Asymmetric counteranion-directed Lewis acid organocatalysis for the scalable cyanosilylation of aldehydes.

Due to the high versatility of chiral cyanohydrins, the catalytic asymmetric cyanation reaction of carbonyl compounds has attracted widespread interest. However, efficient protocols that function at a preparative scale with low catalyst loading are still rare. Here, asymmetric counteranion-directed Lewis acid organocatalysis proves to be remarkably successful in addressing this problem and enabled a molar-scale cyanosilylation in quantitative yield and with excellent enantioselectivity. Also, the catalyst loading could be lowered to a part-per-million level (50 ppm: 0.005 mol%). A readily accessible chiral disulfonimide was used, which in combination with trimethylsilyl cyanide, turned into the active silylium Lewis acid organocatalyst. The nature of a peculiar phenomenon referred to as a "dormant period", which is mainly induced by water, was systematically investigated by means of in situ Fourier transform infrared analysis.

A powerful chiral counteranion motif for asymmetric catalysis.

Room to swing a cat: A chiral disulfonimide has been designed as a powerful new motif for asymmetric catalysis. As a first illustration, a highly efficient and enantioselective Mukaiyama aldol reaction has been developed (see scheme). The actual catalyst is proposed to be an N-silyl imide which is generated in situ.

Enantioselective organocatalytic direct Michael addition of nitroalkanes to nitroalkenes promoted by a unique bifunctional DMAP-thiourea.

A new catalyst is designed, synthesized, and evaluated for the asymmetric Michael addition of nitroalkanes to nitroalkenes. The obdurate nature of this reaction has made this a formidable challenge to subdue by asymmetric catalysis. The catalyst design includes a thiourea function to activate the nitroalkene by a double H-bond and a 4-dimethylaminopyridine unit to deprotonate the nitroalkane and to bind the resulting nitronate anion also by a double H-bond. The chiral scaffold for the catalyst is 2,2'-diamino-1,1'-binaphthalene (BINAM), and a bis-conjugate is prepared by the attachment of the thiourea unit and the dimethylaminopyridine moiety (DMAP) via the two amino groups. The resulting catalyst will effect the reaction of nitroalkanes to a variety of nitrostyrenes and gives excellent asymmetric inductions (91-95% ee) over a range of 10 substrates. Remarkably, the asymmetric induction increases with decreasing catalyst loading with the optimal compromise between rate and induction at a loading of 2 mol %.

New synthesis of vaulted biaryl ligands via the Snieckus phenol synthesis.

[reaction: see text] In an effort to develop a synthesis of the VAPOL ligand that avoids the use of a chromium carbene complex, a route was examined that involved the annulation of a naphthalene carboxamide via the method of Snieckus. The latter derivatives could be converted in a two-step sequence to 2-phenyl-4-phenanthrols in 60-72% overall yields. The utility of this method for the synthesis of VAPOL derivatives is demonstrated in the synthesis of (S)-7,7'-dimethyl-VAPOL.

Ene hydroperoxidation of isobutenylarenes within dye-exchanged zeolite Na-Y: control of site selectivity by cation-arene interactions.

The site selectivity in the singlet oxygen ene reaction of several deuterium-labeled isobutenylarenes depends on the position and the electronic nature of the aryl substitutents. For example, 1-(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)-2-methylpropene gives 82% twin selectivity whereas the isomeric 1-(2-trifluoromethylphenyl)-2-methylpropene gives 68% twix selectivity. If photooxygenation of these CF(3)-substituted compounds is carried out in solution, the opposite selectivity trends are found. On the basis of DFT calculations, these results are rationalized in terms of oxygen-cation and cation-arene interactions.

Thionin-sensitized intrazeolite photooxygenation of trisubstituted alkenes: substituent effects on the regioselectivity as probed through isotopic labeling.

The regioselectivity for the intrazeolite photooxygenation of several trisubstituted alkenes with geminal dimethyl groups was examined. The length of the alkyl chain at the lone position was varied, and as end groups, the phenyl or the cyclohexyl functionalities were chosen. The general trend for all alkenes is a significant increase of the reactivity at the twin position compared to the photooxygenation in solution. For the cyclohexyl-substituted alkenes, it was found that the regioselectivity is nearly independent of the alkyl chain length. However, for the phenyl-substituted alkenes, the ene reactivity of the allylic methylene hydrogen atoms at the lone position and the twix/twin regioselectivity depend significantly on the distance of the phenyl group from the double bond. These trends are discussed in terms of cation-pi interactions and conformational effects. Intramolecular and intermolecular isotope effects in the intrazeolite photooxygenation of deuterium-labeled alkenes suggest that a perepoxide-type intermediate is formed in the rate-determining step. Type I photooxygenation that involves reaction of the radical cations of the alkenes with superoxide ion are unlikely.