Enantioselective organocatalytic Michael-hemiketalization catalyzed by a trans-bifunctional indane thiourea catalyst

Application of Proline-Derived (Thio)squaramide Organocatalysts in Asymmetric Diels–Alder and Conjugate Addition Reactions

The synthesis of chiral proline-derived squaramide and thiosquaramide organocatalysts, which are capable of the dual activation in asymmetric reactions is reported. The (thio)squaramide moiety can form hydrogen bonds to activate the substrates and to stereocontrol the reaction, while the pyrrolidine unit can form enamines to activate carbonyl compounds via aminocatalysis. Comparing the performance of thiosquaramide to squaramide, the Diels–Alder reaction of (anthracen-9-yl)acetaldehyde and trans-β-nitrostyrene was examined, which has been investigated in the literature using quantum chemical calculations. Both squaramide and thiosquaramide gave excellent yields (up to 99%) and enantiomeric excess values (up to 98%). Moreover, their catalytic performance was compared in conjugate addition of lawsone to β,γ-unsaturated α-keto ester.

Conjugate Addition of Carbon Acids to β,γ-Unsaturated α-Keto Esters: Product Tautomerism and Applications for Asymmetric Synthesis of Benzo[a]phenazin-5-ol Derivatives

A correlation between the equilibrium ratio of tautomeric products generated by the asymmetric Michael reactions of cyclic carbon acids with β,γ-unsaturated α-keto esters and the chemical shift of the α-proton in starting nucleophilic substrates was revealed which makes equilibration predictable. New tetrahydropyran-fused benzo[a]phenazins were enantioselectively (up to 99% ee) synthesized from β,γ-unsaturated α-keto esters and benzo[a]phenazin-5-ol, a powerful anti-cancer agent sAJM589. Facile recyclability of catalyst Ia in the catalytic reactions was demonstrated.

Site-selectivity control in hetero-Diels-Alder reactions of methylidene derivatives of lawsone through modification of the reactive carbonyl group: an experimental and theoretical study

A new perspective on the reactivity of hydroxyquinones was revealed as an acetal derivative of lawsone was synthesized, isolated, and used in tandem Knoevenagel/hetero-Diels-Alder reactions catalyzed by S-proline. The intermediate alkylidene-1,3-diones that were formed in situ reacted with electron rich alkenes to predominantly afford pyrano-1,2-naphthoquinone (β-lapachone) derivatives along with the isomeric pyrano-1,4-naphthoquinone (α-lapachone) derivatives in high to excellent total yields. Interestingly, the highly reactive arylidene-1,3-dione derivatives were found to be stable and isolable. DFT calculations suggest that these hetero-Diels-Alder reactions have a high polar character, taking place through a two-stage one-step mechanism. An analysis of the conceptual DFT indices allows explaining the remarkable site-selectivity observed.

New enantiopure binaphthyl-cinchona thiosquaramides: synthesis and application for enantioselective organocatalysis

Binaphthyl-cinchona squaramide and thiosquaramide were applied as organocatalysts in three types of asymmetric reactions with excellent yields and enantioselectivities.

Click-Dimerized Cinchona Alkaloids

A series of Cinchona alkaloid-derived dimers were obtained in high yields in copper-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar "click" cycloaddition using bis(TMS)butadiyne and other bivalent alkynes. The products with bitriazole linkers were effective ligands for asymmetric copper-catalyzed Michael addition. It was shown that the presence of such linker was responsible for effective chirality transfer.

(Thio)urea-mediated synthesis of functionalized six-membered rings with multiple chiral centers

Organocatalysis, now running its second decade of life, is being considered one of the main tools a synthetic chemist has to perform asymmetric catalysis. In this review the synthesis of six-membered rings, that contain multiple chiral centers, either by a ring closing process or by a functionalization reaction on an already existing six-membered ring, utilizing bifunctional (thio)ureas will be summarized. Initially, the use of primary amine-thioureas as organocatalysts for the above transformation is being discussed, followed by the examples employing secondary amine-thioureas. Finally, the use of tertiary amine-thioureas and miscellaneous examples are presented.

Catalytic asymmetric reactions and synthesis of quinones

Organo- and metal–ligand catalysed asymmetric reactions of quinones lead to complex enantiopure compounds including quinones.

Effective and novel enantioselective preparation of pyranopyrazoles and pyranocoumarins that is catalyzed by a quinine-derived primary amine

In this study, we executed an effective and novel enantioselective Michael/cyclodehydration sequential reaction between pyrazolin-5-one (or 4-hydroxy-2-pyrone) and chalcones that is catalyzed by a quinine-derived primary amine L7 in the presence of Boc-d-Phg-OH.

Organocatalytic tandem enantioselective Michael-cyclization of isatin-derived β,γ-unsaturated α-ketoesters with 3-hydroxy-4H-chromen-4-one or 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives

An efficient tandem Michael-cyclization has been reported to provide two types of enantio-enriched spiro-oxindole derivatives in high yields with excellent stereoselectivities.

Organocatalytic construction of spirooxindole naphthoquinones through Michael/hemiketalization usingl-proline derived bifunctional thiourea

Michael/hemiketalization of 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone to oxindole ketoester was studied using a series of chiral bifunctional organocatalysts.

A New Strategy for Enantioselective Construction of Multisubstituted Five-Membered Oxygen Heterocycles via a Domino Michael/Hemiketalization Reaction

A new highly enantioselective domino Michael/hemiketalization reaction of α-hydroxyacetophenone with β,γ-unsaturated α-keto esters for the synthesis of 2,2,4,5-tetrasubstituted chiral tetrahydrofurans is reported. With 2 mol % intramolecular dinuclear zinc-AzePhenol complex prepared in situ from the reaction of multidentate semi-azacrown ether ligand with ZnEt2 , the corresponding anti-multisubstituted tetrahydrofuran products were obtained in up to 90 % yields, and 98 % enantiomeric excess (ee) at 0 °C for 45 min. Moreover, the products were easily converted to 2,3,5-trisubstituted 2,3-dihydrofurans without any loss in optical activity.

Chiral squaramide-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of pyranones and pyranonaphthoquinones via cascade reactions of 1,3-dicarbonyls with Morita-Baylis-Hillman acetates of nitroalkenes

Cascade reactions of 1,3-dicarbonyls with Morita-Baylis-Hillman acetates of nitroalkenes using a quinine derived chiral squaramide organocatalyst led to the formation of pyranones and pyranonaphthoquinones in good to excellent yields and high diastereo- and enantioselectivities. Representative examples of the reaction scale-up with a much lower catalyst loading without an appreciable loss of selectivities and synthetic transformations of the products are also reported here. The compounds described herein for the first time were evaluated against the infective bloodstream form of Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease, since the structures are related to bioactive α-lapachones.

Highly enantioselective synthesis of naphthoquinones and pyranonaphthoquinones catalyzed by bifunctional chiral bis-squaramides

A variety of enantioenriched naphthoquinones has been synthesized in high yields and excellent enantioselectivities (up to >99% ee) using a bifunctional chiral bis-squaramide catalyzed conjugate addition of 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone to 2-enoylpyridines.

Lawsone in organic synthesis

Lawsone has been used as the starting material for the synthesis of a variety of biologically active compounds and materials.

Asymmetric transformations involving 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds as pronucleophiles

This article concentrates on the versatile nucleophilic reactivity of 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds in various asymmetric transformations. Although underexploited in comparison to their 1,3-dicarbonyl homologues, the presence of adjacent multiple reactive centres allows the selection of specific activation modes for enhancing the reactivity of these important ambident pronucleophiles. They can be involved in selective formation of C-C, C-O or C-N bonds leading to various optically active targets in the acyclic and cyclic series including three- to seven-membered ring systems. Recent contributions in the field of biochemical, organometallic and organic catalytic transformations as well as some relevant stoichiometric approaches are discussed from synthetic and mechanistic point of views highlighting some important stereochemical issues.

Chiral indane skeleton based thiourea catalyzed highly stereoselective cascade Michael-enolation-cyclization reaction

An efficient asymmetric cascade reaction catalyzed by a chiral bifunctional indane amine-thiourea catalyst has been developed. From a broad substrate scope, chiral dihydro-2H-pyran complexes that contained two stereogenic centers were obtained in a one-pot manner in good to excellent yields (72-97%) and high to excellent stereoselectivities (92-97% ee).