L.-W. Xu et al.
Conclusion
Experimental Section
Reagents were purchased from commercial sources and were used as re-
ceived unless noted otherwise. Reactions were monitored by thin-layer
chromatography using silica gel. All the reactions that dealt with air- or
moisture-sensitive compounds were carried out in a dry reaction vessel
under positive pressure of argon. Air- and moisture-sensitive liquids and
solutions were transferred with a syringe or a stainless-steel cannula.
1H NMR spectra were recorded at 400 MHz; chemical shifts are reported
in ppm relative to tetramethylsilane (TMS) with the solvent resonance
employed as the internal standard (CDCl3 at d=7.26 ppm). 13C NMR
spectra were recorded at 100 MHz; chemical shifts are reported in ppm
from TMS with the solvent resonance as the internal standard (CDCl3 at
d=77.20 ppm). 31P NMR spectra were recorded at 162 MHz; chemical
shifts for phosphorous are reported in ppm referenced to the phospho-
rous resonance of phosphoric acid (d=0 ppm). ESI-MS analysis of the
samples was conducted using an LCQ Advantage mass spectrometer
(ThermoFisher Company, USA) equipped with an ESI ion source in the
positive-ionization mode, with data acquisition using the Xcalibur soft-
ware (Version 1.4). CH2Cl2 was dried and distilled over CaH2. THF and
Et2O were distilled from sodium benzophenone ketyl. Aldehydes and ti-
tanium tetraisopropoxide were used after distillation.
In summary, we have successfully synthesized a new family
of chiral Schiff base–phosphine ligands derived from chiral
binaphthol (BINOL) and chiral primary amine. The control-
lable synthesis of a new family of multifunctional Schiff
base–phosphine ligands (HZNU-Phos) that contain both
axial and sp3-central chirality from axial BINOL and sp3-
central primary amine led to the establishment of an effi-
cient multifunctional phosphine ligand for copper-catalyzed
conjugate addition of organozinc reagents. Thus, we have es-
tablished a highly efficient and enantioselective catalyst
system comprised of a bimetallic copper–zinc complex for
conjugate addition of organic zinc reagents to aromatic
enones. In the asymmetric conjugate reaction of organozinc
reagents to enones, the polymer-like bimetallic multinuclear
À
Cu Zn complex constructed in situ was found to be a sub-
strate-selective and excellent catalyst for the diethylzinc re-
agent in terms of enantioselectivity (up to >99% ee). More
importantly, the match in chirality between different chiral
sources, C2-axial binaphthol and sp3-central chiral phos-
phine, was crucial to the enantioselective induction in this
reaction. The experimental results indicated that our chiral
ligand (R,S,S)-L1 and (R,S)-L4-based bimetallic complex
catalyst system exhibited the highest catalytic performance
to date in terms of enantioselectivity and conversion, even
in the presence of 0.005 mol% of catalyst (S/C=20000,
TON=17600). We also studied the tandem silylation or acy-
lation of enantiomerically enriched zinc enolates that were
CCDC-913453 ((R,S,S)-L1) contains the supplementary crystallographic
data for this paper. These data can be obtained free of charge from The
request/cif.
X-ray Diffraction
Data sets were collected using Bruker APEX DUO and Bruker APEX-
II CCD diffractometers. Programs used: For data collection Bruker
APEX2,[28a] data reduction Bruker SAINT, absorption correction multi-
scan, structure solution SHELX-97,[28b] structure refinement SHELXL-
97,[28b] and for graphics Bruker SHELXTL.[28b] The detailed procedures
for the synthesis of every chiral ligand and copper-catalyzed conjugate
addition of organozincs to enones have been provided in the Supporting
Information. In the copper-catalyzed conjugate addition of diethylzinc to
enones, both method A and method B with different N,O,P ligands led to
the same products (see the Supporting Information); their differences
are only in terms of the enantiomeric excesses. These different reaction
results have been collected in the product characterization.
À
formed in situ from copper L4-complex-catalyzed conjugate
addition, which resulted in the high-yield synthesis of chiral
silyl enol ethers and enoacetates, respectively. Furthermore,
the specialized structure of multifunctional phosphine ligand
L1 or L4 was investigated and a corresponding mechanistic
study of the copper-catalyst system was carried out by
means of 31P NMR spectroscopy, circular dichroism (CD),
and UV/Vis absorption. On the basis of the above measure-
ments, we suggest that the intermolecular interaction and
coordination of Schiff base–phosphine ligand L1 with
copper in the presence of the second metal (Zn or Ti) led to
the in situ formation of a polymer-like network and dynamic
chiral multinuclear bimetallic complex, which resulted in
highly efficient activation of enone and spectacular enantio-
selective induction. Thus it is an important complementary
method to the asymmetric synthesis of various optically
active b-ethyl ketones because a new level of catalytic per-
formance was reached relative to the previously reported
chiral phosphine ligand systems for acyclic enones, especial-
ly for 4-phenylbutenone and its analogues (with a high TON
and up to 99% ee). Further investigations into the substrate-
sensitive mechanism and the intricate structure of this poly-
metallic complex are currently underway and will be report-
ed in due course.
Representative Procedure for Copper-Catalyzed Conjugate Addition of
Et2Zn to Enones
A
flame-dried Schlenk tube was charged with CuACTHGNUTRENNU(G OTf)2 (3.6 mg,
0.01 mmol) and (R,S,S)-L1 (11.0 mg, 0.012 mmol) under an N2 atmos-
phere, and the mixture was dissolved in dry Et2O (3.0 mL). The solution
was stirred at room temperature for 30 min and then cooled to À208C.
Diethylzinc (3.0 mmol, 3.0 mL of 1m toluene solution) was added drop-
wise to the above solution. Enone (1.0 mmol) was added at once to the
clear yellow solution. The mixture was stirred at À208C for 9–12 h before
being quenched with aqueous saturated NH4Cl. The layers were separat-
ed, and the aqueous layer was extracted with ethyl acetate (5 mL twice).
The combined organic layers were dried over Na2SO4 and concentrated
under reduced pressure. The residue was purified by column chromatog-
raphy on silica gel to give the addition product. The enantiomeric excess
of the product was determined by chiral HPLC. The detailed experimen-
tal procedures and characteristics of corresponding products are provided
in the Supporting Information.
Acknowledgements
This project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation
of China (no. 21173064), the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foun-
dation of China (Q12B020037), and the Program for Excellent Young
Teachers in Hangzhou Normal University (HNUEYT; JTAS 2011-01-
014). L.-W.X. thanks Professor G.-Q. Lai, Professor J.-X. Jiang, Dr. X.-Q.
Xiao, Ms. F.-E. Zhu, Dr. K.-Z. Jiang, and Dr. C.-Q. Sheng of HZNU for
11
&
&
Chem. Asian J. 2013, 00, 0 – 0
ꢀ 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
These are not the final page numbers! ÞÞ