Sensitizing potential of cyclobutenediones

Green Chemistry Meets Asymmetric Organocatalysis: A Critical Overview on Catalysts Synthesis

Can green chemistry be the right reading key to let organocatalyst design take a step forward towards sustainable catalysis? What if the intriguing chemistry promoted by more engineered organocatalysts was carried on by using renewable and naturally occurring molecular scaffolds, or at least synthetic catalysts more respectful towards the principles of green chemistry? Within the frame of these questions, this Review will tackle the most commonly occurring organic chiral catalysts from the perspective of their synthesis rather than their employment in chemical methodologies or processes. A classification of the catalyst scaffolds based on their E factor will be provided, and the global E factor (EG factor) will be proposed as a new green chemistry metric to consider, also, the synthetic route to the catalyst within a given organocatalytic process.

New Syntheses and Ring Expansion Reactions of Cyclobutenimines

Two routes are reported for the synthesis of iminocyclobutenones having N-(het)aryl substitution: an addition/substitution sequence starting with cyclobutenediones and an aza-Wittig method. A new synthetic route to N-alkyl derivatives is also presented. This involves O-alkylation of 3-alkylamino-1,2-cyclobutenediones using Meerwein’s reagent and subsequent deprotonation under non-hydrolytic conditions. Lithium organyls were found to add to the remaining carbonyl group. The resulting tertiary alcohols undergo ring enlargement on heating in xylene to give 4-aminophenols, 4-amino-1-naphthols, or cyclopenta-annulated quinolines from 4-vinyl, 4-aryl, and 4-alkynyl derivatives, respectively.