Enantioselective [4+2]-cycloaddition reaction of a photochemically generated o-quinodimethane: mechanistic details, association studies, and pressure effects.

1,2,3,4-Tetrahydro-2-oxoquinoline-5-aldehyde (2) was prepared from m-aminobenzoic acid and 3-ethoxyacryloyl chloride (4) in 19 % overall yield. Compound 2 underwent a photochemically induced [4+2]-cycloaddition reaction with various dienophiles upon irradiation in toluene solution. The exo product 10 a was obtained with acrylonitrile (9 a) as the dienophile, whereas methyl acrylate (9 b) and dimethyl fumarate (9 c) furnished the endo products 11 b and 11 c (69-77 % yield). The reactions proceeded at -60 degrees C in the presence of the chiral complexing agent 1 (1.2 equiv) with excellent enantioselectivity (91-94 % ee). The enantiomeric excess increases in the course of the photocycloaddition as a result of the lower product association to 1. The intermediate (E)-dienol 8 was spectroscopically detected at -196 degrees C in an EPA (diethyl ether/isopentane/ethanol) glass matrix. The association of the substrate 2 to the complexing agent 1 was studied by circular dichroism (CD) titration. The measured association constant (K(A)) was 589 M(-1) at room temperature (25 degrees C) and normal pressure (0.1 MPa). An increase in pressure led to an increased association. At 400 MPa the measured value of K(A) was 703 M(-1). Despite the stronger association the enantioselectivity of the reaction decreased with increasing pressure. At 25 degrees C the enantiomeric excess for the enantioselective reaction 2 + 9 a-->10 a decreased from 68 % ee at 0.1 MPa to 58 % ee at 350 MPa. This surprising behavior is explained by different activation volumes for the diastereomeric transition states leading to 10 a and ent-10 a.

An enantiomerically pure 1,5,7-trimethyl-3-azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonan- 2-one as 1H NMR shift reagent for the ee determination of chiral lactams, quinolones, and oxazolidinones.

The chiral lactam 1 (or its enantiomer ent-1) was shown to be an effective (1)H NMR shift reagent for the ee determination of chiral lactams, quinolones, and oxazolidinones. It was successfully employed in many cases in which a detection of enantiomers by chromatographic methods failed. The method was extended to a broader range of simple substrates bearing a lactam moiety to evaluate its scope. The NH signals of the substrate enantiomers showed the strongest separation and were used for (1)H NMR integration. In most cases, compound 1 (1.5 equiv; 0.06 M solution) induced a baseline separation of the NH signals and it can consequently be regarded as a generally applicable shift reagent for chiral products with a lactam moiety.

Synthesis and evaluation of macrocyclic transition state analogue inhibitors for alpha-chymotrypsin.

Lactams 1 and 2 are readily formed from acyclic precursors in the presence of trypsin and chymotrypsin, respectively, identifying the macrocyclic ring system as a potential motif for constrained transition state analogue inhibitors of the serine peptidases. Ketone 3 was synthesized and shown to be a modest inhibitor of chymotrypsin (Ki = 220 microM), albeit 4-fold more potent than the acyclic hydroxy acid 25 (Ki = 1.5 mM as a mixture of epimers). A precursor (31) to the amino boronic acid 4 was also prepared; although this derivative was a potent inhibitor of chymotrypsin (Ki = 130 nM) by virtue of the boronic acid moiety, it showed no advantage over the des-amino analogue 32 (Ki = 120 nM), which is not capable of cyclizing.

Enantioselective [6pi]-photocyclization reaction of an acrylanilide mediated by a chiral host. Interplay between enantioselective ring closure and enantioselective protonation.

The [6pi]-photocyclization of the anilides 1a and 5 was studied in the absence and in the presence of the enantiomerically pure chiral lactam 4. The relative configuration of the products was unambiguously established by single-crystal X-ray crystallography and by NMR spectroscopy. A significant enantiomeric excess was observed upon reaction of compound 1a to its photocyclization products at -55 degrees C employing lactam 4 as a chiral complexing agent in toluene as the solvent (66% yield). The trans product ent-3a was obtained in 57% ee, and the minor diastereoisomer (trans/cis = 73/27), cis product ent-2a, was obtained in 30% ee. DFT calculations were conducted modeling the complexation of intermediates 8 and ent-8 to host 4. In agreement with steric arguments concerning the conrotatory ring closure of 1a, the formation of ent-8 is favored leading to the more stable complex 4.ent-8 as compared to 4.8. Whereas the enantioselectivity in the photocyclization to trans compound ent-3a increased upon reduction in the reaction temperature, the enantiomeric excess in the formation of cis compound ent-2a went through a maximum at -15 degrees C (45% ee) and decreased at lower temperatures. Deuteration experiments conducted with the pentadeuterated analogue of 1a, d(5)-1a, revealed that the protonation of the intermediates 8 and ent-8 is influenced by chiral amide 4. In the formation of ent-3a/3a, both the enantioselective ring closure and the enantioselective protonation by amide 4 favor the observed (6aS,10aS)-configuration of the major enantiomer ent-3a. In the formation of ent-2a/2a, the enantioselective ring closure (and the subsequent diastereoselective protonation) favors the (6aR,10aS)-configuration that is found in compound 2a. Contrary to that, the enantioselective protonation by amide 4 shows a preference for ent-2a with the (6aS,10aR)-configuration.

Highly enantioselective intra- and intermolecular [2 + 2] photocycloaddition reactions of 2-quinolones mediated by a chiral lactam host: host-guest interactions, product configuration, and the origin of the stereoselectivity in solution.

The [2 + 2] photocycloaddition of 4-alkoxy-2-quinolones was conducted in the presence of the chiral lactams 5 or ent-5. At -60 degrees C in toluene as the solvent the intramolecular reaction of quinolones 6 and 8 as well as the intermolecular photocycloaddition of various alkenes 13 to quinolone 12 proceeded with excellent enantioselectivity (81-98% ee) and in high yields (61-89%). Styrene (13d) reacted sluggishly in the intermolecular reaction (29% yield, 83% ee). The absolute configuration of the intramolecular photocycloaddition products 7 and 9 was elucidated by single-crystal X-ray crystallography of the corresponding diastereomeric N-menthyloxycarbonyl derivatives. The relative configuration of the intermolecular photocycloaddition products 14 and 15 was assigned on the basis of NOESY experiments and on crystallographic evidence. The differentiation of the enantiotopic faces in the prochiral quinolones 6, 8, and 12 can be explained by assuming a coordination of these substrates to the lactams 5 or ent-5 via two hydrogen bonds. Upon binding to 5 the si-face is shielded by the bulky tetrahydronaphthalene backbone, and the re-face is exposed to an intra- or intermolecular attack. On the basis of the association constant (K(a)) for the coordination of quinolone to host 5 an interpretation of the observed enantiomeric excess has been put forward. The parent quinolone 17 was employed as substrate for microcalorimetric and NMR titration experiments. From the data obtained for K(a) and DeltaH(a) the expected enantiomeric excess was calculated for two given temperatures (-15 and -60 degrees C). The calculated values fit the observed data within reasonable limits and prove that two-point hydrogen bonding can be sufficient to achieve a preparatively useful face differentiation in solution phase photochemistry.