Selective Electrosynthetic Hydrocarboxylation of α,ß-Unsaturated Esters with Carbon Dioxide*.

The carboxylation of low-value commodity chemicals to provide higher-value carboxylic acids is of significant interest. Recently alternative routes to the traditional hydroformylation processes that used potentially toxic carbon monoxide and a transition metal catalyst have appeared. A significant challenge has been the selectivity observed for olefin carboxylation. Photochemical methods have shown a viable route towards the hydrocarboxylation of α,ß-unsaturated alkenes but rely on the use of an excess reducing or amine reagent. Herein we report our investigations of an electrochemical approach that is able to hydrocarboxylate α,ß-unsaturated alkenes with excellent regioselectivity and the ability to carboxylate hindered substrates to afford α-quaternary center carboxylic acids. The reported process requires no chromatography and the products are purified by simple crystallization from the reaction mixture after work-up.

Harnessing Applied Potential: Selective ß-Hydrocarboxylation of Substituted Olefins.

The construction of carboxylic acid compounds in a selective fashion from low value materials such as alkenes remains a long-standing challenge to synthetic chemists. In particular, ß-addition to styrenes is underdeveloped. Herein we report a new electrosynthetic approach to the selective hydrocarboxylation of alkenes that overcomes the limitations of current transition metal and photochemical approaches. The reported method allows unprecedented direct access to carboxylic acids derived from ß,ß-trisubstituted alkenes, in a highly regioselective manner.

Organocatalytic Synthesis of Benzazetidines by Trapping Hemiaminals with Protecting Groups.

Benzazetidines are highly strained and inherently unstable heterocycles. There are only few methodologies for assembling these compounds. Here, a protocol is presented to trap an elusive cyclic, four-membered hemiaminal structure. This method affords several benzazetidines in moderate to good yields (up to 81%), and it uses inexpensive materials and does not require catalysts based on transition metals. The high ring strain energy of these benzazetidine systems was estimated by density functional theory calculations to be about 32 kcal mol-1. This synthesis can be applied also on gram scale with reaction yield essentially unchanged.

Kinetic Resolution of Secondary Allyl Boronates and Their Application in the Synthesis of Homoallylic Amines.

Highly enantioenriched, chromatographically-stable secondary allyl boronates featuring a 1,1,2,2-tetraethyl-1,2-ethanediol fragment (Epin) were obtained by kinetic resolution of their racemic mixtures. The Epin group at boron considerably improved stability of allyl boronates allowing them to be readily isolated by chromatography on silica. The resolved reagents were applied in stereoselective synthesis of homoallylic amines with an internal double bond employing unprotected imines formed in situ from aldehydes and ammonia. The reactions proceeded with an excellent transfer of chirality.

Asymmetric Total Synthesis of (-)-Erogorgiaene and Its C-11 Epimer and Investigation of Their Antimycobacterial Activity.

A short, nine-step, highly enantioselective synthesis of (-)-erogorgiaene and its C-11 epimer is reported. The key stereochemistry controlling steps involve catalytic asymmetric crotylation, anionic oxy-Cope rearrangement and cationic cyclisation. (-)-Erogorgiaene exhibited promising antitubercular activity against multidrug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Cross-Aldol Reaction of Isatin with Acetone Catalyzed by Leucinol: A Mechanistic Investigation.

Comprehensive mechanistic studies on the enantioselective aldol reaction between isatin (1 a) and acetone, catalyzed by L-leucinol (3 a), unraveled that isatin, apart from being a substrate, also plays an active catalytic role. Conversion of the intermediate oxazolidine 4 into the reactive syn-enamine 6, catalyzed by isatin, was identified as the rate-determining step by both the calculations (ΔG(≠) =26.1 kcal mol(-1) for the analogous L-alaninol, 3 b) and the kinetic isotope effect (kH /kD =2.7 observed for the reaction using [D6 ]acetone). The subsequent reaction of the syn-enamine 6 with isatin produces (S)-2 a (calculated ΔG(≠) =11.6 kcal mol(-1) ). The calculations suggest that the overall stereochemistry is controlled by two key events: 1) the isatin-catalyzed formation of the syn-enamine 6, which is thermodynamically favored over its anti-rotamer 7 by 2.3 kcal mol(-1) ; and 2) the high preference of the syn-enamine 6 to produce (S)-2 a on reaction with isatin (1 a) rather than its enantiomer (ΔΔG(≠) =2.6 kcal mol(-1) ).

Catalytic asymmetric crotylation of aldehydes: application in total synthesis of (-)-elisabethadione.

A new, highly efficient Lewis base catalyst for a practical enantio- and diastereoselective crotylation of unsaturated aldehydes with E- and Z-crotyltrichlorosilanes has been developed. The method was employed as a key step in a novel asymmetric synthesis of bioactive serrulatane diterpene (-)-elisabethadione. Other strategic reactions for setting up the stereogenic centers included anionic oxy-Cope rearrangement and cationic cyclization. The synthetic route relies on simple, high yielding reactions and avoids use of protecting groups or chiral auxiliaries.

Palladium-catalyzed alkoxycarbonylation of terminal alkenes to produce α,ß-unsaturated esters: the key role of acetonitrile as a ligand.

A mild protocol has been developed for the Pd(II)-catalyzed alkoxycarbonylation of terminal olefins to produce α,ß-unsaturated esters with a wide range of substrates. Key features are the use of MeCN as solvent (and/or ligand) to control the reactivity of the intermediate Pd complexes and the combination of CO with O2, which facilitates the Cu(II)-mediated reoxidation of the Pd(0) complex to Pd(II) and prevents double carbonylation.

Palladium-catalyzed stereoselective intramolecular oxidative amidation of alkenes in the synthesis of 1,3- and 1,4-amino alcohols and 1,3-diamines.

An efficient and practical Pd-catalyzed intramolecular oxidative allylic amidation provides facile access to derivatives of 1,3- and 1,4-amino alcohols and 1,3-diamines. The method operates under mild reaction conditions (RT) with molecular oxygen (1 atm) as the sole reoxidant of Pd. Excellent diastereoselectivities were attained with substrates bearing a secondary stereogenic center.

Mechanistic dichotomy in the asymmetric allylation of aldehydes with allyltrichlorosilanes catalyzed by chiral pyridine N-oxides.

Detailed kinetic and computational investigation of the enantio- and diastereoselective allylation of aldehydes 1 with allyltrichlorosilanes 5, employing the pyridine N-oxides METHOX (9) and QUINOX (10) as chiral organocatalysts, indicate that the reaction can proceed through a dissociative (cationic) or associative (neutral) mechanism: METHOX apparently favors a pentacoordinate cationic transition state, while the less sterically demanding QUINOX is likely to operate via a hexacoordinate neutral complex. In both pathways, only one molecule of the catalyst is involved in the rate- and selectivity-determining step, which is supported by both experimental and computational data.

Highly enantio- and diastereoselective generation of two quaternary centers in spirocyclopropanation of oxindole derivatives.

Spirocyclopropanes: Only one out of eight possible stereoisomers was obtained in the asymmetric cascade cyclopropanation of alkylidene oxindoles with ethyl 2-chloroacetoacetate. Improved catalyst design ensured that spirocyclopropyl oxindoles featuring two quaternary centers were synthesized in high yield and high enantio- and diastereoselectivity (see scheme).

Stereoselective palladium-catalyzed functionalization of homoallylic alcohols: a convenient synthesis of di- and trisubstituted isoxazolidines and ß-amino-δ-hydroxy esters.

Enantiopure, Boc-protected alkoxyamines 12 and 13, derived from the readily available homoallylic alcohols 4 via a reaction that involves either inversion or retention of configuration, undergo a diastereoselective Pd-catalyzed ring-closing carbonylative amidation to produce isoxazolidines 16/17 (≤50:1 diastereoisomer ratio (d.r.)) that can be readily converted into the N-Boc-protected esters of ß-amino-δ-hydroxy acids and their γ-substituted homologues 37. The key carbonylative cyclization proceeds through an unusual syn addition of the palladium and the nitrogen nucleophile across the C=C bond (19→21), as revealed by the reaction of 15, which afforded isoxazolidine 18 with high diastereoselectivity.

Catalyst development for organocatalytic hydrosilylation of aromatic ketones and ketimines.

A new family of Lewis basic 2-pyridyl oxazolines have been developed, which can act as efficient organocatalysts for the enantioselective reduction of prochiral aromatic ketones and ketimines with trichlorosilane, a readily available and inexpensive reagent. 1-Isoquinolyl oxazoline, derived from mandelic acid, was identified as the most efficient catalyst of the series, capable of delivering high enantioselectivities in the reduction of both ketones (up to 94% ee) and ketimines (up to 89% ee).

Enantioselective allylation of α,ß-unsaturated aldehydes with allyltrichlorosilane catalyzed by METHOX.

α,ß-Unsaturated aldehydes 6a-j undergo an enantioselective allylation with allylic trichlorosilanes 2a,b in the presence of METHOX (4) as a Lewis basic catalyst (≤10 mol %) to produce the homoallylic alcohols 7a-l at good to high enantioselectivity (83-96% ee). This study shows that the reactivity scope of METHOX can be extended from aromatic to nonaromatic aldehydes.

A modular approach to aryl-C-ribonucleosides via the allylic substitution and ring-closing metathesis sequence. a stereocontrolled synthesis of all four α-/ß- and D-/L-C-nucleoside stereoisomers.

Iridium(I)-catalyzed allylation of the enantiopure monoprotected copper(I) alkoxide, generated from (S)-5a, with the enantiopure allylic carbonates (R)-9a,b has been developed as the key step in a new approach to C-nucleoside analogues. The anomeric center was thus constructed via a stereocontrolled formation of the C-O rather than C-C bond with retention of configuration. The resulting bisallyl ethers 15a,b (≥90% de and >99% ee) were converted into C-ribosides 29a,b via the Ru-catalyzed ring-closing metathesis, followed by a diastereoselective dihydroxylation catalyzed by OsO(4) or RuO(4) and deprotection. Variation of the absolute configuration of the starting segments 5a and 9a,b allowed a stereocontrolled synthesis of all four α/ß-D/L-combinations.

A synthetic diterpene analogue inhibits mycobacterial persistence and biofilm formation by targeting (p)ppGpp synthetases.

Bacterial persistence coupled with biofilm formation is directly associated with failure of antibiotic treatment of tuberculosis. We have now identified 4-(4,7-DiMethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroNaphthalene-1-yl)Pentanoic acid (DMNP), a synthetic diterpene analogue, as a lead compound that was capable of suppressing persistence and eradicating biofilms in Mycobacterium smegmatis. By using two reciprocal experimental approaches - ΔrelMsm and ΔrelZ gene knockout mutations versus relMsm and relZ overexpression technique - we showed that both RelMsm and RelZ (p)ppGpp synthetases are plausible candidates for serving as targets for DMNP. In vitro, DMNP inhibited (p)ppGpp-synthesizing activity of purified RelMsm in a concentration-dependent manner. These findings, supplemented by molecular docking simulation, suggest that DMNP targets the structural sites shared by RelMsm, RelZ, and presumably by a few others as yet unidentified (p)ppGpp producers, thereby inhibiting persister cell formation and eradicating biofilms. Therefore, DMNP may serve as a promising lead for development of antimycobacterial drugs.

Dendron-anchored organocatalysts: the asymmetric reduction of imines with trichlorosilane, catalysed by an amino acid-derived formamide appended to a dendron.

Asymmetric reduction of ketimines with trichlorosilane can be catalysed by the Lewis-basic N-methylvaline-derived formamide anchored to a soluble dendron () with good enantioselectivity (

Selective α,δ-hydrocarboxylation of conjugated dienes utilizing CO2 and electrosynthesis.

To date the majority of diene carboxylation processes afford the α,δ-dicarboxylated product, the selective mono-carboxylation of dienes is a significant challenge and the major product reported under transition metal catalysis arises from carboxylation at the α-carbon. Herein we report a new electrosynthetic approach, that does not rely on a sacrificial electrode, the reported method allows unprecedented direct access to carboxylic acids derived from dienes at the δ-position. In addition, the α,δ-dicarboxylic acid or the α,δ-reduced alkene can be easily accessed by simple modification of the reaction conditions.

Mapping the properties of bidentate ligands with calculated descriptors (LKB-bid).

We have extended the Ligand Knowledge Base (LKB) approach to consider a broad range of bidentate ligands, varying donors, substituents and backbones, which gives rise to a diverse set of 224 ligands in a new database, LKB-bid. Using a subset of steric and electronic parameters described previously for bidentate P,P-donor ligands (LKB-PP), here this approach has been applied to a wider set of bidentate ligands, to explore how these modifications affect the properties of organometallic complexes. The resulting database has been processed with Principal Component Analysis (PCA), generating a "map" of ligand space which highlights the contribution of donor atoms and bridge length to the variation in ligand properties. This mapping of bidentate ligand space with DFT-calculated steric and electronic parameters has demonstrated that the properties of ligands with different donor atoms can be captured within a single computational approach, providing both an overview of ligand space and scope for the more detailed investigation and comparison of different ligand classes.