Trapping of chiral enolates generated by Lewis acid promoted conjugate addition of Grignard reagents to unreactive Michael acceptors by various electrophiles

Persistent guaiazulene arylmethylium ions as electrophilic traps for metal enolates

Guaiazulene-stabilized cations reacted with metal enolates affording carbonyl compounds with an azulene moiety. Metal enolates generated by asymmetric conjugate addition of organometallic reagents led to enantioenriched products. Additionally, guaiazulene-substituted cations efficiently react with silyl enol ethers. DFT calculations allowed estimation of the electrophilicities of the carbocations. Reaction progress was monitored by a decrease in the reactant's Vis-light absorption and an increase in the product's anti-Kasha emission.

Green transformation of CO2 into γ-amino alcohols with continuous stereocenters

Here, we present a synthetic route towards γ-amino alcohols with continuous stereocenters based on a copper-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition/CO2-trapping tandem reaction of α,β-unsaturated amide, followed by a reduction of the generated α-carboxyl amide. This strategy provides a green route for the transformation of CO2 into valuable chiral organic molecules.

Asymmetric tandem conjugate addition and reaction with carbocations on acylimidazole Michael acceptors

We present here a stereoselective tandem reaction based on the asymmetric conjugate addition of dialkylzinc reagents to unsaturated acylimidazoles followed by trapping of the intermediate zinc enolate with carbocations. The use of a chiral NHC ligand provides chiral zinc enolates in high enantiomeric purities. These enolates are reacted with highly electrophilic onium compounds to afford densely substituted acylimidazoles. DFT calculations helped to understand the reactivity of the zinc enolates derived from acylimidazoles and allowed their comparison with metal enolates obtained by other conjugate addition reactions.

Enolates ambushed - asymmetric tandem conjugate addition and subsequent enolate trapping with conventional and less traditional electrophiles

Metal enolates are useful intermediates and building blocks indispensable in many organic synthetic transformations. Chiral metal enolates obtained by asymmetric conjugate additions of organometallic reagents are structurally complex intermediates that can be employed in many transformations. In this review, we describe this burgeoning field that is reaching maturity after more than 25 years of development. The effort of our group to broaden possibilities to engage metal enolates in reactions with new electrophiles is described. The material is divided according to the organometallic reagent employed in the conjugate addition step, and thus to the particular metal enolate formed. Short information on applications in total synthesis is also given.

Electrophilic Trapping of Semibenzenes

In this work, we demonstrate how allylative dearomatization of benzyl chlorides can provide direct access to a variety of semibenzenes. These scaffolds behave as highly reactive nucleophiles in the presence of carbocations. In addition, semibenzenes are susceptible to intramolecular rearrangements rendering a broad scope of functionalized arenes. An analysis of this new reactivity is reported, as well as the rationale behind the observed intramolecular reorganizations.

Enantioselective Hydrocarbamoylation of Alkenes

The asymmetric hydroaminocarbonylation of olefins represents a straightforward approach for the synthesis of enantioenriched amides, but is hampered by the necessity to employ CO gas, often at elevated pressures. We herein describe, as an alternative, an enantioselective hydrocarbamoylation of alkenes leveraging dual copper hydride and palladium catalysis to enable the use of readily available carbamoyl chlorides as a practical carbamoylating reagent. The protocol is applicable to various types of olefins, including alkenyl arenes, terminal alkenes, and 1,1-disubstituted alkenes. Substrates containing a diverse range of functional groups as well as heterocyclic substructures undergo functionalization to provide α- and β-chiral amides in good yields and with excellent enantioselectivities.

CuH-Catalyzed Asymmetric Reductive Amidation of α,β-Unsaturated Carboxylic Acids

The direct enantioselective copper hydride (CuH)-catalyzed synthesis of β-chiral amides from α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids and secondary amines under mild reaction conditions is reported. The method utilizes readily accessible carboxylic acids and tolerates a variety of functional groups in the β-position including several heteroarenes. A subsequent iridium-catalyzed reduction to γ-chiral amines can be performed in the same flask without purification of the intermediate amides.