Designing the Secondary Coordination Sphere in Small-Molecule Catalysis

Reactivity and Enantioselectivity in NHC Organocatalysis Provide Evidence for the Complex Role of Modifications at the Secondary Sphere

Secondary-sphere interactions are often harnessed to control reactivity and selectivity in organometallic and enzymatic catalysis. Yet, such strategies have only recently been explicitly applied in the context of organocatalytic systems. Although increased stability, reproducibility, and selectivity were obtained in previous work using this approach, the precise mechanistic pathway promoted by secondary-sphere modification in organocatalysis remained unclear. Herein, we report a comprehensive mechanistic study on the origin of the unique reactivity patterns and stereocontrol observed with boronic acids (BAs) as secondary-sphere modifiers of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) organocatalysts. Kinetic experiments revealed partial order in catalyst upon the addition of BA and unusual preactivation behavior, indicating the presence of stable off-cycle catalyst aggregation and BA-base adducts. These hypotheses were supported both by computations and by a series of NMR and nonlinear effect experiments. Furthermore, computations indicated a rate-limiting, water-assisted hydrogen atom transfer mechanism. This finding led to a considerable enhancement in the experimental reaction rate while maintaining excellent enantioselectivity by adding catalytic amounts of water. Finally, computations and racemization experiments uncovered an uncommon Curtin-Hammett-controlled enantioselectivity in the presence of secondary-sphere modifiers.

Effect of Solvents on Proline Modified at the Secondary Sphere: A Multivariate Exploration

The critical influence of solvent effects on proline-catalyzed aldol reactions has been extensively described. Herein, we apply multivariate regression strategies to probe the influence of different solvents on an aldol reaction catalyzed by proline modified at its secondary sphere with boronic acids. In this system, both in situ binding of the boronic acid to proline and the outcome of the aldol reaction are impacted by the solvent-controlled microenvironment. Thus, with the aim of uncovering mechanistic insight and an ancillary aim of identifying methodological improvements, we designed a set of experiments, spanning 15 boronic acids in five different solvents. Based on hypothesized intermediates or interactions that could be responsible for the selectivity in these reactions, we proposed several structural configurations for the library of boronic acids. Subsequently, we compared the statistical models correlating the outcome of the reaction in different solvents with molecular descriptors produced for each of these proposed configurations. The models allude to the importance of different interactions in controlling selectivity in each of the studied solvents. As a proof-of-concept for the practicality of our approach, the models in chloroform ultimately led to lowering the ketone loading to only two equivalents while retaining excellent yield and enantio- and diastereo-selectivity.

Triazolium Salt Organocatalysis: Mechanistic Evaluation of Unusual Ortho-Substituent Effects on Deprotonation

Organocatalysis by N-heterocyclic carbenes is normally initiated by the deprotonation of precursor azolium ions to form active nucleophilic species. Substituent effects on deprotonation have an impact on catalytic efficiency and provide insight into general catalytic mechanisms by commonly used azolium systems. Using an NMR kinetic method for the analysis of C(3)-H/D exchange, we determined log kex–pD profiles for three ortho-substituted N-aryl triazolium salts, which enables a detailed analysis of ortho-substituent effects on deprotonation. This includes N-5-methoxypyrid-2-yl triazolium salt 7 and di-ortho-methoxy and di-ortho-isopropoxyphenyl triazolium salts 8 and 9, and we acquired additional kinetic data to supplement our previously published analysis of N-pyrid-2-yl triazolium salt 6. For 2-pyridyl triazoliums 6 and 7, novel acid catalysis of C(3)-H/D exchange is observed under acidic conditions. These kinetic data were supplemented by DFT analyses of the conformational preferences of 6 upon N-protonation. A C(3) deprotonation mechanism involving intramolecular general base deprotonation by the pyridyl nitrogen of the N(1)-deuterated dicationic triazolium salt is most consistent with the data. We also report kDO values (protofugalities) for deuteroxide-catalyzed exchange for 6–9. The protofugalities for 8 and 9 are the lowest values to date in the N-aryl triazolium series.