Communications
Table 3: Cu-catalyzed asymmetric 1,4-addition of various Grignard
reagents to cyclohexenone according to Scheme 1.[a]
Entry RMgBr
L*
Solvent
4/5[b]
ee [%][b] Config.[c]
1
2
3
4
EtMgBr
7 f
7 f
7 f
Me-THF 89:11 90
(ꢀ)-S
(ꢀ)-R
(+)-R
(+)-R
Et2O
91:9
98:2
99:1
91
67
82
iPrMgBr
iPrMgBr
Et2O[d]
7e Et2O[d]
5
7e Me-THF 91:9
7 f
7e Me-THF 91:9
92
(+)-R
6
7
PhMgBr
PhMgBr
Me-THF 60:40 74
92
(+)-R
(+)-R
[a] Reaction conditions: 6 mol% ligand, 5 mol% CuBr–SMe2, ꢀ788C,
full conversion after 2 h. [b] Determined by GC on a chiral stationary
phase. [c] Sign of the optical rotation at 589 nm in CH2Cl2 and absolute
configuration as determined by CD spectroscopy. [d] A solution of the
Grignard reagent in Me-THF was used.
Figure 3. Structure and enantiomeric purities (and yields) of 3-substi-
tuted cyclohexanones synthesized in this study.
high enantioselectivities (82–92% ee) and preparative yields
of up to 88%.[15]
was used to dissolve the substrate (3) and the catalyst, while
the Grignard reagent was prepared and used as a solution in
2-Me-THF. Performing the reaction with iPrMgBr in either
neat 2-Me-THF or Et2O resulted in low enantioselectivities
and, moreover, slow conversion in the latter case. Also
noteworthy is the fact that at ꢀ788C ligand 7e proved to be
superior for branched Grignard reagents, while the 1,4-
addition of both linear Grignard reagents proceeded most
selectively when ligand 7 f was employed. The other ligands of
type 7 (Table 1) were found to be much less selective.
In conclusion, we have identified phosphine–phosphite
ligands of type 7 as a novel (second) class of chiral P,P ligands
suitable for the Cu-catalyzed asymmetric 1,4-addition of
Grignard reagents to cyclohexenone.[16,17] These readily
accessible ligands proved to be compatible with an unsur-
passed range of Grignard reagents, and owing to their
modular nature it should be possible to achieve further
(individual) ligand tuning for specific reaction systems.[9b,10]
Furthermore, we came across a very interesting solvent
effect with (racemic) 2-methyl-THF, which has only recently
been recognized as an environmentally benign solvent
because of its low water miscibility and its origin from
renewable resources.[18] Our results suggest that this solvent
should be generally considered as an alternative to diethyl
ether and THF whenever organometallic reactions are
optimized.
The absolute configuration of the products (as given in
Table 3) was determined by means of CD spectroscopy
(Figure 2) applying the octant rule.[14] As Figures 2 and 3
illustrate, the stereochemical outcome of the reactions
Experimental Section
Typical procedure for the 1,4-addition on a preparative scale: Under
an atmosphere of argon, CuBr–SMe2 (0.05 equiv, 0.45 mmol) and the
ligand (0.06 equiv, 0.54 mmol) were dissolved in 15 mL of solvent and
stirred for 15 min at RT. After addition of enone 3 (1.0 equiv, 9 mmol)
the reaction mixture was cooled to ꢀ788C and a dilute (0.1–
0.5 molLꢀ1) solution of the Grignard reagent (1.2 equiv, 10.8 mmol)
was slowly added over 2 h by means of a syringe pump. The mixture
was then stirred for another 30 min at ꢀ788C and quenched by
addition of MeOH (5 mL) and 1m aqueous NH4Cl solution (10 mL).
The layers were separated, and the aqueous phase was extracted with
tert-butyl methyl ether. The combined organic solutions were washed
with brine and dried over MgSO4, and the solvent was evaporated in
vacuo. The crude product (yellowish oil) was purified by distillation
(0.2 mbar) and subsequent flash chromatography (cyclohexane/
EtOAc 10:1) to give the pure 1,4-addition product 4 as a colorless oil.
Figure 2. CD spectra of compounds 4a–e in CH3CN.
depends on the Grignard reagent used. In the case of the
unbranched reagents (EtMgBr and 3-butenylmagesium bro-
mide) the main enantiomers of the products (4a, 4b) result
from a Si-face attack at the position b to the ketone. However,
using the same (R,R)-Taddol-derived catalysts, the 1,4-
addition of the branched reagents afforded products 4c–4e,
resulting from a Re-face attack. We consider this switch of the
enantiofacial selectivity with the type of Grignard reagent as a
remarkable phenomenon which challenges any future
attempts to rationalize the stereochemical outcome of these
reactions based on detailed transition-state models. As
Figure 3 summarizes, the methodology developed opens
access to a variety of 3-substituted cyclohexanones with
Received: July 4, 2008
Published online: September 4, 2008
Keywords: asymmetric catalysis · conjugate addition ·
.
Grignard reagents · phosphine ligands · solvent effects
[1] Reviews: a) P. Perlmutter, Tetrahedron Organic Chemistry Series
9; Pergamon, Oxford, UK, 1992; b) V. J. Lee in Comprehensive
ꢀ 2008 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 7718 –7721