Catalytic Asymmetric Enyne Addition to Aldehydes and Rh(I)-Catalyzed Stereoselective Domino Pauson–Khand/[4 + 2] Cycloaddition

Research on promoting the asymmetric reaction of phenylacetylene with aldehydes by chloramphenicol base ligands

A series of chiral ligands were synthesized using chloramphenicol base as starting materials. These ligands were applied to the asymmetric catalytic reactions of terminal alkynes with aldehydes to obtain a propargyl alcohol product in high yield (80-94%) with excellent enantioselectivities (82-96%).

An Alternative Route to Complex Allenes or Cyclooctatrienes via a Suzuki Cyclocarbopalladation Cascade

The 4-exo-dig cyclocarbopalladation of vinyl bromides substituted with a triple or double bond resulted in impressive cascade reactions leading to different compounds under Suzuki cross-coupling conditions upon a slight modification of the starting material. When the starting compound carries a triple bond, a single cascade occurs providing a structure containing an allene, a tetrasubstituted cyclopropane, and a cyclobutene with complete stereoselectivity. When the related starting material possessing a double bond is reacted under the same conditions in the presence of various vinyl boronic esters or acids, an efficient 8π-electrocyclization provides tricyclic systems comprised of a cyclobutene unit, as well as a cyclooctatriene. Five carbons of the latter can be selectively decorated with different substituents depending on the choice of the starting material and the boronic coupling partner.

Synthesis of the C1-C27 Fragment of Stambomycin D Validates Modular Polyketide Synthase-Based Stereochemical Assignments

The stambomycins are a family of bioactive macrolides isolated from Streptomyces ambofaciens. Aside from two stereocenters installed through cytochrome P450 oxidations, their stereochemistry has been predicted by sequence analysis of the polyketide synthase. We report a synthesis of the C1–C27 fragment of stambomycin D, the spectroscopic data of which correlates well with that of the natural product, further validating predictive sequence analysis as a powerful tool for stereochemical assignment of complex polyketide natural products.

Access to Highly Functionalized Cyclopentenones via Diastereoselective Pauson-Khand Reaction of Siloxy-Tethered 1,7-Enynes

A diastereoselective Co₂(CO)₈-mediated Pauson-Khand reaction (PKR) of siloxy-tethered 1,7-enynes for the synthesis of cyclopentaoxasilinones has been developed. This transformation can be performed on a multigram scale and is characterized by a broad substrate scope, functional group compatibility, and high chemo- and diastereoselectivity. Oxidation of the resulting cyclopentaoxasilinones delivers stereoenriched β-alkylated cyclopentenones, which are inaccessible by intermolecular PKRs. This research provides a practical solution to the challenges associated with the classical intermolecular PKR.

Gold-Catalyzed Hydroamination of Propargylic Alcohols: Controlling Divergent Catalytic Reaction Pathways To Access 1,3-Amino Alcohols, 3-Hydroxyketones, or 3-Aminoketones

A versatile approach to the valorization of propargylic alcohols is reported, enabling controlled access to three different products from the same starting materials. First, a general method for the hydroamination of propargylic alcohols with anilines is described using gold catalysis to give 3-hydroxyimines with complete regioselectivity. These 3-hydroxyimines can be reduced to give 1,3-amino alcohols with high syn selectivity. Alternatively, by using a catalytic quantity of aniline, 3-hydroxyketones can be obtained in high yield directly from propargylic alcohols. Further manipulation of the reaction conditions enables the selective formation of 3-aminoketones via a rearrangement/hydroamination pathway. The utility of the new chemistry was exemplified by the one-pot synthesis of a selection of N-arylpyrrolidines and N-arylpiperidines. A mechanism for the hydroamination has been proposed on the basis of experimental studies and density functional theory calculations.

An enyne cycloisomerization/[5+1] reaction sequence to synthesize tetrahydroisoquinolinones from enyne-enes and CO

An enyne cycloisomerization/[5+1] reaction sequence was developed to synthesize tetrahydroisoquinolinones from linear enyne-enes and CO. The first step is a gold(i)-catalyzed enyne cycloisomerization, generating six-membered-ring-fused vinylcyclopropanes. The second step is a rhodium(i)-catalyzed [5+1] reaction of vinylcyclopropanes with CO. This two-step reaction could also be carried out in one-pot without isolating the cycloisomerization product generated from the first step of this sequence.

Recent Advances in the Pauson-Khand Reaction

The Pauson-Khand [2+2+1] cycloaddition of alkynes, alkenes, and carbon monoxide has been a vibrant area of research for more than 40 years. This review highlights recent achievements in the Pauson-Khand reaction, particularly in catalytic and asymmetric variants. Discussion of regioselectivity and advances in substrate scope is also presented.

Synthesis of bridged oxafenestranes from pleuromutilin

Fenestranes are an intriguing class of highly strained molecules possessing a quaternary carbon with bonds that deviate from the canonical tetrahedral geometry. Herein we report the discovery that the natural product pleuromutilin can be used as a structurally complex starting material for the synthesis of a series of bridged cis,cis,cis,cis-[4.5.5.5]- and cis,cis,cis,cis-[4.5.7.5]oxafenestranes through a carbocation rearrangement cascade. X-ray crystallographic analysis of several cis,cis,cis,cis-[4.5.5.5]oxafenestranes shows a significant planarization of the central tetracoordinate carbon atom and demonstrates the influence of bridgehead substituents and bridging rings on planarity.

Asymmetric functional organozinc additions to aldehydes catalyzed by 1,1'-bi-2-naphthols (BINOLs)

Chiral alcohols are ubiquitous in organic structures. One efficient method to generate chiral alcohols is the catalytic asymmetric addition of a carbon nucleophile to a carbonyl compound since this process produces a C-C bond and a chiral center simultaneously. In comparison with the carbon nucleophiles such as an organolithium or a Grignard reagent, an organozinc reagent possesses the advantages of functional group tolerance and more mild reaction conditions. Catalytic asymmetric reactions of aldehydes with arylzincs, vinylzincs, and alkynylzincs to generate functional chiral alcohols are discussed in this Account. Our laboratory has developed a series of 1,1'-bi-2-naphthol (BINOL)-based chiral catalysts for the asymmetric organozinc addition to aldehydes. It is found that the 3,3'-dianisyl-substituted BINOLs are not only highly enantioselective for the alkylzinc addition to aldehydes, but also highly enantioselective for the diphenylzinc addition to aldehydes. A one-step synthesis has been achieved to incorporate Lewis basic amine groups into the 3,3'-positions of the partially hydrogenated H8BINOL. These H8BINOL-amine compounds have become more generally enantioselective and efficient catalysts for the diphenylzinc addition to aldehydes to produce various types of chiral benzylic alcohols. The application of the H8BINOL-amine catalysts is expanded by using in situ generated diarylzinc reagents from the reaction of aryl iodides with ZnEt2, which still gives high enantioselectivity and good catalytic activity. Such a H8BINOL-amine compound is further found to catalyze the highly enantioselective addition of vinylzincs, in situ generated from the treatment of vinyl iodides with ZnEt2, to aldehydes to give the synthetically very useful chiral allylic alcohols. We have discovered that the unfunctionalized BINOL in combination with ZnEt2 and Ti(O(i)Pr)4 can catalyze the terminal alkyne addition to aldehydes to produce chiral propargylic alcohols of high synthetic utility. The reaction was conducted by first heating an alkyne with ZnEt2 in refluxing toluene to generate an alkynylzinc reagent, which can then add to a broad range of aldehydes at room temperature in the presence of BINOL and Ti(O(i)Pr)4 with high enantioselectivity. It was then found that the addition of a catalytic amount of dicyclohexylamine (Cy2NH) allows the entire process to be conducted at room temperature without the need to generate the alkynylzincs at elevated temperature. This BINOL-ZnEt2-Ti(O(i)Pr)4-Cy2NH catalyst system can be used to catalyze the reaction of structurally diverse alkynes with a broad range of aldehydes at room temperature with high enantioselectivity and good catalytic activity. The work described in this Account demonstrates that BINOL and its derivatives can be used to develop highly enantioselective catalysts for the asymmetric organozinc addition to aldehydes. These processes have allowed the efficient synthesis of many functional chiral alcohols that are useful in organic synthesis.