DOI: 10.1002/chem.201600740
Communication
&
Synthetic Methods
Electrophilic Activation of a,b-Unsaturated Amides: Catalytic
Asymmetric Vinylogous Conjugate Addition of Unsaturated
g-Butyrolactones
[
a]
Ming Zhang, Naoya Kumagai,* and Masakatsu Shibasaki*
[
2]
ent in a myriad of natural products; and 2) they are nucleo-
Abstract: Although catalytic asymmetric conjugate addi-
tion reactions have remarkably advanced over the last
two decades, the application of less electrophilic a,b-unsa-
turated carboxylic acid derivatives in this useful reaction
manifold remains challenging. Herein, we report that a,b-
unsaturated 7-azaindoline amides act as reactive electro-
philes to participate in catalytic diastereo- and enantiose-
lective vinylogous conjugate addition of g-butyrolactones
in the presence of a cooperative catalyst comprising of
a soft Lewis acid and a Brønsted base. Reactions mostly
reached completion with as little as 1 mol% of catalyst
loading to give the desired conjugate adducts in a highly
stereoselective manner.
philic at the g-carbon upon deprotonative activation, which
[
3,4]
allows numerous vinylogous additions.
Catalytic asymmetric
vinylogous conjugate addition reactions of g-butenolides to
electron-deficient olefins constitutes an important tool for pro-
[
5–7]
ducing chiral building blocks containing g-butenolide units,
but few studies have provided examples using a,b-unsaturated
carboxylic acid derivatives (Scheme 1a). Zhang et al. disclosed
Conjugate addition reactions are advantageous for assembling
nucleophiles and electron-deficient olefins into larger molecu-
lar architectures. In particular, CÀC bond-forming conjugate ad-
dition reactions play a crucial role in constructing carbon skele-
tons of interest and also have a number of applications in
[1]
modern organic syntheses. In this context, considerable ad-
vances rendered the reaction catalytic and stereoselective to
efficiently afford useful nonracemic building blocks. In general,
the reaction efficiency largely relies on the electrophilic charac-
ter of electron-deficient olefins (electrophiles), and relatively
electrophilic substrates, for example, a,b-unsaturated ketones
Scheme 1. Catalytic asymmetric conjugate addition of butenolides to
a,b-unsaturated carboxylic acid derivatives.
(
enones), a,b-unsaturated aldehydes (enals), and nitroolefins,
are widely utilized. In contrast, less electrophilic a,b-unsaturat-
ed carboxylic acid derivatives are not as well explored due to
their poor electrophilicity, despite the synthetic utility of the
prospective conjugate adducts. This is particularly true when
the nucleophile is catalytically generated in situ, making it
generally less reactive than organometallic reagents, which
remains a major drawback to be addressed.
that a,b-unsaturated imides serve as reactive electrophiles
[
8a]
with thiourea/amine organocatalysts (Scheme 1b).
We re-
ported that a,b-unsaturated thioamides exhibit sufficient elec-
trophilicity in the presence of a soft Lewis acid catalyst to un-
dergo smooth vinylogous addition of g-butenolides, in which
chemoselective activation of the soft Lewis basic thioamide
functionality has a pivotal role in compensating for the low
g-Butenolides have attracted particular attention in the
chemical community, because: 1) g-butenolide units are pres-
[
8b]
electrophilicity.
Although both the reaction efficiency and
stereoselectivity of the above-mentioned protocols are favora-
ble, imides are doubly activated by two carbonyl groups and
thioamides are uncommon functional groups associated with
tedious preparation procedures. Herein, we report an alternative
and more tractable a,b-unsaturated carboxylic acid derivatives,
a,b-unsaturated 7-azaindoline amides, for catalytic asymmetric
vinylogous conjugate addition of g-butenolides (Scheme 1c).
The amides are easily prepared and are bench stable, and the
[
a] Dr. M. Zhang, Dr. N. Kumagai, Prof. Dr. M. Shibasaki
Institute of Microbial Chemistry (BIKAKEN), 3-14-23 Kamiosaki
Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0021(Japan)
Fax: (+81)3-3441-7589
E-mail: nkumagai@bikaken.or.jp
Chem. Eur. J. 2016, 22, 5525 – 5529
5525
ꢀ 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim