Bi et al.
JOCArticle
SCHEME 1. Copper-Catalyzed Oxidative Decarboxylative
Coupling of Tertiary R-Amino Acids (Path A) and Aldehyde-
Induced Decarboxylation-Coupling of Secondary R-Amino Acids
(Path B)
TABLE 1. Optimization of Reaction Conditionsa
entry
catalyst
temp (°C)
NMR yieldb (%)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Au(PPh3)Cl
AuCl3
Ag(PPh3)F
CuOTf
Cu(OTf)2
CuBr2
CuBr
CuI
CuI
CuI
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
130
130
<5c
28c
32
33
28
32
44
45
90
95d
To date, while seeking selective methods to functionalize
the R Csp3-H bond of nitrogen-containing compounds,10
we have developed various Cross-Dehydrogenative-
Coupling (CDC) by directly utilizing two different C-H
bonds.11 While these reactions provided the simplest and
most direct approach to generate such compounds, the scope
of the reactions and the regioselectivity of the C-C bond
to be formed are still relatively limited. Alternatively, the
carboxylic group of R-amino acids provides the possibility
for site-specific functionalization of R-amino acids skeletons,
using decarboxylative coupling reactions to generate amine
derivatives. In the meantime, R-amino acids are often more
readily accessible than other compounds in nature and are
among the most attractive synthons for cross-coupling.12
With this notion in mind, very recently, we have developed a
C-C bond-forming reaction based on a copper- and iron-
catalyzed oxidative decarboxylative coupling of sp3-hybri-
dized carbons of R-amino acids (Scheme 1, path A).13
Although these results provide new and alternative ways to
construct different Csp3-Csp, Csp3-Csp2, and Csp3-Csp3
bonds, there are still several limitations for these methods.
First, a stoichiometric quantity of peroxide was used. Avoid-
ing the use of peroxide would offer a more atom-economical
and much safer process.14 Second, the tertiary R-amino acids
described by Path A (protected by benzyl groups) require
preparation in separate steps in advance, which also gener-
ates waste. Finally, the oxidative coupling methods are
not applicable to secondary R-amino acids, which are
more prevalent in nature. Thus, the direct R-functionaliza-
tion of existing secondary R-amino acids is highly desirable
and synthetically useful. To address these challenges, herein
aReactions were carried out on a 0.3 mmol scale in 1.5 mL of toluene
under argon overnight with 1.0 equiv of 1a, 1.5 equiv of 2a, 1.4 equiv of
b
3a, and 0.15 equiv of catalyst. Reported yields were based on 1a and
c
determined by NMR with use of an internal standard. 0.05 equiv of
catalyst was used. d1.4 equiv of 1a, 1.5 equiv of 2a, and 1.0 equiv of 3a
were used and the reported yield was based on 3a.
we report an interesting aldehyde- and ketone-induced inter-
molecular tandem decarboxylation-coupling of secondary
R-amino acids with alkynes catalyzed by copper to afford
propargylic amine derivatives,11,15 releasing H2O and CO2 as
the only byproducts (Scheme 1, path B).
Results and Discussion
Our study began with the reaction of 1.0 equiv of
4-nitrobenzaldehyde 1a, 1.5 equiv of proline 2a, 1.4 equiv
of phenylacetylene 3a, and 5 mol % of AuCl(PPh3) as the
catalyst in toluene at 100 °C under argon overnight. A trace
amount of the desired pyrrolidine heterocycle 4a was ob-
tained (Table 1, entry 1). To improve the yields, various
catalysts such as AuCl3, Ag(PPh3)F, and various copper salts
were examined (entries 2-8), which were shown to be
effective for similar reactions.15 Among them, CuI provided
the highest yield. Different temperatures were also tested.
When the reaction was performed at 130 °C, an excellent
yield was obtained (entry 9). Later, we found that the use of
1.4 equiv of 1a, 1.5 equiv of 2a, and 1.0 equiv of 3a gave the
best yield (entry 10). The optimum reaction conditions thus
far developed employ 1.4 equiv of aldehyde 1, 1.5 equiv of
amino acid 2, 1.0 equiv of alkyne 3, and 15 mol % of CuI, in
toluene at 130 °C under argon.
To examine the scope of this aldehyde-assisted decarboxy-
lation-coupling reaction, various alkynes were examined
under the above optimized conditions, and the results are
summarized in Table 2. For aromatic alkynes, the reaction
often afforded the corresponding products in moderate to
good yields (Table 2, entries 1-5). In addition, alkynes
containing an aliphatic group or a 1-cyclohexenyl group
were also applicable in this transformation (entries 6 and 7).
Meanwhile, the use of benzaldehyde bearing an electron-
withdrawing group at different positions gave the corre-
sponding products 4h, 4i, and 4j, respectively (entries
8-10). However, benzaldehyde bearing an electron-donat-
ing group gave a lower yield (entry 11).16 When 4-methoxy-
benzaldehyde 1f was used, two types of C-C bond
(10) Godula, K.; Sames, D. Science 2006, 312, 67–72.
(11) (a) Li, Z.; Li, C.-J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 11810–11811. (b) Li,
Z.; Bohle, D. S.; Li, C.-J. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2006, 103, 8928–8933.
(c) Zhao, L.; Li, C.-J. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 7075–7078. (d) Zhao,
ꢀ
L.; Basle, O.; Li, C.-J. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2009, 106, 4106–4111.
For an account, see: (e) Li, C.-J. Acc. Chem. Res. 2009, 42, 335–344.
(12) (a) Tyrrell, E.; Brookes, P. Synthesis 2004, 469–483. (b) Handy, S. T.;
Sabatini, J. J. Org. Lett. 2006, 8, 1537–1539. (c) Flegeau, E. F.; Popkin, M. E.;
Greaney, M. F. Org. Lett. 2006, 8, 2495–2498. (d) Moon, J.; Jeong, M.; Nam,
H.; Ju, J.; Moon, J. H.; Jung, H. M.; Lee, S. Org. Lett. 2008, 10, 945–948.
(13) (a) Bi, H.-P.; Zhao, L.; Liang, Y.-M.; Li, C.-J. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed.
2009, 48, 792–795. (b) Bi, H.-P.; Chen, W.-W.; Liang, Y.-M.; Li, C.-J. Org.
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(14) (a) Trost, B. M. Science 1991, 254, 1471–1477. (b) Trost, B. M. Acc.
Chem. Res. 2002, 35, 695–705.
(15) We also developed other methods for the synthesis of propargyla-
mines, see: (a) Li, C.-J.; Wei, C. Chem. Commun. 2002, 268–269. (b) Wei, C.;
Li, C.-J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 9584–9585. For accounts, see: (c) Wei,
C.; Li, Z.; Li, C.-J. Synlett 2004, 1472–1483. (d) Li, C.-J. Acc. Chem. Res.
accepted for publication.
(16) Dose, K. Chem. Ber. 1957, 90, 1251–1258.
784 J. Org. Chem. Vol. 75, No. 3, 2010