Entropy-controlled asymmetric synthesis. How differential activation entropy is induced in chiral tethered reactions

A Nuclearity-Dependent Enantiodivergent Epoxide Opening via Enthalpy-Controlled Mononuclear and Entropy-Controlled Dinuclear (Salen)Titanium Catalysis

A nuclearity-dependent enantiodivergent epoxide opening reaction has been developed, in which both antipodes of chiral alcohol products are selectively accessed by mononuclear (salen)TiIII complex and its self-assembled oxygen-bridged dinuclear counterparts within the same stereogenic ligand scaffold. Kinetic studies based on the Eyring equation revealed an enthalpy-controlled enantio-differentiation mode in mononuclear catalysis, whereas an entropy-controlled one in dinuclear catalysis. DFT calculations outline the origin of the enantiocontrol of the mononuclear catalysis and indicate the actual catalyst species in the dinuclear catalytic system. The mechanistic insights may shed a light on a strategy for stereoswichable asymmetric catalysis utilizing nuclearity-distinct transition-metal complexes.

Fragmentations observed in the reactions of α-methoxy-γ-alkoxyalkyl iodide substrates with super-electron-donors derived from 4-DMAP and N-methylbenzimidazole

Reactions of super-electron-donors (SEDs) derived from 4-dimethylaminopyridine and from N-methylbenzimidazole with α-methoxy-γ-alkoxyalkyl iodides lead to liberation of the γ-alkoxy groups as their alcohols. This is consistent with generation of alkyl radicals from the alkyl halide precursors, and trapping of these radicals by the radical-cation of the SED, followed by a heterolytic fragmentation.

High efficiency and enantioselectivity in the rh-catalyzed conjugate addition of arylboronic acids using monodentate phosphoramidites

A very fast reaction and enantioselectivities >98% have been reached in the rhodium-catalyzed arylboronic acid addition to enones using a monodentate phosphoramidite ligand. Temperature-dependent studies show that monodentate phosphoramidites form stable complexes with metals and can induce high enantioselectivities even at high temperatures in polar solvents.

Chiral aldehydes in hydrocarbons: diastereoselective nucleophilic addition, NMR, and CD spectroscopy reveal dynamic solvation effects

Temperature-dependent studies on the diastereoselective nucleophilic addition of n- BuLi to alpha-chiral aldehydes as (S)-O-(t-butyl-dimethylsilyl)lactal, (S)-O-(t-butyl-dimethylsilyl) mandelic aldehyde, and (R)-2-phenylpropanal in n-decane and n-dodecane reveal dynamic solvation phenomena with the presence of inversion temperatures (T(inv)) in the Eyring plots of ln (anti/syn) vs. 1/ T. These dynamic solvent effects were disclosed by temperature-dependent studies of the (13)C NMR, CD, and UV spectra of the starting aldehydes in solution of n-decane and n-dodecane. The concomitant presence of three peculiar temperatures T(CD), T(UV), and T(NMR), whose values are identical and match T(inv), clearly confirms our earlier interpretation of the solvent-dependent nature of T(inv). The inversion temperature, as well as T(CD), T(UV), and T(NMR) represents the interconversion temperature of two different solvation clusters which act as two different supramolecules with different stereoselectivities.