Improving the atom efficiency of the wittig reaction by a "waste as catalyst/Co-catalyst" strategy

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/anie.201000896

(Figure Presented) Waste not want not: Reported is a strategy to improve the atom economy of the Wittig reaction by using it in tandem reactions that directly employ the wastePh₃PO as an in-situ-generated Lewis base catalyst/co-catalyst in the next step (see scheme).

Full text of DOI:10.1002/anie.201000896

Communications
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201000896
Sustainable Chemistry
Improving the Atom Efficiency of the Wittig Reaction by a “Waste as
Catalyst/Co-catalyst” Strategy**
Jun-Jie Cao, Feng Zhou, and Jian Zhou*
Maximizing synthetic efficiency and minimizing waste gen-
eration is a very important but challenging task in organic
chemistry.[1] Much progress has been achieved in making
synthetic chemistry more sustainable using strategies such as
the replacement of classical “stoichiometric” methods with
atom-efficient, catalytic, and selective processes,[2] the sub-
stitution of toxic organic solvents with novel media (e.g., ionic
liquids and supercritical fluids),[3] and the combination of
multi-step syntheses into one-pot tandem reactions.[4]
Nevertheless, many reactions still suffer from low atom
efficiency because a large amount of waste is generated
simultaneously with the desired product. For instance, the
Wittig,[5] aza-Wittig,[6] Mitsunobu,[7] and Staudinger reac-
tions,[8] and some Ph3P-triggered reactions[9] stoichiometri-
cally produce Ph3PO as waste. Considering the high molec-
ular weight of Ph3PO (278), the atom efficiency of these
reactions is relatively low. Although much effort has been
devoted to improving the atom efficiency of these trans-
formations, for example in the development of a catalytic
Wittig reaction,[10] the development of new strategies to
improve the atom efficiency of such reactions is still urgent
and very important.
In nature, a practical strategy to improve atom utilization
is the use of waste from one species by another species. Urea,
for example, whilst being a waste produced in the metabolism
of animals, is a nitrogen-release fertilizer for plants. Inspired
by this, and together with our interest in tandem reactions,[4l]
we considered a “waste as catalyst/co-catalyst” approach to
improving the atom economy of a reaction by coupling it into
a tandem reaction and directly using its generated waste as a
catalyst/co-catalyst for the next step.
Surprisingly, the employment of this strategy to improve
synthetic efficiency has been rarely explored in organic
chemistry. In 2008, Alaimo et al. reported a tandem nitro-
arene reduction/imine formation/aza Diels–Alder reaction,[11]
which utilized the InIII byproducts produced from the
reduction step to catalyze the aza-Diels–Alder reaction.
However, the use of two equivalents of In0 as the reducing
agent and five equivalents of aldehyde to achieve high overall
yield, together with the fact that the same aza-Diels–Alder
reaction was reported to work well in methanol without any
catalyst,[12] made the whole transformation less atom-eco-
nomical. Most recently, Tian and co-workers reported an
indirect method for utilization of the TMSCl byproduct that
was generated in a tandem nitrogen protection/imine forma-
tion/imine addition reaction.[13] That process needed the
addition of water to hydrolyze the TMSCl byproduct from
the reaction of hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) and chloro-
formate to produce the active catalyst, HCl, for the following
two steps. To the best of our knowledge, only the two
examples are reported in the literature that utilize the
byproduct of an upstream step to catalyze the downstream
reaction in a tandem reaction, and the use of waste generated
in the first step of a catalystic asymmetric reaction as catalyst/
co-catalyst in the enantioselective reaction step has not yet
been reported.
The Wittig reaction (Scheme 1) is an ideal testing ground
for demonstrating the power and potential of this “waste as
catalyst/co-catalyst” strategy, for the following reasons: 1) in
spite of the low atom efficiency, the Wittig reaction is one of
the most powerful tools for the construction of carbon–carbon
double bonds,[5] including the synthesis of a,b-unsaturated
carbonyl compounds,[14] which are widely used substrates for
the design of tandem reactions; 2) though being a “notorious”
waste in the aforementioned reactions, Ph3PO is a powerful
Lewis base catalyst for an array of transformations.[15] In
addition, Ph3PO is a useful additive in some chiral Lewis acid
catalyzed reactions for improving reactivity and selectivity,[16]
which makes it possible to use Ph3PO that is generated in situ
to improve the selectivity of tandem reactions that involve a
chiral Lewis acid catalyzed reaction. In light of these two
facts, we considered that the combination of the Wittig
reaction with Ph3PO chemistry might allow for the develop-
ment of tandem reactions with improved atom economy. As
shown in Scheme 1, if the Wittig reaction is run independ-
[*] J.-J. Cao, F. Zhou, Prof. Dr. J. Zhou
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical
Processes
Department of Chemistry, East China Normal University
3663N, Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062 (China)
Fax: (+86)21-6223-4560
E-mail: jzhou@chem.ecnu.edu.cn
[**] The financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation
of China (20902025) and from East China Normal University is
highly appreciated.
Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW
under http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201000896.
Scheme 1. A tandem Wittig/conjugate-reduction reaction.
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Chemie
ently, the atom economy is low because of the generation of a
stoichiometric amount of Ph3PO [Eq. (1)]. In contrast, the
atom efficiency might be significantly improved in a tandem
reaction, if the Ph3PO that is generated from the Wittig
reaction step could serve as a catalyst or co-catalyst for the
next step [Eq. (2)]. If this strategy is successful, it might be
further applied to improve the atom economy of reactions
which generate Ph3PO or its analogues as by-products.
Herein, we report our preliminary results towards such
reactions.
First, we attempted a tandem Wittig/conjugate-reduction
reaction, with the aim of providing an organocatalytic method
for the synthesis of saturated ketones from easily available
aldehydes in a one-pot operation. As shown in Table 1, the
tandem reaction directly employed the in-situ-generated
Ph3PO as the catalyst for the conjugate reduction step.[17] It
should be noted that the preparation of a,b-unsaturated
ketones using the Wittig reaction was straightforward when
side-reactions involving the direct coupling of ketones and
labile aldehydes were observed,[14] because the generation of
Ph3PO was then unavoidable.
reaction step (see the Supporting Information). The substrate
scope is shown in Table 1. To obtain accurate yields of the
isolated products, aldehydes with low boiling point were
chosen to react with phosphorane 1a, and the desired
saturated ketones 5a–d were obtained in good to excellent
yield (Table 1, entries 1–4). Other aldehydes reacted with
phosphorane 1b to afford their corresponding ketone 5e–l in
excellent yield (Table 1, entries 5–12). In the case of aryl
aldehydes, the substituent on the ortho position of the phenyl
ring influenced the reactivity, and slightly lower yield was
obtained (Table 1, entry 6–8). A serial of functional groups
such as ketones, nitro groups, halogen atoms, and terminal
alkene groups tolerated the reaction conditions of the
conjugate reduction step, thus illustrating the excellent
chemoselectivity of this novel organocatalytic transforma-
tion.[18]
Different phosphoranes 1 were also evaluated using
aldehyde 2c (Table 1, entries 13–18). Generally, the more
stable the phosphorane 1, the slower the reaction rate in the
Wittig reaction step. As a result, phosphoranes 1c–f, which
contained electron-withdrawing groups on the phenyl ring,
afforded lower yields. The regioselectivity of this reaction was
After careful screening, the optimal conditions were
determined to be performing the reaction under an atmos-
phere of nitrogen using 1,2-dichloroethane as the solvent,
with addition of HSiCl3 after completion of the Wittig
=
excellent, and only the conjugated C C double bond was
reduced, affording the desired ketones 5c and 5m–q, leaving
terminal double bond intact. Ketones 5c and 5m–q, which all
contained a terminal alkene functional group, are useful
building blocks in organic synthesis.[19] Multistep syntheses
were previously required to obtain this type of saturated
ketones;[20] however, using this method, such compounds can
be readily prepared via a one-pot tandem reaction from
commercially available starting materials with high tolerance
of functional groups. Ethyl-pyruvate-derived Wittig reagent
1g afforded a complex mixture of products under the reaction
conditions, and the desired product could not be isolated
cleanly (Table 1, entry 18).
Table 1: The substrate scope of the tandem reaction.[a]
Entry[b]
R
R1
5
Yield[c] [%]
The tandem reaction had an advantage that the conjugate
reduction step proceeded very efficiently because Ph3PO was
generated stoichiometrically. For example, the reduction step
of the tandem reaction [Scheme 2, Eq. (3)] was finished
within one hour, affording product 5s in 92% overall yield
over two steps. If the two steps were operated independently
and only 10 mol% of Ph3PO was used for the conjugate
reduction step [Eq. (4)], the reduction of enone 3s was
noticeably slower, affording 5s in only 52% yield, even the
reaction time was twice as long as that for Eq. (3). Although
one might think it is unsuitable to regard Ph3PO as a catalyst
because it is present in stoichiometric quantities in the
reaction system, catalytic amounts of Ph3PO worked success-
fully in the conjugate reduction [Eq. (4)], and the conjugate
reduction could not take place in the absence of Ph3PO.
A catalytic asymmetric tandem Wittig–cyanosilylation
reaction was also investigated to demonstrate the potential of
this “waste as catalyst/co-catalyst” strategy [Eq. (5)], which
utilized the Ph3PO generated in the Wittig reaction step as a
Lewis base catalyst to activate TMSCN for facilitating
cyanide transfer in the asymmetric cyanosilylation[21] step.
For the catalytic asymmetric cyanosilylation step, chiral salen
aluminium catalyst 6[22] was found to be highly enantioselec-
tive, and dichloromethane turned out to be the best solvent.
1
2
Ph (1a)
Ph (1a)
nPr
(2a)
(2b)
5a
5b
87
98
3
Ph (1a)
(2c)
5c
90
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Ph (1a)
Me (1b)
Me (1b)
Me (1b)
Me (1b)
Me (1b)
Me (1b)
Me (1b)
c-hexyl
(2d)
(2e)
(2 f)
(2g)
(2h)
(2i)
5d
5e
5 f
5g
5h
5i
79
92
88
96
98
89
92
98
o-NO2C6H4
m-NO2C6H4
p-NO2C6H4
p-BrC6H4
p-ClC6H4
2,4-Cl2C6H3
(2j)
(2k)
5j
5k
12
Me (1b)
(2l)
5l
86
13
14
15
16
17
18
Me (1b)
(2c)
(2c)
(2c)
(2c)
(2c)
(2c)
5m
5n
5o
5p
5q
5r
73
70
76
81
87
–
p-NO2C6H4 (1c)
o-ClC6H4 (1d)
m-ClC6H4 (1e)
p-ClC6H4 (1 f)
COOEt (1g)
[a] Order of addition: 2e and 1a in 1,2-dichloroethane, 508C; then HSiCl3
(2.0 equiv), 08C. [b] Reaction scale: 1.0 mmol. [c] Yield of isolated
product.
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Table 2: A tandem Wittig-cyanosilylation reaction.[a]
Entry[b]
R
7
Yield [%][c]
ee [%][d]
Scheme 2. Control experiments. Order of addition for Eq. (3): 2e and
1[e]
Ph
7a
7b
7c
7d
7e
7 f
7g
7h
7i
84
93
96
71
93
86
89
97
86
97
90
66
88
93
92
68
90
90
92
90
90
65
86
75
1a in 1,2-dichloroethane, 708C, 17h; then HSiCl3 (2.0 equiv), 08C, 1h.
a) 1,2-dichloroethane, 708C, 17h, 88% yield; b) Ph3PO (10 mol%),
HSiCl3 (2.0 equiv), 08C, 2h, 52% yield.
2[f]
p-ClC6H4
m-ClC6H4
o-ClC6H4
p-NO2C6H4
m-NO2C6H4
p-CF3C6H4
m-MeC6H4
p-BrC6H4
2-thienyl
1-naphthyl
nPr
3[f]
4[e]
5[f]
To speed up the initial Wittig reaction between aldehyde 2
and phosphorane 1b, the reaction was carried out in a screw-
capped pressure tube using dichloromethane as the solvent at
808C, and chiral catalyst 6 and TMSCN were added after the
completion of the Wittig step (see the Supporting Informa-
tion). As the subsequent cyanosilylation reaction was run at
À308C, 5 or 10 mol% chiral catalyst 6 was needed to ensure
reasonable reactivity.
A variety of aldehydes worked well under these reaction
conditions to afford the desired quaternary cyanohydrins in
good to excellent yields and enantioselectivities (Table 2).
Generally, para- or meta-substituted benzaldehydes worked
well to provide the corresponding product 7 in excellent yield
and enantioselectivity (Table 2, entries 1–3 and 5–9). How-
ever, the substituent at the ortho position of benzaldehyde
had a negative effect on the reactivity and enantioselectivity;
for example, 2-chlorobenzaldehyde afforded product 7d in
noticeably lower yield and ee value (Table 2, entry 4).
2-Thenaldehyde worked well, but the corresponding product
7j was obtained in only 65% ee (Table 2, entry 10). In the
case of 1-naphthaldehyde, product 7k was synthesized in 90%
yield and 86% ee (Table 2, entry 11). Aliphatic aldehyde also
worked well under these reaction conditions and, for exam-
ple, n-butyraldehyde-derived product 7l could be obtained in
75% ee (Table 2, entry 12). The absolute configuration of 7a
was determined to be S from comparison of the optical
rotation with the literature value.[21j]
To demonstrate the pivotal role of Ph3PO in the cyano-
silylation step, a control experiment was conducted starting
from the corresponding enone 3t in the absence of Ph3PO at
À308C, and no desired product 7a was observed by TLC
analysis [Eq. (6)]; this result was in accordance with a
literature report, which concluded that the cyanosilylation
reaction of ketones could not take place without Ph3PO, even
at room temperature, when using chiral catalyst 6.[21j] This
result unambiguously demonstrated the importance of Ph3PO
as a Lewis base catalyst to activate TMSCN in the subsequent
cyanosilylation reaction. The high yield and enantioselectivity
of this tandem Wittig–cyanosilylation reaction further exhib-
ited the potential of the “waste as catalyst/co-catalyst”
strategy in the development of new catalytic asymmetric
tandem reactions with improved atom economy.
6[e]
7[e]
8[e]
9[e]
10[e]
11[e]
12[e,g]
7j
7k
7l
[a] Order of addition: 2 and 1b in CH2Cl2, 808C; then catalyst 6 (5–
10 mol%) and TMSCN (2.0 equiv), À308C. [b] Reaction scale: 0.5 mmol.
[c] Yield of isolated product. [d] Determined by chiral HPLC or GC
analysis. [e] 10 mol% of catalyst 6; [f] 5 mol% of catalyst 6; [g] 1.0 mmol
scale.
atom economy of a reaction that has poor atom economy, by
modular integration of it into a tandem reaction sequence and
the direct utilization of its waste as a catalyst or co-catalyst for
the next step. Using this strategy, we successfully developed a
novel tandem Wittig–conjugate-reduction reaction in which
the in-situ-generated Ph3PO from the Wittig reaction step
served as the catalyst for the following conjugate reduction
step without any treatment, providing a facile method for the
preparation of saturated ketones from easily available
substrates with excellent chemo- and regioselectivity. This
strategy was also useful in the development of asymmetric
catalytic tandem reactions with improved atom efficiency. A
tandem Wittig/cyanosilylation reaction was also developed,
which provided a facile method for the synthesis of quater-
nary cyanohydrins in good to excellent yield and enantiose-
lectivity, and the Ph3PO generated in the Wittig step serves as
Lewis base catalyst to activate TMSCN for the following
enantioselective cyanosilylation reaction of enones. Consid-
ering that Ph3PO, its analogues, or other Lewis bases could be
stoichiometrically generated in a number of widely used
reactions, the “waste as catalyst/co-catalyst” strategy might
have wide potential application in organic synthesis. Experi-
ments are now underway in our lab to evaluate this strategy in
other tandem reactions, and especially to develop catalytic
asymmetric tandem reactions which utilize the internally
generated by-product for improving reactivity and selectivity.
Received: February 12, 2010
Revised: April 11, 2010
Published online: June 2, 2010
In conclusion, we have demonstrated that a “waste as
catalyst/co-catalyst” strategy has promise for improving the
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