Solvent-Free Enantioselective Organocatalyzed Aldol Reactions

The use of proline as catalyst for the aldol process has given a boost to the development of organocatalysis as a research area. Since then, a plethora of organocatalysts of diverse structures have been developed for this and other organic transformations under different reaction conditions. The use of an organic molecule as catalyst to promote a reaction meets several principles of Green Chemistry. The implementation of solvent-free methodologies to carry out the aldol reaction was soon envisaged. These solvent-free processes can be performed using conventional magnetic stirring or applying ball milling techniques and are even compatible with the use of supported organocatalysts as promoters, which allows the recovery and reuse of the organocatalysts. In addition, other advantages such as the reduction of the required amount of nucleophile and the acceleration of the reaction are accomplished by using solvent-free conditions leading to a “greener” and more sustainable process.This research was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia Innovación (MICINN: Projects CTQ2007-62771/BQU, CTQ2010-20387, and Consolider Ingenio 2010 CSD2007-00006), FEDER, the Generalitat Valenciana (Project PROMETE0/2009/039), the University of Alicante and the EU (ORCA action CM0905). A.B.C. thanks the Spanish ME for a predoctoral fellowship (FPU AP2009-3601)

The synthesis and evaluation of novel, C2-symmetric organocatalysts

This thesis presents the synthesis and evaluation of a series of C2-symmetric, diprolinamide based organocatalysts. These catalysts were designed to investigate the effect that catalyst bridge length imparted on activity and chiral selectivity through catalytic site cooperation. Evaluation of these compounds led to the postulation of a novel “chiral pocket” transition state that will aid in the design of future catalysts

Catalyse organique énantiosélective par des oligomères bien définis de chitosane

The catalytic behaviour of size-defined chitosan oligomers has been evaluated for asymmetric aldol reactions. These oligomers were obtained from chitin, which is one of the most abundant naturally occurring polymers, as a renewable starting biomolecule. Thus, controlled depolymerization of chitin was carried out by acetolysis providing per-O-acetylated N-acetyl-α-D-glucosamine oligomers with a polymerization degree from 2 to 4. To investigate the influence of the aglycon moiety, we developed a Lewis acid-promoted glycosylation reactions under microwave irradiation. Thus, a catalytic amount of copper(II) triflate proved to be the most effective promoter for the activation of α-per-O-acetylated glucosamine oligomers, which are considered as poorly reactive substrates, to selectively obtain α-glycosylated compounds. This selectivity results from in situ isomerization of kinetic β products. Chitosan-based catalysts, which differ in the distribution pattern, were synthesized in a few steps. The most promising results were obtained with a chitobiose derivative, which efficiently catalyzed the aldol reaction between cyclohexanone and 4-nitrobenzaldehyde, in the presence of 4-nitrobenzoic acid as a co-catalyst, in water, providing the anti-adduct in high yield with good enantioselectivity (89% ee). In addition, this homogeneous organocatalyst can be reused in several cycles without loss of catalytic activity.Des oligomères de taille définie de chitosane ont été préparés et testés en tant qu'organocatalyseurs dans des réactions d'aldolisation énantiosélectives. Les précurseurs de ces catalyseurs sont obtenus en une seule étape par une réaction d'acétolyse contrôlée de la chitine, second polysaccharide le plus abondant. Une méthodologie reposant sur des réactions de glycosylation sous activation micro-ondes a été développée afin de fonctionnaliser la position anomérique de ces oligomères. Ainsi, le triflate de cuivre(II), utilisé en quantité catalytique, s’est révélé être le promoteur le plus efficace pour l’activation de la glucosamine ou du chitobiose peracétylés de configuration α. La sélectivité α des produits glycosylés résultent d’une isomérisation in situ des produits cinétiques β. Des organocatalyseurs se différenciant par leur partie aglycone et par leur degré de substitution ont été synthétisés en peu d’étapes. Les résultats les plus intéressants ont été obtenus avec un dérivé du chitobiose soluble en milieu aqueux. Nous avons montré, qu’en présence d’un co-catalyseur acide, l’acide 4-nitrobenzoïque, la réaction entre la cyclohexanone et le 4-nitrobenzaldéhyde, conduit à l’adduit anti avec un bon excès énantiomérique (89% ee). De plus, nous avons également montré que ce catalyseur pouvait être réutilisé dans plusieurs cycles catalytiques sans perte de sélectivité

Prolinethioamides versus Prolinamides in Organocatalyzed Aldol Reactions—A Comparative Study

Various organocatalysts have been developed for the aldol reaction but particular attention has been paid to prolinamide derivatives. They are easy to prepare and their catalytic activity can be readily tuned through structural modification. In this review, the comparison of catalytic activities between prolinethioamides and their respective amides in direct asymmetric aldol reactions is presented