Diastereoselective addition of allylzinc bromide to imines derived from (R)-phenylglycine amide

Understanding mechanism driven regioselectivity in zirconium-catalysed hydroaminoalkylation: homoallylic amines from conjugated dienes

The unexpected 4,1-hydroaminoalkylation of dienes provides selective access to linear homoallylic amines by zirconium catalysis. This switch from the traditional branched preferred regioselectivity to selective linear product formation using this early transition metal can be attributed to π-allyl intermediates. The reactivity of these isolated intermediates on a sterically accessible and coordinatively flexible chelating bis(ureate) Zr(iv) complex confirmed reversible C-C bond formation in hydroaminoalkylation catalysis.

Enantioselective synthesis of angularly substituted 1-azabicylic rings: coupled dynamic kinetic epimerization and chirality transfer

A new strategy for enantioselective synthesis of azacyclic molecules in which dynamic kinetic equilibration of diastereomeric iminium ions precedes a stereochemistry-determining sigmatropic rearrangement is reported. The method is illustrated by the synthesis, in high enantiomeric purity (generally 95-99% ee), of a variety of 1-azabicyclic molecules containing angular allyl or 3-substituted 2-propenyl side chains adjacent to nitrogen and up to three stereogenic centers. In these products, the size of the carbocyclic ring is varied widely (5-12 membered); however, useful yields are obtained in forming 1-azabicyclic products containing only fused pyrrolidine and piperidine rings. Chirality transfer from substituents at carbons 1 and 2 of the 3-butenylamine fragment of the starting material is investigated, with methyl and phenyl substituents at the allylic position shown to provide exquisite stereocontrol (generally 98-99% chirality transfer). An attractive feature of the method is the ability to carry out the key transformation in the absence of solvent. Illustrated also is the high yielding conversion of four such products to a new family of bicyclic β-amino acids of high enantiomeric purity.

Asymmetric allylation/ring closing metathesis: one-pot synthesis of benzo-fused cyclic homoallylic amines. Application to the formal synthesis of Sertraline derivatives

A one-pot asymmetric allylation/ring closing metathesis (RCM) sequence for the synthesis of cyclic homoallylic amines has been developed. A library of six- and seven-membered benzo-fused products has been synthesized in good yields and complete diastereoselectivity. The new methodology has been applied to the formal syntheses of the antidepressant Sertraline and the epimeric Norsertraline. The methodology is amenable for the synthesis of analogs.

Enantioselective synthesis of homoallylic amines through reactions of (pinacolato)allylborons with aryl-, heteroaryl-, alkyl-, or alkene-substituted aldimines catalyzed by chiral C1-symmetric NHC-Cu complexes

A catalytic method for enantioselective synthesis of homoallylamides through Cu-catalyzed reactions of stable and easily accessible (pinacolato)allylborons with aryl-, heteroaryl-, alkyl-, or alkenyl-substituted N-phosphinoylimines is disclosed. Transformations are promoted by 1-5 mol % of readily accessible NHC-Cu complexes, derived from C(1)-symmetric imidazolinium salts, which can be prepared in multigram quantities in four steps from commercially available materials. Allyl additions deliver the desired products in up to quantitative yield and 98.5:1.5 enantiomeric ratio and are amenable to gram-scale operations. A mechanistic model accounting for the observed selectivity levels and trends is proposed.

The Dutch Resolution Variant of the Classical Resolution of Racemates by Formation of Diastereomeric Salts: Family Behaviour in Nucleation Inhibition

The resolution of racemates through their diastereomeric salts can be positively affected by the addition of small amounts of suitable nucleation inhibitors. This discovery is a logical extension of "Dutch Resolution", in which equimolar amounts of resolving agents that are members of the same family (i.e., structurally related) are used. We conducted a systematic search for nucleation inhibitors of the resolving agent 1-phenylethylamine. A wide range of amines that bear possible family resemblances to 1-phenylethylamine was investigated. It was found that (R)-1-phenylbutylamine is a good inhibitor of (R)-1-phenylethylamine. Results of turbidity measurements showed that, for the model case of mandelic acid resolution, the chief effect of this inhibitor was to widen the metastable zone for the more soluble diastereomer. This observation is in accordance with previous experience. Further scouting for possible family members revealed a wide variation in the effectiveness of inhibitors, dependent on their structure. By far the most effective inhibitors are bifunctional 1-phenylethylamine and/or 1-phenylbutylamine analogues. The effect of racemic inhibitors was found to approach that of enantiomerically pure inhibitors of the same absolute configuration of the 1-phenylethylamine used for resolution. The most effective inhibitors were tested for the resolution of a structural variety of racemates, and were shown to be broadly applicable.

Indium-Mediated Asymmetric Barbier-Type Allylation of Aldimines in Alcoholic Solvents: Synthesis of Optically Active Homoallylic Amines

[reaction: see text] Chiral aldimines derived from phenylglycinol were diastereoselectively allylated with indium powder/allyl bromide in alcoholic solvents. Both aliphatic and aromatic aldimines provided good yield of the desired products with high diastereoselectivity. A racemization-free protocol for removal of the phenylglycinol auxiliary was also developed. The stereochemical assignment of the homoallylic amine was made by NMR spectroscopy and a transition state model was proposed to explain the selectivity.

Asymmetric Synthesis of C-Aliphatic Homoallylic Amines and Biologically Important Cyclohexenylamine Analogues

An efficient method for the asymmetric synthesis of C-aliphatic homoallylic amines with up to 94% yield and 80% de is reported. Ring-closing metathesis of several chiral homoallylic amines using the second-generation Grubbs catalyst provided easy access to a wide variety of cyclohexenylamines.

Highly Diastereoselective Heterogeneously Catalyzed Hydrogenation of Enamines for the Synthesis of Chiral β-Amino Acid Derivatives

Pure (Z)-enamines readily prepared from beta-ketoesters and amides using (S)-phenylglycine amide were hydrogenated with very high diastereoselectivities (up to 200:1) using heterogeneous catalysis. Hydrogenolytic cleavage of the (S)-phenylglycine amide afforded the corresponding chiral beta-aminoesters and amides. The high geometrical purity of the (Z)-enamine and a simple activation procedure for the PtO2 catalyst are essential in achieving high selectivity.

Chiral Bis-π-allylpalladium Complex Catalyzed Asymmetric Allylation of Imines: Enhancement of the Enantioselectivity and Chemical Yield in the Presence of Water

The chiral pi-allylpalladium complex 2a, prepared from exoethylidenenorpinane 7, catalyzed the allylation of diverse imines with allyltributylstannane in the presence of 1 equiv of water in good to high enantioselectivities. The catalyst prepared from a 1:1 mixture of (E)- and (Z)-7 was found to be consisting of two stereoisomers 2a and 2b in 1.3:1 ratio. On separation, 2a catalyzed the allylation of imines in much higher enantioselectivities than 2b, giving the same major enantiomer and thereby justifying the need to separate 2a free of 2b. We have achieved the highest separation ratio of >400:1 for 2a:2b by repeated recrystallizations. Isomerization of 2b to 2a during recovery of 2a from the filtrates was observed as more of 2a was recovered each time during recrystallization. Although dry THF was the best solvent, we tried various additives and found that addition of one equivalent of water gave the best results with respect to shorter reaction time, higher yields and enantioselectivities. Thus, we have developed a more general, reproducible, robust and a non-Lewis acid catalyzed procedure for catalytic asymmetric allylation of imines under essentially neutral conditions.

Methyl/Ethyl Differentiation in Diastereoselective Hydride Addition to [Tp‘W(CO)(PhCCMe)(NHCMeEt)][BAr‘4]

Hydride addition to either an 80:20 or a 93:7 E/Z isomer ratio of coordinated imine complex 2a occurs with high diastereoselectivity. The high diastereoselectivity regardless of the reagent E/Z ratio is explained by a difference between the relative kinetic acidities of the E and Z isomers of the imine complex. The kinetic acidities of related isopropylimine and 3-pentylimine complexes were used in explaining these results.

Reaction of allylzinc reagents and zinc enolates of ketones with alpha-amidoalkylphenyl sulfones

Alpha-amidoalkylphenyl sulfones behave as N-acylimino equivalents in the reaction with functionalized allylzinc reagents. The addition products obtained using the zinc derivative of ethyl 2-(bromomethyl)acrylate can be readily transformed into alpha-methylene-gamma-lactams using different cyclization procedures. The allylzinc reagent obtained from 3-bromo-1-acetoxy-1-propene directly affords protected 1,2-amino alcohols with a preference for the anti stereoisomer, regardless of the structure of the alpha-amidoalkylphenyl sulfone employed. This procedure can be extended to the use of zinc enolates obtained from alpha-bromo ketones and leads to the synthesis of N-protected beta-amino ketones.