Center, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, 518118, Shenzhen, China
| | - Xueling Mo
- Pingshan Translational Medicine Center, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, 518118, Shenzhen, China
| | - Jiean Chen
- Pingshan Translational Medicine Center, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, 518118, Shenzhen, China.
| | - Yong Huang
- Department of Chemistry, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
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