Pauson–Khand Adducts of N-Boc-propargylamine: A New Approach to 4,5-Disubstituted Cyclopentenones

P-Stereogenic Amino-Phosphines as Chiral Ligands: From Privileged Intermediates to Asymmetric Catalysis

Among chiral phosphines, P-stereogenic phosphines provide unparalleled activity and selectivity and have thus emerged as "state-of-the-art" ligands for asymmetric hydrogenation and other industrially relevant processes. However, the synthesis of this type of ligand implies lengthy multistep sequences, which are a hurdle for many laboratories. There is a lack of methods for the rapid construction of P-stereogenic phosphine ligands. In this respect, P-stereogenic synthons that can be rapidly incorporated into a given ligand scaffold are highly desirable. Over the last 10 years, our group has unveiled that P-stereogenic aminophosphines can be rapidly assembled in a convenient fashion from the corresponding primary aminophosphine and/or the corresponding phosphinous acid.Using cis-1-amino-2-indanol as chiral auxiliary, we devised a multigram synthesis of tert-butylmethylaminophosphine borane and tert-butylmethylphosphinous acid borane, which are key intermediate synthons. Primary aminophosphine works as nucleophilic intermediates at nitrogen. From this synthon, aminodiphosphine (MaxPHOS) and secondary imino phosphoranes (SIP) ligands were synthesized. These ligands exhibit a tautomeric equilibrium between the PH and NH forms, and because of that, they do not undergo oxidation in air. NH/PH tautomerism does not jeopardize their configurational stability, and most importantly, in the presence of a metal source, the equilibrium is shifted toward the NH form, thus allowing coordination through phosphorus. Rh-MaxPHOS and Rh-SIP complexes have been used in asymmetric hydrogenation and [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition reactions with outstanding results. On the other hand, P-stereogenic phosphinous acid, upon activation, serves as an electrophilic reagent with amine nucleophiles, allowing S_N2 reactions at phosphorus with complete inversion of configuration. This coupling technology exhibits a great potential because it allows the incorporation of the P*-phosphine fragment in numerous ligand structures, provided there is an amino group with which to react. In a mild and efficient process, phosphinous acid has been coupled to hydrazine to yield C₂ diphosphines and to chiral benzoimidazole-amines to yield P-stereogenic benzoimidazole-phosphine ligands. The most powerful ligand system, however, arises from the condensation of three independent fragments: our phosphinous acid borane, an amino acid, and an amino alcohol, which yields a library of phosphino-oxazoline ligands named MaxPHOX. The corresponding Ir-MaxPHOX catalyst library was applied with excellent results in the asymmetric hydrogenation of α,β-unsaturated esters, 2-aryl allyl phthalimides, unfunctionalized tetrasubstituted alkenes, cyclic enamides, and N-aryl and N-methyl imines. It also has found application in asymmetric isomerization of alkenes.Overall, we developed key P-stereogenic building blocks that can be incorporated stereospecifically to ligand scaffolds and demonstrated that integration of the P*-aminophosphine fragment in a given catalytic system provides structural diversity that can be a critical contribution to obtaining optimal results and selectivity.

Copper(I)-Catalyzed Kinetic Resolution of exo-3-Oxodicyclopentadienes and endo-3-Oxodicyclopentadiene

The first example of highly efficient kinetic resolution of exo-3-oxodicyclopentadienes and endo-3-oxodicyclopentadiene has been developed by means of Cu(I)-catalyzed asymmetric 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylide. Compared with the existing methodologies for those synthetically important optically active convex molecules, the current protocol provides an alternative but more practical approach from the readily available racemic starting materials, which is free from the repetitive reduction/oxidation steps in the enzymatic resolution or the indispensable stoichiometric amount of chirality-induction reagents.

Nitrous Oxide-Promoted Pauson-Khand Cycloadditions

A Pauson-Khand cycladdition of alkynes, alkenes, and carbon monoxide, promoted by cobalt carbonyl and nitrous oxide to furnish cyclopentenones is described. Preliminary mechanistic experiments suggest that nitrous oxide functions in a similar manner to the N-oxide promoters typically employed in Pauson-Khand reactions. Only dinitrogen and carbon dioxide are produced as a consequence of the activation mechanism, thus avoiding high molecular weight reagents and the build up of basic byproducts. The chemistry is done using equimolar amounts of alkyne, alkene, and dicobalt octacarbonyl, and is performed directly from the acetylenic component without having to presynthesize a cobalt-alkyne complex. Terminal acetylenes were suitable substrates, as was solid calcium carbide, and the corresponding adducts were isolated in good yields. Furthermore, two sequential [4+3] and [2+2+1] cycloadditions were performed, generating funtionalized cyclopentenones in only two steps from readily available starting materials.

Regioselectivity of the Pauson-Khand reaction in single-walled carbon nanotubes

Chemical functionalization of nanotubes, in which their properties can be combined with those of other classes of materials, is fundamental to improve the physicochemical properties of nanotubes for potential technological applications. In this work, we theoretically and experimentally examine the Pauson-Khand reaction (PKR) on zig-zag, armchair, and chiral single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). Our benchmarked density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that an alternative pathway to the widely accepted Magnus reaction pathway has significantly lower energy barriers, thus suggesting the use of this alternative pathway to predict whether a PKR on SWCNTs is favored or hampered. Accessible energy barriers of up to 16 kcal mol-1 are estimated and our results suggest that semiconducting SWCNTs react faster than metallic ones, although both types can be functionalized. Guided by our theoretical predictions, cyclopentenones are successfully attached to SWCNTs by heating and are, subsequently, characterized in the laboratory.

Recent advances in asymmetric total synthesis of prostaglandins

Prostaglandins (PGs) are a series of hormone-like chemical messengers and play a critical role in regulating physiological activity. The diversified therapeutic activities and complex molecular architectures of PGs have attracted special attention, and huge progress has been made in asymmetric total synthesis and discovery of pharmaceutically useful drug candidates. In the last 10 years, several powerful syntheses have emerged as new solutions to the problem of building PGs and represent major breakthroughs in this area. This review highlights the advances in methodologies for the asymmetric total synthesis of prostaglandins. The application of these methodologies in the syntheses of medicinally useful prostaglandins is also described. The study has been carefully categorized according to the key procedures involved in the syntheses of various prostaglandins, aiming to give readers an easy understanding of this chemistry and provide insights for further improvements.

Synthesis and Reactivity of Propargylamines in Organic Chemistry

Propargylamines are a versatile class of compounds which find broad application in many fields of chemistry. This review aims to describe the different strategies developed so far for the synthesis of propargylamines and their derivatives as well as to highlight their reactivity and use as building blocks in the synthesis of chemically relevant organic compounds. In the first part of the review, the different synthetic approaches to synthesize propargylamines, such as A³ couplings and C-H functionalization of alkynes, have been described and organized on the basis of the catalysts employed in the syntheses. Both racemic and enantioselective approaches have been reported. In the second part, an overview of the transformations of propargylamines into heterocyclic compounds such as pyrroles, pyridines, thiazoles, and oxazoles, as well as other relevant organic derivatives, is presented.

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.