Chiral Secondary Amine Research Articles

Substrate‐Controlled Chemo‐/Enantioselective Synthesis of α‐Benzylated Enals and Chiral Cyclopropane‐Fused 2‐Chromanone Derivatives

AbstractSubstrate‐controlled cascade reactions between α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes or their analogues and 2,4‐dinitrobenzyl chloride in the presence of a chiral secondary amine as the catalyst and base were developed, to obtain a broad spectrum of α‐benzylated enals and enantioenriched cyclopropane‐fused chroman‐2‐one derivatives. The cyclopropane‐tethered iminium ion clearly served as a key intermediate in these reactions to trigger stereochemical outcomes, one of which was supported by a control experiment.magnified image

Enantioselective Synthesis of SpirothiazolonesviaCooperative Catalysis

AbstractCooperative amino‐ and palladium catalysis utilizing heterocyclic systems containing strongly coordinating and adsorptive sulfur atom remains an underdeveloped area. Herein, we describe an enantioselective cyclization of enals with thiazole derivatives catalyzed with the combination of achiral Pd(0) complexes and chiral secondary amines. Chiral spirocyclic thiazolones were produced in yields ranging from 41% to 98% with stereoselectivities (from 5:1 to 12:1 dr, and 95–99% ee). Moreover, the developed strategy allows access to highly substituted chiral cyclopentane derivatives by additional transformations of spirocyclic thiazolones.magnified image

Enantioselective Construction of Spirooxindole-Fused Cyclopentanes.

The present study reports an asymmetric organocatalytic cascade reaction of oxindole derivates with α,β-unsaturated aldehydes efficiently catalyzed by simple chiral secondary amine. Spirooxindole-fused cyclopentanes were produced in excellent isolated yields (up to 98%) with excellent enantiopurities (up to 99% ee) and moderate to high diastereoselectivities. The synthetic utility of the protocol was exemplified on a set of additional transformations of the corresponding spiro compounds. In addition, a study showing the promising biological activity of selected enantioenriched products was accomplished.

Organocatalytic Enantioselective Intramolecular (Hetero)Michael Additions in Desymmetrization Processes

AbstractThe organocatalytic enantioselective desymmetrization reaction by means of an intramolecular (hetero)Michael addition is a useful strategy for the creation of complex carbo‐ and heterocycles with the generation of multiple stereocenters in a very simple manner. The intramolecular addition of carbon, oxygen and nitrogen nucleophiles to prochiral substrates bearing electronically deficient olefins takes place in the presence of organocatalysts, such as chiral primary and secondary amines, NHCs, ureas, thioureas, and BINOL phosphoric acid derivatives, reaching high levels of diastereo‐ and enantioselectivity. The main bottleneck of this methodology is the design and synthesis of the starting materials, which compromises its application. To date, the majority of examples are related to the use of 1,4‐cyclohexanedione derivatives.

Enantioselective access to chiral aliphatic amines and alcohols via Ni-catalyzed hydroalkylations

Chiral aliphatic amine and alcohol derivatives are ubiquitous in pharmaceuticals, pesticides, natural products and fine chemicals, yet difficult to access due to the challenge to differentiate between the spatially and electronically similar alkyl groups. Herein, we report a nickel-catalyzed enantioselective hydroalkylation of acyl enamines and enol esters with alkyl halides to afford enantioenriched α-branched aliphatic acyl amines and esters in good yields with excellent levels of enantioselectivity. The operationally simple protocol provides a straightforward access to chiral secondary alkyl-substituted amine and secondary alkyl-substituted alcohol derivatives from simple starting materials with great functional group tolerance.

Access to 5,6-Spirocycles Bearing Three Contiguous Stereocenters via Pd-Catalyzed Stereoselective [4 + 2] Cycloaddition of Azadienes.

We present herein a highly diastereo- and enantioselective Pd-catalyzed [4 + 2] cycloaddition of benzofuran-derived azadienes with vinyl benzoxazinanones, which represents a rare highly stereoselective cycloaddition of this class of fused azadienes as a two-atom synthon. The use of a phosphoramidite ligand bearing a chiral secondary amine with a simple biphenyl backbone proved to be the key to construct the novel spirocyclic tetrahydroquinoline scaffold containing three contiguous stereocenters as a single diastereomer in high enantioselectivity.

NHC-catalysed retro-aldol/aldol cascade reaction enabling solvent-controlled stereodivergent synthesis of spirooxindoles

An N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-catalysed retro-aldol/aldol cascade reaction of spirooxindole-based β-hydroxyaldehyde has been developed. The ring opening-closure process enables the diastereodivergent synthesis of spirocyclopentaneoxindole products with four consecutive stereocenters by simply changing the reaction solvents (THF or DCE). The Michael/aldol/retro-aldol/aldol sequential protocol allows the diastereodivergent synthesis of spirocyclopentaneoxindoles from 3-substituted oxindole and α,β-unsaturated aldehyde under the relay catalysis of a chiral secondary amine and an NHC catalyst. Moreover, four stereoisomers of the product can be selectively provided by using different combinations of a chiral secondary amine and a solvent.

Chiral N-heterocyclic carbene-iridium complexes for asymmetric reduction of prochiral ketimines

Enantioselective reduction of imines to the corresponding chiral secondary amines has been studied using a series of chiral half-sandwich iridium complexes. Chiral N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands in these complexes were synthesized from readily available, naturally occurring amino acids. Inexpensive phenylsilane was used as a convenient hydrogen donor. Under the optimized conditions, Ir-NHC complexes could reduce ketimines in good yields, albeit with moderate enantiomeric excess (ee). The phenylglycine derived chiral NHC was shown to give the best Ir catalyst and it also gave the maximum ee compared to catalysts prepared from other NHCs in this series. The opposite enantiomer of the reduction product was always obtained while using the Ir complex bearing a valine based NHC. The yields were consistently high with a variety of imine substrates having different steric and electronic demands.

NAD(P)H‐Dependent Enzymes for Reductive Amination: Active Site Description and Carbonyl‐Containing Compound Spectrum

AbstractThe biocatalytic asymmetric synthesis of amines from carbonyl compounds and amine precursors presents an important advance in sustainable synthetic chemistry. Oxidoreductases (ORs) that catalyze the NAD(P)H‐dependent reductive amination of carbonyl compounds directly to amines using amine donors present advantages complementary to those of amine transaminases (ATAs) with respect to selectivity, stability and substrate scope. Indeed some ORs accept alkyl and aryl amines as reaction partners enabling access to chiral secondary amine products that are not directly accessible using ATAs. Moreover, superior atom economy can usually be achieved as no sacrificial amines are required as with ATAs. In recent years a number of ORs that apparently catalyze both imine formation and imine reduction in the reductive amination of carbonyls has been identified using structure informed protein engineering, sequence analysis from natural biodiversity and increasingly a mixture of both. In this review we summarize the development of such enzymes from the engineering of amino acid dehydrogenases (AADHs) and opine dehydrogenases (OpDHs) to become amine dehydrogenases (AmDHs), which are active toward ketones devoid of any requisite carboxylate and/or amine functions, through to the discovery of native AmDHs and reductive aminases (RedAms), and the engineering of all of these scaffolds for improved or altered activity. Structural and mechanistic studies have revealed similarities, but also differences in the determinants of substrate binding and mechanism in the enzymes. The survey reveals that a complementary approach to enzyme discovery that utilizes both natural genetic resources and engineering can be combined to deliver biocatalysts that have significant potential for the industrial synthesis of chiral amines.magnified image

Structural Characterization of an S-enantioselective Imine Reductase from Mycobacterium Smegmatis

NADPH-dependent imine reductases (IREDs) are enzymes capable of enantioselectively reducing imines to chiral secondary amines, which represent important building blocks in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. Since their discovery in 2011, many previously unknown IREDs have been identified, biochemically and structurally characterized and categorized into families. However, the catalytic mechanism and guiding principles for substrate specificity and stereoselectivity remain disputed. Herein, we describe the crystal structure of S-IRED-Ms from Mycobacterium smegmatis together with its cofactor NADPH. S-IRED-Ms belongs to the S-enantioselective superfamily 3 (SFam3) and is the first IRED from SFam3 to be structurally described. The data presented provide further evidence for the overall high degree of structural conservation between different IREDs of various superfamilies. We discuss the role of Asp170 in catalysis and the importance of hydrophobic amino acids in the active site for stereospecificity. Moreover, a separate entrance to the active site, potentially functioning according to a gatekeeping mechanism regulating access and, therefore, substrate specificity is described.

Stereodivergent Synthesis of 1-Hydroxymethylpyrrolizidine Alkaloids.

A first stereodivergent strategy for the asymmetric synthesis of all stereoisomers of 1-hydroxymethylpyrrolizidine alkaloids is developed using an asymmetric self-Mannich reaction as a key step. An anti-selective self-Mannich reaction of methyl 4-oxobutanoate with the PMP-amine catalyzed by a chiral secondary amine is successfully optimized for the asymmetric synthesis of (+)-isoretronecanol and (-)-isoretronecanol. A syn-selective self-Mannich reaction catalyzed by proline is utilized for the asymmetric synthesis of the diastereomer, (+)-laburnine, and its enantiomer, (-)-trachelanthamidine.

Enantioselective Cyclopropanation of 4‐Nitroisoxazole Derivatives

AbstractThe present study reports an asymmetric organocatalytic cascade reaction of 4‐nitroisoxazole derivative with α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes catalysed by chiral secondary amine. Using this approach, 1,2,3‐trisubstituted cyclopropane products were obtained in isolated yields up to 98% with moderate diastereoselectivities, and enantiopurity up to 99% ee. Moreover, this synthetic protocol can be used for further applications, as shown by a set of additional transformations of the corresponding cyclopropanes and by the formal synthesis of GABA ligands.magnified image

Triplet Energy Transfer from Ruthenium Complexes to Chiral Eniminium Ions: Enantioselective Synthesis of Cyclobutanecarbaldehydes by [2+2] Photocycloaddition

AbstractChiral eniminium salts, prepared from α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes and a chiral proline derived secondary amine, underwent, upon irradiation with visible light, a ruthenium‐catalyzed (2.5 mol %) intermolecular [2+2] photocycloaddition to olefins, which after hydrolysis led to chiral cyclobutanecarbaldehydes (17 examples, 49–74 % yield), with high diastereo‐ and enantioselectivities. Ru(bpz)3(PF6)2 was utilized as the ruthenium catalyst and laser flash photolysis studies show that the catalyst operates exclusively by triplet‐energy transfer (sensitization). A catalytic system was devised with a chiral secondary amine co‐catalyst. In the catalytic reactions, Ru(bpy)3(PF6)2 was employed, and laser flash photolysis experiments suggest it undergoes both electron and energy transfer. However, experimental evidence supports the hypothesis that energy transfer is the only productive quenching mechanism. Control experiments using Ir(ppy)3 showed no catalysis for the intermolecular [2+2] photocycloaddition of an eniminium ion.

Triplet Energy Transfer from Ruthenium Complexes to Chiral Eniminium Ions: Enantioselective Synthesis of Cyclobutanecarbaldehydes by [2+2] Photocycloaddition.

Chiral eniminium salts, prepared from α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes and a chiral proline derived secondary amine, underwent, upon irradiation with visible light, a ruthenium‐catalyzed (2.5 mol %) intermolecular [2+2] photocycloaddition to olefins, which after hydrolysis led to chiral cyclobutanecarbaldehydes (17 examples, 49–74 % yield), with high diastereo‐ and enantioselectivities. Ru(bpz)3(PF6)2 was utilized as the ruthenium catalyst and laser flash photolysis studies show that the catalyst operates exclusively by triplet‐energy transfer (sensitization). A catalytic system was devised with a chiral secondary amine co‐catalyst. In the catalytic reactions, Ru(bpy)3(PF6)2 was employed, and laser flash photolysis experiments suggest it undergoes both electron and energy transfer. However, experimental evidence supports the hypothesis that energy transfer is the only productive quenching mechanism. Control experiments using Ir(ppy)3 showed no catalysis for the intermolecular [2+2] photocycloaddition of an eniminium ion.

Asymmetric photocatalysis over robust covalent organic frameworks with tetrahydroquinoline linkage

The asymmetric photocatalytic organic synthesis (APOS) process is a sustainable and environmentally benign method for the production of optically active chemicals with sunlight as an energy source. However, it still lacks efficient semiconductors with tunable band structures and has a low recycling stability. Herein, we report the synthesis of tetrahydroquinoline-linked covalent organic frameworks (QH-COFs) with irreversible tetrahydroquinoline linkage as efficient semiconductors for the visible-light-driven asymmetric α-alkylation of aldehydes by merging with a chiral secondary amine. Up to 94% ee was obtained over QH-COFs, and the activity of QH-COFs was significantly higher than those of inorganic semiconductors (e.g., TiO2, BiVO4, and WO3) under similar conditions, which is mainly attributed to their narrow band gap and suitable band edge. As far as we know, QH-COFs are the most active semiconductors for asymmetric α-alkylation of aldehydes ever reported. The QH-COFs were prepared via a one-pot Povarov cascade imine formation and cycloaddition reaction using Sc(OTf)3/Yb(OTf)3 as Lewis acid catalysts. Attributed to the tetrahydroquinoline linkage, QH-COFs showed extremely high recycling stability, which made practicals application possible. This work not only opens up a new avenue for asymmetric photocatalysis but also provides an efficient and general method for the construction of robust COFs.

Enantioselective Synthesis of Monosaccharide Analogues by Two‐Step Sequential Enamine Catalysis: Benzoyloxylation and Aldol Reaction

An efficient route to synthesize monosaccharide analogues in an enantio‐ and diastereoselective manner is described. Three contiguous stereocenters can be constructed via enantioselective benzoyloxylation of aldehydes using a chiral secondary amine catalyst and a subsequent aldol reaction of the resulting α‐benzoyloxyaldehydes with the protected dihydroxyacetones using chiral amino acid catalysts, and single diastereomers were obtained with excellent enantioselectivity.

Asymmetric Remote Addition Reactions of Heterocycle‐Based Dearomative Dienamine or Trienamine Species to 1‐Azadienes: Application to Construct Chiral Azocanes and Azecanes

The dearomative dienamines between a few five‐membered heteroaryl aldehydes and chiral secondary amine catalysts underwent highly regio‐, chemo‐ and stereoselective Michael additions to 1‐azadienes derived from 2‐methylenebenzofuran‐3(2H)‐ones or 2‐methylenebenzo[b]thiophen‐3(2H)‐ones. The very remote ε‐regioselective Michael‐type additions could be similarly realized by employing the analogous dearomative trienamine species from β‐indolyl unsaturated aldehydes. The resulting multifunctional products enabled the efficient construction of enantioenriched chiral azocane or even azecane frameworks with high molecular complexity.

Asymmetric Total Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of the Natural PDE4 Inhibitor Toddacoumalone.

We describe herein the first asymmetric total synthesis and biological evaluation of the natural PDE4 inhibitor toddacoumalone and its stereoisomers. The key step of the total synthesis is a formal asymmetric [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction catalyzed by chiral secondary amine catalysts. A variety of pyranoquinolinones and 3-methylcrotonaldehyde are well tolerated under the optimized reaction conditions, which paved the way for further SAR studies. Further biological evaluation showed 1a' with the best PDE4 inhibitory activity (IC50 = 0.18 μM).

Asymmetric Total Syntheses of (-)-Angustureine and (-)-Cuspareine via Rhodium-Catalyzed Hydroamination.

Concise syntheses of the Hancock alkaloids (-)-angustureine and (-)-cuspareine are presented, applying and refining a recently developed rhodium-catalyzed hydroamination for the stereoselective construction of the chiral secondary amine. Furthermore, the syntheses include an allene synthesis via boron-magnesium exchange as well as the construction of the tetrahydroquinoline motive via a hydroboration/Suzuki-Miyaura coupling sequence.

Asymmetric Formal Vinylogous Iminium Ion Activation for Vinyl-Substituted Heteroaryl and Aryl Aldehydes.

The vinyl group tethered to furfurals could be LUMO-lowered by forming formal vinylogous iminium ion intermediates catalyzed by a chiral secondary amine and underwent asymmetric [3 + 2] cycloaddition reactions with N-trifluoroethyl-substituted isatin imines, furnishing a variety of spirooxindoles incorporating a 3,2'-pyrrolidine motif with excellent stereoselectivity. In addition, this strategy has been successfully expanded to a number of vinyl-substituted electron-rich heteroaryl aldehydes and even some specific aryl aldehydes.