Chiral Amine-thiourea Research Articles

Asymmetric epoxidation of α,β-unsaturated ketones via an amine-thiourea dual activation catalysis

A simple asymmetric epoxidation method is developed to effectively synthesize chiral α-carbonyl epoxides through an amine-thiourea dual activation catalysis. In this method, TBHP, as an oxidant, determined the reaction rate, and the chiral amine-thiourea catalyst effectively controlled the stereoselectivity of the reaction, and KOH promoted deprotonation. 22 examples of α,β-unsaturated ketones with various substituent groups are smoothly converted into α-carbonyl epoxides with moderate to excellent enantiomeric excess.

Diastereodivergent and Enantioselective Access to Spiroepoxides via Organocatalytic Epoxidation of Unsaturated Pyrazolones.

Readily available chiral amine-thioureas are effective catalysts for the first diastereo- and enantioselective epoxidation of unsaturated pyrazolones. The trans- or cis-spiroepoxides are preferentially obtained in good yield and high to excellent enantioselectivity using an appropriate organocatalyst and tert-butyl hydroperoxide as the oxidant. The epoxidation appears applicable to highly challenging β,β'-substituted unsaturated pyrazolones, giving access to spiroepoxides bearing two vicinal quaternary stereocenters. The reaction represents a unique example of Weitz-Scheffer epoxidation, where the catalyst-controlled ring-closure step is usefully exploited to prepare both enantioenriched diastereomeric epoxides.

Asymmetric cooperative catalysis in the conjugate addition of pyrazolones to nitroolefins and subsequent dearomative chlorination

Over the past decade many bifunctional amine-thioureas have been developed as active metal-free organocatalysts. Cooperative catalysis of these amino-thioureas allows high reaction rates and excellent transfer of stereochemical information. Despite these impressive advances, the design of new high-performance catalysts for applications in asymmetric catalytic reactions is of ongoing interest in organic chemistry. Herein we describe a cooperative catalyst system consisting of a chiral aminethiourea and an achiral organic acid that promotes the conjugate addition of 4-nonsubstituted pyrazolones to nitroolefins and subsequent dearomative chlorination. The corresponding adducts and the subsequent products were obtained in high to excellent yields (up to 99%) and high stereoselectivities (up to 99/1 dr, 98% ee) under mild reaction conditions. These transformations provide an easy access to enantio-enriched pyrazole derivatives, which could possess potential pharmaceutical activity.

Direct asymmetric Michael addition of thioether-based aryl sulfanyl-propan-2-one to nitroalkenes catalyzed by a chiral amine-thiourea bifunctional organocatalyst

Although the organocatalytic direct asymmetric Michael reactions of carbonyl compounds to nitroalkenes have been investigated intensely, the Michael reaction of the thioether-based donors remains a rather undeveloped field. This work concerns the asymmetric Michael addition of aryl sulfanyl-propan-2-one to nitroalkenes with benzoic acid as an additive, and chiral amine-thiourea as a bifunctional organocatalyst. The reactions provided the highly functionalized chiral adducts with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 96% ee) and good yields. Moreover, the further transformed products exhibited excellent diastereoselectivity.

Highly enantioselective conjugate addition of fluoromalonates to nitroalkenes using bifunctional organocatalysts

The enantioselective conjugate addition of fluoromalonates to aromatic nitroalkenes catalyzed by chiral amine-thiourea bifunctional organocatalysts generated a stereocenter at the carbon bearing the aromatic group and an adjacent prochiral center from the fluoromalonate. Treatment of fluoromalonates with aromatic nitroalkenes under mild reaction conditions afforded the corresponding 2-fluoro-2-(2-nitro-1-arylethyl)malonates with high yields (72–93%) and excellent enantioselectivities (91–98% ee).

Chiral amine-thioureas bearing multiple hydrogen bonding donors: highly efficient organocatalysts for asymmetric Michael addition of acetylacetone to nitroolefins

New bifunctional organocatalysts amine-thioureas bearing multiple hydrogen bonding donors were synthesized and applied in catalytic asymmetric Michael addition of acetylacetone to aryl and alkyl nitroolefins. Multiple hydrogen bonding donors play a significant role in accelerating reactions, improving yields and enantioselectivities.

Chiral Amine Thiourea‐Promoted Enantioselective Domino Michael‐Aldol Reactions Between 2‐Mercaptobenzaldehydes and Maleimides.

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Chiral Amine-Thiourea Catalyst for the Asymmetric Michael Addition

The new bifunctional primary amine-thiourea catalyst 1 is described. This catalyst converts ketones 2 and nitroalkenes 3 into the corresponding nitroalkanes 4 in good to high yields (70-94%) and in excellent enantioselecitivities (91-99%). Nitroalkenes bearing an aliphatic substituent in β-position are also suitable substrates. Even adjacent stereocenters could be established with this method. For example, heptan-3-one and nitrostyrene gave the product with almost perfect regio- and enantioselectivity and good diastereoselectivity (15:1). Ten additional examples are reported.