A General Organocatalytic System for Enantioselective Radical Conjugate Additions to Enals.

Herein, we report a general iminium ion-based catalytic method for the enantioselective conjugate addition of carbon-centered radicals to aliphatic and aromatic enals. The process uses an organic photoredox catalyst, which absorbs blue light to generate radicals from stable precursors, in combination with a chiral amine catalyst, which secures a consistently high level of stereoselectivity. The generality of this catalytic platform is demonstrated by the stereoselective interception of a wide variety of radicals, including non-stabilized primary ones which are generally difficult to engage in asymmetric processes. The system also served to develop organocatalytic cascade reactions that combine an iminium-ion-based radical trap with an enamine-mediated step, affording stereochemically dense chiral products in one-step.

Photo-Organocatalytic Enantioselective Radical Cascade Reactions of Unactivated Olefins.

Radical cascade processes are invaluable for their ability to rapidly construct complex chiral molecules from simple substrates. However, implementing catalytic asymmetric variants is difficult. Reported herein is a visible-light-mediated organocatalytic strategy that exploits the excited-state reactivity of chiral iminium ions to trigger radical cascade reactions with high enantioselectivity. By combining two sequential radical-based bond-forming events, the method converts unactivated olefins and α,ß-unsaturated aldehydes into chiral adducts in a single step. The implementation of an asymmetric three-component radical cascade further demonstrates the complexity-generating power of this photochemical strategy.

Modern Aspects of the Smiles Rearrangement.

The Smiles rearrangement is an intramolecular SN Ar reaction, breaking a C-X single bond and forming a new C-X or C-C bond though ipso substitution. Its vast scope, in terms of nucleophile, leaving group, and ring-size of the transition state, make it a powerful tool for arene functionalization, as it can be employed strategically to switch easily-forged bonds with more difficult connections that would be challenging to realize in the intermolecular mode. The reaction has received significantly renewed attention in recent years, as advances in areas such as arene C-X bond formation and radical generation have been harnessed for new arene syntheses through Smiles chemistry. In addition, new reaction modes have been discovered, such as the Clayden rearrangement of lithiated ureas, creating innovative applications for Smiles rearrangements in asymmetric arylation. This Minireview will discuss advances in these areas in the recent literature, covering both two-electron, polar Smiles rearrangements along with single-electron radical transformations.

Metal Free Bi(hetero)aryl Synthesis: A Benzyne Truce-Smiles Rearrangement.

A new benzyne transformation is described that affords versatile biaryl structures without recourse to transition-metal catalysis or stoichiometric amounts of organometallic building blocks. Aryl sulfonamides add to benzyne upon fluoride activation, and then undergo an aryl Truce-Smiles rearrangement to afford biaryls with sulfur dioxide extrusion. The reaction proceeds under simple reaction conditions and has excellent scope for the synthesis of sterically hindered atropisomeric biaryl amines.