Synthesis and Application of Chiral 2-Amido and 1-Phenyl-2-amido Dienes in Diels-Alder Reactions to Access Chiral Cyclic Ketones.

The preparation of a focused library of chiral 2-amido and 2-amido-1-phenyl-1,3-dienes from a range of chiral oxazolidinones using palladium-catalysis is reported. This palladium-catalyzed carbon-nitrogen bond-forming reaction provides the corresponding chiral amido-dienes in moderate to excellent yields (12 examples, up to 97%). The resulting chiral amido-dienes are employed as novel dienes in Diels-Alder (DA) reactions (58 examples, up to 93:7 dr, up to 70% yield).

Advances in Decarboxylative Palladium-Catalyzed Reactions of Propargyl Electrophiles.

The propargyl electrophile has proven to be a versatile reactant when coupled with palladium catalysis. Its versatility is owed to the several reaction pathways that the palladium-propargyl intermediate can proceed by, and the outcome can be predictably controlled by varying several factors. The tunable nature of the propargyl electrophile along with its versatility are detailed herein.

Synthesis of 2-Amino-1,3-dienes from Propargyl Carbonates via Palladium-Catalyzed Carbon-Nitrogen Bond Formation.

A catalytic method to synthesize 1,3,-dienes from propargylic precursors is reported. This palladium-catalyzed carbon-nitrogen bond-forming reaction furnishes 2-amino-1,3-dienes in excellent yields (up to 98%) and shows a broad tolerance to functional group diversity. The reaction has been demonstrated for over 30 amine substrates, including anilines and indoles, and proceeds under mild neutral conditions.

Construction of All-Carbon Quaternary Stereocenters by Palladium-Catalyzed Decarboxylative Propargylation.

A method for the construction of chiral quaternary stereocenters has been accomplished via decarboxylative palladium-catalyzed propargylic alkylation. Both pressurized sealed tubes and microwave irradiation have proven successful for this transformation, yet despite these forcing conditions a range of α-aryl,α-propargyl, and α-alkyl,α-propargyl containing all-carbon quaternary products have been synthesized in good yields and high enantioselectivities (up to 92:8 er). While palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative allylic alkylation has been well studied, this work represents the furthest advancement for the propargylic variant to date.

Multiple Halogenation of Aliphatic C-H Bonds within the Hofmann-Löffler Manifold.

An innovative approach to position-selective polyhalogenation of aliphatic hydrocarbon bonds is presented. The reaction proceeded within the Hofmann-Löffler manifold with amidyl radicals as the sole mediators to induce selective 1,5- and 1,6-hydrogen-atom transfer followed by halogenation. Multiple halogenation events of up to four innate C-H bond functionalizations were accomplished.

Enantioselective synthesis of sterically hindered α-allyl-α-aryl oxindoles via palladium-catalysed decarboxylative asymmetric allylic alkylation.

The highly enantioselective synthesis of sterically hindered α-allyl-α-aryl oxindoles possessing an all-carbon quaternary stereocenter at the oxindole 3-position has been developed. The key step in the synthetic route employed was a novel one-pot, two-step synthesis of α-aryl-β-amido allyl ester substituted oxindoles in good yields of 41-75% (13 examples) by interception of an unstable allyl ester intermediate through reaction with aryllead triacetate reagents. Pd-Catalyzed decarboxylative asymmetric allylic alkylation (DAAA) was optimized with 2,4,6-trimethoxyphenyl as the aryl-containing substrate.

N-Iodosuccinimide-Promoted Hofmann-Löffler Reactions of Sulfonimides under Visible Light.

Conditions for an attractive and productive protocol for the position-selective intramolecular C-H amination of aliphatic groups (Hofmann-Löffler reaction) are reported employing sulfonimides as nitrogen sources. N-Iodosuccinimide is the only required promoter for this transformation, which is conveniently initiated by visible light. The overall transformation provides pyrrolidines under mild and selective conditions as demonstrated for 17 different substrates.