Asymmetric synthesis of α-amino acids via cinchona alkaloid-catalyzed kinetic resolution of urethane-protected α-amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides

Full text of DOI:10.1021/ja011936q

12696
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 12696-12697
Scheme 1
Asymmetric Synthesis of r-Amino Acids via
Cinchona Alkaloid-Catalyzed Kinetic Resolution of
Urethane-Protected r-Amino Acid
N-Carboxyanhydrides
Jianfeng Hang, Shi-Kai Tian, Liang Tang, and Li Deng*
Department of Chemistry, Brandeis UniVersity
Waltham, Massachusetts 02454-9110
Table 1. Kinetic Resolution of UNCA 2a with Cinchona
ReceiVed August 9, 2001
Alkaloidsa,b
Acyl-transfer reactions use cheap reagents to transform readily
available starting materials into useful and easily purified products.
These characteristics, in combination with high enantioselectivity,
enable acyl-transfer reactions catalyzed by enzymes such as
lipases and esterases to become highly valuable methods for
asymmetric synthesis.1 The development of synthetic catalysts
to mimic lipases/esterases with the goal of further expanding the
scope of asymmetric acyl transfer catalysis is of both conceptual
and practical significance for asymmetric catalysis.2 Although
effective phosphorus and nitrogen synthetic catalysts for the
kinetic resolution of racemic alcohols have emerged,3,4 efforts to
develop small molecule-catalyzed kinetic resolutions of racemic
carbonyl derivatives have met with limited success despite their
great potential in asymmetric synthesis.5 We report here an
exceedingly general and highly enantioselective kinetic resolution
of urethane-protected R-amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides (UNCA)
that generates optically active R-amino acid derivatives suitable
for further synthetic elaboration such as peptide synthesis.
Encouraged by our discovery of modified cinchona alkaloids
as efficient catalysts for asymmetric alcoholysis of meso and
racemic cyclic anhydrides,6-8 we became interested in the kinetic
resolution of urethane-protected R-amino acid N-carboxyanhy-
drides (UNCA, 2) via cinchona alkaloid-catalyzed alcoholysis
(Scheme 1). UNCAs (2) can be easily prepared from the readily
available racemic amino acids (1).9 Their alcoholysis generates
a The reaction was performed with 2a (0.1 mmol) in ether (7.0 mL).
b See Supporting Information for experimental details. c Selectivity
factor, s ) kf/ks ) ln[1 - C(1 + ee)]/ln[1 - C(1 - ee)], where ee is
the percent enantiomeric excess of 3a and C is the conversion. d 20
mol % catalyst was used.
the carbamate-protected amino ester 3 and CO2. When suitably
protected, amino ester 3 will not interfere with the cinchona
alkaloid-catalyzed alcoholysis. Furthermore, the unreacted enan-
tiomerically enriched UNCA (2) can be hydrolyzed to protected
amino acid (4) (Scheme 1). The resulting mixture of the basic
amine catalyst, the acidic amino acid (4) and the neutral amino
ester (3), can be separated using simple extractive procedures to
give 3, 4, and the recovered amine catalyst in desired chemical
and optical purity.
We initially utilized racemic N-Cbz-phenylalanine NCA (2a)
as a model substrate. Reaction of 2a with methanol (0.55 equiv)
in ether at room temperature with (DHQD)2AQN (10 mol %)
and molecular sieves (4 Å) afforded ester 3a in 80% ee at 42%
conversion, corresponding to a selectivity factor (s) of 16 for the
kinetic resolution (entry 1, Table 1). Importantly, the enantiose-
lectivity of the kinetic resolution could be dramatically improved
at low temperature and, at -60 °C, reached a level (s ) 79, entry
2, Table 1) comparable to that of an enzyme-catalyzed resolution.
Further catalyst screening studies revealed that (DHQD)2AQN
is the most effective catalyst. Notably, high enantioselectivity is
also achieved with the monocinchona alkaloids, DHQD-PHN, and
quinidine (entries 3, 4, Table 1). Interestingly, under the same
conditions, other related amines such as (DHQD)2PYR, (DHQD)2-
PHAL, DHQD-MEQ, DHQD-CLB, and quinuclidine afforded
only minuscule conversions (1-4%). Subsequently, a preparative
scale kinetic resolution of 2a (4.0 mmol) is found to proceed
cleanly to allow the isolation of ester 3a and acid 4a in nearly
quantitative yields and high ee and the full recovery of the catalyst
(Table 2) using an extractive procedure.10 The recovered catalyst
was reused for another reaction cycle, showing no deterioration
in catalytic activity and selectivity (Table 2).
* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
(1) (a) Hæffner, F.; Norin, T. Chem. Pharm. Bull. 1999, 47, 591. (b) Faber,
K.; Biotransformations in Organic Chemistry, 3rd ed.; Springer-Verlag: New
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Chemistry; Elsevier Science Ltd: Oxford, 1994.
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10.1021/ja011936q CCC: $20.00 © 2001 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 11/27/2001

Communications to the Editor
J. Am. Chem. Soc., Vol. 123, No. 50, 2001 12697
Table 2. Preparative Scale Resolution of 2a with Recycled
(DHQD)2AQN
Scheme 2. General Base Catalysis for Cinchona
Alkaloid-Catalyzed Alcoholysis of UNCA 2
(DHQD)2AQN or DHQD-PHN. Moreover, a reproducible kinetic
isotope effect (kMeOH/kMeOD ) 1.3) was detected under pseudo-
first-order reaction conditions. These results are most consistent
with a general base catalysis mechanism (Scheme 2),12 in which
the ring opening of UNCA 2 by alcoholysis is the rate-determining
step and is mediated by a single dihydroquinidinyl group.
In summary, we have developed the first efficient and general
nonenzymatic catalytic method for the asymmetric synthesis of
R-amino acids via a kinetic resolution strategy.5a,13-15 With its
extraordinary enantioselectivity and generality, the kinetic resolu-
tion of UNCA (2) via asymmetric alcoholysis catalyzed by
cinchona alkaloids provides a useful and reliable catalytic entry
into optically active amino acid derivatives that are suitably
protected for further synthetic elaboration. These results constitute
a significant progress toward achieving a small molecule-catalyzed
kinetic resolution of racemic carbonyl derivatives with a broad
substrate scope yet an enzyme-like efficiency. Results from our
kinetic studies indicate that the cinchona alkaloids facilitate this
remarkable catalytic kinetic resolution with one dihydroquinidinyl
group and through weak interactions with the reacting substrates.
a The conversion, calculated using the equation: C ) 100 × ee2a/
(ee3a + ee2a), is consistent with that determined experimentally, see
Supporting Information. b Isolated yield. c Reaction is performed with
recycled (DHQD)2AQN.
Table 3. Kinetic Resolution of UNCA (2) via Modified Cinchona
Alkaloid-Catalyzed Alcoholysisa
UNCA 2
eec (yield)/%d
(S)-4 (R)-3
temp time convb
(°C) (h) (%)
entry
R
P
se
f
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
PhCH2
Cbz
-60 17
-78 31
-60 18
-78 45
-78 25
-60 37
-78 72
51
50
52
51
50
51
52
59
46
56
51
59
50
54
98 (48) 93 (48) 114
93 (42) 92 (48) 79
97i (43) 88 (52) 59
92i (39) 87 (51) 45
95 (47) 94 (49) 115
94i (42) 91 (49) 78j
96 (44) 89 (49) 69
96 (40) 67 (58) 19
84 (46) 97 (45) 170
95 (43) 74 (56) 23
96 (47) 92 (50) 93
98 (41) 67 (56) 19
91 (45) 91 (45) 67
96i (41) 81 (53) 35
4-F-C6H4CH2 Cbz
4-Cl-C6H4CH2 Cbz
4-Br-C6H4CH2 Cbz
2-thienylmethyl Cbz
CH3(CH2)5
BnOCH2
(CH3)2CHg
Phh
Cbz
Cbz
Cbz
Cbz
0 22
-78 16
-78 85
h
4-MeO-C6H4 Cbz
PhCH2
PhCH2
PhCH2
Fmoc -78 46
Boc -40 15
Alloc -60 15
Alloc -60 36
Acknowledgment. We are grateful to the NIH (GM-61591), Research
Corporation (RI-0311), Harcourt General Charitable Foundation, and
Daiso Inc. for financial support.
PhCH2CH2
a Unless noted, the reaction was performed by treatment of 2 (0.1
mmol) with (DHQD)2AQN (10 mol %) and methanol (0.52-1.0 equiv)
in ether (7.0 mL). b The calculated conversion, C ) 100 × ee2/(ee3 +
ee2), is consistent with experimental value, see Supporting Information.
The ee’s of 4 and unreacted 2 are assumed to be equal. c For ee analysis
and absolute configuration determination, see Supporting Information.
d Isoluated yield. e See footnote c of Table 1. f The reaction employed
4.0 mmol of 2a. g The reaction employed DHQD-PHN (20 mol %).
h Ethanol was used as the nucleophile. i Absolute configurations are
assigned by analogy. j s was determined to be 33 for kinetic resolution
of 2f with (DHQ)2AQN.
Supporting Information Available: Experimental details (PDF). This
material is available free of charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.
JA011936Q
(11) For experimental details of kinetic studies, see: Supporting
Information.
(12) For discussions and mechanistic studies of cinchona alkaloids-catalyzed
alcoholysis of cyclic anhydrides, see: refs 7b and 8.
(13) For methods based on asymmetric Strecker reactions, see: (a) Sigman,
M. S.; Vachal, P.; Jacobsen, E. N. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2000, 39, 1279.
(b) Vachal, P.; Jacobsen, E. N. Org. Lett. 2000, 2, 867. (c) Sigman, M. S.;
Jacobsen, E. N. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1998, 120, 5315. (d) Sigman, M. S.;
Jacobsen, E. N. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1998, 120, 4901. (e) Porter, J. R.; Wirschun,
W. G.; Kuntz, K. W.; Snapper, M. L.; Hoveyda, A. H. J. Am. Chem. Soc.
2000, 122, 2657. (f) Krueger, C. A.; Kuntz, K. W.; Dzierba, C. D.; Wirschun,
W. G.; Gleason, J. D.; Snapper, M. L.; Hoveyda, A. H. J. Am. Chem. Soc.
1999, 121, 4284. (g) Corey, E. J.; Grogan, M. J. Org. Lett. 1999, 1, 157. (h)
Ishitani, H.; Komiyama, S.; Kobayashi, S. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 1998, 37,
3186. (i) Iyer, M. S.; Gigstad, K. M.; Namdev, N. D.; Lipton, M. J. Am.
Chem. Soc. 1996, 118, 4910.
(14) For methods based on asymmetric alkylations, see: (a) Ooi, T.;
Takeuchi, M.; Kameda, M.; Maruoka, K. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 5228.
(b) Ooi, T.; Kameda, M.; Maruoka, K. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1999, 121, 6519.
(c) Corey, E. J.; Noe, M. C.; Xu, F. Tetrahedron Lett. 1998, 39, 5347. (d)
Corey, E. J.; Xu, F.; Noe, M. C. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1997, 119, 12414. (e)
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120, 4548. (g) Saaby, S.; Fang, X.; Gathergood, N.; Jørgensen, K. A. Angew.
Chem., Int. Ed. 2000, 39, 4114.
The scope of the reaction was found to be extremely general.
Clean kinetic resolutions of extraordinarily high enantioselectivi-
ties were attainable with a wide range of UNCAs bearing various
substituents and protecting groups (Table 3). Using the same
extractive procedure for the isolation of 3a and 4a, optically active
R-amino esters 3 and amino acids 4 were routinely obtained in a
combined yield of greater than 90%. Furthermore, (R)-3 and (S)-4
were obtained consistently from the (DHQD)2AQN-catalyzed
kinetic resolution of racemic-2 (a-b, e, g-m).
Preliminary kinetic studies were carried out on the (DHQD)2-
AQN-catalyzed methanolysis of (R)-2a at -60 °C in toluene. In
this solvent, the reaction mixture appeared homogeneous, and
kinetic resolutions of racemic 2a were found to proceed at similar
rate and in high enantioselectivity with (DHQD)2AQN (s ) 41)
and DHQD-PHN (s ) 50), respectively.11 The reaction followed
a first-order dependence on methanol, the substrate (2a) and either
(15) For methods based on asymmetric hydrogenations, see: (a) Burk, M.
J. Acc. Chem. Res. 2000, 33, 363. (a) Burk, M. J.; Allen, J. G.; Kiesman, W.
F. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1998, 120, 657. (b) Burk, M. J.; Gross, M. F.; Martinez,
J. P. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1995, 117, 9375. (c) Burk, M. J.; Feaster, J. E.; Nugent,
W. A.; Harlow, R. L. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1993, 115, 10125.
(10) See Supporting Information for a detailed description of the extractive
workup of the preparative-scale kinetic resolution of 2a.