Nickel-Catalyzed Enantioconvergent and Diastereoselective Allenylation of Alkyl Electrophiles: Simultaneous Control of Central and Axial Chirality.

In recent years, remarkable progress has been described in the development of methods that simultaneously control vicinal stereochemistry, wherein both stereochemical elements are central chirality; in contrast, methods that control central and axial chirality are comparatively rare. Herein we report that a chiral nickel catalyst achieves the enantioconvergent and diastereoselective coupling of racemic secondary alkyl electrophiles with prochiral 1,3-enynes (in the presence of a hydrosilane) to generate chiral tetrasubstituted allenes that bear an adjacent stereogenic center. A carbon-carbon and a carbon-hydrogen bond are formed in this process, which provides good stereoselectivity and is compatible with an array of functional groups.

Iron-Catalyzed Reductive Cross-Coupling of Alkyl Electrophiles with Olefins.

In terms of its abundance and its minimal toxicity, iron has advantages relative to other transition metals. Although alkyl-alkyl bond construction is central to organic synthesis, examples of iron-catalyzed alkyl-alkyl couplings of alkyl electrophiles are relatively sparse. Herein we report an iron catalyst that achieves cross-coupling reactions of alkyl electrophiles wherein olefins, in the presence of a hydrosilane, are used in place of alkylmetal reagents. Carbon-carbon bond formation proceeds at room temperature, and the method employs commercially available components (Fe(OAc)2 , Xantphos, and Mg(OEt)2 ); interestingly, this set of reagents can be applied directly to a distinct hydrofunctionalization of olefins, hydroboration. Mechanistic studies are consistent with the generation of an alkyl radical from the alkyl electrophile, as well as with reversibility for elementary steps that precede carbon-carbon bond formation (olefin binding to iron and ß-migratory insertion).

Asymmetric Synthesis of Protected Unnatural α-Amino Acids via Enantioconvergent Nickel-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling.

Interest in unnatural α-amino acids has increased rapidly in recent years in areas ranging from protein design to medicinal chemistry to materials science. Consequently, the development of efficient, versatile, and straightforward methods for their enantioselective synthesis is an important objective in reaction development. In this report, we establish that a chiral catalyst based on nickel, an earth-abundant metal, can achieve the enantioconvergent coupling of readily available racemic alkyl electrophiles with a wide variety of alkylzinc reagents (1:1.1 ratio) to afford protected unnatural α-amino acids in good yield and ee. This cross-coupling, which proceeds under mild conditions and is tolerant of air, moisture, and a broad array of functional groups, complements earlier approaches to the catalytic asymmetric synthesis of this valuable family of molecules. We have applied our new method to the generation of several enantioenriched unnatural α-amino acids that have previously been shown to serve as useful intermediates in the synthesis of bioactive compounds.

The Asymmetric Synthesis of Amines via Nickel-Catalyzed Enantioconvergent Substitution Reactions.

Chiral dialkyl carbinamines are important in fields such as organic chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, and biochemistry, serving for example as bioactive molecules, chiral ligands, and chiral catalysts. Unfortunately, most catalytic asymmetric methods for synthesizing dialkyl carbinamines do not provide general access to amines wherein the two alkyl groups are of similar size (e.g., CH2R versus CH2R1). Herein, we report two mild methods for the catalytic enantioconvergent synthesis of protected dialkyl carbinamines, both of which use a chiral nickel catalyst to couple an alkylzinc reagent (1.1-1.2 equiv) with a racemic partner, specifically, an α-phthalimido alkyl chloride or an N-hydroxyphthalimide (NHP) ester of a protected α-amino acid. The methods are versatile, providing dialkyl carbinamine derivatives that bear an array of functional groups. For couplings of NHP esters, we further describe a one-pot variant wherein the NHP ester is generated in situ, allowing the generation of enantioenriched protected dialkyl carbinamines in one step from commercially available amino acid derivatives; we demonstrate the utility of this method by applying it to the efficient catalytic enantioselective synthesis of a range of interesting target molecules.

Mechanistic Investigation of Enantioconvergent Kumada Reactions of Racemic α-Bromoketones Catalyzed by a Nickel/Bis(oxazoline) Complex.

In recent years, a wide array of methods for achieving nickel-catalyzed substitution reactions of alkyl electrophiles by organometallic nucleophiles, including enantioconvergent processes, have been described; however, experiment-focused mechanistic studies of such couplings have been comparatively scarce. The most detailed mechanistic investigations to date have examined catalysts that bear tridentate ligands and, with one exception, processes that are not enantioselective; studies of catalysts based on bidentate ligands could be anticipated to be more challenging, due to difficulty in isolating proposed intermediates as a result of instability arising from coordinative unsaturation. In this investigation, we explore the mechanism of enantioconvergent Kumada reactions of racemic α-bromoketones catalyzed by a nickel complex that bears a bidentate chiral bis(oxazoline) ligand. Utilizing an array of mechanistic tools (including isolation and reactivity studies of three of the four proposed nickel-containing intermediates, as well as interrogation via EPR spectroscopy, UV-vis spectroscopy, radical probes, and DFT calculations), we provide support for a pathway in which carbon-carbon bond formation proceeds via a radical-chain process wherein a nickel(I) complex serves as the chain-carrying radical and an organonickel(II) complex is the predominant resting state of the catalyst. Computations indicate that the coupling of this organonickel(II) complex with an organic radical is the stereochemistry-determining step of the reaction.

Nickel-Catalyzed Enantioconvergent Borylation of Racemic Secondary Benzylic Electrophiles.

Nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling has emerged as the most versatile approach to date for achieving enantioconvergent carbon-carbon bond formation using racemic alkyl halides as electrophiles. In contrast, there have not yet been reports of the application of chiral nickel catalysts to the corresponding reactions with heteroatom nucleophiles to produce carbon-heteroatom bonds with good enantioselectivity. Herein, we establish that a chiral nickel/pybox catalyst can borylate racemic secondary benzylic chlorides to provide enantioenriched benzylic boronic esters, a highly useful family of compounds in organic synthesis. The method displays good functional group compatibility (e.g., being unimpeded by the presence of an indole, a ketone, a tertiary amine, or an unactivated alkyl bromide), and both of the catalyst components (NiCl2 ⋅glyme and the pybox ligand) are commercially available.

Control of Vicinal Stereocenters through Nickel-Catalyzed Alkyl-Alkyl Cross-Coupling.

Vicinal stereocenters are found in many natural and unnatural compounds. Although metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions of unactivated alkyl electrophiles are emerging as a powerful tool in organic synthesis, there have been virtually no reports of processes that generate, much less control, vicinal stereocenters. In this investigation, we establish that a chiral nickel catalyst can mediate doubly stereoconvergent alkyl-alkyl cross-coupling, specifically, reactions of a racemic pyrrolidine-derived nucleophile with cyclic alkyl halides (as mixtures of stereoisomers) to produce vicinal stereocenters with very good stereoselectivity.

Silicon-Carbon Bond Formation via Nickel-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling of Silicon Nucleophiles with Unactivated Secondary and Tertiary Alkyl Electrophiles.

A wide array of cross-coupling methods for the formation of C-C bonds from unactivated alkyl electrophiles have been described in recent years. In contrast, progress in the development of methods for the construction of C-heteroatom bonds has lagged; for example, there have been no reports of metal-catalyzed cross-couplings of unactivated secondary or tertiary alkyl halides with silicon nucleophiles to form C-Si bonds. In this study, we address this challenge, establishing that a simple, commercially available nickel catalyst (NiBr2·diglyme) can achieve couplings of alkyl bromides with nucleophilic silicon reagents under unusually mild conditions (e.g., -20 °C); especially noteworthy is our ability to employ unactivated tertiary alkyl halides as electrophilic coupling partners, which is still relatively uncommon in the field of cross-coupling chemistry. Stereochemical, relative reactivity, and radical-trap studies are consistent with a homolytic pathway for C-X bond cleavage.

Enantioselective Decarboxylative Arylation of α-Amino Acids via the Merger of Photoredox and Nickel Catalysis.

An asymmetric decarboxylative Csp(3)-Csp(2) cross-coupling has been achieved via the synergistic merger of photoredox and nickel catalysis. This mild, operationally simple protocol transforms a wide variety of naturally abundant α-amino acids and readily available aryl halides into valuable chiral benzylic amines in high enantiomeric excess, thereby producing motifs found in pharmacologically active agents.

Nickel-Catalyzed Alkyl-Alkyl Cross-Couplings of Fluorinated Secondary Electrophiles: A General Approach to the Synthesis of Compounds having a Perfluoroalkyl Substituent.

Fluorinated organic molecules are of interest in fields ranging from medicinal chemistry to polymer science. Described herein is a mild, convenient, and versatile method for the synthesis of compounds bearing a perfluoroalkyl group attached to a tertiary carbon atom by using an alkyl-alkyl cross-coupling. A nickel catalyst derived from NiCl2 ⋅glyme and a pybox ligand achieves the coupling of a wide range of fluorinated alkyl halides with alkylzinc reagents at room temperature. A broad array of functional groups is compatible with the reaction conditions, and highly selective couplings can be achieved on the basis of differing levels of fluorination. A mechanistic investigation has established that the presence of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO) inhibits cross-coupling under these conditions and that a TEMPO-electrophile adduct can be isolated.

Nickel-catalyzed Negishi arylations of propargylic bromides: a mechanistic investigation.

Although nickel-catalyzed stereoconvergent couplings of racemic alkyl electrophiles are emerging as a powerful tool in organic chemistry, to date there have been no systematic mechanistic studies of such processes. Herein, we examine the pathway for enantioselective Negishi arylations of secondary propargylic bromides, and we provide evidence for an unanticipated radical chain pathway wherein oxidative addition of the C-Br bond occurs through a bimetallic mechanism. In particular, we have crystallographically characterized a diamagnetic arylnickel(II) complex, [(i-Pr-pybox)Ni(II)Ph]BAr(F)4, and furnished support for [(i-Pr-pybox)Ni(II)Ph](+) being the predominant nickel-containing species formed under the catalyzed conditions as well as a key player in the cross-coupling mechanism. On the other hand, our observations do not require a role for an organonickel(I) intermediate (e.g., (i-Pr-pybox)Ni(I)Ph), which has previously been suggested to be an intermediate in nickel-catalyzed cross-couplings, oxidatively adding alkyl electrophiles through a monometallic pathway.

Nickel/bis(oxazoline)-catalyzed asymmetric Negishi arylations of racemic secondary benzylic electrophiles to generate enantioenriched 1,1-diarylalkanes.

A tertiary stereogenic center that bears two different aryl substituents is found in a variety of bioactive compounds, including medicines such as Zoloft and Detrol. We have developed an efficient method for the synthesis of enantioenriched 1,1-diarylalkanes from readily available racemic benzylic alcohols. Formation of a benzylic mesylate (which is not isolated), followed by treatment with an arylzinc reagent, LiI, and a chiral nickel/bis(oxazoline) catalyst, furnishes the Negishi cross-coupling product in high ee and good yield. A wide array of functional groups (e.g., an aryl iodide, a thiophene, and an N-Boc-indole) are compatible with the mild reaction conditions. This method has been applied to a gram-scale synthesis of a precursor to Zoloft.

Nickel-catalyzed carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions of unactivated tertiary alkyl halides: Suzuki arylations.

The first Suzuki cross-couplings of unactivated tertiary alkyl electrophiles are described. The method employs a readily accessible catalyst (NiBr(2)·diglyme/4,4'-di-tert-butyl-2,2'-bipyridine, both commercially available) and represents the initial example of the use of a group 10 catalyst to cross-couple unactivated tertiary electrophiles to form C-C bonds. This approach to the synthesis of all-carbon quaternary carbon centers does not suffer from isomerization of the alkyl group, in contrast with the umpolung strategy for this bond construction (cross-coupling of a tertiary alkylmetal with an aryl electrophile). Preliminary mechanistic studies are consistent with the generation of a radical intermediate along the reaction pathway.

Nickel-catalyzed coupling reactions of alkyl electrophiles, including unactivated tertiary halides, to generate carbon-boron bonds.

Through the use of a catalyst formed in situ from NiBr(2)·diglyme and a pybox ligand (both of which are commercially available), we have achieved our first examples of coupling reactions of unactivated tertiary alkyl electrophiles, as well as our first success with nickel-catalyzed couplings that generate bonds other than C-C bonds. Specifically, we have determined that this catalyst accomplishes Miyaura-type borylations of unactivated tertiary, secondary, and primary alkyl halides with diboron reagents to furnish alkylboronates, a family of compounds with substantial (and expanding) utility, under mild conditions; indeed, the umpolung borylation of a tertiary alkyl bromide can be achieved at a temperature as low as -10 °C. The method exhibits good functional-group compatibility and is regiospecific, both of which can be issues with traditional approaches to the synthesis of alkylboronates. In contrast to seemingly related nickel-catalyzed C-C bond-forming processes, tertiary halides are more reactive than secondary or primary halides in this nickel-catalyzed C-B bond-forming reaction; this divergence is particularly noteworthy in view of the likelihood that both transformations follow an inner-sphere electron-transfer pathway for oxidative addition.

Nickel-catalyzed enantioselective cross-couplings of racemic secondary electrophiles that bear an oxygen leaving group.

To date, effective nickel-catalyzed enantioselective cross-couplings of alkyl electrophiles that bear oxygen leaving groups have been limited to reactions of allylic alcohol derivatives with Grignard reagents. In this Communication, we establish that, in the presence of a nickel/pybox catalyst, a variety of racemic propargylic carbonates are suitable partners for asymmetric couplings with organozinc reagents. The method is compatible with an array of functional groups and utilizes commercially available catalyst components. The development of a versatile nickel-catalyzed enantioselective cross-coupling process for electrophiles that bear a leaving group other than a halide adds a significant new dimension to the scope of these reactions.

Academic cross-fertilization by public screening yields a remarkable class of protein phosphatase methylesterase-1 inhibitors.

National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored screening centers provide academic researchers with a special opportunity to pursue small-molecule probes for protein targets that are outside the current interest of, or beyond the standard technologies employed by, the pharmaceutical industry. Here, we describe the outcome of an inhibitor screen for one such target, the enzyme protein phosphatase methylesterase-1 (PME-1), which regulates the methylesterification state of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) and is implicated in cancer and neurodegeneration. Inhibitors of PME-1 have not yet been described, which we attribute, at least in part, to a dearth of substrate assays compatible with high-throughput screening. We show that PME-1 is assayable by fluorescence polarization-activity-based protein profiling (fluopol-ABPP) and use this platform to screen the 300,000+ member NIH small-molecule library. This screen identified an unusual class of compounds, the aza-ß-lactams (ABLs), as potent (IC(50) values of approximately 10 nM), covalent PME-1 inhibitors. Interestingly, ABLs did not derive from a commercial vendor but rather an academic contribution to the public library. We show using competitive-ABPP that ABLs are exquisitely selective for PME-1 in living cells and mice, where enzyme inactivation leads to substantial reductions in demethylated PP2A. In summary, we have combined advanced synthetic and chemoproteomic methods to discover a class of ABL inhibitors that can be used to selectively perturb PME-1 activity in diverse biological systems. More generally, these results illustrate how public screening centers can serve as hubs to create spontaneous collaborative opportunities between synthetic chemistry and chemical biology labs interested in creating first-in-class pharmacological probes for challenging protein targets.

Enantioselective alkenylation via nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling with organozirconium reagents.

A new family of organometallic compounds, organozirconium reagents, are shown to serve as suitable partners in cross-coupling reactions of (activated) secondary alkyl electrophiles. Thus, the first catalytic method for coupling secondary alpha-bromoketones with alkenylmetal reagents has been developed, specifically, a mild, versatile, and stereoconvergent carbon-carbon bond-forming process that generates potentially labile beta,gamma-unsaturated ketones with good enantioselectivity.

Nickel/bis(oxazoline)-catalyzed asymmetric Kumada reactions of alkyl electrophiles: cross-couplings of racemic alpha-bromoketones.

The first asymmetric Kumada reactions of alkyl electrophiles are described, specifically, cross-couplings of racemic alpha-bromoketones with aryl Grignard reagents. Several features of this investigation are of interest. First, the couplings proceed at remarkably low temperature (-40 or -60 degrees C), which enables the asymmetric synthesis of racemization-prone alpha-arylketones. Second, dialkyl ketones undergo enantioselective coupling in good ee and yield. Third, readily available bis(oxazolines) are shown for the first time to be effective ligands for cross-couplings of alkyl electrophiles, thereby opening the door to new opportunities in asymmetric catalysis.