Preparation of functionalized dialkylzinc reagents via an iodine-zinc exchange reaction. Highly enantioselective synthesis of functionalized secondary alcohols

α-Boryl Organometallic Reagents in Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis

Recent years have witnessed an increase in the popularity of α-boryl organometallic reagents as versatile nucleophiles in asymmetric synthesis. These compounds have been adopted in chemo- and stereoselective coupling reactions with a number of different electrophiles. The resulting enantioenriched boronic esters can be applied in stereospecific carbon-carbon or carbon-heteroatom bond construction reactions, enabling a two-step strategy for the construction of complex structures with high efficiency and functional group compatibility. Due to these reasons, tremendous effort has been devoted to the preparation of enantiomerically enriched α-boryl organometallic reagents and to the development of stereoselective reactions of related racemic or prochiral materials. In this review, we describe the enantio- or diastereoselective reactions that involve α-boryl organometallic reagents as starting materials or products and we showcase their synthetic utility.

Advances in transition metal-free deborylative transformations of gem-diborylalkanes

Carbanions serve as key intermediates in a variety of chemical transformations. Particularly, α-borylcarbanions have received considerable attention in recent years because of their peculiar properties, including the ability of boron atom resonance to stabilise the adjacent negatively charged carbon atom. This feature article summarises recent progress in the synthetic utilisation of α-borylcarbanions, including carbon-carbon bond formation with alkyl halides, alkenes, N-heteroarenes, and carbonyls. Carbon-boron bond formation in organohalides mediated by α-borylcarbanions is also summarised.

Recent Advances of the Halogen-Zinc Exchange Reaction

For the preparation of zinc organometallics bearing highly sensitive functional groups such as ketones, aldehydes or nitro groups, especially mild halogen-zinc exchange reagents have proven to be of great potential. In this Minireview, the latest research in the area of the halogen-zinc exchange reaction is reported, with a special focus lying on novel dialkylzinc reagents complexed with lithium alkoxides. Additionally, the preparation and application of organofluorine zinc reagents and transition-metal-catalyzed halogen-zinc exchange reactions are reviewed.

Iron-Catalyzed Acylation of Polyfunctionalized Aryl- and Benzylzinc Halides with Acid Chlorides

FeCl2 (5 mol %) catalyzes a smooth and convenient acylation of functionalized arylzinc halides at 50 °C (2-4 h) and benzylic zinc chlorides at 25 °C (0.5-4 h) with a variety of acid chlorides leading to polyfunctionalized diaryl and aryl heteroaryl ketones.

Simple access to elusive α-boryl carbanions and their alkylation: an umpolung construction for organic synthesis

The reaction of 1,1-bis(pinacolboronate) esters with alkyl halides can be effected by metal alkoxides and provides a strategy for the construction of organoboronate compounds. The reaction is found to occur by alkoxide-induced deborylation and generation of a boron-stabilized carbanion.

Zinc-mediated addition of diethyl bromomalonate to alkynes for the cascade reaction towards polysubstituted pyranones and tetracarbonyl derivatives

The zinc-mediated regioselective addition reactions of diethyl bromomalonate and aromatic and aliphatic alkynes were investigated for the synthesis of vinyl malonates. When the vinyl organo-zinc intermediates were reacted with acid chlorides 2H-pyran-2-ones were obtained while the application of oxalyl chloride and an amine led to tetracarbonyl derivatives in a one-pot multi-step reaction sequence.

Overriding Felkin control: a general method for highly diastereoselective chelation-controlled additions to alpha-silyloxy aldehydes

According to the Felkin-Anh and Cram-chelation models, nucleophilic additions to alpha-silyloxy aldehydes proceed through a nonchelation pathway due to the steric and electronic properties of the silyl group, giving rise to Felkin addition products. Herein we describe a general method to promote chelation-control in additions to alpha-silyloxy aldehydes. Dialkylzincs, functionalized dialkylzincs, and (E)-disubstituted, (E)-trisubstituted, and (Z)-disubstituted vinylzinc reagents add to silyl-protected alpha-hydroxy aldehydes with high selectivity for chelation-controlled products (dr of 10:1 to >20:1) in the presence of alkylzinc halides or triflates, RZnX. With the high functional group tolerance of organozinc reagents, the mild Lewis acidity of RZnX, and the excellent diastereoselectivities favoring the chelation-controlled products, this method will be useful in the synthesis of natural products. A mechanism involving chelation is supported by (1) NMR studies of a model substrate, (2) a dramatic increase in reaction rate in the presence of an alkylzinc halide, and (3) higher diastereoselectivity with larger alkyl substituents on the alpha-carbon of the aldehyde. This method provides access to chelation-controlled addition products with high diastereoselectivity previously unavailable using achiral organometallic reagents.

One-pot catalytic enantio- and diastereoselective syntheses of anti-, syn-cis-disubstituted, and syn-vinyl cyclopropyl alcohols

Highly enantio- and diastereoselective methods for the synthesis of a variety of cyclopropyl alcohols are reported. These methods represent the first one-pot approaches to syn-vinyl cyclopropyl alcohols, syn-cis-disubstituted cyclopropyl alcohols, and anti-cyclopropyl alcohols from achiral precursors. The methods begin with enantioselective C-C bond formations promoted by a MIB-based zinc catalyst to generate allylic alkoxide intermediates. The intermediates are then subjected to in situ alkoxide-directed cyclopropanation to provide cyclopropyl alcohols. In the synthesis of vinyl cyclopropyl alcohols, hydroboration of enynes is followed by transmetalation of the resulting dienylborane to zinc to provide dienylzinc reagents. Enantioselective addition to aldehydes generates the requisite dienyl zinc alkoxides, which are then subjected to in situ cyclopropanation to furnish vinyl cyclopropyl alcohols. Cyclopropanation occurs at the double bond allylic to the alkoxide. Using this method, syn-vinylcyclopropyl alcohols are obtained in 65-85% yield, 76-93% ee, and > 19:1 dr. To prepare anti-cyclopropanols, enantioselective addition of alkylzinc reagents to conjugated enals provides allylic zinc alkoxides. Because direct cyclopropanation provides syn-cyclopropyl alcohols, the intermediate allylic alkoxides were treated with TMSCl/Et(3)N to generate intermediate silyl ethers. In situ cyclopropanation of the allylic silyl ether resulted in cyclopropanation to form the anti-cyclopropyl silyl ether. Workup with TBAF affords the anti-cyclopropyl alcohols in one pot in 60-82% yield, 89-99% ee, and > or = 10:1 dr. For the synthesis of cis-disubstituted cyclopropyl alcohols, in situ generated (Z)-vinyl zinc reagents were employed in asymmetric addition to aldehydes to generate (Z)-allylic zinc alkoxides. In situ cyclopropanation provides syn-cis-disubstituted cyclopropyl alcohols in 42-70% yield, 88-97% ee, and > 19:1 dr. These one-pot procedures enable the synthesis of a diverse array of cyclopropyl alcohol building blocks with high enantio- and diastereoselectivities.

Macrocyclization by nickel-catalyzed, ester-promoted, epoxide-alkyne reductive coupling: total synthesis of (-)-gloeosporone

Ringing the changes: The total synthesis of the title compound centers around a novel strategy that employs a nickel(0)-phosphine complex and triethyl borane in an efficient closure of a 14-membered ring through C--C bond formation (see scheme; cod=cyclooctadiene). The synthesis was accomplished in 10 steps and in approximately 9 % overall yield.

Highly enantio- and diastereoselective one-pot methods for the synthesis of halocyclopropyl alcohols

The lack of methods for the stereoselective transfer of functionalized carbenoids is one of the most significant deficiencies of Simmons-Smith cyclopropanation reactions. Outlined herein are one-pot methods for the catalytic asymmetric synthesis of halocyclopropyl alcohols with up to four stereogenic centers from achiral starting materials. The first method involves asymmetric alkyl addition to a conjugated enal to generate an allylic alkoxide followed by tandem diastereoselective iodo-, bromo-, or chlorocyclopropanation to furnish halocyclopropyl alcohols. Enantioselectivities in these processes range from 89-99%, and dr's of >20:1 were achieved with all substrates optimized. The second method consists of an asymmetric vinylation of a saturated or aromatic aldehyde followed by a diastereoselective iodocyclopropanation to produce iodocyclopropyl alcohols with enantioselectivities between 86 and 99% and dr's of >20:1. These complementary methods enable the efficient synthesis of a variety of halocyclopropyl alcohols in one-pot procedures. Preliminary efforts to functionalize iodocyclopropanes involve reaction with an excess of LiCu(n-Bu)(2) to generate the cyclopropyl cuprate. This intermediate can be quenched with allyl bromides to generate the allylated cyclopropyl alcohols without loss of enantio- or diastereoselectivity.

The Mg-Oppenauer Oxidation as a Mild Method for the Synthesis of Aryl and Metallocenyl Ketones

Magnesium alkoxides undergo a hydride-transfer oxidation with benzaldehyde as the oxidant. This magnesium variant of the Oppenauer oxidation was used for the synthesis of polyfunctional biaryl ketones. LiCl was found to promote this reaction by enhancing the solubility of magnesium alkoxides. This mild oxidation method was especially useful for preparing ketones bearing a metallocenyl unit as well as various new ferrocenyl ketones and tricarbonylchromium complexes. This last class of ketones was reduced with the CBS catalyst (CBS=Corey-Bakshi-Shibata, diphenyl oxazaborolidine) to chiral benzhydrol complexes with high enantioselectivity enabling an asymmetric synthesis of electron-rich or -poor benzhydryl alcohols (up to 94 % ee).

A Green Chemistry Approach to a More Efficient Asymmetric Catalyst: Solvent-Free and Highly Concentrated Alkyl Additions to Ketones

There is a great demand for development of catalyst systems that are not only efficient and highly enantioselective but are also environmentally benign. Herein we report investigations into the catalytic asymmetric addition of alkyl and functionalized alkyl groups to ketones under highly concentrated and solvent-free conditions. In comparison with standard reaction conditions employing toluene and hexanes, the solvent-free and highly concentrated conditions permit reduction in catalyst loading by a factor of 2- to 40-fold. These new conditions are general and applicable to a variety of ketones and dialkylzinc reagents to provide diverse tertiary alcohols with high enantioselectivities. Using cyclic conjugated enones, we have performed a tandem asymmetric addition/diastereoselective epoxidation using the solvent-free addition conditions followed by introduction of a 5.5 M decane solution of tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) to generate epoxy alcohols. This one-pot procedure allows access to syn epoxy alcohols with three contiguous stereocenters with excellent enantio- and diastereoselectivities and high yields. Both the solvent-free asymmetric additions and asymmetric addition/diastereoselective epoxidation reactions have been conducted on larger scale (5 g substrate) with 0.5 mol % catalyst loadings. In these procedures, enantioselectivities equal to or better than 92% were obtained with isolated yields of 90%. The solvent-free and highly concentrated conditions are a significant improvement over previous solvent-based protocols. Further, this chemistry represents a rare example of a catalytic asymmetric reaction that is highly enantioselective under more environmentally friendly solvent-free conditions.

Catalytic Asymmetric Addition of Alkylzinc and Functionalized Alkylzinc Reagents to Ketones

We describe our full report of the catalytic asymmetric addition of simple and functionalized dialkylzinc reagents to a broad range of saturated ketones and enones. The functionalized organozinc reagents contain esters, silyl ethers, alkyl chlorides, and alkyl bromides. In general, the resulting tertiary alcohol products are isolated with high ee's. With some substrates, yields are low as a result of the formation of aldol byproducts. Most substrates undergo additions with good yields reaching as high as 91%.