Synthesis of 2-amino-1,3-dienes by chromium-catalyzed addition of silylated propargyl bromides to imines

Integrated Flow Synthesis of α-Amino Acids by In Situ Generation of Aldimines and Subsequent Electrochemical Carboxylation

The synthesis of α-amino acids was carried out in a continuous flow system. In this system, aldimines were efficiently generated in situ via the dehydration-condensation of aldehydes with anilines in a desiccant bed column filled with 4 Å molecular sieves desiccant, followed by reaction with CO₂ in an electrochemical flow microreactor to afford the α-amino acids in high to moderate yields. The present system can provide α-amino acids without using stoichiometric amounts of metal reagents or highly toxic cyanide reagents.

Asymmetric Petasis reaction for the synthesis of chiral α- and β-butadienyl amines

The Petasis reaction using (1S,2R)-1-amino-2-indanol as the substrate and an activator to construct α- and β-butadienyl amines in optically pure forms was realized, which are otherwise difficult to prepare. The reactions feature a metal-free nature, broad substrate scope, complete regioselectivities (γ-selectivity of pinacol homoallenyl- and isoprenylboronates), and high to excellent chirality induction (up to >20 : 1 dr). The favored nucleophilic addition across the Si-face of the imine intermediate was explained using DFT calculations of the six-membered chair-like transition state.

Cu-catalyzed cyanomethylation of imines and α,β-alkenes with acetonitrile and its derivatives

We describe copper-catalyzed cyanomethylation of imines and α,β-alkenes with a methylnitrile source and provide an efficient route to synthesize arylacrylonitriles and β,γ-unsaturated nitriles. This method tolerates aliphatic and aromatic alkenes substituted with a variety of functional groups such as F, Cl, Br, Me, OMe, tert-Bu, NO2, NH2 and CO2H with good to excellent yields (69-98%). These systems consist of inexpensive, simple copper catalyst and acetonitrile with its derivatives (α-bromo/α-iodo-acetonitrile) and are highly applicable in the industrial production of acrylonitriles.

Di-tert-butyl Ethynylimidodicarbonate as a General Synthon for the β-Aminoethylation of Organic Electrophiles: Application to the Formal Synthesis of Pyrrolidinoindoline Alkaloids (±)-CPC-1 and (±)-Alline

The reagent di-tert-butyl ethynylimidodicarbonate is demonstrated as a β-aminoethyl anion synthetic equivalent. It can be used to install ethyleneamine groups by exploiting its terminal alkyne reactivity with common organic electrophiles. Reactions exemplified with this terminal ynimide reagent include additions to imines, aldehydes, ketones, pyridinium salts, Michael acceptors, epoxides, and Pd-catalyzed Sonogashira couplings. Subsequent regioselective [3 + 2] cycloadditions of the alkynyl-imides (ynimides) generate N,N-di-Boc imide-functionalized triazole and isoxazole heterocycles. Reduction of the ynimides with Pd-catalyzed hydrogenation generates ethyleneimides with easily removable N,N-di-Boc-carbamate protecting groups, allowing for a flexible ynimide-based approach to ethyleneamine installation. The utility of this two-step aminoethylation strategy was demonstrated in the short formal syntheses of pyrrolidinoindoline alkaloids (±)-CPC-1 and (±)-alline. Analogously, the reagent (N,N,N')-tri-Boc 2-ethynylhydrazine serves as a β-hydrazinoethyl anion synthetic equivalent.

Synthesis of cis-C-iodo-N-tosyl-aziridines using diiodomethyllithium: reaction optimization, product scope and stability, and a protocol for selection of stationary phase for chromatography

The preparation of C-iodo-N-Ts-aziridines with excellent cis-diastereoselectivity has been achieved in high yields by the addition of diiodomethyllithium to N-tosylimines and N-tosylimine-HSO2Tol adducts. This addition-cyclization protocol successfully provided a wide range of cis-iodoaziridines, including the first examples of alkyl-substituted iodoaziridines, with the reaction tolerating both aryl imines and alkyl imines. An ortho-chlorophenyl imine afforded a β-amino gem-diiodide under the optimized reaction conditions due to a postulated coordinated intermediate preventing cyclization. An effective protocol to assess the stability of the sensitive iodoaziridine functional group to chromatography was also developed. As a result of the judicious choice of stationary phase, the iodoaziridines could be purified by column chromatography; the use of deactivated basic alumina (activity IV) afforded high yield and purity. Rearrangements of electron-rich aryl-iodoaziridines have been promoted, selectively affording either novel α-iodo-N-Ts-imines or α-iodo-aldehydes in high yield.