Phosphoric Acid-Catalyzed Enantioselective Synthesis of Axially Chiral Anthrone-based Compounds.

Anthrones and analogues are structural cores shared by diverse pharmacologically active natural and synthetic compounds. The sp2 -rich nature imposes inherent obstruction to introduce stereogenic element onto the tricyclic aromatic backbone. In our pursuit to expand the chemical space of axial chirality, a novel type of axially chiral anthrone-derived skeleton was discovered. This work establishes oxime ether as suitable functionality to furnish axial chirality on symmetric anthrone skeletons through stereoselective condensation of the carbonyl entity with long-range chirality control. The enantioenriched anthrones could be elaborated into dibenzo-fused seven-membered N-heterocycles containing well-defined stereogenic center via Beckmann rearrangement with axial-to-point chirality conversion.

Asymmetric Construction of an Aryl-Alkene Axis by Palladium-Catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura Coupling Reaction.

The application of Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction to forge the atropisomeric biaryls has seen remarkable progress but exploration of this chemistry to directly forge chiral C(aryl)-C(alkene) axis is underdeveloped. The replacement of arene substrates by alkenes intensifies the challenges in terms of reactivity, configurational atropostability of product and selectivity control. By meticulous ligand design and fine-tuning of reaction parameters, we identified a highly active 3,3'-triphenylsilyl-substituted phosphite ligand to realize arene-alkene Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of hindered aryl halides and vinyl boronates under very mild conditions. The axially chiral acyclic aryl-alkenes were generated in commendable efficiency, enantioselectivity and E/Z selectivity.

Chiral Phosphoric Acid-Catalyzed Remote Control of Axial Chirality at Boron-Carbon Bond.

The previously elusive catalytic enantioselective construction of axially chiral B-aryl-1,2-azaborines with a C-B stereogenic axis has been realized through a chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed desymmetrization strategy reported herein. The electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction of 3,5-disubsituted phenols with diazodicarboxamides could afford these axially chiral structures in good efficiency with excellent enantiocontrol. The efficient long-range stereochemical control is achieved by multiple well-defined H-bonding interactions between chiral phosphoric acid and both substrates. Meanwhile, the reaction duration could be markedly shortened with weakly acidic N-H in 1,2-azaborine acting as H-bond donor. The scalability of the reaction and facile cleavage of the N-N bond in the product further demonstrated the practicality of this method.

Palladium-Catalyzed Cascade Intramolecular Cyclization and Allylation of Enynoates with Allylic Alcohols.

A Pd(II)-catalyzed mild and highly regioselective 6- endo cyclization/allylation reaction of enynoates with simple allylic alcohols has been developed. Under mild reaction conditions, the vinyl palladium species generated in situ after cyclization could insert C-C double bond of allylic alcohol through cross-coupling reaction and lead to the formation of allyl pyrone via ß-OH elimination. This cascade cross-coupling reaction represents a direct and atom economic methodology for the construction of novel allyl pyrones in moderate to good yields.

Copper-catalyzed regiodivergent 1,4- and 1,6-conjugate silyl addition to diendioates: access to functionalized allylsilanes.

A copper-catalyzed regioselective 1,4- and 1,6-conjugate addition of a silyl reagent to diendioates was established. Various 1,4- and 1,6-protosilylation products were obtained in good yields and with high regioselectivity via tuning the ligands used in the reactions. This protocol has provided a simple and efficient method for the synthesis of multisubstituted functionalized allylsilanes.

Palladium-Catalyzed One-Pot Highly Regioselective 6- Endo Cyclization and Alkylation of Enynoates: Synthesis of 2-Alkanone Pyrones.

The Pd(II)-catalyzed one-pot tandem cyclization/alkylation reactions of enynoates with allylic alcohols have been demonstrated. In this reaction, an innovative protocol proceeded well through Pd-catalyzed intramolecular selective 6- endo cyclization, insertion of allylic alcohols into the Pd-C bond of vinylpalladium species generated in situ, and ß-hydrogen elimination processes. This conversion provides a convenient and efficient methodology for the synthesis of 2-alkanone pyrones in moderate to good yields.

Palladium-Catalyzed Intermolecular Oxyarylation of Vinylacetates with Retention of an Alkenyl Moiety.

Palladium-catalyzed intermolecular oxyarylation reaction of vinylacetates with retention of the double bond in the final product is developed. Under the optimized reaction conditions, the desired products of multisubstituted vinylesters could be obtained in moderate to high yields.