Tertiary Electrophiles Research Articles

Construction of Vicinal Quaternary Centers via Ru-Catalyzed Enantiospecific Allylic Substitution with Lithium Ester Enolates.

The installation of vicinal quaternary centers with absolute stereocontrol constitutes a considerable challenge in organic synthesis. Herein, we introduce a novel [Cp*Ru(MeCN)3]PF6/phenoxythiazoline catalyst system that achieves enantiospecific allylic substitution of tertiary carbonates with α,α-disubstituted lithium ester enolates to give products containing vicinal quaternary centers. Noteworthy features include the direct use of nonstabilized ester enolates, a class of nucleophiles which has rarely been used in transition metal-catalyzed allylic substitution reactions. The approach is demonstrated for a broad scope of tertiary electrophiles as well as ester enolates and accomplishes stereoretentive substitution with excellent conservation of ee (89-99%) and branched/linear regioselectivities (up to 40:1).

Mechanism-based ligand design for copper-catalysed enantioconvergent C(sp3)-C(sp) cross-coupling of tertiary electrophiles with alkynes.

In contrast with the well-established enantioconvergent radical C(sp3)-C cross-coupling of racemic secondary alkyl electrophiles, the corresponding coupling of tertiary electrophiles to forge all-carbon quaternary stereocentres remains underexplored. The major challenge arises from the steric hindrance and the difficult enantio-differentiation of three distinct carbon substituents of prochiral tertiary radicals. Here we demonstrate a general copper-catalysed enantioconvergent C(sp3)-C(sp) cross-coupling of diverse racemic tertiary alkyl halides with terminal alkynes (87 examples). Key to the success is the rational design of chiral anionic N,N,N-ligands tailor-made for the computationally predicted outer-sphere radical group transfer pathway. This protocol provides a practical platform for the construction of chiral C(sp3)-C(sp/sp2/sp3) bonds, allowing for expedient access to an array of synthetically challenging quaternary carbon building blocks of interest in organic synthesis and related areas.

Photoinduced, Copper-Catalyzed Enantioconvergent Alkylations of Anilines by Racemic Tertiary Electrophiles: Synthesis and Mechanism.

Transition-metal catalysis of substitution reactions of alkyl electrophiles by nitrogen nucleophiles is beginning to emerge as a powerful strategy for synthesizing higher-order amines, as well as controlling their stereochemistry. Herein, we report that a readily accessible chiral copper catalyst (commercially available components) can achieve the photoinduced, enantioconvergent coupling of a variety of racemic tertiary alkyl electrophiles with aniline nucleophiles to generate a new C-N bond with good ee at the fully substituted stereocenter of the product; whereas this photoinduced, copper-catalyzed coupling proceeds at -78 °C, in the absence of light and catalyst, virtually no C-N bond formation is observed even upon heating to 80 °C. The mechanism of this new catalytic enantioconvergent substitution process has been interrogated with the aid of a wide array of tools, including the independent synthesis of proposed intermediates and reactivity studies, spectroscopic investigations featuring photophysical and EPR data, and DFT calculations. These studies led to the identification of three copper-based intermediates in the proposed catalytic cycle, including a chiral three-coordinate formally copper(II)-anilido (DFT analysis points to its formulation as a copper(I)-anilidyl radical) complex that serves as a persistent radical that couples with a tertiary organic radical to generate the desired C-N bond with good enantioselectivity.

Enantioselective Tertiary Electrophile (Hetero)Benzylation: Pd‐Catalyzed Substitution of Isoprene Monoxide with Arylacetates**

The enantioselective generation of quaternary carbon centers remains challenging but is of growing importance for the preparation of functional molecules. Metal catalyzed allylic alkylations of tertiary electrophiles can provide access to these substructures but remain generally incompatible with organometallic benzyl nucleophiles. Here we demonstrate that electron-deficient arylacetates can serve as benzyl nucleophile surrogates to generate enantioenriched acyclic molecules containing a quaternary carbon center via a two-step substitution-decarboxylation process using isoprene monoxide. Products are often obtained in >90 % ee using a commercially available catalyst. An array of electron-withdrawing functional groups on the arylacetate moiety are tolerated. The lactone generated by the initial substitution reaction can be used in further stereoselective transformations to prepare molecules with acyclic vicinal quaternary stereocenters.

Enantioselective Tertiary Electrophile (Hetero)Benzylation: Pd‐Catalyzed Substitution of Isoprene Monoxide with Arylacetates**

AbstractThe enantioselective generation of quaternary carbon centers remains challenging but is of growing importance for the preparation of functional molecules. Metal catalyzed allylic alkylations of tertiary electrophiles can provide access to these substructures but remain generally incompatible with organometallic benzyl nucleophiles. Here we demonstrate that electron‐deficient arylacetates can serve as benzyl nucleophile surrogates to generate enantioenriched acyclic molecules containing a quaternary carbon center via a two‐step substitution–decarboxylation process using isoprene monoxide. Products are often obtained in >90 % ee using a commercially available catalyst. An array of electron‐withdrawing functional groups on the arylacetate moiety are tolerated. The lactone generated by the initial substitution reaction can be used in further stereoselective transformations to prepare molecules with acyclic vicinal quaternary stereocenters.

A relay catalysis strategy for enantioselective nickel-catalyzed migratory hydroarylation forming chiral α-aryl alkylboronates

A relay catalysis strategy for enantioselective nickel-catalyzed migratory hydroarylation forming chiral α-aryl alkylboronates

Quaternary stereocentres via catalytic enantioconvergent nucleophilic substitution reactions of tertiary alkyl halides

The development of efficient methods, particularly catalytic and enantioselective processes, for the construction of all-carbon quaternary stereocentres is an important (and difficult) challenge in organic synthesis, due to the occurrence of this motif in a range of bioactive molecules. One conceptually straightforward and potentially versatile approach is the catalytic enantioconvergent substitution reaction of a readily available racemic tertiary alkyl electrophile by an organometallic nucleophile; however, examples of such processes are rare. In this report, we demonstrate that a nickel-based chiral catalyst achieves enantioconvergent couplings of a variety of tertiary electrophiles (cyclic and acyclic α-halocarbonyl compounds) with alkenylmetal nucleophiles to form quaternary stereocentres with good yield and enantioselectivity under mild conditions in the presence of a range of functional groups. These couplings, which likely proceed via a radical pathway, provide access to an array of useful families of organic compounds, including intermediates in the total synthesis of two natural products, (−)-eburnamonine and madindoline A.

Ni-Catalyzed Enantioconvergent Coupling of Epoxides with Alkenylboronic Acids: Construction of Oxindoles Bearing Quaternary Carbons

We have developed a nickel- nickel/bisphosphine-catalyzed stereoconvergent cross-coupling reaction of epoxides with alkenylboronic acids. Racemic spiroepoxyoxindoles were converted to chiral homoal...

Catalytic enantioconvergent coupling of secondary and tertiary electrophiles with olefins.

Carbon-carbon bonds, including those between sp3-hybridized carbons (alkyl-alkyl bonds), typically comprise much of the framework of organic molecules. In the case of sp3-hybridized carbons, the carbon can be stereogenic, and the particular stereochemistry can have implications for structure and/or function1,2,3. As a consequence, the development of methods that simultaneously construct alkyl-alkyl bonds and control stereochemistry is a highly important, as well as a challenging, objective. Herein, a new strategy for enantioselective alkyl-alkyl bond formation is described, wherein a racemic alkyl electrophile is coupled with an olefin in the presence of a hydrosilane, through the action of a chiral nickel catalyst. Families of racemic alkyl halides, including tertiary substrates, that have not previously proved to be suitable for enantioconvergent couplings with alkylmetal nucleophiles are shown to cross-couple with olefins with good enantioselectivity and yield under very mild conditions. Given the ready availability of olefins, this new approach opens the door to the development of ever more general and powerful methods for enantioconvergent alkyl-alkyl coupling.

Synthesis of Allylic Alcohols via Cu-Catalyzed Hydrocarbonylative Coupling of Alkynes with Alkyl Halides.

We have developed a modular procedure to synthesize allylic alcohols from tertiary, secondary, and primary alkyl halides and alkynes via a Cu-catalyzed hydrocarbonylative coupling and 1,2-reduction tandem sequence. The use of tertiary alkyl halides as electrophiles was found to enable the synthesis of various allylic alcohols bearing α-quaternary carbon centers in good yield with high 1,2-reduction selectivity. Mechanistic studies that suggested a different pathway was operative with tertiary alkyl halides compared with primary and secondary alkyl halides for generating the key copper(III) oxidative adduct. For tertiary electrophiles, an acyl halide likely forms via radical atom transfer carbonylation. The preference for 1,2-reduction over 1,4-reduction of α,β-unsaturated ketones bearing tertiary substituents was rationalized using density functional theory transition state analysis. On the basis of this computational model, the coupling method was extended to primary and secondary alkyl iodide electrophiles by using internal alkynes with aryl substituents, providing trisubstituted allylic alcohols in high yield with good regioselectivity.

An Increased Understanding of Enolate Additions under Mechanochemical Conditions.

Very little is known about enolate addition chemistry under solver-free mechanochemical conditions. In this report, we investigated the ability to selectively form products arising from the primary, secondary, and tertiary enolates under solvent-free conditions. Using potassium tert-butoxide as the base and primary, secondary, and tertiary electrophiles, we were able to generate various enolate addition products including, 1,3,3,3-tetraphenyl-2,2-dimethyl-1-propanone; a molecule we did not observe under traditional solution-based conditions.

Nickel-Catalyzed Carbon–Carbon Bond-Forming Reactions of Unactivated Tertiary Alkyl Halides: Suzuki Arylations

The first Suzuki cross-couplings of unactivated tertiary alkyl electrophiles are described. The method employs a readily accessible catalyst (NiBr(2)·diglyme/4,4'-di-tert-butyl-2,2'-bipyridine, both commercially available) and represents the initial example of the use of a group 10 catalyst to cross-couple unactivated tertiary electrophiles to form C-C bonds. This approach to the synthesis of all-carbon quaternary carbon centers does not suffer from isomerization of the alkyl group, in contrast with the umpolung strategy for this bond construction (cross-coupling of a tertiary alkylmetal with an aryl electrophile). Preliminary mechanistic studies are consistent with the generation of a radical intermediate along the reaction pathway.

Scope and Mechanistic Insights into the Use of Tetradecyl(trihexyl)phosphonium Bistriflimide: A Remarkably Selective Ionic Liquid Solvent for Substitution Reactions

A survey of substitution reactions conducted in a phosphonium bistriflimide ionic liquid is presented. The results demonstrate high selectivity favoring substitution over typically competitive elimination and solvolytic processes even when challenging secondary and tertiary electrophiles are employed. The first reports of Kornblum substitution reactions in an ionic liquid are described that proceed with very high chemoselectivity in favor of nitro over nitroso products and elimination side products. The structure-reactivity study indicates that these reactions proceed through a narrow spectrum of pathways ranging from straight S(N)2 to a preassociation pathway along a saddle point that approaches the S(N)1 limit. The barrier to the formation of dissociated carbocations is attributed to the structural features of this ionic liquid that favor intervention of the associated nucleophile over dissociation, also preventing cross over to E1 processes. The lack of any basic entity in the phosphonium bistriflimide ionic liquid appears to prevent any potential base-mediated elimination reactions, which makes this a highly selective medium for use in general substitution reactions.