Silyl Fluoride Electrophiles for the Enantioselective Synthesis of Silylated Pyrrolidine Catalysts

Recent Advances in Asymmetric Synthesis of Pyrrolidine-Based Organocatalysts and Their Application: A 15-Year Update

In 1971, chemists from Hoffmann-La Roche and Schering AG independently discovered a new asymmetric intramolecular aldol reaction catalyzed by the natural amino acid proline, a transformation now known as the Hajos-Parrish-Eder-Sauer-Wiechert reaction. These remarkable results remained forgotten until List and Barbas reported in 2000 that L-proline was also able to catalyze intermolecular aldol reactions with non-negligible enantioselectivities. In the same year, MacMillan reported on asymmetric Diels-Alder cycloadditions which were efficiently catalyzed by imidazolidinones deriving from natural amino acids. These two seminal reports marked the birth of modern asymmetric organocatalysis. A further important breakthrough in this field happened in 2005, when Jørgensen and Hayashi independently proposed the use of diarylprolinol silyl ethers for the asymmetric functionalization of aldehydes. During the last 20 years, asymmetric organocatalysis has emerged as a very powerful tool for the facile construction of complex molecular architectures. Along the way, a deeper knowledge of organocatalytic reaction mechanisms has been acquired, allowing for the fine-tuning of the structures of privileged catalysts or proposing completely new molecular entities that are able to efficiently catalyze these transformations. This review highlights the most recent advances in the asymmetric synthesis of organocatalysts deriving from or related to proline, starting from 2008.

Biocatalytic Asymmetric Michael Additions of Nitromethane to α,β-Unsaturated Aldehydes via Enzyme-bound Iminium Ion Intermediates

The enzyme 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase (4-OT) exploits an N-terminal proline as main catalytic residue to facilitate several promiscuous C-C bond-forming reactions via enzyme-bound enamine intermediates. Here we show that the active site of this enzyme can give rise to further synthetically useful catalytic promiscuity. Specifically, the F50A mutant of 4-OT was found to efficiently promote asymmetric Michael additions of nitromethane to various α,β-unsaturated aldehydes to give γ-nitroaldehydes, important precursors to biologically active γ-aminobutyric acids. High conversions, high enantiocontrol, and good isolated product yields were achieved. The reactions likely proceed via iminium ion intermediates formed between the catalytic Pro-1 residue and the α,β-unsaturated aldehydes. In addition, a cascade of three 4-OT(F50A)-catalyzed reactions followed by an enzymatic oxidation step enables assembly of γ-nitrocarboxylic acids from three simple building blocks in one pot. Our results bridge organo- and biocatalysis, and they emphasize the potential of enzyme promiscuity for the preparation of important chiral synthons.

Using mutability landscapes of a promiscuous tautomerase to guide the engineering of enantioselective Michaelases

The Michael-type addition reaction is widely used in organic synthesis for carbon–carbon bond formation. However, biocatalytic methodologies for this type of reaction are scarce, which is related to the fact that enzymes naturally catalysing carbon–carbon bond-forming Michael-type additions are rare. A promising template to develop new biocatalysts for carbon–carbon bond formation is the enzyme 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase, which exhibits promiscuous Michael-type addition activity. Here we present mutability landscapes for the expression, tautomerase and Michael-type addition activities, and enantioselectivity of 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase. These maps of neutral, beneficial and detrimental amino acids for each residue position and enzyme property provide detailed insight into sequence–function relationships. This offers exciting opportunities for enzyme engineering, which is illustrated by the redesign of 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase into two enantiocomplementary ‘Michaelases'. These ‘Michaelases' catalyse the asymmetric addition of acetaldehyde to various nitroolefins, providing access to both enantiomers of γ-nitroaldehydes, which are important precursors for pharmaceutically active γ-aminobutyric acid derivatives.

The Michael-type addition reaction is used for carbon-carbon bond formation; however biocatalytic methods for this reaction are rare. Here, the authors generate and exploit mutability landscapes of 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase to direct the redesign of this promiscuous enzyme into enantio-complementary Michaelases.

Acetaldehyde: A Small Organic Molecule with Big Impact on Organocatalytic Reactions

Stereocontrolled formation of carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds through asymmetric organocatalysis is a formidable challenge for modern synthetic chemistry. Among the most significant contributions to this field are the transformations involving the use of acetaldehyde or α-heteroatom-substituted acetaldehydes for constructing valuable synthons (e.g., amino acid derivatives and hydroxycarbonyl). In this Minireview, versatile (enantioselective) organocatalytic transformations are discussed.

Asymmetric Redox-Annulation of Cyclic Amines

Cyclic amines such as 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline undergo regiodivergent annulation reactions with 4-nitrobutyraldehydes. These redox-neutral transformations enable the asymmetric synthesis of highly substituted polycyclic ring systems in just two steps from commercial materials. The utility of this process is illustrated in a rapid synthesis of (−)-protoemetinol. Computational studies provide mechanistic insights and implicate the elimination of acetic acid from an ammonium nitronate intermediate as the rate-determining step.

Asymmetric catalytic conjugate addition of acetaldehyde to nitrodienynes/nitroenynes: applications to the syntheses of (+)-α-lycorane and chiral β-alkynyl acids

The catalytic enantioselective conjugate addition of acetaldehyde to polyconjugated substrates, nitrodienynes and nitroenynes, has been accomplished using organocatalysis. Various functionalized 1,3-enynes and propargylic compounds were obtained in moderate to good yields with high enantioselectivity. The synthetic utilities of the conjugate addition reactions have been highlighted in the concise total synthesis of (+)-α-lycorane and the metal-free synthesis of chiral β-alkynyl acids.

THE REACTION MECHANISMS OF ALDEHYDES AND NITROSTYRENE CATALYZED BY A CHIRAL SILYLATED PYRROLIDINE CATALYST

The asymmetric Michael reaction of aldehydes and nitrostyrene catalyzed by a new (S)-tertbutyl-diphenyl-silyl-pyrrolidine catalyst has been investigated by using density functional theory calculations. The Re face of the enamine is effectively shielded, because of the bulky 2-substituent group on the pyrrolidine ring. For acetaldehyde, there are two different conformers of enamines. Based on the two conformers of enamines, four different reaction pathways have been considered. The calculated enantiomeric excess value is 80.27% in favor of the (R)-configuration product. For propanal, eight different reaction pathways have been considered and the eight corresponding transition states have been located. The calculated enantiomeric excess value is 98.96% in favor of the (2S, 3R)-configuration product. These calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental observations. In addition, the calculations also show that both the used solvent and the enamines play important roles in determining the stereochemical outcome of the product.

Promiscuous catalysis of asymmetric Michael-type additions of linear aldehydes to β-nitrostyrene by the proline-based enzyme 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase

Exploiting catalytic promiscuity: The proline-based enzyme 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase (4-OT) promiscuously catalyzes asymmetric Michael-type additions of linear aldehydes--ranging from acetaldehyde to octanal--to trans-β-nitrostyrene in aqueous solvent. The presence of 1.4 mol% of 4-OT effected formation of the anticipated γ-nitroaldehydes in fair to good yields with dr values of up to 93:7 and ee values of up to 81 %.