Recent Strategies in the Nucleophilic Dearomatization of Pyridines, Quinolines, and Isoquinolines.

Dearomatization reactions have become fundamental chemical transformations in organic synthesis since they allow for the generation of three-dimensional complexity from two-dimensional precursors, bridging arene feedstocks with alicyclic structures. When those processes are applied to pyridines, quinolines, and isoquinolines, partially or fully saturated nitrogen heterocycles are formed, which are among the most significant structural components of pharmaceuticals and natural products. The inherent challenge of those transformations lies in the low reactivity of heteroaromatic substrates, which makes the dearomatization process thermodynamically unfavorable.

Enantioselective Synthesis of Fluorinated Indolizidinone Derivatives.

The enantioselective synthesis of fluorinated indolizidinone derivatives has been developed. The process involved an enantioselective intramolecular aza-Michael reaction of conjugated amides bearing a pendant α,β-unsaturated ketone moiety, catalyzed by the ()-TRIP-derived phosphoric acid, followed by dimethyltitanocene methylenation and ring closing metathesis (RCM). Final indolizidine-derived products comprise a fluorine-containing tetrasubstituted double bond generated by the RCM reaction, which is a challenging task.

Synthesis of 3,4-Dihydropyrimidin(thio)one Containing Scaffold: Biginelli-like Reactions.

The interest in 3,4-dihydropyrimidine-2(1)-(thio)ones is increasing every day, mainly due to their paramount biological relevance. The Biginelli reaction is the classical approach to reaching these scaffolds, although the product diversity suffers from some limitations. In order to overcome these restrictions, two main approaches have been devised.

Catalytic enantioselective intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylides with fluorinated dipolarophiles.

An enantioselective synthesis of polycyclic fluorinated pyrrolidines has been achieved by Cu-catalyzed intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylides with fluorinated dipolarophiles. The method displays a wide scope and afforded the desired cycloadducts in high yields with up to 99% ee. These results demonstrate that fluoroalkyl substituents are excellent activating groups in this transformation.

Two Decades of Progress in the Asymmetric Intramolecular aza-Michael Reaction.

The asymmetric intramolecular aza-Michael reaction (IMAMR) is a very convenient strategy for the generation of heterocycles bearing nitrogen-substituted stereocenters. Due to the ubiquitous presence of these skeletons in natural products, the IMAMR has found widespread applications in the total synthesis of alkaloids and biologically relevant compounds. The development of asymmetric versions of the IMAMR are quite recent, most of them reported in this century.

Unexpected metal-free synthesis of trifluoromethyl arenes tandem coupling of dicyanoalkenes and conjugated fluorinated sulfinyl imines.

A novel strategy for the synthesis of policyclic trifluoromethyl arenes has been devised. It involves a DBU-promoted tandem cycloaromatization reaction of dicyanoalkenes and fluorinated conjugated sulfinyl imines. This unprecedented transformation is a metal-free and air-tolerant process that takes place from readily available starting materials under mild reaction conditions.

Organocatalytic enantioselective synthesis of 2,5,5-trisubstituted piperidines bearing a quaternary stereocenter. Vinyl sulfonamide as a new amine protecting group.

An organocatalytic desymmetrizing intramolecular aza-Michael reaction with vinyl sulfonamides as nucleophilic nitrogen source has been devised for the synthesis of a new family of 2,5,5-trisubstituted piperidines bearing a quaternary sterocenter. The process takes place with excellent levels of enantioselectivity and moderate to good diastereoselectivity. The vinyl sulfonamide moiety can be removed by means of an ozonolysis reaction.