Catalysis-Enabled Access to Cryptic Geldanamycin Oxides.

Catalytic, selective modifications of natural products can be a fertile platform for not only unveiling new natural product analogues with altered biological activity, but also for revealing new reactivity and selectivity hierarchies for embedded functional groups in complex environments. Motivated by these intersecting aims, we report site- and stereoselective oxidation reactions of geldanamycin facilitated by aspartyl-peptide catalysts. Through the isolation and characterization of four new geldanamycin oxides, we discovered a synergistic effect between lead peptide-based catalysts and geldanamycin, resulting in an unexpected reaction pathway.

Enantioselective fluorination of homoallylic alcohols enabled by the tuning of non-covalent interactions.

The study of the enantioselective fluorination of homoallylic alcohols chiral anion phase transfer (CAPT) catalysis using an generated directing group is described. Multivariate correlation analysis, including designer π-interaction derived parameters, revealed key structural features affecting the selectivity at the transition state (TS). Interpretation of the parameters found in the model equation highlights the key differences as well as similarities for the reaction of homoallylic and allylic substrates.

Mechanistic Investigations of the Pd(0)-Catalyzed Enantioselective 1,1-Diarylation of Benzyl Acrylates.

A mechanistic study of the Pd-catalyzed enantioselective 1,1-diarylation of benzyl acrylates that is facilitated by a chiral anion phase transfer (CAPT) process is presented. Kinetic analysis, labeling, competition, and nonlinear effect experiments confirm the hypothesized general mechanism and reveal the role of the phosphate counterion in the CAPT catalysis. The phosphate was found to be involved in the phase transfer step and in the stereoinduction process, as expected, but also in the unproductive reaction that provides the traditional Heck byproduct.

Parametrization of Non-covalent Interactions for Transition State Interrogation Applied to Asymmetric Catalysis.

The use of computed interaction energies and distances as parameters in multivariate correlations is introduced for postulating non-covalent interactions. This new class of descriptors affords multivariate correlations for two diverse catalytic systems with unique non-covalent interactions at the heart of each process. The presented methodology is validated by directly connecting the non-covalent interactions defined through empirical data set analyses to the computationally derived transition states.

Exploiting non-covalent π interactions for catalyst design.

Molecular recognition, binding and catalysis are often mediated by non-covalent interactions involving aromatic functional groups. Although the relative complexity of these so-called π interactions has made them challenging to study, theory and modelling have now reached the stage at which we can explain their physical origins and obtain reliable insight into their effects on molecular binding and chemical transformations. This offers opportunities for the rational manipulation of these complex non-covalent interactions and their direct incorporation into the design of small-molecule catalysts and enzymes.

Development and Analysis of a Pd(0)-Catalyzed Enantioselective 1,1-Diarylation of Acrylates Enabled by Chiral Anion Phase Transfer.

Enantioselective 1,1-diarylation of terminal alkenes enabled by the combination of Pd catalysis with a chiral anion phase transfer (CAPT) strategy is reported herein. The reaction of substituted benzyl acrylates with aryldiazonium salts and arylboronic acids gave the corresponding 3,3-diarylpropanoates in moderate to good yields with high enantioselectivies (up to 98:2 er). Substituents on the benzyl acrylate and CAPT catalyst significantly affect the enantioselectivity, and multidimensional parametrization identified correlations suggesting structural origins for the high stereocontrol.

Palladium-Catalyzed Enantioselective Redox-Relay Heck Arylation of 1,1-Disubstituted Homoallylic Alcohols.

An enantioselective redox-relay oxidative Heck arylation of 1,1-disubstituted alkenes to construct β-stereocenters was developed using a new pyridyl-oxazoline ligand. Various 1,2-diaryl carbonyl compounds were readily obtained in moderate yield and good to excellent enantioselectivity. Additionally, analysis of the reaction outcomes using multidimensional correlations revealed that enantioselectivity is tied to specific electronic features of the 1,1-disubstituted alkenol and the extent of polarizability of the ligand.

Relative reactivity of alkenyl alcohols in the palladium-catalyzed redox-relay Heck reaction.

The relative rates of alkenyl alcohols in the Pd-catalyzed redox-relay Heck reaction were measured in order to examine the effect of their steric and electronic properties on the rate-determining step. Competition experiments between an allylic alkenyl alcohol and two substrates with differing chain lengths revealed that the allylic alcohol reacts 3-4 times faster in either case. Competition between di- and trisubstituted alkenyl alcohols provided an interesting scenario, in which the disubstituted alkene was consumed first followed by reaction of the trisubstituted alkene.

Investigating the nature of palladium chain-walking in the enantioselective redox-relay Heck reaction of alkenyl alcohols.

The mechanism of the redox-relay Heck reaction was investigated using deuterium-labeled substrates. Results support a pathway through a low energy palladium-alkyl intermediate that immediately precedes product formation, ruling out a tautomerization mechanism. DFT calculations of the relevant transition structures at the M06/LAN2DZ+f/6-31+G* level of theory show that the former pathway is favored by 5.

Mechanism, reactivity, and selectivity in palladium-catalyzed redox-relay Heck arylations of alkenyl alcohols.

The enantioselective Pd-catalyzed redox-relay Heck arylation of acyclic alkenyl alcohols allows access to various useful chiral building blocks from simple olefinic substrates. Mechanistically, after the initial migratory insertion, a succession of β-hydride elimination and migratory insertion steps yields a saturated carbonyl product instead of the more general Heck product, an unsaturated alcohol. Here, we investigate the reaction mechanism, including the relay function, yielding the final carbonyl group transformation.