Communications
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201102114
Homogeneous Catalysis
La/Ag Heterobimetallic Cooperative Catalysis:
A Catalytic Asymmetric Conia-Ene Reaction**
Akinobu Matsuzawa, Tomoyuki Mashiko, Naoya Kumagai,* and Masakatsu Shibasaki*
Cooperative catalysis continues to attract growing interest as
a particularly effective strategy to promote specific bond
formation under mild reaction conditions.[1] This intriguing
approach allows for the activation of not only a single
functionality through multiple coordination, but also chemi-
cally distinct multiple functionalities in a simultaneous
manner. The latter option, under an asymmetric environment,
is particularly powerful to assemble the multiple function-
alities with a high degree of stereocontrol. A carbonyl group
and an alkyne group represent hard and soft Lewis basic
functionalities, respectively, and their simultaneous activation
by hard and soft Lewis acid cooperative catalysis can be best
manifested by a Conia-ene reaction.[2–5] Pioneering work on
the catalytic asymmetric Conia-ene reaction of b-keto esters
and 1,3-diketones with a hard Lewis acid (Yb(OTf)3)/chiral
soft Lewis acid (DTBM-Segphos/PdII) bimetallic catalytic
system was reported by Corkey and Toste.[6] Subsequently,
Dixon and co-workers reported a distinct approach with
chiral amine base/soft Lewis acid (CuOTf) cooperative
catalysis.[7] Meanwhile, our research group developed a
La(NO3)3/amide-based ligand 1a/amine ternary catalyst that
promotes the catalytic asymmetric amination of malonamates
to azodicarboxylates. In this reaction a La/1a/amine ternary
complex formed under equilibrium acts as a chiral Lewis acid
(Scheme 1).[8,9] We envisioned that endowing a soft Lewis acid
function to the La/1a catalytic system would produce a hard
Lewis acid/soft Lewis acid heterobimetallic cooperative
catalyst.[1] In this catalyst system, the enolate is generated
through activation of a carbonyl group by a hard Lewis acid,
which subsequently couples with an electrophilically acti-
vated alkyne by a soft–soft interaction under an asymmetric
environment (Scheme 2). Herein, we report that a chiral La/
Scheme 2. Conia-ene reaction through hard Lewis acid/soft Lewis acid
heterobimetallic cooperative catalysis.
Ag heterobimetallic cooperative catalyst on a chiral amide-
based ligand promotes an enantioselective Conia-ene reac-
tion of alkyne-tethered malonamates and b-keto esters. This
approach furnishes enatioenriched cyclopentane derivatives
bearing exocyclic olefin and two distinct a-carbonyl groups at
a quaternary stereogenic center.[10]
Initial attempts at the catalytic asymmetric Conia-ene
reaction of alkyne-tethered malonamate 2a were conducted
using the La(NO3)3/1a/H-l-Val-OtBu (1:1:3) ternary cata-
lyst,[8a] which is effective for prochiral face selection of the
enolate derived from 2a. Combined use of various soft Lewis
acids was evaluated and the results are summarized in
Table 1. In the presence of 10 mol% of the La catalyst and
[Ni(acac)2], the Conia-ene reaction of 2a slowly proceeded at
508C and gave the desired product 3a in low yield with
marginal enantioinduction (Table 1, entry 1). The soft Lewis
acids [Pd(CH3CN)4](BF4)2 and [Rh(CH3CN)2(cod)]BF4 were
totally ineffective and no formation of 3a was detected
(Table 1, entries 2 and 3). Metal salts of Group 11 elements
exhibited higher catalytic performance, and afforded 3a in
21% with CuOTf, albeit with virtually no enantioinduction
(Table 1, entry 4). Degradation of the catalyst, likely owing to
the precipitation of silver salts, was circumvented in the
presence of phosphine ligand 5, and AgOAc outperformed
AgOTf (Table 1, entries 5 and 6). Concomitant alkyne
hydration was observed when AgOAc/5 was used as a soft
Lewis acid catalyst and gave ketone 4a in 12% yield (Table 1,
entry 6). This pathway became even more dominant in the
reaction using [AuCl(PPh3)]/AgSbF6 (Table 1, entry 7).
Scheme 1. The structure of amide-based ligand 1.
[*] A. Matsuzawa, T. Mashiko, Dr. N. Kumagai, Prof. Dr. M. Shibasaki
Institute of Microbial Chemistry, Tokyo
3-14-23 Kamiosaki, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0021 (Japan)
Fax: (+81)3-3447-7779
E-mail: nkumagai@bikaken.or.jp
shibasaki-lab/index.html
A. Matsuzawa, T. Mashiko
Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
The University of Tokyo
7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan)
[**] This work was financially supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific
Research (S) from the JSPS. T.M. thanks the JSPS for a predoctoral
fellowship. Dr. M. Shiro is gratefully acknowledged for X-ray
crystallographic analysis of 3a.
Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW
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ꢀ 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 7616 –7619