Chiral Diene Ligands in Asymmetric Catalysis

Asymmetric catalysis has emerged as a general and powerful approach for constructing chiral compounds in an enantioselective manner. Hence, developing novel chiral ligands and catalysts that can effectively induce asymmetry in reactions is crucial in modern chemical synthesis. Among such chiral ligands and catalysts, chiral dienes and their metal complexes have received increased attention, and a great progress has been made over the past two decades. This review provides comprehensive and critical information on the essential aspects of chiral diene ligands and their importance in asymmetric catalysis. The literature covered ranges from August 2003 (when the first effective chiral diene ligand for asymmetric catalysis was reported) to October 2021. This review is divided into two parts. In the first part, the chiral diene ligands are categorized according to their structures, and their preparation methods are summarized. In the second part, their applications in asymmetric transformations are presented according to the reaction types.

Controlling the Enantioselectivity in an Adaptable Ligand by Biomimetic Intramolecular Interlocking

For the preparation of chiral drugs, both stereochemically stable and flexible catalysts in combination with chiral auxiliaries can be used. Here, chiral induction plays an important role in generating an enantiomerically pure catalyst. We demonstrate a successful approach to the spontaneous deracemization of tropos ligands for asymmetric catalysis. Three different constitutional isomers of a bisphosphinite ligand decorated with l-valine moieties (interaction units) linked to the flexible biphenyl system by a phenylene bridge for inducing a chiral switch were prepared. The substitution pattern's influence on the attached intermolecular recognition sites was systematically investigated. We can show that biomimetic intramolecular hydrogen bonding leads to a pronounced diastereoselective enrichment of one of the ligand stereoisomers. As a result, in the asymmetric Rh-catalyzed hydrogenation of prochiral olefins using these ligands, enantiomeric ratios of up to 95.8:4.2 (S) were obtained. Of particular note is the inversion of enantioselectivity relative to the previously reported BIBIPHOS-Rh catalyst due to the altered orientation of the biphenyl moiety from (R_ax) to (S_ax). The enantioselectivities achieved by appropriate intramolecular interlocking are remarkable for a tropos ligand/catalyst. The strategy presented here represents a powerful approach for the spontaneous alignment of tropos ligands, yielding high enantioselectivities in asymmetric catalysis.

Microwave-assisted cleavage of cysteine perfluoroaryl thioethers

The cysteine- perfluoroarene S_NAr reaction allows for the sequence-specific attachment of dyes and affinity tags to peptides and proteins. However, while many methods exist for the desulfuration of native and functionalized cysteine residues, there are no reports of their application to perfluoroarylated cysteines. Herein we report both the hydrogenolysis of a perfluoroarylated cysteine to alanine and elimination to dehydroalanine, reactions that are both accelerated by microwave irradiation.

New frontiers in the transition-metal-free synthesis of heterocycles from alkynoates: an overview and current status

This review highlights the successful utilization of transition-metal-free approaches for the modular assembly of various heterocycles from alkynoates.

gem-Digold Acetylide Complexes for Catalytic Intermolecular [4 + 2] Cycloaddition: Having Two Gold Centers Is Better for Asymmetric Catalysis

Gold(I)-catalyzed highly enantioselective intermolecular [4 + 2] cycloaddition is shown with ynones and cyclohexadiene. Various bicyclo[2.2.2]octadiene derivatives are produced in high yields (up to 99%) with good enantioselectivity (up to 96% ee). Key to the success is generation of the gem-digold terminal alkyne as a catalytic on-cycle species. As proof of the gem-digold catalysis, a positive nonlinear effect is clarified between the ee's of the ligand and the cycloadduct.

Stereodynamic tetrahydrobiisoindole "NU-BIPHEP(O)"s: functionalization, rotational barriers and non-covalent interactions

Stereodynamic ligands offer intriguing possibilities in enantioselective catalysis. “NU-BIPHEPs” are a class of stereodynamic diphosphine ligands which are easily accessible via rhodium-catalyzed double [2 + 2 + 2] cycloadditions. This study explores the preparation of differently functionalized “NU-BIPHEP(O)” compounds, the characterization of non-covalent adduct formation and the quantification of enantiomerization barriers. In order to explore the possibilities of functionalization, we studied modifications of the ligand backbone, e.g., with 3,5-dichlorobenzoyl chloride. Diastereomeric adducts with Okamoto-type cellulose derivatives and on-column deracemization were realized on the basis of non-covalent interactions. Enantioselective dynamic HPLC (DHPLC) allowed for the determination of rotational barriers of ΔG^‡_298K = 92.2 ± 0.3 kJ mol⁻¹ and 99.5 ± 0.1 kJ mol⁻¹ underlining the stereodynamic properties of “NU-BIPHEPs” and “NU-BIPHEP(O)s”, respectively. These results make the preparation of tailor-made functionalized stereodynamic ligands possible and give an outline for possible applications in enantioselective catalysis.

Enantiodivergent asymmetric catalysis with the tropos BIPHEP ligand and a proline derivative as chiral selector

A catalytic system based on the tropos ligand BIPHEP and (S)-proline methyl ester as chiral selector was studied for Rh-catalysed asymmetric catalysis. By careful control of the catalyst preformation conditions, the enantioselectivity could be completely reversed in asymmetric hydrogenation of prochiral olefins maintaining the same absolute level in favorable cases. The enantiodivergent asymmetric catalysis could be rationalised by the interplay of the dynamic chirality (tropos) of the phosphine ligand and the coordination of the proline selector. Treating a suitable Rh-BIPHEP precursor with the (Sc)-proline-based ionic liquid led to an equimolar mixture of (RaSc)- and (SaSc)-diastereomers that is kinetically stable at 0 °C. At higher temperature, an irreversible diastereomerisation process was observed resulting in the diastereomerically pure (RaSc)-complex [Rh{(Ra)-BIPHEP}{(Sc)-ProlOMe}]. Whereas the use of the pure (RaSc)-complex led to 51% ee (R) in the hydrogenation of methyl 2-acetamidoacrylate, the S-product was formed with almost identical enantioselectivity when the (RaSc)/(SaSc)-mixture was applied under identical conditions. This inversion was associated with the relative stability of the diastereomers in the equilibria forming the catalytically active substrate complex. The possibility to use this different reactivity to control the direction of enantioselectivity was demonstrated for the hydrogenation of different substrates whereby ee's of up to 80% could be achieved. Moreover, the (RaSc)-complex led to high enantioselectivities of up 86% ee in the asymmetric hydroboration of styrene, approaching the performance of the atropos BINAP ligand for this reaction.

5,5′-Diamino-BIPHEP ligands bearing small selector units for non-covalent binding of chiral analytes in solution

A dynamic axially chiral BIPHEP-ligand with 3,5-dichlorobenzoyl amide selector units for non-covalent binding of phenylalanine derivatives has been developed.

Atropoisomerism in phosphepines and azepines

Free energy barriers to biaryl tropoinversion in metal complexes with tropos phosphepine and azepine ligands were determined by temperature-dependent (31)P NMR inversion-transfer experiments and line shape analysis of the temperature-dependent (1)H NMR spectra, respectively. The barrier in the PdCl(2) complex of the azepine ligand was found to be slightly higher than that of the corresponding free ligand. Studies of a tridentate azepine ligand suggested that configurational change takes place without prior decoordination from the metal.