Asymmetric Synthesis of Aziridines by Reduction ofN-tert-Butanesulfinyl α-Chloro Imines

Accessing Rare α-Heterocyclic Aziridines via Brønsted Acid-catalyzed Michael Addition/Annulation: Scope, Limitations, and Mechanism

We report an approach to the diastereoselective synthesis of 1,2-disubstituted heterocyclic aziridines. A Brønsted acid-catalyzed conjugate addition of anilines to trisubstituted heterocyclic chloroalkenes provides an intermediate 1,2-chloroamine. Diastereocontrol was found to vary significantly with solvent selection, with computational modelling confirming selective, spontaneous fragmentation in the presence of trace acids, proceeding through a pseudo-cyclic, protonated intermediate and transition state. These chloroamines can then be converted to the aziridine by treatment with LiHMDS with high stereochemical fidelity. This solvent-induced stereochemical enrichment thereby enables an efficient route to rare cis-aziridines with high dr. The scope, limitations, and mechanistic origins of selectivity are also presented.

Copper(I)-Photocatalyzed Diastereoselective Aziridination of N-Sulfonyl Imines with Vinyl Azides: Application to Benzo[f][1,2,3]oxathiazepines Dioxides and Fused Isoxazolines

An in situ generated photoactive copper(I)-complex-catalyzed aziridination reaction of cyclic N-sulfonyl imines with α-aryl-substituted vinyl azides irradiated by blue-LEDs light is reported for the first time. This novel SET process represents a mild, sustainable, and pragmatic method for accessing synthetically resourceful sulfamidate-fused aziridines in acceptable chemical yields with excellent diastereoselectivities. Delightedly, pharmacologically attractive benzo[f][1,2,3]oxathiazepine dioxides and fused isoxazoline frameworks were achieved through our newly developed metal-free based ring-expansion techniques, highlighting the synthetic value of accessed aziridines. Finally, the possible mechanism for [2+1] aza-cyclization was presented based on the conduction of a series of control experiments.

Rh(III)-Catalyzed C-H Activation and [4+1+1] Sequential Cyclization Cascade to Give Highly Fused Indano[1,2-b]azirines

A Rh(III)-catalyzed C-H activation of α-keto oximes and a cyclization cascade with diazo compounds were developed to construct the highly fused indano[1,2-b]azirine frameworks in good yields with a broad range of substrates under mild reaction conditions. More intriguingly, a [4+1+1] sequential annulation cascade is demonstrated for the first time in this reaction and opened a new reaction mode for α-keto oximes. These fused indano[1,2-b]azirine derivatives could also be further transformed into intriguing privileged drug scaffolds.

A Three Component Protocol for the Synthesis of Aziridines using BF3·(OEt)2

Synthesis of N-(1R,2S)-2-(bromo-3-oxo-1,3-diphenylpropyl)-4-methylbenzene sulfonamide and N-(1R,2S)-(2-bromo-3-oxo-1,3-diphenylpropyl)-4-methylbenzene sulfonamide was carried out by a three component reaction using phenacyl bromide, p-toluenesulfonamide and carboxyaldehyde in presence of mild Lewis acid such as BF3·(OEt)2 in dichloromethane. The synthetic utility of this protocol was carried out with syn-isomer to yield corresponding cis-aziridines. This protocol was operationally simple for a wide variety of substituted carboxaldehydes and substituted phenacyl bromides.

Diastereoselective Rh-catalyzed decarboxylative allylation to form quaternary stereocenters using sulfinimine as the directing group

In this paper, we reported for the first time that the diastereoselective Rh-catalyzed decarboxylative allylation of chiral sulfinimines could be used to form quaternary stereocenters.

Stereodivergent Synthesis of Pseudotabersonine Alkaloids

An eight-step stereodivergent synthesis of enantiomerically pure (-)-14-epi-pseudotabersonine and (+)-pseudotabersonine has been developed from a common N-tert-butanesulfinyl ketimine key intermediate.

Stereoselective Coupling of N-tert-Butanesulfinyl Aldimines and β-Keto Acids: Access to β-Amino Ketones

The reaction of chiral N-tert-butanesulfinyl aldimines with β-keto acids under basic conditions at room temperature proceeds with high levels of diastereocontrol, leading to β-amino ketones in high yields. Based on DFT calculations, an eight-membered cyclic transition state involving coordination of the lithium atom to the oxygens of carboxylate and sulfinyl units was proposed, being in agreement with the observed experimental diastereomeric ratios. The synthesis of the piperidine alkaloid (-)-pelletierine was successfully undertaken in order to demonstrate the utility of this methodology.

Lithium triethylborohydride-promoted generation of α,α-difluoroenolates from 2-iodo-2,2-difluoroacetophenones: an unprecedented utilization of lithium triethylborohydride

Lithium triethylborohydride was found to promote the generation of α,α-difluoroenolates from 2-iodo-2,2-difluoroacetophenones, and applied to the synthesis of polyfluorinated β-hydroxy ketones via self-condensation or aldol reaction.

Lithium Halomethylcarbenoids: Preparation and Use in the Homologation of Carbon Electrophiles

α-Halomethyllithium carbenoids are useful homologating reagents which - reacting under proper reaction conditions as carbanions - enable the installation via nucleophilic addition of a reactive halomethyl fragment onto a preformed carbon-heteroatom bond. The pronounced thermolability represented - since seminal studies by Köbrich - the Achilles' heel of these reagents: the use of Barbier-type methodologies (i.e., the electrophile should be present in the reaction mixture prior to the formation of the carbenoid) was pivotal in order to suppress decomposition through α-elimination processes. Nowadays, the use of low temperatures (-78 °C) guarantees reliable procedures and, significantly, the employment of microreactor technologies allows external trapping to be performed even at higher temperatures as reported by Luisi. We will discuss the α-halomethyllithium-mediated homologations of a series of carbon electrophiles such as carbonyl compounds, imines, esters, Weinreb amides, and isocyanates.

Facile synthesis of functionalized 6-cyano-2-oxa-7-azabicyclo[4.1.0]hept-3-en-1-yl acetates: a catalyst free approach to access the pyran fused 2-acetoxy-NH-aziridines

Novel pyran fused 2-acetoxy-NH-aziridine scaffold was constructed by reacting the enamine fragment of 4-H-pyrans and spiropyrans using iodobenzene diacetate under catalyst free environment.

Anomalous nuclear Overhauser effects in carbon-substituted aziridines: scalar cross-relaxation of the first kind

Anomalous NOESY cross-peaks that cannot be explained by dipolar cross-relaxation or chemical exchange are described for carbon-substituted aziridines. The origin of these is identified as scalar cross-relaxation of the first kind, as demonstrated by a complete theoretical description of this relaxation process and by computational simulation of the NOESY spectra. It is shown that this process relies on the stochastic modulation of J-coupling by conformational transitions, which in the case of aziridines arise from inversion at the nitrogen center. The observation of scalar cross-relaxation between protons does not appear to have been previously reported for NOESY spectra. Conventional analysis would have assigned the cross-peaks as being indicative of a chemical exchange process occurring between correlated spins, were it not for the fact that the pairs of nuclei displaying them cannot undergo such exchange.

Asymmetric synthesis of chloroisothreonine derivatives via syn-stereoselective Mannich-type additions across N-sulfinyl-α-chloroimines

Mannich-type reactions across N-sulfinyl-α-chloroaldimines resulted in syn-stereoselective synthesis of chloroisothreonine derivatives as excellent building blocks.

N,N-DIIsopropyl-N-phosphonyl imines lead to efficient asymmetric synthesis of aziridine-2-carboxylic esters

Highly diastereoselective asymmetric synthesis of chiral aziridine-2-carboxylic esters is reported for 20 examples with good yields (51-87%) and excellent diastereoselectivities (>99:1 dr for most cases). The modified N-phosphonyl imines have proven to be superior to previous imine auxiliaries for the aza Darzens reaction by using a secondary isopropyl group to replace the primary benzyl group for N,N-diamino protection. In the meanwhile, a special operation by slowly adding the pre-cooled imine solution at -78 °C into the preformed β-bromo lithium enolate mixture at this temperature in the presence of 4 Å molecular sieves was found to be crucial in terms of yields and diastereoselectivity. The present method can provide an easy and general access to β-hydroxy α-amino acids and other important amino building blocks.

Asymmetric synthesis of γ-chloro-α,β-diamino- and β,γ-aziridino-α-aminoacylpyrrolidines and -piperidines via stereoselective Mannich-type additions of N-(diphenylmethylene)glycinamides across α-chloro-N-sulfinylimines

The asymmetric synthesis of new chiral γ-chloro-α,β-diaminocarboxylamide derivatives by highly diastereoselective Mannich-type reactions of N-(diphenylmethylene)glycinamides across chiral α-chloro-N-p-toluenesulfinylaldimines was developed. The resulting (S_S,2S,3S)-γ-chloro-α,β-diaminocarboxylamides were formed with the opposite enantiotopic face selectivity as compared to the (S_S,2R,3R)-γ-chloro-α,β-diaminocarboxyl esters obtained via Mannich-type addition of analogous N-(diphenylmethylene)glycine esters across a chiral α-chloro-N-p-toluenesulfinylaldimine. Selective deprotection under different acidic reaction conditions and ring closure of the γ-chloro-α,β-diaminocarboxylamides was optimized, which resulted in N^α-deprotected syn-γ-chloro-α,β-diaminocarboxylamides, N-sulfinyl-β,γ-aziridino-α-aminocarboxylamide derivatives, a trans-imidazolidine, and an N^α,N^β-deprotected syn-γ-chloro-α,β-diaminocarboxylamide.

One-pot highly stereoselective synthesis of cyano aziridines via the CuCl-catalyzed aminochlorination of α,β-unsaturated nitriles and intramolecular S(N) 2 substitution

An efficient one-pot system has been developed for the synthesis of cyano aziridine by using α,β-unsaturated nitriles as the alkene substrates and N,N-dichloro-p-toluenesulfonamide (4-TsNCl(2) ) as the nitrogen source. A good scope of alkene substrates was achieved for this reaction. The one-pot reaction, via aminohalogenation and intramolecular S(N) 2 substitution, was very convenient to carry out at room temperature without the protection of inert gases. Modest to good yields and excellent have been obtained. This method provides an easy route to the cyano aziridine. The structure of the resulting products has been unambiguously confirmed by X-ray structural analysis.