Taming secondary benzylic cations in catalytic asymmetric SN1 reactions.

Benzylic stereogenic centers are ubiquitous in natural products and pharmaceuticals. A potentially general, though challenging, approach toward their selective creation would be asymmetric unimolecular nucleophilic substitution (SN1) reactions that proceed through highly reactive benzylic cations. We now report a broadly applicable solution to this problem by identifying chiral counteranions that pair with secondary benzylic cations to engage in catalytic asymmetric C-C, C-O, and C-N bond-forming reactions with excellent enantioselectivity. The critical cationic intermediate can be accessed from different precursors via Lewis- or Brønsted acid catalysis. Key to our strategy is the use of only weakly basic, confined counteranions that are posited to prolong the lifetime of the carbocation, thereby avoiding nonproductive deprotonation pathways to the corresponding styrene.

Organocatalytic DYKAT of Si-Stereogenic Silanes.

Chiral organosilanes do not exist in nature and are therefore absent from the "chiral pool". As a consequence, synthetic approaches toward enantiopure silanes, stereogenic at silicon, are rather limited. While catalytic asymmetric desymmetrization reactions of symmetric organosilicon compounds have been developed, the utilization of racemic silanes in a dynamic kinetic asymmetric transformation (DYKAT) or dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) would significantly expand the breadth of accessible Si-stereogenic compounds. We now report a DYKAT of racemic allyl silanes enabled by strong and confined imidodiphosphorimidate (IDPi) catalysts, providing access to Si-stereogenic silyl ethers. The products of this reaction are easily converted into useful enantiopure monohydrosilanes. We propose a spectroscopically and experimentally supported mechanism involving the epimerization of a catalyst-bound intermediate.

Predicting Highly Enantioselective Catalysts Using Tunable Fragment Descriptors.

Catalyst optimization processes typically rely on inductive and qualitative assumptions of chemists based on screening data. While machine learning models using molecular properties or calculated 3D structures enable quantitative data evaluation, costly quantum chemical calculations are often required. In contrast, readily available binary fingerprint descriptors are time- and cost-efficient, but their predictive performance remains insufficient. Here, we describe a machine learning model based on fragment descriptors, which are fine-tuned for asymmetric catalysis and represent cyclic or polyaromatic hydrocarbons, enabling robust and efficient virtual screening. Using training data with only moderate selectivities, we designed theoretically and validated experimentally new catalysts showing higher selectivities in a challenging asymmetric tetrahydropyran synthesis.

Asymmetric counteranion-directed photoredox catalysis.

Photoredox catalysis enables distinctive and broadly applicable chemical reactions, but controlling their selectivity has proven to be difficult. The pursuit of enantioselectivity is a particularly daunting challenge, arguably because of the high energy of the activated radical (ion) intermediates, and previous approaches have invariably required pairing of the photoredox catalytic cycle with an additional activation mode for asymmetric induction. A potential solution for photoredox reactions proceeding via radical ions would be catalytic pairing with enantiopure counterions. However, although attempts toward this approach have been described, high selectivity has not yet been accomplished. Here we report a potentially general solution to radical cation-based asymmetric photoredox catalysis. We describe organic salts, featuring confined imidodiphosphorimidate counteranions that catalyze highly enantioselective [2+2]-cross cycloadditions of styrenes.

Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis of Unprotected ß2-Amino Acids.

We report here a scalable, catalytic one-pot approach to enantiopure and unmodified ß2-amino acids. A newly developed confined imidodiphosphorimidate (IDPi) catalyzes a broadly applicable reaction of diverse bis-silyl ketene acetals with a silylated aminomethyl ether, followed by hydrolytic workup, to give free ß2-amino acids in high yields, purity, and enantioselectivity. Importantly, both aromatic and aliphatic ß2-amino acids can be obtained using this method. Mechanistic studies are consistent with the aminomethylation to proceed via silylium-based asymmetric counteranion-directed catalysis (Si-ACDC) and a transition state to explain the enantioselectivity is suggested on the basis of density functional theory calculation.

Rhodium-Catalyzed PIII -Directed ortho-C-H Borylation of Arylphosphines.

Transition-metal-mediated metalation of an aromatic C-H bond that is adjacent to a tertiary phosphine group in arylphosphines via a four-membered chelate ring was first discovered in 1968. Herein, we overcome a long-standing problem with the ortho-C-H activation of arylphosphines in a catalytic fashion. In particular, we developed a rhodium-catalyzed ortho-selective C-H borylation of various commercially available arylphosphines with B2 pin2 through PIII -chelation-assisted C-H activation. This discovery is suggestive of a generic platform that could enable the late-stage modification of readily accessible arylphosphines.

Enantioselective Copper-Catalyzed Defluoroalkylation Using Arylboronate-Activated Alkyl Grignard Reagents.

A copper-catalyzed system has been introduced for the enantioselective defluoroalkylation of linear 1-(trifluoromethyl)alkenes through C-F activation to synthesize various gem-difluoroalkenes as carbonyl mimics. For the first time, arylboronate-activated alkyl Grignard reagents were uncovered in this cross-coupling reaction. Mechanistic studies confirmed that the tetraorganoborate complexes generated in situ were the key reactive species for this transformation.

Bottom-up Construction of π-Extended Arenes by a Palladium-Catalyzed Annulative Dimerization of o-Iodobiaryl Compounds.

A straightforward method was developed for construction of aromatic compounds with a triphenylene core. The method involves Pd-catalyzed annulative dimerization of o-iodobiaryl compounds by double C-I and C-H bond cleavage steps. Simple reaction conditions are needed, requiring neither a ligand nor an oxidant, and the reaction tolerates a wide range of coupling partners without compromising efficiency or scalability. Significantly, the tetrachloro-substituted synthon, 1,6,11-trichloro-4-(4-chlorophenyl)triphenylene, can be generated and used to prepare a series of fully fused, small graphene nanoribbons by a late-stage arylation with arylboronic acids and a subsequent Scholl reaction. The synthetic strategy enables bottom-up access to extended π-systems in a controlled manner.

Enantioselective Palladium-Catalyzed Intramolecular α-Arylative Desymmetrization of 1,3-Diketones.

An efficient enantioselective protocol has been reported to build highly oxygenated and densely substituted bicyclo[m.n.1] skeletons through intramolecular asymmetric α-arylative desymmetrization of 1,3-diketones. Employing Pd catalyst and FOXAP ligand, various bicyclo[m.n.1] skeleton with different size can be accessed with high enantio- and diastereoselectivities. Utilizing the present method as a key step, formal asymmetric total synthesis of the (-)-parvifoline has been demonstrated.

Palladium-catalyzed direct arylation and cyclization of o-iodobiaryls to a library of tetraphenylenes.

Aryl-aryl bond formation constitutes one of the most important subjects in organic synthesis. The recent developments in direct arylation reactions forming aryl-aryl bond have emerged as very attractive alternatives to traditional cross-coupling reactions. Here, we describe a general palladium-catalyzed direct arylation and cyclization of o-iodobiaryls to build a library of tetraphenylenes. This transformation represents one of the very few examples of C-H activation process that involves simultaneous formation of two aryl-aryl bonds. Oxygen plays a vital role by ensuring high reactivity, with air as the promoter furnished the best results. We anticipate this ligand-free and aerobic catalytic system will simplify the synthesis of tetraphenylenes as many of the reported methods involve use of preformed organometallic reagents and will lead to the discovery of highly efficient new direct arylation process.

Three powerful dinuclear metal-organic catalysts for converting CO2 into organic carbonates.

Developing efficient catalysts for converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into varied organic carbonates is an important scientific goal. By using the NH2-functionalized tripodal ligand 2-((bis(2-aminoethyl)amino)methyl)phenol (HL), three dinuclear metal-organic complexes [Zn(L)]2·2ClO4 (1), [Cu(L)]2·2ClO4·2H2O (2) and [Cd(L)]2·2ClO4 (3) have been successfully isolated and structurally characterized using single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses. Considering the dinuclear metal centers and the NH2-functional groups in the structures, 1-3 were investigated as catalysts for converting CO2 into organic carbonates, and the results show that 1-3 exhibit an outstanding ability for converting CO2 into varied organic carbonates at atmospheric pressure (0.1 MPa). The catalytic system also displays a wide substrate scope and high catalytic activity, and the reaction mechanism has been proposed herein.

Iodoarene-Catalyzed Stereospecific Intramolecular sp(3) C-H Amination: Reaction Development and Mechanistic Insights.

A new strategy is reported for intramolecular sp(3) C-H amination under mild reaction conditions using iodoarene as catalyst and m-CPBA as oxidant. This C-H functionalization involving iodine(III) reagents generated in situ occurs readily at sterically hindered tertiary C-H bonds. DFT (M06-2X) calculations show that the preferred pathway involves an iodonium cation intermediate and proceeds via an energetically concerted transition state, through hydride transfer followed by the spontaneous C-N bond formation. This leads to the experimentally observed amination at a chiral center without loss of stereochemical information.