Published on Web 08/07/2004
Cu-Catalyzed Asymmetric Allylic Alkylations of Aromatic and
Aliphatic Phosphates with Alkylzinc Reagents. An Effective
Method for Enantioselective Synthesis of Tertiary and
Quaternary Carbons
Monica A. Kacprzynski and Amir H. Hoveyda*
Contribution from the Department of Chemistry, Merkert Chemistry Center,
Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467
Received April 13, 2004; E-mail: amir.hoveyda@bc.edu
Abstract: Efficient enantioselective Cu-catalyzed allylic alkylations of aromatic and aliphatic allylic
phosphates bearing di- and trisubstituted olefins are disclosed. Enantioselective C-C bond forming reactions
are promoted in the presence of 10 mol % readily available chiral amino acid-based ligand (5 steps, 40%
overall yield synthesis) and 5 mol % (CuOTf)2‚C6H6. Reactions deliver tertiary and quaternary stereogenic
carbon centers regioselectively and in 78-96% ee. Data regarding the effect of variations in ligand structure
on the efficiency and enantioselectivity of the alkylation process, as well as a mechanistic working model,
are presented. The suggested model involves a dual role for the chiral Cu complex: association of the
Cu(I) center to the olefin is facilitated by a two-point binding between the carbonyl of the ligand’s amide
terminus and the PdO of the substrate.
presence of chiral aryl5a and ferrocenyl5b thiols as well as
P-based ligands5c-e have led to several regioselective and
Introduction
Allylic alkylations are important C-C bond forming reactions
that deliver synthetically versatile organic molecules. Although
many related catalytic asymmetric protocols have been outlined
involving stabilized carbon nucleophiles,1 additions of alkyl
nucleophiles are significantly less developed.2 One recent
example is in regards to Cu-catalyzed additions of alkylzincs
to disubstituted olefins of allylic chlorides, where >90% ee can
be obtained with the sterically bulky bis(neopentyl)zinc; reac-
tions of less hindered alkylzinc reagents proceed with signifi-
cantly lower enantioselectivity (e72% ee).3 Chiral phosphor-
amidites and phosphites have also been shown to promote
additions of smaller alkylzinc reagents (predominantly Et2Zn)
to disubstituted alkenes of allylic chlorides in up to 77% ee.4
Efforts concerning reactions of alkylmagnesium halides with
allylic acetates and chlorides (also disubstituted olefins)5 in the
efficient catalytic asymmetric alkylations. High enantioselec-
tivities (up to 96% ee) have been observed in the latter studies;5e
however, substrate range is somewhat limited (a single aliphatic
and two nearly identical aromatic allylic halides) and does not
include trisubstituted olefins.
We recently disclosed Cu-catalyzed additions of alkylzinc
reagents to allylic phosphates promoted by pyridyl Schiff bases
1a-c (Scheme 1).6,7 Selectivities of 78-90% ee were observed
for reactions of trisubstituted olefins, leading to asymmetric
formation of quaternary carbon centers; synthetic utility was
demonstrated through a concise total synthesis of (-)-sporochnol
in 82% overall yield (82% ee). However, several shortcomings
detracted from the utility of our method. As with the previously
mentioned protocols,3-7 transformations involving disubstituted
olefins often proceed with low enantioselectivity (66-87% ee).
Moreover, highly enantioselective reactions of aliphatic sub-
strates (di- or trisubstituted olefins), a synthetically important
and challenging category of alkylations, continued to prove
elusive. It should be noted that, except for two cases involving
a single substrate,3b,5e catalytic alkylation of aliphatic substrates
typically yield products with inferior levels of optical purity
(<75% ee).5
(1) For recent reviews, see: (a) Trost, B. M.; van Vranken, D. L. Chem. ReV.
1996, 96, 395-422. (b) Trost, B. M.; Crawley, M. L. Chem. ReV. 2003,
103, 2921-2943.
(2) For a review, see: Hoveyda, A. H.; Heron, N. M. In ComprehensiVe
Asymmetric Catalysis; Jacobsen, E. N., Pfaltz, A., Yamamoto, H., Eds.;
Springer: Berlin, Germany, 1999; pp 431-454.
(3) (a) Dubner, F.; Knochel, P. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 1999, 38, 379-381.
(b) Dubner, F.; Knochel, P. Tetrahedron Lett. 2000, 41, 9233-9237.
(4) (a) Malda, H.; van Zijl, A. W.; Arnold, L. A.; Feringa, B. L. Org. Lett.
2001, 3, 1169-1171. (b) Shi, W.-J.; Wang, L.-X.; Fu, Y.; Zhu, S.-F.; Zhou,
Q.-L. Tetrahedron: Asymmetry 2003, 14, 3867-3872. For related studies,
see (products obtained in <65% ee): (c) Borner, C.; Gimeno, J.; Gladiali,
S.; Goldsmith, P. J.; Ramazzotti, D.; Woodward, S. Chem. Commun. 2000,
2433-2444.
(5) (a) Meuzelaar, G. J.; Karsltrom, A. S. E.; van Klaveren, M.; Persson, E. S.
M.; del Villar, A.; van Koten, G.; Backvall, J.-E. Tetrahedron 2000, 56,
2895-2903. (b) Karlstrom, A. S. E.; Huerta, F. F.; Meuzelaar, G. J.;
Backvall, J.-E. Synlett 2001, 923-926. (c) Alexakis, A.; Malan, C.; Lea,
L.; Benhaim, C.; Fournioux, X. Synlett 2001, 927-930. (d) Alexakis, A.;
Croset, K. Org. Lett. 2002, 4, 4147-4149. (e) Tissot-Croset, K.; Polet, D.;
Alexakis, A. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2004, 43, 2426-2428.
After the above studies, we discovered that chiral dipeptide
2, derived from a salicyl aldehyde, in the presence of (CuOTf)2‚
(6) Luchaco-Cullis, C. A.; Mizutani, H.; Murphy, K. E.; Hoveyda, A. H. Angew.
Chem., Int. Ed. 2001, 40, 1456-1460.
(7) For related studies, see: (a) Piarulli, U.; Daubos, P.; Claveric, C.; Roux,
M.; Gennari, C. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2003, 42, 234-236. (b) Ongeri,
S.; Piarulli, U.; Roux, M.; Monti, C.; Gennari, C. HelV. Chim. Acta 2002,
85, 3388-3399. (c) Piarulli, U.; Claverie, C.; Daubos, P.; Gennari, C.;
Minnaard, A. J.; Feringa, B. L. Org. Lett. 2003, 5, 4493-4496.
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10676
J. AM. CHEM. SOC. 2004, 126, 10676-10681
10.1021/ja0478779 CCC: $27.50 © 2004 American Chemical Society