Journal of the American Chemical Society
Communication
Table 1. Selected Experiments Illustrating the Partitioning of
Hydrometalative and Oxidative Coupling Pathways in the
Reaction of 1a and 2a to Form Isomers 3a and 4a
Table 2. Regio-, anti-Diastereo-, and Enantioselective C−C
Coupling of Alkyne 1a and Alcohols 2a−2l to Form
a
a
Branched Products of Carbonyl Allylation 3a−3l
a
Yields are of material isolated by silica gel chromatography. See
b
Supporting Information for further experimental details. 2,4,6-(2-
Pr)3PhSO3H (14 mol%). 2,4,6-(2-Pr)3PhSO3H (5 mol%). THF (1
M).
c
d
in modest yield (Table 1, entry 3). To our delight, the
combination of Bu4NI and dppf led to an 83% yield of the
branched allylation product 3a as a 15:1 (anti:syn) diastereo-
meric mixture (Table 1, entry 4). Using dippf as ligand, the
branched allylation product 3a was formed as a single anti-
diastereomer in 57% yield (Table 1, entry 5). In general, P-
alkyl-substituted chelating ligands provided superior levels of
diastereoselectivity compared to their P-phenyl congeners
(Table 1, entry 4 vs 5; entry 6 vs 7). At this stage, diverse
chiral chelating phosphine ligands were evaluated. Promising
levels of asymmetric induction were observed using the
Josiphos ligands SL-J009-1 and SL-J002-1 (Table 1, entries 8
and 9). Lowering the loading of 2,4,6-tri(2-propyl)-
phenylsulfonic acid (5 mol%),18,19 the branched allylation
product 3a could be obtained in excellent yield and 94%
enantiomeric excess (ee) using either SL-J009-1 or SL-J002-1 as
ligand (Table 1, entries 10 and 11). Omission of 2,4,6-tri(2-
propyl)phenylsulfonic acid led to over-oxidation of 3a to form
ketones, that is, products of allene hydroacylation.14 Omission
of 2-PrOH led to a roughly 20% reduction in yield of 3a and
accumulation of unreacted aldehyde, dehydro-2a.
With these optimized conditions in hand, diverse alcohols
2a−2l were surveyed for their ability to participate in this new
protocol for asymmetric allylation (Table 2). Benzylic alcohols
2a−2f were converted to adducts 3a−3f, respectively, in good
yield with complete levels of anti-diastereoselectivity and
uniformly high levels of enantiomeric enrichment (94−96%
ee). Allylic alcohols 2g−2i could potentially engage in internal
redox isomerization to form the corresponding aldehydes,20 but
such products are not observed. Rather, adducts 3g−3i are
formed in a highly regio- and stereoselective manner. Similarly
high levels of selectivity were observed in the conversion of
aliphatic alcohols 2j−2l to adducts 3j−3l. Under these first-
generation conditions, branched primary alcohols such as
a
Yields are of material isolated by silica gel chromatography.
1
Diastereoselectivities were determined by H NMR analysis of crude
reaction mixtures. See Supporting Information for further exper-
imental details. 2-PrOH was omitted. 125 °C. 48 h.
b
c
d
isobutyl alcohol provided adducts in the range of 30−40%
yield. Under these conditions, secondary alcohols oxidize to
form ketone products and do not engage in C−C coupling.
To further explore the scope of this method for catalytic
enantioselective allylation, a series of substituted propynes 1b-
1d possessing tert-butyl (1b), 4-(N-Boc-piperidinyl) (1c), and
phenyl (1d) moieties were explored in couplings to benzylic
alcohol 2a and aliphatic alcohol 2j (Table 3). In the case of the
tert-butyl-substituted alkyne 1b, adducts 3m and 3p were
generated in good yield with complete levels of anti-
diastereoselectivity and excellent levels of enantioselectivity,
94% ee and 90% ee, respectively. Similarly, for 4-(N-Boc-
piperidinyl)-substituted alkyne 1c, adducts 3n and 3q were
formed with good control of relative and absolute stereo-
chemistry, despite potential cleavage of the acid-sensitive Boc-
protecting group. Finally, the phenyl-substituted alkyne 1d
coupled to alcohols 2a and 2j to provide adducts 3o and 3r,
respectively, in good yield as single diastereomers and good to
excellent control of enantioselectivity, 86% ee and 90% ee,
respectively. Attempted use of 2-pentyne resulted in a complex
mixture of products. The relative and absolute stereochemical
assignment of adducts 3a-3r is made in analogy adduct 3m,
which was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction
analysis.
A general catalytic mechanism was proposed (Scheme 2).
Allene hydrometalation forms a nucleophilic allylruthenium
complex. The stoichiometric reaction of HXRu(CO)(PR3)3 (X
3162
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137, 3161−3164