Organic Letters
Letter
mixed solvent of i-PrOH and toluene (v/v = 1:1) (entries 8−
10). Other bases, such as t-BuOLi and t-BuONa, could not
promote the full conversion of 1a because of their poor
solubility in a mixed solvent (entries 11 and 12). The
reduction of the amount of base from 0.05 to 0.02 equiv gave a
slight increase in yield (entry 13). It is worth noting that, when
the catalyst loading was reduced to 0.01 mol % (S/C =
10 000), the hydrogenation can still be performed smoothly,
providing 2a in 94% yield and 94% ee (entry 14).
With the optimal reaction conditions in hand, we examined
the substrate scope of this hydrogenation by using catalyst
(Ra,S,S)-5c. As shown in Scheme 2, the electronic property and
position of the substituents on the phenyl ring of the substrates
have an obvious effect on the enantioselectivity. Generally, the
substrates with electron-donating substituents (1c, 4-MeO,
99% ee) gave a higher enantioselectivity than the substrates
with electron-withdrawing substituents (1d, 4-F, 93% ee); the
substrates with para/meta-substituents (1b, 4-Me, 98% ee; 1h,
3-Me, 97% ee) on the phenyl ring gave a significantly higher
enantioselectivity than the substrates with ortho-substituents
(1k, 2-Me, 47% ee; 1l, 2-OMe, 73% ee). When the aryl group
was replaced by an alkyl group such as methyl (1q) and benzyl
(1r) high yields with low to moderate enantioselectivities were
observed. However, the hydrogenation of the five-membered
ring substrates such as 6-methyl substituted 1,4-
dioxaspiro[4.4]nonan-7-one gave no desired product due to
its highly base-sensitive property.17 In addition, the hydro-
genation can be easily upscaled as demonstrated in the
decagram synthesis of 2c with erosions neither in the yield nor
ee (Scheme 3). Finally, the absolute configurations of the
Scheme 3. Decagram-Scale Synthesis and Functional Group
Interconversions of 2c
Scheme 2. Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Racemic α-Aryl
a b c
, ,
Cyclohexanones 1
hydrogenation products were determined as (R,R) through the
single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of product 2c (see the
For instance, to further demonstrate the utility and
versatility of our method to diverse oxygenated chiral β-aryl
cyclohexanes, cyclohexanol (S,S)-2c was then transformed into
a xanthate ester 7, with which a concurrent Chugaev syn-
elimination18 could regioselectively afford a cyclohexene
product 8 with no obvious erosion of enantiopurity (Scheme
3). Oxidation of cyclohexene 8 with m-chloroperbenzoic acid
(m-CPBA) diastereroselectively yielded epoxide 9 in 73%
yield. Subsequently, deketalization of 9 with 10% HClO4
provided epoxide ketone 10 in 51% yield. Alternatively,
opening the epoxide ring of 9 with sodium azide afforded azide
alcohol 11 with 73% yield. In addition, the direct
dihydroxylation of cyclohexene
8 with NMO/
19
K2OsO2(OH)4 yielded the corresponding cis-1,2-cyclohex-
anediol 12 as a single isomer with 92% yield. Impressively, a
one-pot deketalization and diol protection of 12 uniquely in
the condition of iodine and acetone cleanly provided the
dihydroxy-protected ketone 13 in 74% yield.20 The synthesized
chiral compounds, in particular, 10 and 13 can serve as useful
building blocks for the synthesis of amaryllidaceae constituents
and unnatural derivatives9b such as the analogues of
deoxypancratistatin.21
In conclusion, we have developed an efficient method for the
synthesis of chiral β-aryl cyclohexanols by a ruthenium-
catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of the corresponding
racemic α-aryl cyclohexanones bearing a β-monoethylene ketal
a
Reaction conditions: 1.0 mmol of 1, 0.1 mol % (Ra,S,S)-5c, 2 mol %
t-BuOK, i-PrOH/toluene (2/2 mL), 50 atm H2, at room temperature
(25−30 °C) for 12 h. The cis/trans selectivity of the product 2 for all
reactions was greater than 99:1 as determined by 1H NMR
b
c
spectroscopy. Isolated yield. The ee value was determined by
high-performance liquid chromatography using a chiral column. The
configuration of product 2c was determined as the (R,R)-
configuration by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis.
d
1618
Org. Lett. 2021, 23, 1616−1620