5
Table 2: Enantioselective transfer hydrogenation
Research Merit Award. We also thank the EPSRC UK National
Mass Spectrometry Facility at Swansea University.
iPr
N
S
References and notes
Ph
N
CH3
O
CH3 O
32 (10 mol%)
F3C
OPNP
F3C
OPNP
1. For seminal examples, see: a) W. S. Mahoney, J. M. Stryker, J.
Am. Chem. Soc. 1989, 111, 8818–8823; b) J. M. Grosselin, C.
2 (2.0 eq.)
solvent, T °C, 16 h
31
(S)-18
PNP = 4-NO2C6H4
PNP = 4-NO2C6H4
Yield %a
Mercier, G. Allmang, F. Grass, Organometallics, 1991, 10, 2126–
2133; c) V. V. Grushin, H. Alper, Organometallics, 1991, 10,
831–833.
Entry
Solvent
T / °C
110
erb
1
2
3
4
Toluene
Toluene
74
49
70
40
56:44
63:37
71:29
75:25
2. a) B. H. Lipshutz, B. A. Frieman, A. E. Tomaso Jr., Angew. Chem.
2018, 130, 6637–6641; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2006, 45, 1259 –
1264; b) B. H. Lipshutz, B. A. Frieman, J. B. Unger, D. M. Nihan,
Can. J. Chem., 2005, 83, 606–614; c) B. A. Baker, Ž. V.
Bošković, B. H. Lipshutz, Org. Lett. 2008, 10, 289–282; d) B. H.
Lipshutz, J. M. Servesko, B. R. Taft, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126,
8352–8353.
3. Y. Kanazawa, Y. Tsuchiya, K. Kobayashi, T. Shiomi, J.-T. Itoh,
M. Kikuchi, Y. Yamamoto, H. Nishiyama, Chem. Eur. J., 2006,
12, 69–71
80
Benzene
Benzene
80
60
a Isolated yield after flash column chromatography. b Enantiomeric ratio
determined by HPLC analysis on a chiral stationary phase.
Consistent with previous studies,15a,18 the reaction is proposed
to proceed via acylation of catalyst 6 by ester 7 to form α,β-
unsaturated acyl isothiouronium I, which along with
intermediates II and III contains a stabilising intramolecular 1,5-
4. U. Leutenegger, A. Madin, A. Pfaltz, Angew. Chem. 1989, 101,
61–62; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 1989, 28, 60–61.
5. For selected examples, see: a) W. S. Mahoney, D. M. Brestensky,
J. M. Stryker, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1988, 110, 291-293; b) D. H.
Appella, Y. Moritani, R. Shintani, E. M. Ferreira, S. L. Buchwald,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1999, 121, 9473-9474; c) G. Hughes, M.
Kimura, S. L. Buchwald, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 11253–
11258; d) V. Jurkauskas, J. P. Sadighi, S. L. Buchwald, Org. Lett.
2003, 5, 2417–2420; e) Q. Lang, G. Gu, Y. Cheng, Q. Yin, X.
Zhang, ACS Catal. 2018, 8, 4824−4828.
6. For a review, see: D. J. Ager, A. H. M de Vries, J. G. de Vries,
Chem. Soc. Rev. 2012, 41, 3340–3380; M. Shevlin, M. R.
Friedfeld, H. Sheng, N. A. Pierson, J. M. Hoyt, L.-C. Campeau, P.
J. Chirik, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 3562–3569.
OꢀꢀꢀS interaction.19 Hydride transfer from
2 leads to
intermediate II which can subsequently be protonated to give
acyl isothiouronium III. Formally, the Hantzsch ester serves as
the source for this proton via pyridinium V but involvement of 4-
nitrophenol, the conjugate acid if aryl oxide IV, in this proton
transfer is also possible and cannot be ruled out. Subsequent
reaction of intermediate III with aryl oxide IV leads to the
formation of the ester product 10 and release of catalyst 6.
7. For selected examples, see: a) P. J. Black, M. G. Edwards, J. M. J.
Williams, Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2006, 2006, 4367–4378; b) P. J.
Black, G. Cami-Kobeci, M. G. Edwards, P. A. Slatford, M. K.
Whittlesey J. M. J. Williams, Org. Biomol. Chem. 2006, 4, 116–
125; c) A. E. W. Ledger, P. A. Slatford, J. P. Lowe, M. F. Mahon,
M. K. Whittlesey, J. M. J. Williams, Dalton Trans. 2009, 716–
722.
8. A. Hantzsch, Ber. Dtsch. Chem. Ges., 1881, 14, 1637
9. A. M. F. Phillips, A. J. L. Pombeiro, Org. Biomol. Chem. 2017,
15, 2307–2340.
10. J. W. Yang, M. T. Hechavarria Fonseca, B. List, Angew. Chem.
2004, 116, 6829 –6832; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2004, 43, 6660–
6662.
11. For selected examples of organocatalytic transfer hydrogenation
of enals, see: a) J. W. Yang, M. T. Hechavarria Fonseca, N.
Vignola, B. List, Angew. Chem. 2005, 117, 110 –112; Angew.
Chem. Int. Ed., 2005, 44, 108–110; b) J. W. Yang, M. T.
Hechavarria Fonseca, B. List, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2005, 127,
15036–15037; c) S. G. Ouellet, J. B. Tuttle, D. W. C. MacMillan,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 32–33; d) Y.-H. Chen, D.-H. Li, Y.-
K. Liu, ACS Omega, 2018, 3, 16615–16625.
12. a) N. J. A. Martin, B. List, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2006, 128, 13368–
13369; b) J. B. Tuttle, S. G. Ouellet, D. W. C. MacMillan, J. Am.
Chem. Soc., 2006, 127, 12662–12663.
13. a) N. J. A. Martin, L. Ozores and B. List, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2007,
129, 8976–8977; b) N. J. A. Martin, X. Cheng and B. List, J. Am.
Chem. Soc., 2008, 130, 13862–13863; c) J. F. Schneider, M. B.
Lauber, V. Muhr, D. Kratzer and J. Paradies, Org. Biomol. Chem.,
2011, 9, 4323–4327.
14. For a review, see: a) S. Vellalath, D. Romo, Angew. Chem. Int.
Ed, 2016, 55, 13934–13943 and references therein. For seminal
examples see: b) E. R. T. Robinson, C. Fallan, C. Simal, A. M. Z.
Slawin, A. D. Smith, Chem. Sci. 2013, 4, 2193–2200; c) S.
Vellalath, K. N. Van, D. Romo, Angew. Chem. 2013, 125, 13933 –
13938; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 13688–13693; d) G. Liu,
M. E. Shirley, K. N. Van, R. L. McFarlin, D. Romo, D. Nat.
Chem. 2013, 5, 1049–1057. For selected recent examples, see: e)
Y.-C. Zhang, R.-L. Geng, J. Song, L.-Z. Gong, Org. Lett., 2020,
22, 2261–2265; f) J.-H. Jin, X.-Y. Li, X. Luo, W.-P. Deng,
Tetrahedron, 2018, 74, 6804–6808; g) D. M. Leace, M. R. Straub,
B. A. Matz, V. B. Birman, J. Org. Chem.. 2019, 84, 7523–7531;
h) Y. Fukata, K. Yao, R. Mitaji, K. Asano, S. Matsubata, J. Org.
Chem., 2017, 82, 12655–12668; i) M. E. Abbasov, B. M. Hudson,
D. J. Tantillo, D. Romo, Chem. Sci. 2017, 8, 1511–1524; j) G.
Scheme 1: Proposed catalytic cycle.
In conclusion, an isothiourea catalysed transfer hydrogenation
of α,β-unsaturated aryl esters has been developed. The reaction
proceeds well in both benzene and toluene giving aryl ester
products in moderate to excellent yields (7 examples, 16–98%) as
well as methyl esters (2 examples, 38–70% yield) and benzyl
amides (2 examples, 44–88% yield) after in situ reaction of the
hydrogenated ester with the appropriate nucleophile. Preliminary
experiments showed that enantioinduction was possible when a
chiral isothiourea catalyst was used however, the observed
enantioselectivity (75:25 er) was only modest.
Acknowledgments
The research leading to these results (JW) has received
funding from the ERC under the European Union's Seventh
Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013)/ERC grant agreement
no 279850. ADS thanks the Royal Society for a Wolfson