Nonlinear Effects in Asymmetric Catalysis by Design: Concept, Synthesis, and Applications

Asymmetric synthesis constitutes a key technology for the preparation of enantiomerically pure compounds as well as for the selective control of individual stereocenters in the synthesis of complex compounds. It is thus of extraordinary importance for the synthesis of chiral drugs, dietary supplements, flavors, and fragrances, as well as novel materials with tunable and reconfigurable chiroptical properties or the assembly of complex natural products. Typically, enantiomerically pure catalysts are used for this purpose. To prepare enantiomerically pure ligands or organocatalysts, one can make use of the natural chiral pool. Ligands and organocatalysts with an atropisomeric biphenyl and binaphthyl system have become popular, as they are configurationally stable and contain a C2-symmetric skeleton, which has been found to be particularly privileged. For catalysts with opposite configurations, both product enantiomers can be obtained. Configurationally flexible biphenyl systems initially appeared to be unsuitable for this purpose, as they racemize after successful enantiomer separation and thus are neither storable nor afford a reproducible enantioselectivity. However, there are strategies that exploit the dynamics of such ligands to stereoconvergently enrich one of the catalyst enantiomers. This can be achieved, for example, by coordinating an enantiomerically pure additive to a ligand-metal complex, which results in deracemization of the configurationally flexible biphenyl system, thereby enriching the thermodynamically preferred diastereomer. In this Account, we present our strategy to design stereochemically flexible catalysts that combine the properties of supramolecular recognition, stereoconvergent alignment, and catalysis. Such systems are capable to recognize the chirality of the target product, leading to an increase in enantioselectivity during asymmetric catalysis. We have systematically developed and investigated these smart catalyst systems and have found ways to specifically design and synthesize them for various applications. In addition to (i) reaction product-induced chiral amplification, we have developed systems with (ii) intermolecular and (iii) intramolecular recognition, and successfully applied them in asymmetric catalysis. Our results pave the way for new applications such as temperature-controlled enantioselectivity, controlled inversion of enantioselectivity with the same chirality of the recognition unit, generation of positive nonlinear effects, and targeted design of autocatalytic systems through dynamic formation of transient catalysts. Understanding such systems is of enormous importance for catalytic processes leading to symmetry breaking and amplification of small imbalances of enantiomers and offer a possible explanation of homochirality of biological systems. In addition, we are learning how to target supramolecular interactions to enhance enantioselectivities in asymmetric catalysis through secondary double stereocontrol. Configurationally flexible catalysts will enable future resource-efficient development of asymmetric syntheses, as enantioselectivities can be fully switched by stereoselective alignment of the stereochemically flexible ligand core on demand.

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.

A chiral phosphazane reagent strategy for the determination of enantiomeric excess of amines

Methods for measuring enantiomeric excess (ee) of organic molecules by NMR spectroscopy provide rapid analysis using a standard technique that is readily available. Commonly this is accomplished by chiral derivatisation of the detector molecule (producing a chiral derivatisation agent, CDA), which is reacted with the mixture of enantiomers under investigation. However, these CDAs have almost exclusively been based on carbon frameworks, which are generally costly and/or difficult to prepare. In this work, a methodology based on the readily prepared inorganic cyclodiphosph(iii)azane CDA ClP(μ-N^tBu)₂POBorn (Born = endo-(1S)-1,7,7-trimethylbicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-2-yl) is shown to be highly effective in the measurement of ee’s of chiral amines, involving in situ reaction of the chiral amines (R*NH₂) with the P–Cl bond of the CDA followed by quaternization of the phosphorus framework with methyl iodide. This results in sharp ³¹P NMR signals with distinct chemical shift differences between the diastereomers that are formed, which can be used to obtain the ee directly by integration. Spectroscopic, X-ray structural and DFT studies suggest that the NMR chemical shift differences between diastereomers is steric in origin, with the sharpness of these signals resulting from conformational locking of the bornyl group relative to the P₂N₂ ring induced by the presence of the P(v)-bonded amino group (R*NH). This study showcases cheap inorganic phosphazane CDAs as simple alternatives to organic variants for the rapid determination of ee.

The simple inorganic cyclodiphosph(iii)azane chiral derivatisation agent ClP(μ-^tBuN)₂POBorn (Born = endo-(1S)-1,7,7-trimethylbicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-2-yl) is shown to be effective in the measurement of ee’s of chiral amines using ³¹P NMR spectroscopy.

Insight into the Mechanism of the Acylation of Alcohols with Acid Anhydrides Catalyzed by Phosphoric Acid Derivatives

Insight into the mechanism of a safe, simple, and inexpensive phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄)-catalyzed acylation of alcohols with acid anhydrides is described. The corresponding in situ-generated diacylated mixed anhydrides, unlike traditionally proposed monoacylated mixed anhydrides, are proposed as the active species. In particular, the diacylated mixed anhydrides act as efficient catalytic acyl transfer reagents rather than as Brønsted acid catalysts simply activating acid anhydrides. Remarkably, highly efficient phosphoric acid (1-3 mol %)-catalyzed acylation of alcohols with acid anhydrides was achieved and a 23 g scale synthesis of an ester was demonstrated. Also, phosphoric acid catalyst was effective for synthetically useful esterification from carboxylic acids, alcohols, and acid anhydride. Moreover, with regard to recent developments in chiral 1,1'-bi-2-naphthol (BINOL)-derived phosphoric acid diester catalysts toward asymmetric kinetic resolution of alcohols by acylation, some phosphate diesters were examined. As a result, a ³¹P NMR study and a kinetics study strongly supported not only the acid-base cooperative mechanism as previously proposed by other researchers but also the mixed anhydride mechanism as presently proposed by us.

Efficient Amplification in Soai's Asymmetric Autocatalysis by a Transient Stereodynamic Catalyst

Mechanisms leading to a molecular evolution and the formation of homochirality in nature are interconnected and a key to the underlying principles that led to the emergence of life. So far proposed mechanisms leading to a non-linear reaction behavior are based mainly on the formation of homochiral and heterochiral dimers. Since homochiral and heterochiral dimers are diastereomers of each other, the minor enantiomer is shifted out of equilibrium with the major enantiomer by dimer formation and thus a reaction or catalysis can be dominated by the remaining molecules of the major enantiomer. In this article a mechanism is shown that leads to homochirality by the formation of a highly catalytically active transient intermediate in a stereodynamically controlled reaction. This is demonstrated by Soai's asymmetric autocatalysis, in which aldehydes are transformed into the corresponding alcohols by addition of dialkylzinc reagents. The mechanism of chirogenesis proposed here shows that an apparently inefficient reaction is the best prerequisite for a selection mechanism. In addition, stereodynamic control offers the advantage that the minor diastereomeric intermediate can be interconverted into the major diastereomer and thus be stereoeconomically efficient. This is supported by computer simulation of reaction kinetics.

Chiral Discrimination by a Binuclear Pd Complex Sensor Using 31P{1H} NMR

An axially chiral binuclear μ-hydroxo Pd complex (BPHP) first served as an excellent chiral sensor for discriminating a variety of analytes including amino alcohol, amino amide, amino acid, mandelic acid, diol, diamine, and monoamine by ³¹P{¹H} NMR. A detailed recognition mechanism was proposed based on the single crystal and mass spectrum of Pd-complexes. In general, BPHP sensor, through extracting the acidic hydrogen of an analyte by its Pd-OH group, forms stable diastereomeric complexes with two enantiomers of the analyte giving well distinguishable split ³¹P{¹H} NMR signals for chiral discrimination.

Design and synthesis of a stereodynamic catalyst with reversal of selectivity by enantioselective self-inhibition

Chirality plays a pivotal role in an uncountable number of biological processes, and nature has developed intriguing mechanisms to maintain this state of enantiopurity. The strive for a deeper understanding of the different elements that constitute such self-sustaining systems on a molecular level has sparked great interest in the studies of autoinductive and amplifying enantioselective reactions. The design of these reactions remains highly challenging; however, the development of generally applicable principles promises to have a considerable impact on research of catalyst design and other adjacent fields in the future. Here, we report the realization of an autoinductive, enantioselective self-inhibiting hydrogenation reaction. Development of a stereodynamic catalyst with chiral sensing abilities allowed for a chiral reaction product to interact with the catalyst and change its selectivity in order to suppress its formation, which caused a reversal of selectivity over time.

Enantioselectivity Induced by Stereoselective Interlocking: A Novel Core Motif for Tropos Ligands

Well-defined supramolecular interactions are a powerful tool to control the stereochemistry of a catalytic reaction. In this paper, we report a novel core motif for fluxional 2,2'-biphenyl ligands carrying (S)-amino acid-derived interaction sites in 5,5'-position that cause spontaneous enrichment of the R_ax rotamer. The process is based on strong non-covalent interlocking between interaction sites, which causes diastereoselective formation of a supramolecular ligand dimer, in which the axial chirality of the two subunits is dictated by the stereochemical information in the amino acid residues. The detailed structure of the dimer was elucidated by NMR spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray analysis. Three different phosphorus-based ligand types, namely a bisphosphine, a bisphosphinite and a phosphoramidite were synthesized and characterized. Whereas the first one was found to exist in a strongly weighted equilibrium, the two others each exhibited stereoconvergent behavior transforming into the diastereopure R_ax rotamer. Enriched ligands were used in rhodium-mediated asymmetric hydrogenation reactions of prochiral olefins in which very high enantioselectivities of up to 96:4 were achieved.

Chiroptical sensing of unprotected amino acids, hydroxy acids, amino alcohols, amines and carboxylic acids with metal salts

Optical chirality sensing of unprotected amino acids, hydroxy acids, amino alcohols, amines and carboxylic acids based on a practical mix-and-measure protocol with readily available copper, iron, palladium, manganese, cerium or rhodium salts is demonstrated. The generation of strong cotton effects allows quantitative ee analysis of small sample amounts with high speed. In contrast to previously reported assays the use of chromophoric reporter ligands and the control of metal coordination kinetics and redox chemistry are not necessary which greatly simplifies the sensing procedure with the benefit of reduced waste production and cost.

Inducing Enantioselectivity in a Dynamic Catalyst by Supramolecular Interlocking

The design of a new class of fluxional biphenyl bisphosphinite (BIBIPHOS) ligands decorated with amino acid-based diamide interaction sites is reported that undergo spontaneous desymmetrization. Hydrogenation of prochiral alkenes using Rh-BIBIPHOS results in enantiomeric ratios of up to 96:4 (R/S). This stereoconvergent behavior of the fluxional BIBIPHOS ligand is triggered by pronounced intermolecular interlocking of the recognition sites, leading to the formation of a supramolecular assembly, where the axial orientation of the biphenyl ligand backbone is governed by the chirality of the amino acid moieties. Stereoinduction during catalysis is decoupled from this process and occurs as an immediate consequence of the emergent behavior of the ligands. This supramolecular system is very robust and has the potential to be adopted for other ligand designs in enantioselective catalysis.

New Developments on the Hirao Reactions, Especially from "Green" Point of View

BACKGROUND

The Hirao reaction discovered ca. 35 years ago is an important P-C coupling protocol between dialkyl phosphites and aryl halides in the presence of Pd(PPh3)4 as the catalyst and a base to provide aryl phosphonates. Then, the reaction was extended to other Preagents, such as secondary phosphine oxides and H-phosphinates and to other aryl and hetaryl derivatives to afford also phosphinic esters and tertiary phosphine oxides. Instead of the Pd(PPh3)4 catalyst, Pd(OAc)2 and Ni-salts were also applied as catalyst precursors together with a number of mono- and bidentate P-ligands.

OBJECTIVE

In our review, we undertook to summarize the target reaction with a special stress on the developments attained in the last 6 years, hence this paper is an update of our earlier reviews in a similar topic.

CONCLUSIONS

"Greener" syntheses aimed at utilizing phase transfer catalytic and microwave-assisted approaches, even under "P-ligand-free. or even solvent-free conditions are the up-to date versions of the classical Hirao reaction. The mechanism of the reaction is also in the focus these days.

Supramolecular chirality transfer in a stereodynamic catalysts

We present rhodium catalysts that contain stereodynamic axially chiral biphenol-derived phosphinite ligands modified with non-stereoselective amides for non-covalent interactions. A chirality transfer was achieved with (R)- or (S)-acetylphenylalanine methyl amide, and the interaction mechanism was investigated by NMR measurements. These interactions at the non-stereoselective interaction sites and the formation of supramolecular complexes result in an enrichment of either the (R_ax )- or (S_ax ) enantiomer of the tropos catalysts, which in turn provide the (R)- or (S)-acetylphenylalanine methyl ester in the hydrogenation of (Z)-methyl-α-acetamidocinnamate.

The robust, readily available cobalt(iii) trication [Co(NH2CHPhCHPhNH2)3]3+ is a progenitor of broadly applicable chirality and prochirality sensing agents

When NMR spectra of chiral racemic organic molecules containing a Lewis basic functional group are recorded in the presence of air and water stable salts of the cobalt(iii) trication [Co((S,S)-NH2CHPhCHPhNH2)3]3+ (23+), separate signals are usually observed for the enantiomers (28 diverse examples, >12 functional groups). Several chiral molecules can be simultaneously analyzed, and enantiotopic groups in prochiral molecules differentiated (16 examples). Particularly effective are the mixed bis(halide)/tetraarylborate salts Λ-23+ 2X-BArf- (X = Cl, I; BArf = B(3,5-C6H3(CF3)2)4), which are applied in CD2Cl2 or CDCl3 at 1-100 mol% (avg 34 and 14 mol%). Job plots establish 1 : 1 binding for Λ-23+ 2Cl-BArf- and 1-phenylethyl acetate (4) or 1-phenylethanol (10), and ca. 1 : 2 binding with DMSO (CD2Cl2). Selected binding constants are determined, which range from 7.60-2.73 M-1 for the enantiomers of 10 to 28.1-22.6 M-1 for the enantiomers of 4. The NH moieties of the C2 faces of the trication are believed to hydrogen bond to the Lewis basic functional groups, as seen in the crystal structure of a hexakis(DMSO) solvate of Λ-23+ 3I-. These salts rank with the most broadly applicable chirality sensing agents discovered to date.

A non-chiral lithium aluminate reagent for the determination of enantiomeric excess of chiral alcohols

Here we illustrate a new method for the rapid determination of ee's of chiral alcohols using the thermally-stable, non-chiral lithium aluminate reagent [EtAl(6-Me-2-py)₃Li] (1).

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.