Highly asymmetric aldol reaction of isatins and ketones catalyzed by chiral bifunctional primary-amine organocatalyst on water.

Herein, we have reported an environmentally friendly asymmetric aldol reaction between isatins and ketones catalyzed by double-hydrogen-bonded primary amine organocatalysts on water under mild conditions. Enantioenriched 3-hydroxy-2-oxindoles were obtained in high yields (up to 99%) and excellent stereoselectivities (up to 99 : 1 dr and 99% ee) under optimal conditions. Furthermore, the model reaction involving isatin and cyclohexanone was successfully scaled to 10 mmol with no reduction in yield or stereoselectivity. In addition, the catalyst was recovered via simple filtration and was subsequently reused on water, which highlights its good application potential.

Rh(III)-Catalyzed Dual C-H Functionalization and C-O/C-N Annulations of Monoamide Fumarates.

Pyrano[4,3-c]pyridine-diones, which are the key skeleton of bioactive compounds and functional materials, are usually prepared via a multistep synthesis using expensive substrates. This work demonstrates that Rh(III)-catalyzed dual C(sp2)-H functionalization and C-O/C-N annulation of monoamide fumarates can produce pyrano[4,3-c]pyridine-1,5(6H)-diones in high yield (up to 82%) in a single step. The substrates of monoamide fumarates and acetylenes are structurally simple, readily available, and inexpensive. The additive AgSbF6 effectively raised the yields. On account of easier dehydrogenation of OH in the COOH group than NH in the amide group in the reaction, the process first undergoes C-O annulation and then is succeeded by C-N annulation.

Highly enantioselective one-pot sequential synthesis of valerolactones and pyrazolones bearing all-carbon quaternary stereocentres.

Highly enantiopure and bioactive δ-valerolactones and pyrazolones, bearing α-all-carbon quaternary stereocentres, were successfully and sequentially prepared via a one-pot procedure starting from readily available, inexpensive materials, catalysed by a new chiral squaramide under mild reaction conditions. An organocatalytic Michael reaction afforded the valerolactones, while a one-pot Michael-hydrazinolysis-imidization cascade yielded the pyrazolones. This procedure is economically efficient and environmentally benign.

N-Primary-amine tetrapeptide-catalyzed highly asymmetric Michael addition of aliphatic aldehydes to maleimides.

The highly asymmetric Michael addition reaction between maleimides and aliphatic aldehydes catalyzed by low-loading ß-turn tetrapeptides with excellent yields and enantioselectivities at room temperature was reported. α-Branched and α-unbranched aldehydes both are suitable nucleophiles. N-Aryl, alkyl and hydrogen maleimides all are well tolerated and led to high yields and enantioselectivities. The transformation can be enlarged to the gram scale without decrease in the yield and enantioselectivity. Furthermore, the succinimides were converted into γ-lactams and γ-lactones, showing good practicality of this work. Some reaction intermediates in the proposed reaction mechanism can be captured with the HR-MS method.

Correction: N-Primary-amine tetrapeptide-catalyzed highly asymmetric Michael addition of aliphatic aldehydes to maleimides.

Correction for 'N-Primary-amine tetrapeptide-catalyzed highly asymmetric Michael addition of aliphatic aldehydes to maleimides' by Zhi-Hong Du et al., Org. Biomol. Chem., 2020, 18, 6899-6904, DOI: 10.1039/D0OB01457E.

Enantioselective vinylation of aldehydes with the vinyl Grignard reagent catalyzed by magnesium complex of chiral BINOLs.

Enantioselective vinylation of aldehydes via direct catalytic asymmetric Grignard reaction of aldehdyes and the vinyl Grinard reagent is a long-standing challenge. This work demonstrated that the magnesium (S)-3,3'-dimethyl BINOLate enantioselectively catalyze the direct vinylation of aldehydes with the deactivated vinylmagnesium bromide by bis(2-[N,N'-dimethylamino]ethyl) ether (BDMAEE) in the addition of n-butylmagnesium chloride. The highest ee of 63% was achieved up to date.

The inexpensive additive N-methylmorpholine effectively decreases the equivalents of nucleophiles in the catalytic highly enantioselective arylation of aryl aldehydes.

Highly enantioselective arylation of aryl aldehydes catalyzed by (S)-H8 -BINOL-Ti(Oi-Pr)2 complex in the presence of N-methylmorpholine (NMM) as an effective and inexpensive additive is described for the first time. We found high enantioselectivity and yield but successfully reduced the equivalents of nucleophiles triarylaluminums by 50% compared with our previous report. The practicability of the process was thereby greatly increased.

Isopropylmagnesium chloride-promoted unilateral addition of Grignard reagents to ß-diketones: one-pot syntheses of ß-tertiary hydroxyl ketones or 3-substituted cyclic-2-enones.

The regioselective unilateral additions of Grignard reagents to acyclic or cyclic ß-diketones were effectively promoted by sub-stoichiometric amounts of i-PrMgCl to afford ß-tertiary hydroxyl ketones or 3-substituted cyclic-2-enones, respectively. Also, the addition of Grignard reagents to acyclic ß-diketones followed by a reaction with cyclic ß-diketones in a one-pot process was put forward. The reaction mechanism was discussed in detail to explain the high regioselectivity via chemical experiments, hydrogen-deuterium exchange and mass spectrometry.

Aryl bromides as inexpensive starting materials in the catalytic enantioselective arylation of aryl aldehydes: the additive TMEDA enhances the enantioselectivity.

We used aryl bromides as inexpensive starting materials to enantioselectively arylate aldehydes in one pot. Aryl bromides readily transfer aryls to aryllithiums with n-butyllithium, successively to triarylaluminums with aluminum chloride, and then to aryltitaniums with titanium isopropoxide. Finally aryltitaniums arylate aldehydes catalyzed by (S)-H8-BINOL-Ti(Oi-Pr)2 in excellent yields and enantioselectivities. The additive TMEDA evidently suppresses the racemic background reaction promoted by LiCl generated from salt metathesis. This procedure represents a cost-effective and operationally convenient method for enantioenriched diarylmethanols.

TMEDA-assisted effective direct ortho arylation of electron-deficient N-heteroarenes with aromatic Grignard reagents.

In the addition of TMEDA in toluene, aryl Grignards could effectively and site-specifically ortho-arylate electron-deficient heteroarenes under mild conditions. This endeavor successfully changed the old low-yielding reaction, aryl Grignard addition to N-heteroarenes, into an efficient procedure for heterobiaryls. The combination of the inexpensive aryl Grignards, TMEDA, the cost-free air, no use of any transition-metal catalyst, the mild reaction conditions, and the high-yielding gram-scale results enables this new procedure to be cost-effective and potentially utilizable in industry.

Palladium-catalyzed allylic substitution with (η6-arene-CH2Z)Cr(CO)(3)-based nucleophiles.

Although the palladium-catalyzed Tsuji-Trost allylic substitution reaction has been intensively studied, there is a lack of general methods to employ simple benzylic nucleophiles. Such a method would facilitate access to "α-2-propenyl benzyl" motifs, which are common structural motifs in bioactive compounds and natural products. We report herein the palladium-catalyzed allylation reaction of toluene-derived pronucleophiles activated by tricarbonylchromium. A variety of cyclic and acyclic allylic electrophiles can be employed with in situ generated (η(6)-C(6)H(5)CHLiR)Cr(CO)(3) nucleophiles. Catalyst identification was performed by high throughput experimentation (HTE) and led to the Xantphos/palladium hit, which proved to be a general catalyst for this class of reactions. In addition to η(6)-toluene complexes, benzyl amine and ether derivatives (η(6)-C(6)H(5)CH(2)Z)Cr(CO)(3) (Z = NR(2), OR) are also viable pronucleophiles, allowing C-C bond-formation α to heteroatoms with excellent yields. Finally, a tandem allylic substitution/demetalation procedure is described that affords the corresponding metal-free allylic substitution products. This method will be a valuable complement to the existing arsenal of nucleophiles with applications in allylic substitution reactions.

Direct asymmetric N-specific reaction of nitrosobenzene with aldehydes catalyzed by a chiral primary amine-based organocatalyst.

Nitroso compounds have two reactive nitrogen and oxygen atoms. It is interesting and important to perform a nitrogen or oxygen selective reaction with interesting substrates. These atom specific reactions are crucial to specifically synthesis of specific compounds. An enantioselective N-specific reaction of nitrosobenzene with unmodified aldehydes was successfully achieved catalyzed first by a variety of primary amine-based organocatalysts with higher yield and enantioselectivity. The bulkier substituted groups of the organocatalyst and two hydrogen bonds from the organocatalyst and the oxygen atom of nitrosobenzene make the reaction preferentially N-specific and predominantly afford R products.

Catalytic highly enantioselective alkylation of aldehydes with deactivated grignard reagents and synthesis of bioactive intermediate secondary arylpropanols.

Because of the high reactivity of Grignard reagents, a direct, highly enantioselective Grignard reaction with aldehydes has rarely been disclosed. In this report, Grignard reagents were introduced with bis[2-(N,N'-dimethylamino)ethyl] ether (BDMAEE) to effectively deactivate their reactivity; thus, a highly enantioselective alkylation of aldehydes with Grignard reagents resulted from catalysis by (S)-BINOL-Ti(O(i)Pr)(2). It is thought that BDMAEE chelates the in situ generated salts MgBr(2) from a Schlenk equilibrium of RMgBr and Mg(O(i)Pr)Br from transmetalation of RMgBr with Ti(O(i)Pr)(4). The Mg salts can actively promote the undesired background reaction to give the racemate. The chelation definitely inhibits the catalytic activity of the Mg salts, suppresses the unwanted background reaction, and enables the highly enantioselective addition catalyzed by (S)-BINOL-Ti(O(i)Pr)(2). Consequently, the Mg salt byproducts were not removed, less Ti(O(i)Pr)(4) than RMgBr was used, and extremely low temperature was avoided in this catalytic asymmetric reaction in comparison with the research disclosed before. Various alkyl Grignard reagents were investigated in the asymmetric addition, and (i)BuMgBr resulted in the highest enantioselectivity, >99%. Furthermore, important intermediate secondary arylpropanols for chiral drug synthesis were effectively synthesized with high enantioselectivity, up to 97%, in one step.

Peptide-Catalyzed Highly Asymmetric Cross-Aldol Reaction of Aldehydes to Biomimetically Synthesize 1,4-Dicarbonyls.

ß-Turn tetrapeptides were demonstrated to catalyze asymmetric aldol reaction of α-branched aldehydes and α-carbonyl aldehydes, i.e. glyoxylates and α-ketoaldehydes, to biomimetically synthesize acyclic all-carbon quaternary center-bearing 1,4-dicarbonyls in high yield and excellent enantioselectivity under mild conditions. The spatially restricted environment of the tetrapeptide warrants high enantioselectivity and yield with broad substrates. Using this protocol, (R)-pantolactone, the key intermediate of vitamin B5, was readily accessed in a practical, efficient, and environmentally benign process from inexpensive starting materials.

2,4-Dinitrophenol as an effective cocatalyst: greatly improving the activities and enantioselectivities of primary amine organocatalysts for asymmetric aldol reactions.

Seven primary amine organocatalysts 1a-g were readily prepared from natural primary amino acids via two steps and then were used to catalyze the direct asymmetric aldol reaction, but they showed very poor enantioselectivities and activities. As an effective cocatalyst, 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) dramatically elevated the activities and enantioselectivities of these very inefficient primary amine organocatalysts. This remedial course to the very inefficient organocatalysts by selection and employment of the optimal cocatalyst was particularly cost-effective and environment-beneficial compared with de novo development of catalysts. The highest efficient organocatalytic system that was composed of 1f and DNP showed high enantioselectivities and good to high diastereoselectivities with a broad spectrum of seven ketones. The linear ketones and cyclopentanone got predominant syn products whereas cyclohexanone mainly gave anti products.

N-primary-amine-terminal beta-turn tetrapeptides as organocatalysts for highly enantioselective aldol reaction.

Tetrapeptides, containing a terminated primary amine and conformationally restricted D-Pro-Gly or D-Pro-Aib (2-aminoisobutanoic acid) segment as a strongly beta-turn-nucleating element, were designed and synthesized with condensation of N-module dipeptides with C-module dipeptides in solution. They were first applied to catalyze aldol reactions, and were found to be effective catalysts for the transformations. The tetrapeptide Val-D-Pro-Gly-Leu-OH (1g) was the optimal organocatalyst. It was shown that the intensive beta-turn conformation, indicated by CD and NOESY spectra, contributed to the (R)-aldol and high enantioselectivity of the reaction of acetone in MeOH, whereas the sharply varied conformation should contribute to the low enantioselectivity and (S)-product of the reaction in 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE). The asymmetric induction in the reaction of hydroxyacetone was not affected by solvents, and predominant anti products were achieved by 1g in MeCN with the additive (S)-BINOL.

Direct asymmetric aldol reaction of aryl ketones with aryl aldehydes catalyzed by chiral BINOL-derived zincate catalyst.

Direct asymmetric aldol reaction of aryl ketones with aryl aldehydes catalyzed by chiral metal complex is reported for the first time herein. Two novel semicrown chiral ligands 1a and 1b were synthesized from (S)- and (R)-BINOL, respectively, and then employed to catalyze the direct asymmetric aldol addition of aryl ketones to aryl aldehydes. Introduced with 2.0 equiv of diethylzinc, 1b had higher enantioselectivity than 1a. Up to 97% yield and up to 80% enantioselectivity were achieved.

Organocatalytic Enantioselective Cross-Aldol Reaction of o-Hydroxyarylketones and Trifluoromethyl Ketones.

The enantioselective cross-aldol reaction between o-hydroxyacetophenones and trifluoromethyl ketones catalyzed by chiral thiourea organocatalysts is reported. Gram-scale synthesis of the cross-aldol product was carried out, with no decrease in the yield and enantioselectivity. Furthermore, the cross-aldol products thus prepared were used in the preparation of medicinally interesting 3,5-diaryl-5-trifluoromethyl-2-isoxazoline and ß-trifluoromethyl-ß-tertiary hydroxy acid ester with high yield and enantiopurity.