Intermolecular Enantioselective Heck–Matsuda Arylations of Acyclic Olefins: Application to the Synthesis of β-Aryl-γ-lactones and β-Aryl Aldehydes

Alcohols as Substrates in Transition-Metal-Catalyzed Arylation, Alkylation, and Related Reactions

Alcohols are abundant and attractive feedstock molecules for organic synthesis. Many methods for their functionalization require them to first be converted into a more activated derivative, while recent years have seen a vast increase in the number of complexity-building transformations that directly harness unprotected alcohols. This Review discusses how transition metal catalysis can be used toward this goal. These transformations are broadly classified into three categories. Deoxygenative functionalizations, representing derivatization of the C-O bond, enable the alcohol to act as a leaving group toward the formation of new C-C bonds. Etherifications, characterized by derivatization of the O-H bond, represent classical reactivity that has been modernized to include mild reaction conditions, diverse reaction partners, and high selectivities. Lastly, chain functionalization reactions are described, wherein the alcohol group acts as a mediator in formal C-H functionalization reactions of the alkyl backbone. Each of these three classes of transformation will be discussed in context of intermolecular arylation, alkylation, and related reactions, illustrating how catalysis can enable alcohols to be directly harnessed for organic synthesis.

Enantioselective Heck-Matsuda Reactions: From Curiosity to a Game-Changing Methodology

The enantioselective palladium-catalyzed Heck arylation of olefins using arenediazonium salts is one of the last features in the evolution of a synthetic method known as the Heck-Matsuda reaction. This personal account highlights the development of the enantioselective Heck-Matsuda reaction in its initial stages, the challenges faced along the way, and the interesting findings that opened new synthetic opportunities, mainly from our laboratory, featuring the Heck-Matsuda reaction as a central player in the synthesis of bioactive and functional molecules.

Further Developments and Applications of Oxazoline-Containing Ligands in Asymmetric Catalysis

The chiral oxazoline motif is present in many ligands that have been extensively applied in a series of important metal-catalyzed enantioselective reactions. This Review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the most significant applications of oxazoline-containing ligands reported in the literature starting from 2009 until the end of 2018. The ligands are classified not by the reaction to which their metal complexes have been applied but by the nature of the denticity, chirality, and donor atoms involved. As a result, the continued development of ligand architectural design from mono(oxazolines), to bis(oxazolines), to tris(oxazolines) and tetra(oxazolines) and variations thereof can be more easily monitored by the reader. In addition, the key transition states of selected asymmetric transformations will be given to illustrate the features that give rise to high levels of asymmetric induction. As a further aid to the reader, we summarize the majority of schemes with representative examples that highlight the variation in % yields and % ees for carefully selected substrates. This Review should be of particular interest to the experts in the field but also serve as a useful starting point to new researchers in this area. It is hoped that this Review will stimulate both the development/design of new ligands and their applications in novel metal-catalyzed asymmetric transformations.

Rate Profiling the Impact of Remote Functional Groups on the Redox-Relay Heck Reaction

The redox-relay Heck reaction is a powerful method for the construction of enantioenriched quaternary stereocenters remote from existing functional groups. However, there has been little success in the design of site-selective alkene functionalization based on these methods. Herein, we show that experimentally determined rates can be used to train a multivariate linear regression model capable of predicting the rate of a specific relay Heck reaction, allowing for the site-selective functionalization of diene substrates.

Stereoselective Remote Functionalization via Palladium-Catalyzed Redox-Relay Heck Methodologies

Exploration of novel, three-dimensional chemical space is of growing interest in the drug discovery community and with this comes the challenge for synthetic chemists to devise new stereoselective methods to introduce chirality in a rapid and efficient manner. This Minireview provides a timely summary of the development of palladium-catalyzed asymmetric redox-relay Heck-type processes. These reactions represent an important class of transformation for the selective introduction of remote stereocenters, and have risen to prominence over the past decade. Within this Minireview, the vast scope of these transformations will be showcased, alongside applications to pharmaceutically relevant chiral building blocks and drug substances. To complement this overview, a mechanistic summary and discussion of the current limitations of the transformation are presented, followed by an outlook on future areas of investigation.

Regioselective Functionalization of Ester-, Amide-, Carbonate-, and Carbamate-Substituted 2-Phenyl-2-oxazolines with Mixed Lithium-Magnesium Amides

We have prepared novel highly functionalized benzene derivatives by regioselective metalation of ester-, amide-, carbamate-, and carbonate-substituted 2-phenyl-2-oxazolines with mixed lithium-magnesium amides followed by reaction with different electrophiles. While a complementary metalation site can be accessed by using different bases, steric and electronic effects promoted by the aromatic ring substituents also play an important role in reaction regioselectivity. Computational calculations of the aromatic hydrogen pK_a values have helped us to rationalize the metalation preference by the complex-induced proximity effect concept.

Development and Mechanistic Interrogation of Interrupted Chain-Walking in the Enantioselective Relay Heck Reaction

The formation of alkyl-palladium complexes via the nucleopalladation of alkenes is the entry point for a wide range of diverse reactions. One possibility is that the intermediate alkyl-Pd complexes can undergo a "chain-walking" event, to allow for remote functionalization through various termination processes. However, there are few methods to selectively interrupt the chain-walking process at a prescribed location. Herein, we demonstrate that a variety of homoallylic protected amines undergo an interrupted enantioselective relay Heck reaction to give enantioenriched allylic amine products. The selectivity of this process can be diverted to exclusively yield the ene-amide products by virtue of changing the nature of the amine protecting group. To rationalize this observation, we combine experiment and computation to investigate the mechanism of the chain-walking process and termination events. Isotopic labeling experiments and the computed reaction pathways suggest that the system is likely under thermodynamic control, with the selectivity being driven by the relative stability of intermediates encountered during chain-walking. These results illustrate that the chain-walking of alkyl-palladium complexes can be controlled through the alteration of thermodynamic processes and provides a roadmap for exploiting these processes in future reaction development.

Experimental and Computational Studies Unraveling the Peculiarity of Enolizable Oxoesters in the Organocatalyzed Mannich-Type Addition to Cyclic N-Acyl Iminium Ions

γ− and δ-Oxoesters are easily available starting materials that have been sparingly used in some organocatalyzed reactions proceeding with a high enantioselectivity. In our experimentation we found that the use of these compounds as the enolizable (nucleophilic) component in organocatalyzed Mannich-type reactions using in situ-generated cyclic N-acyl iminium ions gave low diastereoselectivity and low to moderate values of enantioselectivity. This significant drop of facial selectivity with respect to simple aliphatic aldehydes has been rationalized by means of density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

Weak Coordinating Carbonyl-Directed Rhodium(III)-Catalyzed C-H Activation at the C4-Position of Indole with Allyl Alcohols

A weakly coordinating carbonyl-directed coupling of allyl alcohols at the C-4 position of indole derivatives under the C-H activation conditions catalyzed by Rh(III) is reported. This results in alkylation at the C-4 position of indole derivatives exclusively. The obtained product forms a tricyclic derivative under aldol reaction conditions, which can be a potential precursor for synthesizing a few alkaloid molecules such as ergot, hapalindole alkaloids, and related heterocyclic compounds.

Desymmetrization of Prochiral Cyclopentenes Enabled by Enantioselective Palladium-Catalyzed Oxidative Heck Reaction

In the presence of a catalytic amount of Pd(TFA)₂ and a chiral Pyox ligand under oxygen atmosphere, oxidative Heck reaction between arylboronic acids and 4-substituted or 4,4-disubstituted cyclopent-1-enes afforded the chiral arylated products with concurrent creation of two stereocenters in good yields with excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivities.

Palladium-catalyzed enantioselective alkenylation of alkenylbenzene derivatives

A regioselective and enantioselective palladium-catalyzed relay Heck alkenylation of alkenylbenzene derivatives to construct remote stereocenters is disclosed. Various β-substituted styrenes were readily obtained in moderate yields with good to excellent levels of enantioselectivity. This strategy provides rapid access to enantioenriched δ, ε, ζ, and η-alkenyl aryl compounds from simple starting materials. Mechanistic studies suggest that termination of the relay reaction is controlled by affinity of the arene for the Pd complex during migration.

Enantioselective palladium-catalyzed diarylation of unactivated alkenes

Enantioselective Pd-catalyzed diarylation of unactivated alkenes between arenediazonium salts and arylboronic acids has been developed. This method provides an efficient route to dihydrobenzofurans with all-carbon quaternary centers in good yields with 88–99% ee.

Harnessing Noncovalent Interactions in Dual-Catalytic Enantioselective Heck-Matsuda Arylation

The use of more than one catalyst in one-pot reaction conditions has become a rapidly evolving protocol in the development of asymmetric catalysis. The lack of molecular insights on the mechanism and enantioselectivity in dual-catalytic reactions motivated the present study focusing on an important catalytic asymmetric Heck-Matsuda cross-coupling. A comprehensive density functional theory (M06 and B3LYP-D3) investigation of the coupling between a spirocyclic cyclopentene and 4-fluorophenyl diazonium species under a dual-catalytic condition involving Pd₂(dba)₃ (dba = trans, trans-dibenzylideneacetone) and chiral 2,2'-binaphthyl diamine (BINAM)-derived phosphoric acids (BDPA, 2,2'-binaphthyl diamine-derived phosphoric acids) is presented. Among various mechanistic possibilities examined, the pathway with explicit inclusion of the base (in situ generated sodium bicarbonate/sodium biphosphate) is found to be energetically more preferred over the analogous base-free routes. The chiral phosphate generated by the action of sodium carbonate on BDPA is found to remain associated with the reaction site as a counterion. The initial oxidative addition of Pd(0) to the aryl diazonium bond gives rise to a Pd-aryl intermediate, which then goes through the enantiocontrolling migratory insertion to the cyclic alkene, leading to an arylated cycloalkene intermediate. Insights on how a series of noncovalent interactions, such as C-H···O, C-H···N, C-H···F, C-H···π, lp···π, O-H···π, and C-F···π, in the enantiocontrolling transition state (TS) render the migration of the Pd-aryl to the si prochiral face of the cyclic alkene more preferred over that to the re face are utilized for modulating the enantioselectivity. Aided by molecular insights on the enantiocontrolling transition states, we predicted improved enantioselectivity from 37% to 89% by changes in the N-aryl substituents of the catalyst. Subsequent experiments in our laboratory offered very good agreement with the predicted enantioselectivities.

Enantioselective C2-Alkylation of Indoles through a Redox-Relay Heck Reaction of 2-Indole Triflates

A palladium-catalyzed enantioselective redox-relay Heck reaction of 2-indole triflates and disubstituted alkenes is reported. This process combines readily available indole triflates with a variety of alkenes to afford a range of indole derivatives bearing a stereocenter adjacent to C2. Enantioselectivity is achieved through use of a simple pyridine-oxazoline ligand. Tuning the electronics of the indole, through judicious choice of N-protecting group, is required to ensure selective β-hydride elimination away from the indole core. Utility of this method is highlighted in a modular formal synthesis of an S1P₁ agonist precursor developed by Merck.

Enantioselective Synthesis of Phthalides and Isochromanones via Heck-Matsuda Arylation of Dihydrofurans

In this communication, the enantioselective synthesis of phthalides and isochromanones is described through a new palladium-catalyzed Heck-Matsuda arylation/NaBH₄ -reduction/lactonization sequence of 2,3- and 2,5-dihydrofurans in good overall yields and excellent enantioselectivities (up to 98:2 er). This expeditious synthesis of chiral Heck lactol intermediates allowed the diversification of the strategy to obtain medicinally relevant chiral lactones, amines, and olefins. The natural product 3-butylphthalide was obtained in three steps with an overall yield of 33 % yield in 98:2 er.

Palladium-Catalyzed Ortho C-H Arylation of Aniline Carbamates with Diazonium Salts under Mild Conditions: Expedient Synthesis of Carbazole Alkaloids

Despite the significant progress, C-H arylation with aryldiazonium salts is a major challenge because of the faster rate of oxidative addition compared to the C-H insertion, leading to a deleterious homocoupling product. Recently, this limitation has been overcome by merging a photoredox catalyst with transition-metal catalysts which proceeds through a distinct single electron-transfer mechanism. However, we have observed that the photoredox catalyst is not necessary for the C-H arylation of aniline rather chemical reactivity can be controlled by tuning the electronic nature of the substrate. We report, herein, a palladium-catalyzed C-H arylation of aniline carbamates with aryldiazonium salts under external oxidant, acid, base free conditions at room temperature. Mechanistic studies suggest that the present reaction proceeds through a directed electrophilic metalation pathway which is the slowest step. However, the oxidative addition may take place through either ionic (2e^-) or radical (1e^-) pathway to generate hypervalent Pd(IV) or Pd(III) intermediate, respectively. A facile reductive elimination from the hypervalent palladium complex furnishes the C-H arylation product under mild conditions. The carbamate directing group is easily removed from the product to obtain the corresponding ortho-arylated aniline, which is a precursor for plethora of carbazole alkaloids and other biologically active molecules. The reaction is scaled-up to gram scale to furnish the desired product in comparable yields. Finally, we have applied this C-H arylation methodology for the synthesis of series of carbazole alkaloids such as clausine V, clauszoline K, O-methoxymahanine, and O-methylmurrayamine-D.

Dynamic Kinetic Asymmetric Heck Reaction for the Simultaneous Generation of Central and Axial Chirality

A highly diastereo- and enantioselective, scalable Pd-catalyzed dynamic kinetic asymmetric Heck reaction of heterobiaryl sulfonates with electron-rich olefins is described. The coupling of 2,3-dihydrofuran or N-boc protected 2,3-dihydropyrrole with a variety of quinoline, quinazoline, phthalazine, and picoline derivatives takes place with simultaneous installation of central and axial chirality, reaching excellent diastereo- and enantiomeric excesses when in situ formed [Pd⁰/DM-BINAP] was used as the catalyst, with loadings reduced down to 2 mol % in large scale reactions. The coupling of acyclic, electron-rich alkenes can also be performed using a [Pd⁰/Josiphos ligand] to obtain axially chiral heterobiaryl α-substituted alkenes in high yields and enantioselectivities. Products from Boc-protected 2,3-dihydropyrrole can be easily transformed into N, N ligands or appealing axially chiral, bifunctional proline-type organocatalysts. Computational studies suggest that a β-hydride elimination is the stereocontrolling step, in agreement with the observed stereochemical outcome of the reaction.

Organic Synthesis: New Vistas in the Brazilian Landscape

In this overview, we present our analysis of the future of organic synthesis in Brazil, a highly innovative and strategic area of research which underpins our social and economical progress. Several different topics (automation, catalysis, green chemistry, scalability, methodological studies and total syntheses) were considered to hold promise for the future advance of chemical sciences in Brazil. In order to put it in perspective, contributions from Brazilian laboratories were selected by the citations received and importance for the field and were benchmarked against some of the most important results disclosed by authors worldwide. The picture that emerged reveals a thriving area of research, with new generations of well-trained and productive chemists engaged particularly in the areas of green chemistry and catalysis. In order to fulfill the promise of delivering more efficient and sustainable processes, an integration of the academic and industrial research agendas is to be expected. On the other hand, academic research in automation of chemical processes, a well established topic of investigation in industrial settings, has just recently began in Brazil and more academic laboratories are lining up to contribute. All these areas of research are expected to enable the future development of the almost unchartered field of scalability.

Renaissance of pyridine-oxazolines as chiral ligands for asymmetric catalysis

Oxazoline-containing ligands have been widely employed in numerous asymmetric catalytic reactions. Pyridine-oxazoline-type ligands, a class of hybrid ligands, were designed earlier than bisoxazoline and phosphine-oxazoline ligands; however, their unique properties have only been discovered recently. Pyridine-oxazoline-type chiral ligands are rapidly becoming popular for use in asymmetric catalysis, especially for several new and efficient asymmetric methodologies. Several types of challenging asymmetric reactions have been discovered recently using pyridine-oxazoline-type ligands showing their special properties and potential for future application in a wide range of new catalytic methodologies. This review provides an overview of this field, with the aim of highlighting both ligand design and synthetic methodology development.

Copper-Catalyzed Enantioselective Arylative Desymmetrization of Prochiral Cyclopentenes with Diaryliodonium Salts

A copper-catalyzed enantioselective arylative desymmetrization of prochiral cyclopentenes with diaryliodonium salts was developed. In the presence of a catalytic amount of a chiral copper-bisoxazoline complex, which was generated in situ, the reaction of 4-substituted or 4,4-disubstituted cyclopent-1-enes with diaryliodonium hexafluoroarsenates afforded the chiral arylated products in good yields with excellent enantioselectivity. A cyclohexyl-containing Box ligand was essential for the high enantioselectivity. Transformation of the enantiomerically enriched adducts into other chiral building blocks is also documented.

Regioselective and Stereoselective Heck-Matsuda Arylations of Trisubstituted Allylic Alkenols and Their Silyl and Methyl Ether Derivatives To Access Two Contiguous Stereogenic Centers: Expanding the Redox-Relay Process and Application in the Total Synthesis of meso-Hexestrol

Novel palladium-catalyzed redox-relay Heck arylation reactions of trisubstituted allylic alkenols were developed employing silyl and methyl ethers. The reactions proceeded under mild conditions in moderate to high yields in an excellent anti diastereoselectivity to form α,β-disubstituted methyl ketones containing two contiguous stereocenters. The new redox-relay arylations using silyl and methyl ethers of the starting alkenols demonstrate that the presence of a free hydroxyl group is not a sine qua non condition for an effective redox-relay process as previously thought. Deuterium-labeled alkenols 2-d-10a, 2-d-10b, and 2-d-10c permitted tracking the palladium-hydride reinsertion steps in the conversion of the starting free alcohols, silyl, and methyl ethers into the corresponding methyl ketone 3-d-11a, with >98% deuterium retention. Moreover, the synthetic potential of the method was demonstrated with a straightforward synthesis of the meso-hexestrol in 4 steps, in 41% overall yield from alkenol 10a.

A Rh(iii)-catalyzed redox-neutral C–H alkylation reaction with allylic alcohols by using a traceless oxidizing directing group

A Rh(iii)-catalyzed C–H alkylation of N-phenoxyacetamides with allylic alcohols has been developed to provide valuable β-aryl ketones under mild and redox-neutral conditions by using a traceless oxidizing directing group.

Enantioselective Synthesis of Chromenes via a Palladium-Catalyzed Asymmetric Redox-Relay Heck Reaction

A palladium-catalyzed asymmetric redox-relay Heck reaction of 4H-chromenes and arylboronic acids has been successfully developed. The reaction proceeded in moderate to good yields with good to high enantioselectivities. The resulting product is an advanced intermediate of bio-active compound BW683C.

Enantioselective Heck-Matsuda Arylations through Chiral Anion Phase-Transfer of Aryl Diazonium Salts

A mild, asymmetric Heck-Matsuda reaction of five-, six- and seven-membered ring alkenes and aryl diazonium salts is presented. High yields and enantioselectivities were achieved using Pd0 and chiral anion co-catalysts, the latter functioning as a chiral anion phase-transfer (CAPT) reagent. For certain substrate classes, the chiral anion catalysts were modulated to minimize the formation of undesired by-products. More specifically, BINAM-derived phosphoric acid catalysts were shown to prevent alkene isomerization in cyclopentene and cycloheptene starting materials. DFT(B3LYP-D3) computations revealed that increased product selectivity resulted from a chiral anion dependent lowering of the activation barrier for the desired pathway.

An in Situ Generated Palladium on Aluminum Oxide: Applications in Gram-Scale Matsuda-Heck Reactions

In situ generated palladium on aluminum oxide provides an active catalytic system for Matsuda-Heck reactions in gram-scale. The novel catalyst proceeded through a significantly higher catalytic activity compared to the classical Pd/C system. Based on the high catalytic activity the first α,β,β-triarylation of methyl acrylate in good yields could be provided in one-step.