Diastereo- and Enantioselective Construction of Stereochemical Arrays Exploiting Non-Classical Hydrogen Bonding in Enolborates.

We report a copper-catalyzed reductive aldol addition to aldehydes and ketones, with pinacolborane as stoichiometric reductant, that results in the generation of stereodefined syn-aldol products.  Cyclic, acyclic, fused and spirocyclic aldols bearing contiguous stereocenters are obtained with excellent yields and diastereoselectivities.  Moreover, enantioselective reactions could be carried out with cycloalkenones to deliver aldols bearing three contiguous stereocenters and with up to 98% ee.  Computations reveal that the enolborate intermediate undergoes the syn-aldol reaction via a twist-boat transition state that is stabilized by non-classical hydrogen bonding interactions.

Dearomative Intramolecular (4+3) Cycloadditions of Thiophenes.

Unexpectedly facile dearomative intramolecular (4+3) cycloadditions of thiophenes with epoxy enolsilanes, providing sulfur-bridged cycloadducts, are reported. A total of fifteen thiophene substrates have been found to undergo (4+3) cycloaddition smoothly to produce endo and exo (4+3) adducts in yields of up to 83 % with moderate to good diastereoselectivity. Complete conservation of enantiomeric purity was observed when the optically enriched epoxide was used. The desulfurizing transformations of the sulfur-bridged skeleton of the cycloadducts provide functionalized 6,7-fused bicyclic frameworks consisting of 1,3-cycloheptadiene subunits. Density functional theory calculations reveal the origins of the facile dearomatization of thiophenes in these (4+3) cycloadditions.

Copper-Catalyzed Reductive Ireland-Claisen Rearrangements of Propargylic Acrylates and Allylic Allenoates.

The copper-catalyzed reductive Ireland-Claisen rearrangement of propargylic acrylates led to 3,4-allenoic acids. The use of silanes or pinacolborane as stoichiometric reducing agents and triethylphosphite as a ligand facilitated the divergent and complementary selectivity for the synthesis of diastereomeric anti- and syn-rearranged products, respectively. Copper-catalyzed reductive Ireland-Claisen rearrangement of allylic 2,3-allenoates proceeded effectively only when pinacolborane was used as a reductant to generate various 1,5-dienes in excellent yields and with good diastereoselectivities in some cases. Mechanistic studies showed that the silyl and boron enolates, rather than the copper enolate, underwent a stereospecific rearrangement via a chairlike transition state to afford the corresponding Claisen rearrangement products.

Chemoselective and Diastereoselective Intramolecular (3+2) Cycloadditions of Epoxy and Aziridinyl Enolsilanes.

Epoxy and aziridinyl enolsilanes react as oxyallylic cation equivalents in highly chemo- and diastereoselective intramolecular (3+2) cycloadditions with a range of dienes and olefins. With acyclic dienes, the (3+2) cycloaddition outcompetes the (4+3) pathway traditionally observed in this kind of system almost exclusively. With both conjugated dienes and isolated olefins, excellent diastereoselectivities are observed, and cycloadducts can be obtained in optically-enriched forms. Computational studies indicate that the stepwise (3+2) cycloaddition involves an activated epoxy/aziridinyl intermediate and the conformational flexibility of the intermediate determines the preference for (3+2) cycloadduct formation. Further transformations of the (3+2) cycloadducts produce densely functionalized trans-hydrindane scaffolds.

Application of (4+3) cycloaddition strategies in the synthesis of natural products.

(4+3) Cycloadditions have been widely applied in synthesis, and in this review article, we summarize some of the more recent applications, including formal (4+3) cycloadditions, in the synthesis of natural products. Many of these natural product target frameworks have cycloheptane subunits, for which the (4+3) cycloaddition is a convergent strategy for their assembly. Some natural product targets do not possess seven membered rings, and their syntheses have exploited the functional group endowed (4+3) cycloadducts resulting from these reactions, highlighting the utility of this methodology for the synthesis of a range of complex molecules.

Synthesis and Applications of Unquaternized C-Bound Boron Enolates.

A general and facile method to prepare unquaternized C-bound boron enolates by a ligand-controlled O-to-C isomerization is reported. Using this protocol, C-bound pinacolboron enolates have been isolated in pure form for the first time, and have been fully characterized by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. In contrast to the general perception, such C-boron enolates are stable without coordinative saturation at the boron. Moreover, C-boron enolates present reactivities that are distinct from the O-boron enolates, and their applications in C-O and C-C bond formations are demonstrated.

Transannular [4+3] Cycloadditions of Macrocyclic Epoxy Ketones.

Transannular [4+3] cycloadditions of dienophiles derived from macrocyclic epoxy ketones produce fused ring systems having central cycloheptane subunits. In some cases, the base directly induced cycloisomerization of the epoxy ketones to yield the cycloadducts; in others, the epoxy ketones were transformed into their corresponding enolsilanes before undergoing cycloaddition. Enantiomerically enriched tricyclic arrays were obtained from cycloadditions starting from optically pure epoxy ketones.

Intramolecular (4+3) Cycloadditions of Pyrroles and Application to the Synthesis of the Core of Class II Galbulimima Alkaloids.

The first intramolecular (4+3) cycloaddition of pyrroles with epoxy enolsilanes as the electrophiles was developed and used to generate optically-enriched cycloadducts containing the nortropane substructure in good yields. Using this pyrrole cycloaddition as the key step, we achieved the asymmetric synthesis of a nortropane compound bearing the BCDEF ring structure common to the Class II galbulimima alkaloids.

Dearomative Intramolecular (4+3) Cycloadditions of Arenes with Epoxy and Aziridinyl Enolsilanes.

An intramolecular (4+3) cycloaddition of epoxy and aziridinyl enolsilanes with benzene, naphthalene, and anthracene derivatives is reported. Highly functionalized polycyclic alcohols and amines are generated under relatively mild reaction conditions with yields up to 89 %. Optically enriched cycloadducts are obtained from cycloadditions of enantiomerically pure epoxides and aziridines.

Copper Hydride Catalyzed Reductive Claisen Rearrangements.

An efficient reductive Claisen rearrangement, catalyzed by in situ generated copper hydride and stoichiometric in diethoxymethylsilane, has been developed. Yields of up to 95 % with good to excellent diastereoselectivities were observed in this reaction. Mechanistic studies showed that the stereospecific rearrangement proceeded via a chair transition state of (E)-silyl ketene acetals as intermediates and not via the copper enolates.

Formal total synthesis of (+)-cortistatins A and J.

An efficient formal total synthesis of (+) cortistatins A and J has been accomplished, by exploiting a highly diastereoselective intramolecular [4+3] cycloaddition of epoxy enolsilanes as the key reaction to construct rings B and C of the cortistatins in one step.

Concerted Ring Opening and Cycloaddition of Chiral Epoxy Enolsilanes with Dienes.

Silyl-triflate-catalyzed (4+3) cycloadditions of epoxy enolsilanes with dienes provide a mild and chemoselective synthetic route to seven-membered carbocycles. Epoxy enolsilanes containing a terminal enolsilane and a single stereocenter undergo cycloaddition with almost complete conservation of enantiomeric purity, a finding that argues against the involvement of oxyallyl cation intermediates which have been previously proposed for these types of reactions. Reported are theoretical and experimental investigations of the cycloaddition mechanism. The major enantiomers of the cycloadducts are derived from S(N)2-like reactions of the silylated epoxide with the diene, in which stereospecific ring opening and formation of the two new C-C bonds occur in a single step. Calculations predict, and experiments confirm, that the observed small losses of enantiomeric purity are traced to a triflate-mediated double S(N)2 cycloaddition pathway.

Desymmetrizing reductive aldol cyclizations of enethioate derivatives of 1,3-diones catalyzed by a chiral copper hydride.

A range of enethioate derivatives of 1,3-diones underwent reductive aldol cyclizations catalyzed by a chiral copper hydride generated in situ from 5 mol% TaniaPhos (SL-T001-1), 5 mol% Cu(OAc)(2)·H(2)O, 5 mol% bipyridine and 2.0 equiv. of PhSiH(3), to furnish polycyclic ß-hydroxythioester products bearing three newly established contiguous stereocenters, with >98:2 dr and in up to 94% yield and 98% ee. The use of an amine such as bipyridine or 2,6-lutidine as additive results in an increase of the overall reaction rate. The major bicyclic aldol product has all substituents cis and can be rationalized by a reductively generated (Z)-enolate reacting with the dione via a cyclic transition state.

Direct asymmetric reductive amination of α-keto acetals: a platform for synthesizing diverse α-functionalized amines.

We report an efficient and straightforward method to synthesize enantio-enriched N-unprotected α-amino acetals via ruthenium-catalyzed direct asymmetric reductive amination. The α-amino acetal products are versatile and valuable platform molecules that can be converted to the corresponding α-amino acids, amino alcohols, and other derivatives by convenient transformations.

Conjugate reduction and reductive aldol cyclization of α,ß-unsaturated thioesters catalyzed by (BDP)CuH.

A conjugate reduction of α,ß-unsaturated thioesters catalyzed by copper hydride using PMHS as stoichiometric reductant has been developed. 1,2-Bis(diphenylphosphino)benzene (BDP) was the most effective ligand for this reduction. Saturated thioesters could be produced in excellent yields when the substituent on the thiol is not sterically-demanding. This protocol was applied to induce the reductive aldol cyclization of keto-enethioates, which could offer ß-hydroxythioesters in moderate to good yields.

Copper-Catalyzed Enantioselective 1,2-Reduction of Cycloalkenones.

We report an asymmetric 1,2-reduction of cyclic α,ß-unsaturated ketones to access various enantiomerically enriched cyclic allylic alcohols under mild conditions, catalyzed by in situ generated copper hydride ligated with (R)-DTBM-C3*-TunePhos. α-Brominated cycloalkenones were reduced with excellent enantioselectivities of up to 98% ee, while substrates that were without α-substituents were reduced chemoselectively, with moderate enantioselectivities.

Pseudolaric acids: isolation, bioactivity and synthetic studies.

The pseudolaric acids are diterpenoids isolated from the root bark of Pseudolarix amabilis, or the golden larch. Pseudolaric acids A and B are the major antifungal and anti-angiogenic congeners of this family of compounds. This review presents the results of the isolation, biological and synthetic studies of these natural products. 127 references are cited.