Hydrogen Atom Transfer Driven Enantioselective Minisci Reaction of Alcohols.

Catalytic enantioselective Minisci reactions have recently been developed but all instances so far utilize α-amino radical coupling partners. We report a substantial evolution of the enantioselective Minisci reaction that enables α-hydroxy radicals to be used, providing valuable enantioenriched secondary alcohol products. This is achieved through the direct oxidative coupling of two C-H bonds on simple alcohol and pyridine partners through a hydrogen atom transfer (HAT)-driven approach: a challenging process to achieve due to the numerous side reactions that can occur. Our approach is highly regioselective as well as highly enantioselective. Dicumyl peroxide, upon irradiation with 390 nm light, serves as both HAT reagent and oxidant whilst selectivity is controlled by use of a chiral phosphoric acid catalyst. Computational and experimental evidence provide mechanistic insight as to the origin of selectivity, revealing a stereodetermining deprotonation step distinct from the analogous reaction of amide-containing substrates.

Hydrogen Atom Transfer-Driven Enantioselective Minisci Reaction of Amides.

Minisci-type reactions constitute one of the most powerful methods for building up complexity around basic heteroarenes. The most desirable variants involve formal oxidative coupling of a C-H bond on each partner, leading back to the simplest possible starting materials. We herein disclose a method that enables such a coupling of linear amides and heteroarenes with full control of enantioselectivity at the newly formed stereocenter as well as site selectivity on both the heteroarene and the amide. This is achieved by the use of a chiral phosphoric acid catalyst in conjunction with diacetyl as a combined hydrogen atom transfer reagent and oxidant. Diacetyl is directly photoexcitable, and thus, no extraneous photocatalyst is required: an added feature that contributes to the simplicity and practicality of the protocol.

A Computational and Experimental Investigation of the Origin of Selectivity in the Chiral Phosphoric Acid Catalyzed Enantioselective Minisci Reaction.

The Minisci reaction is one of the most valuable methods for directly functionalizing basic heteroarenes to form carbon-carbon bonds. Use of prochiral, heteroatom-substituted radicals results in stereocenters being formed adjacent to the heteroaromatic system, generating motifs which are valuable in medicinal chemistry and chiral ligand design. Recently a highly enantioselective and regioselective protocol for the Minisci reaction was developed, using chiral phosphoric acid catalysis. However, the precise mechanism by which this process operated and the origin of selectivity remained unclear, making it challenging to develop the reaction more generally. Herein we report further experimental mechanistic studies which feed into detailed DFT calculations that probe the precise nature of the stereochemistry-determining step. Computational and experimental evidence together support Curtin-Hammett control in this reaction, with initial radical addition being quick and reversible, and enantioselectivity being achieved in the subsequent slower, irreversible deprotonation. A detailed survey via DFT calculations assessed a number of different possibilities for selectivity-determining deprotonation of the radical cation intermediate. Computations point to a clear preference for an initially unexpected mode of internal deprotonation enacted by the amide group, which is a crucial structural feature of the radical precursor, with the assistance of the associated chiral phosphate. This unconventional stereodetermining step underpins the high enantioselectivities and regioselectivities observed. The mechanistic model was further validated by applying it to a test set of substrates possessing varied structural features.

Exploiting attractive non-covalent interactions for the enantioselective catalysis of reactions involving radical intermediates.

The past decade has seen unprecedented growth in the development of new chemical methods that proceed by mechanisms involving radical intermediates. This new attention has served to highlight a long-standing challenge in the field of radical chemistry - that of controlling absolute stereochemistry. This Review will examine developments using a strategy that offers enormous potential, in which attractive non-covalent interactions between a chiral catalyst and the substrate are leveraged to exert enantiocontrol. In a simplistic sense, such an approach mimics the modes of activation and control in enzyme catalysis and the realization that this can be achieved in the context of small-molecule catalysts has had sizable impact on the field of asymmetric catalysis in recent years. This strategy is now starting to quickly gather pace as a powerful approach for control of enantioselectivity in radical reactions and we hope that this focused survey of progress so far will inspire future developments in the area.

Predictive Multivariate Linear Regression Analysis Guides Successful Catalytic Enantioselective Minisci Reactions of Diazines.

The Minisci reaction is one of the most direct and versatile methods for forging new carbon-carbon bonds onto basic heteroarenes: a broad subset of compounds ubiquitous in medicinal chemistry. While many Minisci-type reactions result in new stereocenters, control of the absolute stereochemistry has proved challenging. An asymmetric variant was recently realized using chiral phosphoric acid catalysis, although in that study the substrates were limited to quinolines and pyridines. Mechanistic uncertainties and nonobvious enantioselectivity trends made the task of extending the reaction to important new substrate classes challenging and time-intensive. Herein, we describe an approach to address this problem through rigorous analysis of the reaction landscape guided by a carefully designed reaction data set and facilitated through multivariate linear regression (MLR) analysis. These techniques permitted the development of mechanistically informative correlations providing the basis to transfer enantioselectivity outcomes to new reaction components, ultimately predicting pyrimidines to be particularly amenable to the protocol. The predictions of enantioselectivity outcomes for these valuable, pharmaceutically relevant motifs were remarkably accurate in most cases and resulted in a comprehensive exploration of scope, significantly expanding the utility and versatility of this methodology. This successful outcome is a powerful demonstration of the benefits of utilizing MLR analysis as a predictive platform for effective and efficient reaction scope exploration across substrate classes.

Recent Advances in Minisci-Type Reactions.

Reactions that involve the addition of carbon-centered radicals to basic heteroarenes, followed by formal hydrogen atom loss, have become widely known as Minisci-type reactions. First developed into a useful synthetic tool in the late 1960s by Minisci, this reaction type has been in constant use over the last half century by chemists seeking to functionalize heterocycles in a rapid and direct manner, avoiding the need for de novo heterocycle synthesis. Whilst the originally developed protocols for radical generation remain in active use today, they have been joined in recent years by a new array of radical generation strategies that allow use of a wider variety of radical precursors that often operate under milder and more benign conditions. The recent surge of interest in new transformations based on free radical reactivity has meant that numerous choices are now available to a synthetic chemist looking to utilize a Minisci-type reaction. Radical-generation methods based on photoredox catalysis and electrochemistry have joined approaches which utilize thermal cleavage or the in situ generation of reactive radical precursors. This review will cover the remarkably large body of literature that has appeared on this topic over the last decade in an attempt to provide guidance to the synthetic chemist, as well as a perspective on both the challenges that have been overcome and those that still remain. As well as the logical classification of advances based on the nature of the radical precursor, with which most advances have been concerned, recent advances in control of various selectivity aspects associated with Minisci-type reactions will also be discussed.

Catalytic enantioselective Minisci-type addition to heteroarenes.

Basic heteroarenes are a ubiquitous feature of pharmaceuticals and bioactive molecules, and Minisci-type additions of radical nucleophiles are a leading method for their elaboration. Despite many Minisci-type protocols that result in the formation of stereocenters, exerting control over the absolute stereochemistry at these centers remains an unmet challenge. We report a process for addition of prochiral radicals, generated from amino acid derivatives, to pyridines and quinolines. Our method offers excellent control of both enantioselectivity and regioselectivity. An enantiopure chiral Brønsted acid catalyst serves both to activate the substrate and induce asymmetry, while an iridium photocatalyst mediates the required electron transfer processes. We anticipate that this method will expedite access to enantioenriched small-molecule building blocks bearing versatile basic heterocycles.

Carbene-catalysed reductive coupling of nitrobenzyl bromides and activated ketones or imines via single-electron-transfer process.

Benzyl bromides and related molecules are among the most common substrates in organic synthesis. They are typically used as electrophiles in nucleophilic substitution reactions. These molecules can also be activated via single-electron-transfer (SET) process for radical reactions. Representative recent progress includes α-carbon benzylation of ketones and aldehydes via photoredox catalysis. Here we disclose the generation of (nitro)benzyl radicals via N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) catalysis under reductive conditions. The radical intermediates generated via NHC catalysis undergo formal 1,2-addition with ketones to eventually afford tertiary alcohol products. The overall process constitutes a formal polarity-inversion of benzyl bromide, allowing a direct coupling of two initially electrophilic carbons. Our study provides a new carbene-catalysed reaction mode that should enable unconventional transformation of (nitro)benzyl bromides under mild organocatalytic conditions.

Carbene-catalyzed desymmetrization of 1,3-diols: access to optically enriched tertiary alkyl chlorides.

The introduction of a chlorine atom to a carbon center in an enantioselective manner via conventional C-Cl bond formation is difficult. Here we report a new approach to this class of tertiary alkyl chlorides with high optical purities. Instead of forming a new C-Cl bond, our approach involves carbene-catalyzed desymmetrization of 2-chloro-1,3-diols as the key step to set up the chiral carbon center with excellent enantiomeric excess.