Organocatalytic Enantioselective [1,2]-Stevens Rearrangement of Azetidinium Salts.

The first organocatalyzed enantioselective [1,2]-Stevens rearrangement is reported. 4-Alkylideneproline derivatives are produced in up to 86% yield and in up to 90:10 er, with recrystallization enhancing er up to >99.5:0.5. Product configuration was opposite that predicted by existing stereochemical models for this organocatalyst class, and DFT calculations revealed a novel mode of asymmetric induction. The adaptability of this catalytic strategy for asymmetric [1,2]-Stevens rearrangements of other heterocyclic amines was demonstrated.

DyKAT by DiCat: Stereoconvergent Dienamine-Catalyzed Claisen Rearrangements.

This Claisen rearrangement establishes the feasibility of DyKAT of γ-epimeric enals via dienamine formation to afford enantioenriched products. γ-Aryl and -alkyl enals, and exocyclic enals that introduce quaternary centers, are all amenable substrates. Products are readily converted into pyrrolidines or cyclopentenols. Notably, a reactive dienamine intermediate has been isolated from a catalytic reaction, fully characterized, and converted to product upon reexposure to reaction conditions. Product configuration arises from a directing C-H···π interaction in the transition state.

Combining Palladium and Chiral Organocatalysis for the Enantioselective Deconjugative Allylation of Enals via Dienamine Intermediates.

A catalytic enantioselective deconjugative allylation of enals is reported. A variety of enals underwent this transformation in high yield and ee, and products can be readily transformed into γ-allyl enals via a Cope rearrangement without erosion of ee. This transformation was used to install the quaternary stereocenter in (S)-bakuchiol, enabling completion of a concise formal synthesis.

Design, organocatalytic synthesis, and bioactivity evaluation of enantiopure fluorinated LpxC inhibitors.

Enantiopure compounds with a strategically incorporated fluorine atom intended to enhance LpxC inhibition have been synthesized using an organocascade fluorination reaction as the key step. These are the first low molecular weight LpxC inhibitors to contain a fluorine atom on a critically important chiral center that is substituted with two pharmacophoric moieties, and were thusly designed to provide new SAR data for this class of compounds. Fluorinated compounds were evaluated against ESKAPE pathogens and exhibited MICs of ≤12.5 µg mL-1 against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Catalytic Enantioselective Intermolecular [5 + 2] Dipolar Cycloadditions of a 3-Hydroxy-4-pyrone-Derived Oxidopyrylium Ylide.

The first catalytic enantioselective [5 + 2] dipolar cycloaddition of a 3-hydroxy-4-pyrone-derived oxidopyrylium ylide is described. These studies leveraged the recently recognized ability of oxidopyrylium dimers to serve as the source of ylide, which was found to be key to increasing yields and achieving enantiomeric excesses up to 99%. General reaction conditions were identified for an array of α,ß-unsaturated aldehyde dipolarophiles. Reaction products possess four stereocenters, and subsequent reduction introduced a fifth contiguous stereocenter with total stereocontrol.

Metal- and O2-Free Oxidative C-C Bond Cleavage of Aromatic Aldehydes.

An oxidative C-C cleavage of aldehydes requiring neither metals nor O2 was discovered. Homobenzylic aldehydes and α-substituted homobenzylic aldehydes were cleaved to benzylic aldehydes and ketones, respectively, using nitrosobenzene as an oxidant. This reaction is chemoselective for aromatic aldehydes, as an aliphatic aldehyde was unreactive under these conditions, and other reactive functionality such as ketones and free alcohols are tolerated. A mechanism accounting for the fate of the lost carbon is proposed.

Direct Diastereo- and Enantioselective Vinylogous Michael Additions of Linear Enones.

A direct vinylogous Michael addition using linear vinylogous Michael donors has been developed. Notably, even γ-substituted Michael donors cleanly afforded γ-alkylated products in high yield and ee by this method. Moreover, control experiments revealed that, for these and related linear vinylogous Michael donors, the size of the Michael acceptor strongly influences whether α- or γ-alkylation occurs, not simply blocking effects of cocatalysts as suggested previously.

Dienamine-Catalyzed Nitrone Formation via Redox Reaction.

The first catalytic method to directly introduce nitrone functionality onto aldehyde substrates is described. This reaction proceeds by an unprecedented organocatalytic redox mechanism in which an enal is oxidized to the γ-nitrone via dienamine catalysis, thereby reducing an equivalent of nitrosobenzene. This reaction is a unique example of divergent reactivity of an enal, which represents a novel strategy for rapidly accessing small libraries of N,O-heterocycles. Alternatively, divergent reactivity can be suppressed simply by changing solvents.

γ-Amino alcohols via organocascade reactions involving dienamine catalysis.

Whereas cascade reactions catalyzed by secondary amines combine iminium- and/or enamine-catalyzed reactions, we introduce the feasibility of combining these modes of catalysis with dienamine-catalysis as a new general mechanism for cascade reactions. Enantioenriched ß-functionalized-γ-amino alcohols were produced from simple achiral enals in one flask by combining dienamine- and iminium-catalyzed intermolecular reactions. Reaction products are precursors of γ-amino acids, γ-lactams, and pyrrolidines; one was employed in a synthesis of γ-amino acid (S)-vigabatrin, the bioactive enantiomer of Sabril.

Organocatalytic kinetic resolution cascade reactions: new mechanistic and stereochemical manifold in diphenyl prolinol silyl ether catalysis.

A new cascade reaction involving an iminium-catalyzed intramolecular oxa-Michael addition followed by an enamine-catalyzed intermolecular Michael addition is reported herein. This cascade reaction generates enantiopure, highly functionalized tetrahydropyrans and tetrahydrofurans in a one-pot reaction and in up to 89 % combined yield and up to 99 % ee. This cascade reaction is catalyzed by diaryl prolinol silyl ethers, which are a privileged class of catalysts. The stereochemical outcome of these cascade reactions is unprecedented. Computational studies indicate that this stereochemical outcome arises from nonclassical hydrogen-bonding interactions between the electrophile and the substrate, and from entropic considerations of preorganization. The unprecedented configurations of the cascade products, combined with the computational models, reveal for the first time that asymmetric induction by diaryl prolinol silyl ether catalysts is not always exclusively reagent controlled. The stereochemical outcome also arises from a kinetic resolution or dynamic kinetic resolution of the ß-stereocenter through an enamine-catalyzed intermolecular reaction. This unprecedented organocascade reaction mechanism may be adaptable to diaryl prolinol silyl ether-catalyzed cascade reactions, in which both the iminium- and enamine-catalyzed steps are intermolecular, an underdeveloped type of cascade reaction.

An organocascade kinetic resolution.

Products of a novel iminium-catalyzed oxa-Michael addition undergo a kinetic resolution by a subsequent enamine-catalyzed intermolecular reaction. This is a rare example of kinetic resolution by enamine catalysis and the first organocascade kinetic resolution. This resolution produces enantioenriched 2,6-cis-tetrahydropyrans and, notably, cascade products with absolute and relative configurations normally not observed using this diphenyl prolinol silyl ether. This resolution thus provides new insight into asymmetric induction in reactions employing this catalyst.

A general organocatalyzed Michael-Michael cascade reaction generates functionalized cyclohexenes.

Although ß-dicarbonyl compounds are regularly employed as Michael donors, intermediates arising from the Michael addition of unsaturated ß-ketoesters to α,ß-unsaturated aldehydes are susceptible to multiple subsequent reaction pathways. We designed cyclic unsaturated ß-ketoester substrates that enabled the development of the first diphenyl prolinol silyl ether catalyzed Michael-Michael cascade reaction initiated by a ß-dicarbonyl Michael donor to form cyclohexene products. The reaction conditions we developed for this Michael-Michael cascade reaction were also amenable to a variety of linear unsaturated ß-ketoester substrates, including some of the same linear unsaturated ß-ketoester substrates that were previously ineffective in Michael-Michael cascade reactions. These studies thus revealed that a change in simple reaction conditions, such as solvent and additives, enables the same substrate to undergo different cascade reactions, thereby accessing different molecular scaffolds. These studies also culminated in the development of a general organocatalyzed Michael-Michael cascade reaction that generates highly functionalized cyclohexenes with up to four stereocenters, in up to 97% yield, 32:1 dr, and 99% ee, in a single step from a variety of unsaturated ß-ketoesters.

Organocatalytic enantioselective olefin aminofluorination.

Chiral beta-fluoroamines are increasingly prevalent in medicinal compounds, but there are few efficient methods to access them from achiral starting materials. To address this, a multicomponent organocascade reaction was developed in which chiral alpha-fluoro-beta-amino aldehydes were generated in a single flask from achiral alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes (2), using catalyst 12a. Conversions up to 85%, dr's up to 98:2 and ee's up to 99% of the corresponding alcohol (9) were achieved in this reaction.