Enantioselective carbonyl allylation, crotylation, and tert-prenylation of furan methanols and furfurals via iridium-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation

Asymmetric Synthesis of Trisubstituted Vicinal Diols through Copper(I)-Catalyzed Diastereoselective and Enantioselective Allylation of Ketones with Siloxypropadienes

Chiral trisubstituted vicinal diols are a type of important organic compounds, serving as both common structure units in bioactive natural products and chiral auxiliaries in asymmetric synthesis. Herein, by using siloxypropadienes as the precursors of allyl copper(I) species, a copper(I)-catalyzed diastereoselective and enantioselective reductive allylation of ketones was achieved, providing both syn-diols and anti-diols in good to excellent enantioselectivity. DFT calculations show that cis-γ-siloxy-allyl copper species are generated favorably with either 1-TBSO-propadiene or 1-TIPSO-propadiene. Moreover, the steric difference of TBS group and TIPS group distinguishes the face selectivity of acetophenone, leading to syn-selectivity for 1-TBSO-propadiene and anti-selectivity for 1-TIPSO-propadiene. Easy transformations of the products were performed, demonstrating the synthetic utility of the present method. Moreover, one chiral diol prepared in the above transformations was used as a suitable organocatalyst for the catalytic asymmetric reductive self-coupling of aldimines generated in situ with B2(neo)2.

Allenes and Dienes as Chiral Allylmetal Pronucleophiles in Catalytic Enantioselective C=X Addition: Historical Perspective and State-of-The-Art Survey

The use of allenes and 1,3-dienes as chiral allylmetal pronucleophiles in intermolecular catalytic enantioselective reductive additions to aldehydes, ketones, imines, carbon dioxide and other C=X electrophiles is exhaustively catalogued together with redox-neutral hydrogen auto-transfer processes. Coverage is limited to processes that result in both C-H and C-C bond formation. The use of alkynes as latent allylmetal pronucleophiles and multicomponent C=X allylations involving allenes and dienes is not covered. As illustrated in this review, the ability of allenes and 1,3-dienes to serve as tractable non-metallic pronucleophiles has evoked many useful transformations that have no counterpart in traditional allylmetal chemistry.

From Hydrogenation to Transfer Hydrogenation to Hydrogen Auto-Transfer in Enantioselective Metal-Catalyzed Carbonyl Reductive Coupling: Past, Present, and Future

Atom-efficient processes that occur via addition, redistribution or removal of hydrogen underlie many large volume industrial processes and pervade all segments of chemical industry. Although carbonyl addition is one of the oldest and most broadly utilized methods for C-C bond formation, the delivery of non-stabilized carbanions to carbonyl compounds has relied on premetalated reagents or metallic/organometallic reductants, which pose issues of safety and challenges vis-à-vis large volume implementation. Catalytic carbonyl reductive couplings promoted via hydrogenation, transfer hydrogenation and hydrogen auto-transfer allow abundant unsaturated hydrocarbons to serve as substitutes to organometallic reagents, enabling C-C bond formation in the absence of stoichiometric metals. This perspective (a) highlights past milestones in catalytic hydrogenation, hydrogen transfer and hydrogen auto-transfer, (b) summarizes current methods for catalytic enantioselective carbonyl reductive couplings, and (c) describes future opportunities based on the patterns of reactivity that animate transformations of this type.

Axially chiral N,N'-dioxides ethers for catalysis in enantioselective allylation of aldehydes

A series of axially chiral ethers synthesized from biscarboline N,N'-dioxides, (S)-1a to (S)-1n, was investigated in enantioselectivity addition reactions of allyltrichlorosilane with a series of substituted aldehydes, including bulky substituted aldehydes. High enantioselectivities (up to 96%ee) were achieved using the catalyst (S)-1k at 1 mol % loading.

Catalytic Enantioselective Carbonyl Allylation and Propargylation via Alcohol-Mediated Hydrogen Transfer: Merging the Chemistry of Grignard and Sabatier

Merging the characteristics of transfer hydrogenation and carbonyl addition, we have developed a new class of catalytic enantioselective C-C bond formations. In these processes, hydrogen transfer between alcohols and π-unsaturated reactants generates carbonyl-organometal pairs that combine to deliver products of addition. On the basis of this mechanistic paradigm, lower alcohols are converted directly to higher alcohols in the absence of premetalated reagents or discrete alcohol-to-carbonyl redox reactions. In certain cases, due to a pronounced kinetic preference for primary versus secondary alcohol dehydrogenation, diols and higher polyols are found to engage in catalytic stereo- and site-selective C-C bond formation-a capability that further enhances efficiency by enabling skeletal construction events without extraneous manipulations devoted to the installation and removal of protecting groups. While this Account focuses on redox-neutral couplings of alcohols, corresponding aldehyde reductive couplings mediated by 2-propanol were developed in parallel for most of the catalytic transformations reported herein. Mechanistically, two distinct classes of alcohol C-H functionalizations have emerged, which are distinguished by the mode of pronucleophile activation, specifically, processes wherein alcohol oxidation is balanced by (a) π-bond hydrometalation or (b) C-X bond reductive cleavage. Each pathway offers access to allylmetal or allenylmetal intermediates and, therefrom, enantiomerically enriched homoallylic or homopropargylic alcohol products, respectively. In the broadest terms, carbonyl addition mediated by premetalated reagents has played a central role in synthetic organic chemistry for well over a century, but the requisite organometallic reagents pose issues of safety, require multistep syntheses, and generate stoichiometric quantities of metallic byproducts. The concepts and catalytic processes described in this Account, conceived and developed wholly within the author's laboratory, signal a departure from the use of stoichiometric organometallic reagents in carbonyl addition. Rather, they reimagine carbonyl addition as a hydrogen autotransfer process or cross-coupling in which alcohol reactants, by virtue of their native reducing ability, drive the generation of transient organometallic nucleophiles and, in doing so, serve dually as carbonyl proelectrophiles. The catalytic allylative and propargylative transformations developed to date display capabilities far beyond their classical counterparts, and their application to the total synthesis of type-I polyketide natural products have evoked a step-change in efficiency. More importantly, the present data suggest that diverse transformations traditionally reliant on premetalated reagents may now be conducted catalytically without stoichiometric metals. This Account provides the reader and potential practitioner with a catalog of enantioselective alcohol-mediated carbonyl additions-a user's guide, 10-year retrospective, and foundation for future work in this emerging area of catalytic C-C bond formation.

Synthesis of renewable fine-chemical building blocks by reductive coupling between furfural derivatives and terpenes

Sugar and Spice…: The use of renewable resources to produce fine chemicals is an underdeveloped area. A waste-free technology will be necessary to further convert platform chemicals, readily available from biomass. We show that furfurals, which can be obtained from C5 sugars, can be coupled with terpenes in up to 95% yield through ruthenium-catalyzed reductive couplings developed by Krische et al.

Efficient, divergent synthesis of cryptophycin unit A analogues

A flexible and divergent synthesis of cryptophycin unit A analogues is described. This method relies on iridium-catalysed stereo- and enantioselective crotylation and chemoselective one-pot oxidative olefination to access common intermediate . Heck, cross metathesis, and Suzuki-Miyaura reactions are illustrated for the generation of methyl ester unit A analogues .

Alkyne-aldehyde reductive C-C coupling through ruthenium-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation: direct regio- and stereoselective carbonyl vinylation to form trisubstituted allylic alcohols in the absence of premetallated reagents

Nonsymmetric 1,2-disubstituted alkynes engage in reductive coupling to a variety of aldehydes under the conditions of ruthenium-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation by employing formic acid as the terminal reductant and delivering the products of carbonyl vinylation with good to excellent levels of regioselectivity and with complete control of olefin stereochemistry. As revealed in an assessment of the ruthenium counterion, iodide plays an essential role in directing the regioselectivity of C-C bond formation. Isotopic labeling studies corroborate reversible catalytic propargyl C-H oxidative addition in advance of the C-C coupling, and demonstrate that the C-C coupling products do not experience reversible dehydrogenation by way of enone intermediates. This transfer hydrogenation protocol enables carbonyl vinylation in the absence of stoichiometric metallic reagents.

Enhanced anti-diastereo- and enantioselectivity in alcohol-mediated carbonyl crotylation using an isolable single component iridium catalyst

The cyclometalated iridium complex (S)-I derived from [Ir(cod)Cl](2), 4-cyano-3-nitrobenzoic acid, allyl acetate, and (S)-SEGPHOS is conveniently isolated by precipitation or through conventional silica gel flash chromatography. This single-component precatalyst allows alcohol mediated carbonyl crotylations to be performed at significantly lower temperature, resulting in enhanced levels of anti-diastereo- and enantioselectivity. Most significantly, the chromatographically isolated precatalyst (S)-I enables carbonyl crotylations that are not possible under previously reported conditions involving in situ generation of (S)-I.

Synthesis of the cytotrienin A core via metal catalyzed C-C coupling

A synthetic approach to the C17-benzene ansamycins via metal catalyzed C-C coupling is described. Key bond formations include direct iridium catalyzed carbonyl crotylation from the alcohol oxidation level followed by chelation-controlled Sakurai-Seyferth dienylation to form the stereotriad, which is attached to the arene via Suzuki cross-coupling. The diene-containing carboxylic acid is prepared using rhodium catalyzed acetylene-aldehyde reductive C-C coupling mediated by gaseous hydrogen. Finally, ring-closing metathesis delivers the cytotrienin core.

Iridium Catalyzed Hydro-hydroxyalkylation of Butadiene: Carbonyl Crotylation

Exposure of alcohols 1a-1i to butadiene in the presence of a cyclometallated iridium catalyzed derived from allyl acetate, 4-methoxy-3-nitrobenzoic acid and BIPHEP (2,2'-bis(diphenylphosphino)biphenyl) results in hydrogen transfer to generate aldehyde-allyliridium pairs, which engage in C-C coupling to form products of carbonyl crotylation. Under related conditions using 1,4-butanediol as hydrogen donor, butadiene reductively couples to aldehydes 2e-2g and 2i to furnish carbonyl crotylation products 3e-3g and 3i. Thus, butadiene mediated carbonyl crotylation occurs with equal facility from the alcohol or aldehyde oxidation level with complete levels of branched regioselectivity.

Iridium-catalyzed anti-diastereo- and enantioselective carbonyl (trimethylsilyl)allylation from the alcohol or aldehyde oxidation level

Using the ortho-cyclometalated pi-allyl iridium precatalyst (R)-I derived from [Ir(cod)Cl](2), 4-cyano-3-nitrobenzoic acid, (R)-SEGPHOS, and allyl acetate, enantioselective transfer hydrogenation of alpha-(trimethylsilyl)allyl acetate in the presence of aldehydes 2a-i mediated by 2-propanol delivers products of (trimethylsilyl)allylation 4a-i in good isolated yields and with exceptional levels of anti-diastereoselectivity and enantioselectivity (90-99% ee). In the absence of 2-propanol, but under otherwise identical reaction conditions, carbonyl (trimethylsilyl)allylation is achieved directly from the alcohol oxidation level to furnish an equivalent set of adducts 4a-i with roughly equivalent isolated yields and stereoselectivities. To evaluate the synthetic utility of the reaction products 4a-i, adduct 4g was converted to the 1,4-ene-diol 5g via dioxirane-mediated oxidative desilylation with allylic transposition, the allylic alcohol 6g via protodesilylation with allylic transposition, and the gamma-lactam 7g via chlorosulfonyl isocyanate-mediated cycloaddition.