Angewandte
Communications
Chemie
NHC Catalysis
Enantioselective N-Heterocyclic Carbene Catalysis by the Umpolung
of a,b-Unsaturated Ketones
Yuji Nakano and David W. Lupton*
Abstract: N-Heterocyclic carbene-catalyzed formation of b-
anionic intermediates from enones has been employed in the
enantioselective synthesis of 2-aryl propionates. The reaction
was achievable using a homochiral 4-MeOC6H4 morpholinone
catalyst allowing the first example of enantioselective catalysis
by umpolung of a,b-unsaturated ketones. The reaction is high
yielding, and shows robustness with reasonable generality. A
mechanism is proposed in which the enantiodetermining
protonation is achieved using either hexafluoroisopropanol
or the formed naphthol product.
triggers reactions by the resultant enolate (4).[6] Tautomeriza-
tion to reveal a b-anion is rare and, to our knowledge, unique
to NHC catalysis. Although b-anion 3 was introduced nearly
a decade ago, its utility remains unclear with limited studies
reported to date. Notably Matsuoka[7a,c–g] and Glorius[7b] have
introduced tail-to-tail dimerization of enolates, while Chen
has examined polymerization catalysis via intermediates 3
and 4.[8] Presumably, the paucity of studies on this inter-
mediate, compared to the plethora on the aforementioned
intermediates 1 and 2, is related to challenges in achieving
reaction discovery without triggering reactions of enolate 4,
which are known with NHCs.[6a–d]
C
entral to many N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-catalyzed[1]
reactions are the homoenolate (1)[2] or a,b-unsaturated acyl
azolium (2; Figure 1).[3] These form through initial 1,2-
addition to an a,b-unsaturated carbonyl, and have allowed
a wealth of chemical transformations to be discovered. In
contrast, b-azolium ylide 3, a species afforded through 1,4-
addition to a,b-unsaturated carbonyls followed by tautome-
rization,[4] as reported by Fu in 2006,[5] has been largely
overlooked in synthesis. While many nucleophilic catalysts
undergo 1,4-addition to conjugate acceptors, this usually
The underdeveloped chemistry of b-azolium ylide 3,
specifically as it relates to enantioselective catalysis, piqued
our interest in this area. To this end, we envisaged a cyclo-
isomerization of bis-conjugate acceptors (5) to 2-aryl prop-
ionates (6; Eq. 1) as a method to expand knowledge of these
neglected intermediates. Herein, we report the outcome of
these studies, which have allowed the discovery of the first
enantioselective reaction involving the b-anion 3 intermedi-
ate. The reaction provides a method to access 2-aryl
propionates in up to 91:9 e.r. and good yields. Mechanistic
studies, and a discussion of unsuitable substrates, provides
a picture of a reaction balanced between competing side
reactions, and with sensitivity to alcohol-containing additives.
In addition to providing information regarding b-anion 3, the
products contain the 2-aryl propionate motifs found exten-
sively in non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).[9]
Studies commenced with the preparation of diene 5a
using procedures modified from Gravel.[10] When exposed to
the Enders TPT[11] catalyst, we were pleased to isolate 2-aryl
propionate 6a in 92% yield (Table 1, entry 1). The discovery
of an enantioselective variant proved significantly more
challenging, and commenced with a survey of new and
known chiral catalysts. Based on previous success with
morpholinone-based NHCs,[12] a screen of six catalysts bear-
ing various N-substituents was undertaken (Table 1,
entries 2–7). This approach also reflected observations of
Chen who found that polymerization of acrylate derivatives
was sensitive to the nature of the azolium, and the
N-substitution pattern.[8,13] In this case, N-t-butyl (A1) and
N-C6F5 (A2) were not viable, while N-Mes (A3), N-Ph (A4),
N-4-MeOC6H4 (A5), and N-2,6-(MeO)2C6H3 (A6) all gave
the expected product with moderate enantioselectivity. The
highest selectivity of 74:26 e.r. was obtained with N-4-
MeOC6H4 (A5). Both the yield and the enantioselectivity
were depressed using alternate bases (Table 1, entries 8 and
9). The decrease with KHMDS was striking, and speaks to the
role of the conjugate acid (hexamethyldisilazane) in the
enantiodetermining protonation (see below). Introduction of
Figure 1. Overview of NHC reactions.
[*] Y. Nakano, Prof. Dr. D. W. Lupton
School of Chemistry, Monash University
Clayton 3800, Victoria (Australia)
E-mail: david.lupton@monash.edu
Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 3135 –3139
ꢀ 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
3135