Synthesis of cis-4-trifluoromethyl- and cis-4-difluoromethyl-l-pyroglutamic acids

CF2H as a hydrogen bond donor group for the fine tuning of peptide bond geometry with difluoromethylated pseudoprolines

CF₂H-Pseudoprolines obtained from difluoroacetaldehyde hemiacetal and serine are stable proline surrogates. The consequence of the incorporation of the CF₂H group is an important decrease of the trans to cis amide bond isomerization energy and a remarkable stabilisation of the cis conformer by an hydrogen bond.

Approaches to Obtaining Fluorinated α-Amino Acids

Fluorine does not belong to the pool of chemical elements that nature uses to build organic matter. However, chemists have exploited the unique properties of fluorine and produced countless fluoro-organic compounds without which our everyday lives would be unimaginable. The incorporation of fluorine into amino acids established a completely new class of amino acids and their properties, and those of the biopolymers constructed from them are extremely interesting. Increasing interest in this class of amino acids caused the demand for robust and stereoselective synthetic protocols that enable straightforward access to these building blocks. Herein, we present a comprehensive account of the literature in this field going back to 1995. We place special emphasis on a particular fluorination strategy. The four main sections describe fluorinated versions of alkyl, cyclic, aromatic amino acids, and also nickel-complexes to access them. We progress by one carbon unit increments. Special cases of amino acids for which there is no natural counterpart are described at the end of each section. Synthetic access to each of the amino acids is summarized in form of a table at the end of this article with the aim to make the information easily accessible to the reader.

19F-NMR Diastereotopic Signals in Two N-CHF₂ Derivatives of (4S,7R)-7,8,8-Trimethyl-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-4,7-methano-2H-indazole

In this paper, we report the anisochrony of the fluorine atoms of a CHF₂ group when linked to a pyrazole ring. The pyrazole is part of (4S,7R)-7,8,8-trimethyl-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-4,7-methano-2H-indazole also known as (4S,7R)-campho[2,3-c]pyrazole, which has two stereogenic centers. Gauge-Independent Atomic Orbital (GIAO)/Becke, 3-parameter, Lee-Yang-Parr (B3LYP)/6-311++G(d,f) calculated 19F chemical shifts of the minimum energy conformations satisfactorily agree with the experimental data. The energy differences between minima need to consider solvent effects (continuum model) to be satisfactorily reproduced.

Catalytic asymmetric radical aminoperfluoroalkylation and aminodifluoromethylation of alkenes to versatile enantioenriched-fluoroalkyl amines

Although great success has been achieved in asymmetric fluoroalkylation reactions via nucleophilic or electrophilic processes, the development of asymmetric radical versions of this type of reactions remains a formidable challenge because of the involvement of highly reactive radical species. Here we report a catalytic asymmetric radical aminoperfluoroalkylation and aminodifluoromethylation of alkenes with commercially available fluoroalkylsulfonyl chlorides as the radical sources, providing a versatile platform to access four types of enantioenriched α-tertiary pyrrolidines bearing β-perfluorobutanyl, trifluoromethyl, difluoroacetyl and even difluoromethyl groups in excellent yields and with excellent enantioselectivity. The key to success is not only the introduction of the CuBr/chiral phosphoric acid dual-catalytic system but also the use of silver carbonate to suppress strong background and side hydroamination reactions caused by a stoichiometric amount of the in situ generated HCl. Broad substrate scope, excellent functional group tolerance and versatile functionalization of the products make this approach very practical and attractive.

Methods for the asymmetric introduction of organofluorine groups are often limited by the lack of variability in the starting materials. Here the authors report an asymmetric radical process for the introduction of fluoroalkyl groups using readily available fluoroalkylated sulfonyl chlorides.

Straightforward synthesis of (S)- and (R)-alpha-trifluoromethyl proline from chiral oxazolidines derived from ethyl trifluoropyruvate

[Structure: see text] A concise synthesis of both enantiomers of alpha-Tfm-proline and (S)-alpha-Tfm-prolinol from ethyl trifluoropyruvate is reported. The key step is a diastereoselective allylation reaction of ethyl trifluoropyruvate and (R)-phenylglycinol-based oxazolidines or imine. The lactone obtained by cyclization of the resulting hydroxy ester proved to be a valuable intermediate for the synthesis of (S)-alpha-Tfm-allylglycine and (S)-alpha-Tfm-norvaline in enantiopure form.

5-endo Heck-type cyclization of 2-(trifluoromethyl)allyl ketone oximes: synthesis of 4-difluoromethylene-substituted 1-pyrrolines

2-(Trifluoromethyl)allyl ketone O-pentafluorobenzoyloximes undergo a palladium-catalyzed 5-endo mode of alkene insertion via oxidative addition of the N-O bond, followed by beta-fluorine elimination to produce 4-difluoromethylene-1-pyrrolines.

Synthesis of 2',3'-dideoxy-2'-monofluoromethyl azanucleosides

(2S,4S)-Methyl-N-tert-butoxycarbonyl-4-monofluoromethylpyroglutamate 6 was synthesized via a key dehydrofluorination followed by hydrogenation. Compound 6 was converted to (5S,3S)-N-benzyloxycarbonyl-5-tert-butyldimethylsilyloxymethyl-3-monofluoromethyl-2-pyrrolidone 12 over four steps in 62% yield, which was used as a precursor for the synthesis of 2',3'-dideoxy-2'-monofluoromethyl azanucleosides 17-18.

Expanding the repertoire of pyrrolidyl PNA analogues for DNA/RNA hybridization selectivity: aminoethylpyrrolidinone PNA (aepone-PNA)

New PNA analogues derived from aminoethylpyrrolidin-5-one backbone show stabilization of aepone-PNA:DNA hybrids and destabilization of the corresponding RNA hybrids compared to unmodified PNA.