Asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of ketones catalyzed by amino acid derived rhodium complexes: on the origin of enantioselectivity and enantioswitchability.

Amino acid based thioamides, hydroxamic acids, and hydrazides have been evaluated as ligands in the rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of ketones in 2-propanol. Catalysts containing thioamide ligands derived from L-valine were found to selectively generate the product with an R configuration (95 % ee), whereas the corresponding L-valine-based hydroxamic acids or hydrazides facilitated the formation of the (S)-alcohols (97 and 91 % ee, respectively). The catalytic reduction was examined by performing a structure-activity correlation investigation with differently functionalized or substituted ligands and the results obtained indicate that the major difference between the thioamide and hydroxamic acid based catalysts is the coordination mode of the ligands. Kinetic experiments were performed and the rate constants for the reduction reactions were determined by using rhodium-arene catalysts derived from amino acid thioamide and hydroxamic acid ligands. The data obtained show that the thioamide-based catalyst systems demonstrate a pseudo-first-order dependence on the substrate, whereas pseudo-zero-order dependence was observed for the hydroxamic acid containing catalysts. Furthermore, the kinetic experiments revealed that the rate-limiting steps of the two catalytic systems differ. From the data obtained in the structure-activity correlation investigation and along with the kinetic investigation it was concluded that the enantioswitchable nature of the catalysts studied originates from different ligand coordination, which affects the rate-limiting step of the catalytic reduction reaction.

Fast ruthenium-catalysed allylation of thiols by using allyl alcohols as substrates.

Green and fast: Allylation of aromatic and aliphatic thiols, by using allyl alcohols as substrates, requires only minutes at ambient temperature with a Ru catalyst (see scheme). Quantitative conversion is normal and the catalyst possesses high functional-group tolerance.The allylation of aromatic and aliphatic thiols, by using allyl alcohols as substrates, requires only minutes at ambient temperature with either a Ru(IV) catalyst, [Ru(Cp*)(eta(3)-C(3)H(5))(CH(3)CN)(2)](PF(6))(2) (2; Cp*=pentamethylcyclopentadienyl) or a combination of [Ru(Cp*)(CH(3)CN)(3)](PF(6)) and camphor sulfonic acid. Quantitative conversion is normal and the catalyst possesses high functional-group tolerance. The use of [Ru(Cp*)(CH(3)CN)(3)](PF(6)) alone affords poor results. A comparison is made to the results from catalytic runs based on the use of carbonates rather than alcohols, by using 2 as the catalyst, and it is shown that the products from the alcohols are formed faster, so there is no advantage in using a carbonate substrate. The observed branched-to-linear (b/l) ratios when using substituted alcohols decrease with time suggesting that the catalysts isomerise the products. A new methodology from which one can select the desired isomeric product is proposed. DFT calculations and NMR spectroscopic measurements, by using an arene sulfonic acid as co-catalyst, suggest that eta(6)-complexes are not relevant for the catalytic system. Moreover, the DFT results indicate that 1) any eta(6)-complexes from the acids RC(6)H(4)SO(3)H result from deprotonation of the acid, 2) complexation of the thiol, via the deprotonated sulfur atom, is preferred over complexation of the O atom of the sulfonate, RC(6)H(4)SO(3) (-) and 3) a sulfonate O-atom complex will be difficult to detect.

Fast and highly regioselective allylation of indole and pyrrole compounds by allyl alcohols using Ru-sulfonate catalysts.

New Ru-sulfonate catalysts have been synthesized and shown to very rapidly allylate indole and pyrrole compounds using allyl alcohols as substrates. The observed regioselectivity is exceptionally high (up to 100% of the branched isomer). Density functional theory calculations explain these results.

Fast, efficient Ru(IV)-catalysed regioselective allylation of indoles using allyl alcohol (without additives) under mild conditions.

The new Ru(IV) salt, [Ru(eta(3)-C(3)H(5))(Cp*)(CH(3)CN)(2)](PF(6))(2), is an excellent catalyst for the regioselective allylation of a variety of indole compounds using allyl alcohol as substrate; there are no co-catalysts required in this chemistry and the yields and reaction conditions are very favorable.

Enantioswitchable catalysts for the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aryl alkyl ketones.

A subtle change in the ligand structure, replacing the carbonyl oxygen with sulfur in simple alpha-amino acid amides, resulted in a dramatic activity and selectivity improvement in the rhodium- or ruthenium-catalyzed reduction of ketones under hydrogen transfer conditions. In addition, in most cases, a switch of the product's absolute configuration was observed on going from amides to the corresponding thioamides. Under optimized conditions, we obtained the secondary alcohol products in high yield and enantioselectivity (up to 97% ee) using only 0.25 mol % catalyst loading. [structure: see text]

The importance of alkali cations in the [{RuCl2(p-cymene)}2]-pseudo-dipeptide-catalyzed enantioselective transfer hydrogenation of ketones.

We studied the role of alkali cations in the [{RuCl2(p-cymene)}2]-pseudo-dipeptide-catalyzed enantioselective transfer hydrogenation of ketones with isopropanol. Lithium salts were shown to increase the enantioselectivity of the reaction when iPrONa or iPrOK was used as the base. Similar transfer-hydrogenation systems that employ chiral amino alcohol or monotosylated diamine ligands are not affected by the addition of lithium salts. These observations have led us to propose that an alternative reaction mechanism operates in pseudo-dipeptide-based systems, in which the alkali cation is an important player in the ligand-assisted hydrogen-transfer step. DFT calculations of the proposed transition-state (TS) models involving different cations (Li+, Na+, and K+) confirm a considerable loosening of the TS with larger cations. This loosening may be responsible for the fewer interactions between the substrate and the catalytic complex, leading to lower enantiodifferentiation. This mechanistic hypothesis has found additional experimental support; the low ee obtained with [BnNMe3]OH (a large cation) as base can be dramatically improved by introducing lithium cations into the system. Also, the complexation of Na+, K+, and Li+ cations by the addition of [15]crown-5 and [18]crown-6 ethers and cryptand 2.1.1 (which selectively bind to these cations and, thus, increase their bulkiness), respectively, to the reaction mixture led to a significant drop in the enantioselectivity of the reaction. The lithium effect has proved useful for enhancing the reduction of different aromatic and heteroaromatic ketones.