Stereoselective Oxidative Bioconjugation of Amino Acids and Oligopeptides to Aldehydes.

The first stereoselective, near-equimolar, and metal-free oxidative bioconjugation of amino acids and oligopeptides to aldehydes is presented. Based on a newly developed organocatalytic oxidative concept, the C-terminal and side-chain carboxylic acid functionalities of amino acids and oligopeptides are shown to couple in a stereoselective manner to α-branched aldehydes catalyzed by a chiral primary amine and a quinone as oxidizing agent. The oxidative coupling generally proceeds in high yield. For aspartic acid, selective coupling of the side-chain, or the C-terminal carboxylic acid, is demonstrated depending on the protection strategy. The stereoselective, oxidative bioconjugation concept is extended to a series of oligopeptides where coupling to carboxylic acid functionalities is presented. Bioorthogonal linker molecules for further functionalization are obtained by merging the oxidative coupling strategy with the click concept. It is demonstrated that the configuration of the new stereocenter is determined exclusively by the organocatalyst.

Mechanisms in aminocatalysis.

The mechanisms of the α-, ß- and γ-functionalisations of aldehydes and α,ß-unsaturated aldehydes by secondary amines are presented and discussed.

Organocatalysis--after the gold rush.

The use of secondary amines as asymmetric catalysts in transformations of carbonyl compounds has seen tremendous development in recent years. Going from sporadic reports of selected reactions, aminocatalysis can now be considered as one of the methods of choice for many asymmetric functionalizations of carbonyl compounds--primarily of aldehydes and ketones. These functionalizations have been published at a breathtaking pace over the last few years--during the "golden age" and "gold rush" of organocatalysis. This tutorial review will firstly sketch the basic developments in organocatalysis, focussing especially on the use of secondary amines as catalysts for the functionalization of aldehydes and alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes, with emphasis on the mechanisms of the transformations and, secondly, outline recent trends within central areas of this research topic. Lastly, we will present our guesses as to where new developments might take organocatalysis in the years to come.

Target-directed organocatalysis: a direct asymmetric catalytic approach to chiral propargylic and allylic fluorides.

A simple, direct one-pot organocatalytic approach to the formation of optically active propargylic fluorides is presented. The approach is based on organocatalytic alpha-fluorination of aldehydes and trapping and homologation of the intermediate providing optically active propargylic fluorides in good yields and enantioselectivities up to 99% ee. The procedure takes place by addition of NFSI, in the presence of 2-[bis(3,5-bis-trifluoromethylphenyl)trimethylsilyloxymethyl]pyrrolidine (as low as 0.25 mol %) as the catalyst, to aldehydes in combination with dimethyl 2-oxopropylphosphonate and 4-acetamidobenzenesulfonyl azide. The scope of the reaction is demonstrated by the formation of a number of optically active propargylic fluorides. It is also shown that optically active fluoro-containing triazoles can be obtained in one-pot procedures from aldehydes using click-chemistry. Furthermore, important coupling and multicomponent reactions of the optically active propargylic fluorides can be performed without affecting the enantiomeric excess. The direct one-pot formation of optically active allylic fluorides from aldehydes is also demonstrated. Finally, the mechanisms for both the formation of the propargylic and allylic fluorides are outlined.

Organocatalysis with endogenous compounds: towards novel non-enzymatic reactions.

The aldol reaction of the endogeneous compounds acetone and methylglyoxal has been studied using organocatalysis in relation to biologically relevant non-enzymatic reactions. Under preparative conditions, 3-hydroxy-2,5-hexadione, known as Henze's ketol, is formed in high yield and with enantioselectivities up to 88% ee. Furthermore, Henze's ketol is also formed under simulated physiological conditions at micromolar scale, indicating that this reaction might take place in living organisms.

Controlling the formation of 1 out of 64 stereoisomers using organocatalysis.

The formation of 1 out of 64 stereoisomers, i.e. controlling the creation of 6 stereocenters, of important optically active bicyclo[3.3.1]non-2-ene compounds, has been achieved using organocatalysis; the reaction proceeds with excellent stereocontrol and can be carried out with the generation of enantiopure products using chromatography-free procedures.

Organocatalytic enantioselective one-pot synthesis and application of substituted 1,4-dihydropyridines--Hhantzsch ester analogues.

An easy and simple one-pot approach for the formation of optically active substituted 1,4-dihydropyridines by using asymmetric organocatalysis is presented. The one-pot reaction of alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes with beta-diketones or beta-ketoesters and primary amines gives optically active 2,3-substituted 1,4-dihydropyridines in moderate yields and with enantioselectivities up to 95 % ee. It is also demonstrated that the optically active 1,4-dihydropyridines can be used in situ for the direct enantioselective reduction of, for example, alpha-ketoesters with high enantioselectivity.

Enantioselective hydroxylation of nitroalkenes: an organocatalytic approach.

An easy hydroxylation of aliphatic nitroalkenes in high yields and enantioselectivities is catalysed by bifunctional thiourea-cinchona alkaloids giving access to optically active nitroalcohols and aminoalcohols as final products.

Dienamine catalysis: organocatalytic asymmetric gamma-amination of alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes.

A new concept in organocatalysis is presented, the direct asymmetric gamma-functionalization of alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes. We disclose that secondary amines can invert the usual reactivity of alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes, enabling a direct gamma-amination of the carbonyl compound using azodicarboxylates as the electrophilic nitrogen-source. The scope of the reaction is demonstrated for the enantioselective gamma-amination of different alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes, giving the products in moderate to good yields and with high enantioselectivities up to 93% ee. Experimental investigations and DFT calculations indicate that the reaction might proceed as a hetero-Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction. Such a mechanism can explain the "unexpected" stereochemical outcome of the reaction.

One-pot organocatalytic domino Michael-aldol and intramolecular SN2 reactions. Asymmetric synthesis of highly functionalized epoxycyclohexanone derivatives.

The development of the organocatalytic asymmetric one-pot Michael-Darzens condensation giving highly functionalized complex epoxycyclohexanone derivatives with up to four chiral centers is presented. Depending on the reaction conditions, either the polysubstituted 7-oxa-bicyclo[4.1.0]heptan-2-one ring system or 2-chloro-cyclohex-2-enone derivatives can be formed. For the former class of compounds a high diversity in substitution pattern is demonstrated, and the optically active products are obtained in excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivities. The potential synthetic applications of the products have been demonstrated by performing a series of highly diastereoselective transformations leading to optically active products useful for the life-science industry. Furthermore, mechanistic investigations on the formation of the chiral centers in the optically active epoxycyclohexanone are presented.

Organocatalytic asymmetric alpha-bromination of aldehydes and ketones.

The first organocatalytic enantioselective alpha-bromination of aldehydes and ketones is presented; a C2-symmetric diphenylpyrrolidine catalyst afforded the alpha-brominated aldehydes in good yields and up to 96% ee, while ketones were alpha-brominated by a C2-symmetric imidazolidine in up to 94% ee; furthermore, the organocatalytic enantioselective alpha-iodination of aldehydes is also demonstrated to proceed with up to 89% ee.