Enantio- and diastereoselective hydrogenation of β-keto-γ-lactams with a ruthenium-BINAP catalyst, involving dynamic kinetic resolution, has been employed to provide a general, asymmetric approach to β-hydroxy-γ-lactams, a structural motif common to several bioactive compounds. Full conversion to the desired β-hydroxy-γ-lactams was achieved with high diastereoselectivity (up to >98% de) by addition of catalytic HCl and LiCl, while β-branching of the ketone substituent demonstrated a pronounced effect on the modest to excellent enantioselectivity (up to 97% ee) obtained.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe first examples of asymmetric copper-catalysed intramolecular C-H insertion reactions of 2-sulfonyl-2-diazoacetamides are described; trans γ-lactams with up to 82% ee are achieved with the CuCl2-bisoxazoline-NaBARF catalyst system. The reactions generally display high efficiency and high trans selectivity, and also a strong regiochemical preference for insertion to lead to the formation of 5-membered rings over 4-membered rings. In cases where there are competing C-H insertion pathways available, to form sulfolanes or thiopyrans, only the insertion into the amide chain to form γ-lactams is observed.
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