63401-04-7Relevant articles and documents
London Dispersion Interactions Rather than Steric Hindrance Determine the Enantioselectivity of the Corey–Bakshi–Shibata Reduction
Eschmann, Christian,Song, Lijuan,Schreiner, Peter R.
supporting information, p. 4823 - 4832 (2021/02/01)
The well-known Corey–Bakshi–Shibata (CBS) reduction is a powerful method for the asymmetric synthesis of alcohols from prochiral ketones, often featuring high yields and excellent selectivities. While steric repulsion has been regarded as the key director of the observed high enantioselectivity for many years, we show that London dispersion (LD) interactions are at least as important for enantiodiscrimination. We exemplify this through a combination of detailed computational and experimental studies for a series of modified CBS catalysts equipped with dispersion energy donors (DEDs) in the catalysts and the substrates. Our results demonstrate that attractive LD interactions between the catalyst and the substrate, rather than steric repulsion, determine the selectivity. As a key outcome of our study, we were able to improve the catalyst design for some challenging CBS reductions.
Basicities and Nucleophilicities of Pyrrolidines and Imidazolidinones Used as Organocatalysts
An, Feng,Maji, Biplab,Min, Elizabeth,Ofial, Armin R.,Mayr, Herbert
supporting information, p. 1526 - 1547 (2020/02/04)
The Br?nsted basicities pKaH (i.e., pKa of the conjugate acids) of 32 pyrrolidines and imidazolidinones, commonly used in organocatalytic reactions, have been determined photometrically in acetonitrile solution using CH acids as indicators. Most investigated pyrrolidines have basicities in the range 16 aH aH aH 12.6) and the 2-imidazoliummethyl-substituted pyrrolidine A21 (pKaH 11.1) are outside the typical range for pyrrolidines with basicities comparable to those of imidazolidinones. Kinetics of the reactions of these 32 organocatalysts with benzhydrylium ions (Ar2CH+) and structurally related quinone methides, common reference electrophiles for quantifying nucleophilic reactivities, have been measured photometrically. Most reactions followed second-order kinetics, first order in amine and first order in electrophile. More complex kinetics were observed for the reactions of imidazolidinones and several pyrrolidines carrying bulky 2-substituents, due to reversibility of the initial attack of the amines at the electrophiles followed by rate-determining deprotonation of the intermediate ammonium ions. In the presence of 2,4,6-collidine or 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methyl-pyridine, the deprotonation of the initial adducts became faster, which allowed the rate of the attack of the amines at the electrophiles to be determined. The resulting second-order rate constants k2 followed the correlation log?k2(20 °C) = sN(N + E), where electrophiles are characterized by one parameter (E) and nucleophiles are characterized by the two solvent-dependent parameters N and sN. In this way, the organocatalysts A1-A32 were integrated in our comprehensive nucleophilicity scale, which compares n-, -, and σ-nucleophiles. The nucleophilic reactivities of the title compounds correlate only poorly with their Br?nsted basicities.
Intramolecular [2+2] Photocycloaddition of Cyclic Enones: Selectivity Control by Lewis Acids and Mechanistic Implications
Poplata, Saner,Bauer, Andreas,Storch, Golo,Bach, Thorsten
supporting information, p. 8135 - 8148 (2019/05/29)
The intramolecular [2+2] photocycloaddition of 3-alkenyl-2-cycloalkenones was performed in an enantioselective fashion (nine representative examples, 54–86 % yield, 76–96 % ee) upon irradiation at λ=366 nm in the presence of an AlBr3-activated oxazaborolidine as the Lewis acid. An extensive screening of proline-derived oxazaborolidines showed that the enantioface differentiation depends strongly on the nature of the aryl group at the 3-position of the heterocycle. DFT calculations of the Lewis acid–substrate complex indicate that attractive dispersion forces may be responsible for a change of the binding mode. The catalytic [2+2] photocycloaddition was shown to proceed on the triplet hypersurface with a quantum yield of 0.05. The positive effect of Lewis acids on the outcome of a given intramolecular [2+2] photocycloaddition was illustrated by optimizing the key step in a concise total synthesis of the sesquiterpene (±)-italicene.
