Synthesis of Chiral Polycyclic Tetrahydrocarbazoles by Enantioselective Aminocatalytic Double Activation of 2-Hydroxycinnamaldehydes with Dienals

Visible-Light-Mediated Rose Bengal- or [Ru(bpy)3]2+-Catalyzed Radical [4 + 2] Cycloaddition: An Efficient Route to Tetrahydrocarbazoles

A visible-light-induced Rose Bengal- or [Ru(bpy)3]2+-catalyzed radical [4 + 2] cycloaddition of redox-active indole N-hydroxyphthalimide esters with electron-deficient alkenes has been developed. This base-free protocol provides a facile and powerful route for the synthesis of functionalized and biologically significant tetrahydrocarbazoles under mild conditions. On one hand, when an organic photocatalyst-Rose Bengal was employed under green light, the desired tetrahydrocarbazoles were obtained in up to 82% yield. On the other hand, the reaction yield increased to up to 93% in the presence of [Ru(bpy)3Cl2]·6H2O under blue light. The success of the gram-scale and transformation experiments, as well as the photopromoted radical [5 + 2] cycloaddition further highlight the practicality and robustness of this protocol. Mechanistic studies also support the generation of a crucial alkyl radical intermediate.

Enantioselective Cascade Reactions of Aminocatalytic Dienamines and Trienamines Initiated by a Cycloaddition Reaction

Cycloadditions are widely accepted as a group of reactions that rapidly generate molecular complexity. Being highly atom economic and often predictable, these reactions can generate up to four stereogenic centers and two C-C (or C-X) bonds in one reaction step. During the last two decades, asymmetric aminocatalysis has shown to be a successful strategy for controlling stereoselectivity and enabling reactivity of cycloaddition reactions. By increasing the conjugation of the carbonyl species employed, dienamines and trienamines can be catalytically formed. Not only can these facilitate the cycloaddition, often accompanied by high levels of stereocontrol, but they also leave a residual enamine or carbonyl (by hydrolysis) in the cycloadduct. This residual functionality can engage in further intramolecular reactions generating complex cyclic systems in a one-pot cascade manner. In this regard, asymmetric aminocatalysis can add another layer of complexity to the already complex nature of cycloadditions. In this review, we will present the general concept of such reactivity patterns of dienamines and trienamines, and hereafter showcase examples in the literature. We aspire that the chemical community can use these concepts to design new enantioselective aminocatalytic cascade reactions to access enantioenriched, complex compounds, and perhaps use these in complex molecule synthesis.

Three-component diels-alder reaction through palladium carbene migratory insertion enabled dearomative C(sp3)-H bond activation

Owning to the versatile nature in participation of Diels-Alder (D-A) reactions, the development of efficient approaches to generate active ortho-quinodimethanes (o-QDMs) has gained much attention. However, a catalytic method involving coupling of two readily accessible components to construct o-QDMs is lacking. Herein, we describe a palladium carbene migratory insertion enabled dearomative C(sp3)-H activation to form active o-QDM species through the cross-coupling of N-tosylhydrazones with aryl halides. The in situ generated o-QDM intermediates were trapped efficiently by 3-nitroindoles and N-sulfonylaldimines to provide dihydroindolo[2,3-b]carbazole derivatives and indole alkaloids modularly. To our knowledge, this reaction represents a rare example on three-component D-A cycloaddition through in situ generation of conjugated dienes by the coupling two readily available materials. We anticipate such a reaction mode could find broad application on diversity oriented six-membered ring construction. Deuterium labeling experiments and density functional theory calculations support a pathway through reversible C(sp3)-H activation to generate heterocyclic o-QDMs.

Diversity-Oriented Synthesis of Spirooxindoles via Asymmetric Organocatalytic Regiodivergent Cascade Reactions

A regiodivergent strategy for the asymmetric diversity-oriented synthesis of spirooxindoles via organocatalytic cascade reactions is developed. Two regioselective pathways can be precisely controlled with different aminocatalysts in the reaction of 2-hydroxycinnamaldehydes and β,β-disubstituted 3-alkylidene oxindoles. The cascade vinylogous Michael/oxa-Michael/aldol reactions gave spiro-bridged oxindoles bearing two adjacent quaternary stereocenters, while the cascade oxa-Michael/Michael reactions gave spirooxindoles. Moreover, during the synthetic application studies, an acid-catalyzed rearrangement of spiro-bridged oxindoles was found to yield biologically important 3-alkylidene oxindoles.

Shaping Chirality via Stereoselective, Organocatalytic [4+2] Cycloadditions involving Heterocyclic ortho-Quinodimethanes

Polycyclic compounds bearing a complex heterocyclic core such as an aromatic heterocycle "fused" with one or more functionalized rings, are widespread leading molecules in the domain of synthetic organic chemistry and pharmaceuticals. Although many synthetic methodologies have been devised to access achiral, fused heteroaromatic scaffolds, or related chiral variants adorned with out-of-cycle stereogenic elements, equally efficient strategies to afford chiral heterocycles featuring in-cycle stereocenters, exist to a lesser extent and presently represent a growing field of investigation. The mild, organocatalytic generation of elusive ortho-quinodimethane intermediates (oQDMs), derived from suitable heteroaromatic carbonyl- or carbonyl-like pronucleophiles has recently proved successful in the synthesis of such peculiar chiral architectures via stereoselective [4+2] cycloadditions. This review provides an overview of the most important advances attained in this field over the last decade.

Triethylamine-Promoted Henry Reaction/Elimination of HNO2/Cyclization Sequence of Functionalized Nitroalkanes and 2-Oxoaldehydes: Diversity-Oriented Synthesis of Oxacycles

The triethylamine-promoted cascade Henry reaction/elimination of HNO₂/cyclization reaction of 2-oxoaldehydes with nitroalkanes bearing various remote functionalities is described. Both chiral and achiral nitroalkanes were applicable to this protocol, leading to a variety of oxacycles, such as chromenes, chromanes, cyclic hemiacetals, and polycyclic acetals. An unexpected regioselective photooxygenation occurred without sensitizer during derivatization to convert a derived diene product into a dioxetane by reaction with singlet oxygen, which provided chromen-2-one and benzaldehyde after fragmentation.

Diastereoselective Synthesis of Novel Spiro-Phosphacoumarins and Evaluation of Their Anti-Cancer Activity

Herein we present the regio- and diastereoselective synthesis of novel pyrrolidine-fused spiro-dihydrophosphacoumarins via intermolecular [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction. The presented approach is complementary to existing ones and provides an easy entry to the otherwise inaccessible derivatives. Additionally, the unprecedented pathway of the reaction of 4-hydroxycoumarin with azomethine ylides is described. The anti-cancer activity of the obtained compounds was tested in vitro, the most potent compound being 2.6-fold more active against the HuTu 80 cell line than the reference 5-fluorouracil, with a selectivity index > 32.

Application of Biobased Solvents in Asymmetric Catalysis

The necessity of more sustainable conditions that follow the twelve principles of Green Chemistry have pushed researchers to the development of novel reagents, catalysts and solvents for greener asymmetric methodologies. Solvents are in general a fundamental part for developing organic processes, as well as for the separation and purification of the reaction products. By this reason, in the last years, the application of the so-called green solvents has emerged as a useful alternative to the classical organic solvents. These solvents must present some properties, such as a low vapor pressure and toxicity, high boiling point and biodegradability, and must be obtained from renewable sources. In the present revision, the recent application of these biobased solvents in the synthesis of optically active compounds employing different catalytic methodologies, including biocatalysis, organocatalysis and metal catalysis, will be analyzed to provide a novel tool for carrying out more ecofriendly organic processes.

Sulphur ylide-mediated cyclopropanation and subsequent spirocyclopropane rearrangement reactions

The efficient construction of cyclopropyl spiroindoline skeletons and the exploration of related follow-up synthetic transformations have elicited considerable interest amongst members of the chemistry community. Here, we describe a formal (2 + 1) annulation and three-component (1 + 1 + 1) cascade cyclisation via sulphur ylide cyclopropanation under mild conditions. The spiro-cyclopropyl iminoindoline moiety can be readily transformed into another medicinally interesting pyrrolo[3,4-c]quinoline framework through a novel rearrangement process.

Differentiating Catalysis in the Dearomative [4 + 2]-Cycloaddition Involving Enals and Heteroaromatic Aldehydes

In this paper, the application of differentiating catalysis in the [4 + 2]-cycloaddition between 2-alkyl-3-formylheteroarenes and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes is described. Within the developed approach, the same aminocatalyst is employed for the independent activation of both starting materials, differentiating their properties via LUMO-lowering and HOMO-rising principles. By the combination of dearomative dienamine activation with iminium ion chemistry high enantio- and diastereoselectivity of the doubly asymmetric process was accomplished. Selected transformations of products were also demonstrated.

Switchable construction of oxa-heterocycles with diverse ring sizes via chemoselective cyclization controlled by dibrominated compounds

Switchable construction of oxa-heterocycles with diverse ring sizes has been developed by performing dibrominated-compound-controlled chemoselective cyclization and subsequent derivatization.

Assembly of tetracyclic tetrahydrocarbazoles via a visible-light promoted cascade process

A photocatalytic cascade reaction of alkene tethered indoles and bromodifluoroacetate esters has been developed, which provides a novel access to tetracyclic tetrahydrocarbazole derivatives.