Chemoselective reductive nucleophilic addition to tertiary amides, secondary amides, and N-methoxyamides.

As the complexity of targeted molecules increases in modern organic synthesis, chemoselectivity is recognized as an important factor in the development of new methodologies. Chemoselective nucleophilic addition to amide carbonyl centers is a challenge because classical methods require harsh reaction conditions to overcome the poor electrophilicity of the amide carbonyl group. We have successfully developed a reductive nucleophilic addition of mild nucleophiles to tertiary amides, secondary amides, and N-methoxyamides that uses the Schwartz reagent [Cp2 ZrHCl].

Two-step synthesis of multi-substituted amines by using an N-methoxy group as a reactivity control element.

The development of a two-step synthesis of multi-substituted N-methoxyamines from N-methoxyamides is reported. Utilization of the N-methoxy group as a reactivity control element was the key to success in this two-step synthesis. The first reaction involves a N-methoxyamide/aldehyde coupling reaction.

Total synthesis of (±)-gephyrotoxin by amide-selective reductive nucleophilic addition.

A chemoselective approach for the total synthesis of (±)-gephyrotoxin has been developed. The key to success was the utilization of N-methoxyamides, which enabled the direct coupling of the amide with an aldehyde and selective reductive nucleophilic addition to the amide in the presence of a variety of sensitive and electrophilic functional groups, such as a methyl ester. This chemoselective approach minimized the use of protecting-group manipulations and redox reactions, which resulted in the most concise and efficient total synthesis of (±)-gephyrotoxin described to date.

Direct nucleophilic addition to N-alkoxyamides.

While the synthesis of amide bonds is now one of the most reliable organic reactions, functionalization of amide carbonyl groups has been a long-standing issue due to their high stability. As an ongoing program aimed at practical transformation of amides, we developed a direct nucleophilic addition to N-alkoxyamides to access multisubstituted amines. The reaction enabled installation of two different functional groups to amide carbonyl groups in one pot.

Concise synthesis of α-trisubstituted amines from ketones using N-methoxyamines.

Three-component allylation and cyanation utilizing a ketone and an N-methoxyamine are reported. The high nucleophilicity of the N-methoxyamine and high electrophilicity of the corresponding iminium ion enable the concise synthesis of α-trisubstituted amines in a single step.