Mechanistic Insight into the Origin of Stereoselectivity in the Ribose-Mediated Strecker Synthesis of Alanine.

Enantioenriched amino acids are produced in a hydrolytic kinetic resolution of racemic aminonitriles mediated by chiral pentose sugars. Experimental kinetic and spectroscopic results combined with DFT computational studies and microkinetic modeling help to identify the nature of the intermediate species and provide insight into the stereoselectivity of their hydrolysis in the prebiotically relevant ribose-alanine system. These studies support a synergistic role for sugars and amino acids in the emergence of homochirality in biological molecules.

Direct Catalytic Synthesis of Unprotected 2-Amino-1-Phenylethanols from Alkenes by Using Iron(II) Phthalocyanine.

Aryl-substituted amino alcohols are privileged scaffolds in medicinal chemistry and natural products. Herein, we report that an exceptionally simple and inexpensive Fe(II) complex efficiently catalyzes the direct transformation of simple alkenes into unprotected amino alcohols in good yield and perfect regioselectivity. This new catalytic method was applied in the expedient synthesis of bioactive molecules and could be extended to aminoetherification.

Prebiotic access to enantioenriched glyceraldehyde mediated by peptides.

A prebiotically plausible route to enantioenriched glyceraldehyde is reported via a kinetic resolution mediated by peptides. The reaction proceeds via a selective reaction between the l-peptide and the l-sugar producing an Amadori rearrangement byproduct and leaving d-glyceraldehyde in excess. Solubility considerations in the synthesis of proline-valine (pro-val) peptides allow nearly enantiopure pro-val to be formed starting from racemic pro and nearly racemic (10%) ee val. (ee = enantiomeric excess = (|d - l|)/(d + l)) Thus enantioenrichment of glyceraldehyde is achieved in a system with minimal initial chiral bias. This work demonstrates synergy between amino acids and sugars in the emergence of biological homochirality.

Efficient access to unprotected primary amines by iron-catalyzed aminochlorination of alkenes.

Primary amines are essential constituents of biologically active molecules and versatile intermediates in the synthesis of drugs and agrochemicals. However, their preparation from easily accessible alkenes remains challenging. Here, we report a general strategy to access primary amines from alkenes through an operationally simple iron-catalyzed aminochlorination reaction. A stable hydroxylamine derivative and benign sodium chloride act as the respective nitrogen and chlorine sources. The reaction proceeds at room temperature under air; tolerates a large scope of aliphatic and conjugated alkenes, including densely functionalized substrates; and provides excellent anti-Markovnikov regioselectivity with respect to the amino group. The reactivity of the 2-chloroalkylamine products, an understudied class of amphoteric molecules, enables facile access to linear or branched aliphatic amines, aziridines, aminonitriles, azido amines, and homoallylic amines.

Continuous Flow Synthesis of Morpholines and Oxazepanes with Silicon Amine Protocol (SLAP) Reagents and Lewis Acid Facilitated Photoredox Catalysis.

Photocatalytic coupling of aldehydes and silicon amine protocol (SLAP) reagents enables the simple, scalable synthesis of substituted morpholines, oxazepanes, thiomorpholines, and thiazepanes under continuous flow conditions. Key to the success of this process is the combination of an inexpensive organic photocatalyst (TPP) and a Lewis acid additive, which form an amine radical cation that is easily reduced to complete the catalytic cycle. Di- and trisubstituted SLAP reagents are formed in one step by an iron-catalyzed aminoetherification of olefins.