Dual-Hydrogen-Bond Donor and Brønsted Acid Cocatalysis Enables Highly Enantioselective Protio-Semipinacol Rearrangement Reactions.

A catalytic protio-semipinacol ring-expansion reaction has been developed for the highly enantioselective conversion of tertiary vinylic cyclopropyl alcohols into cyclobutanone products bearing α-quaternary stereogenic centers. The method relies on the cocatalytic effect of a chiral dual-hydrogen-bond donor (HBD) with hydrogen chloride. Experimental evidence is provided for a stepwise mechanism where protonation of the alkene generates a short-lived, high-energy carbocation, which is followed by C-C bond migration to deliver the enantioenriched product. This research applies strong acid/chiral HBD cocatalysis to weakly basic olefinic substrates and lays the foundation for further investigations of enantioselective reactions involving high-energy cationic intermediates.

Noncovalent Stabilization of Radical Intermediates in the Enantioselective Hydroamination of Alkenes with Sulfonamides.

Noncovalent interactions (NCIs) are critical elements of molecular recognition in a wide variety of chemical contexts. While NCIs have been studied extensively for closed-shell molecules and ions, very little is understood about the structures and properties of NCIs involving free radical intermediates. In this report, we describe a detailed mechanistic study of the enantioselective radical hydroamination of alkenes with sulfonamides and present evidence suggesting that the basis for asymmetric induction in this process arises from attractive NCIs between a neutral sulfonamidyl radical intermediate and a chiral phosphoric acid (CPA). We describe experimental, computational, and data science-based evidence that identifies the specific radical NCIs that form the basis for the enantioselectivity. Kinetic studies support that C-N bond formation determines the enantioselectivity. Density functional theory investigations revealed the importance of both strong H-bonding between the CPA and the N-centered radical and a network of aryl-based NCIs that serve to stabilize the favored diastereomeric transition state. The contributions of these specific aryl-based NCIs to the selectivity were further confirmed through multivariate linear regression analysis by comparing the measured enantioselectivity to computed descriptors. These results highlight the power of NCIs to enable high levels of enantioselectivity in reactions involving uncharged open-shell intermediates and expand our understanding of radical-molecule interactions.

Enantioselective Synthesis of α-Allyl Amino Esters via Hydrogen-Bond-Donor Catalysis.

We report a chiral-squaramide-catalyzed enantio- and diastereoselective synthesis of α-allyl amino esters. The optimized protocol provides access to N-carbamoyl-protected amino esters via nucleophilic allylation of readily accessible α-chloro glycinates. A variety of useful α-allyl amino esters were prepared, including crotylated products bearing vicinal stereocenters that are inaccessible through enolate alkylation, with high enantioselectivity (up to 97% ee) and diastereoselectivity (>10:1). The reactions display first-order kinetic dependence on both the α-chloro glycinate and the nucleophile, consistent with rate-limiting C-C bond formation. Computational analysis of the uncatalyzed reaction predicts an energetically inaccessible iminium intermediate, and a lower energy concerted SN2 mechanism.

C-H Activation from Iron(II)-Nitroxido Complexes.

The reaction of nitroxyl radicals TEMPO (2,2',6,6'-tetramethylpiperidinyloxyl) and AZADO (2-azaadamantane-N-oxyl) with an iron(I) synthon affords iron(II)-nitroxido complexes (Ar L)Fe(κ1 -TEMPO) and (Ar L)Fe(κ2 -N,O-AZADO) (Ar L=1,9-(2,4,6-Ph3 C6 H2 )2 -5-mesityldipyrromethene). Both high-spin iron(II)-nitroxido species are stable in the absence of weak C-H bonds, but decay via N-O bond homolysis to ferrous or ferric iron hydroxides in the presence of 1,4-cyclohexadiene. Whereas (Ar L)Fe(κ1 -TEMPO) reacts to give a diferrous hydroxide [(Ar L)Fe]2 (µ-OH)2 , the reaction of four-coordinate (Ar L)Fe(κ2 -N,O-AZADO) with hydrogen atom donors yields ferric hydroxide (Ar L)Fe(OH)(AZAD). Mechanistic experiments reveal saturation behavior in C-H substrate and are consistent with rate-determining hydrogen atom transfer.

Conformational Control of Chiral Amido-Thiourea Catalysts Enables Improved Activity and Enantioselectivity.

While aryl pyrrolidinoamido-thioureas derived from α-amino acids are effective catalysts in a number of asymmetric transformations, they exist as mixtures of slowly interconverting amide rotamers. Herein, the compromising role of amide bond isomerism is analyzed experimentally and computationally. A modified catalyst structure that exists almost exclusively as a single amide rotamer is introduced. This modification is shown to result in improved reactivity and enantioselectivity by minimizing competing reaction pathways.

Mechanism of the Intramolecular Hexadehydro-Diels-Alder Reaction.

Theoretical analysis of the mechanism of the intramolecular hexadehydro-Diels-Alder (HDDA) reaction, validated against prior and newly measured kinetic data for a number of different tethered yne-diynes, indicates that the reaction proceeds in a highly asynchronous fashion. The rate-determining step is bond formation at the alkyne termini nearest the tether, which involves a transition-state structure exhibiting substantial diradical character. Whether the reaction then continues to close the remaining bond in a concerted fashion or in a stepwise fashion (i.e., with an intervening intermediate) depends on the substituents at the remaining terminal alkyne positions. Computational modeling of the HDDA reaction is complicated by the significant diradical character that arises along the reaction coordinate, which leads to instabilities in both restricted singlet Kohn-Sham density functional theory (DFT) and coupled cluster theory based on a Hartree-Fock reference wave function. A consistent picture emerges, however, from comparison of broken-symmetry DFT calculations and second-order perturbation theory based on complete-active-space self-consistent-field (CASPT2) calculations.