Studies on the Organocatalytic Enantioselective Michael Addition of Cyclic Ketones and α,α-Disubstituted Aldehydes to α-Nitrostyrenes

Title:Studies on the Organocatalytic Enantioselective Michael Addition of Cyclic Ketones and α,α-Disubstituted Aldehydes to α-Nitrostyrenes

Volume: 5 Issue: 1

Author(s): Ritesh A. Annadate, Moorthy N. V. G. and Sunil V. Pansare*

Affiliation:

• Department of Chemistry, Memorial University, St. John`s, NL, A1B 3X7,Canada

Keywords: Aldehydes, ketones, Michael addition, organocatalysis, α-nitrostyrene, carbonyl compounds.

Abstract: Background: The catalytic asymmetric Michael addition of carbonyl compounds to nitrostyrenes is of interest because the reaction establishes two adjacent stereocenters in one step and the product γ-nitrocarbonyl compounds are synthetically useful intermediates. This reaction has been exhaustively investigated with β-nitrostyrenes as the Michael acceptors but the use of α-nitrostyrenes, for establishing nonadjacent stereocenters in the product, is not well studied.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the organocatalytic asymmetric, enamine mediated, Michael addition of cyclic ketones and α,α-disubstituted aldehydes to in situ generated α- nitrostyrenes and to optimize the diastereoselectivity and the enantioselectivity of the reaction.

Method: The Michael addition reactions of a series of ketones and aldehydes with a variety of α- nitrostyrenes, that were generated in situ form nitroacetates, were conducted in a selection of solvents in the presence of chiral pyrrolidine catalysts and protic acid additives. Conditions that provided the highest asymmetric induction were identified.

Results: Under optimized conditions, γ-nitroketones (up to 99% ee) and γ-nitroaldehydes (up to 79% ee) were obtained. The synthetic utility of the γ-nitroladehydes was demonstrated by converting a representative Michael adduct into a functionalized pyrrolidine.

Conclusion: The enamine mediated Michael addition of cyclic ketones and α,α-disubstituted aldehydes to in situ generated α-nitrostyrenes proceeds with moderate to good levels of 1,3-asymmetric induction. The methodology complements the well-known Michael addition reactions of β- nitrostyrene, and provides access to enantiomerically enriched γ-aryl-γ-nitro ketones and γ-aryl-γ-nitro aldehydes.

Cite this article as:

Annadate A. Ritesh, N. V. G. Moorthy and Pansare V. Sunil*, Studies on the Organocatalytic Enantioselective Michael Addition of Cyclic Ketones and α,α-Disubstituted Aldehydes to α-Nitrostyrenes, Current Organocatalysis 2018; 5 (1) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/2213337205666180614114025