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Nickel-catalysed reductive coupling reactions of alkynes have emerged as powerful synthetic tools for the selective preparation of functionalized alkenes. One of the greatest challenges associated with these transformations is control of regioselectivity. Recent work from our laboratory has provided an improved understanding of several of the factors governing regioselectivity in these reactions, and related studies have revealed that the reaction mechanism can differ substantially depending on the ligand employed. A discussion of stereoselective transformations and novel applications of nickel catalysis in coupling reactions of alkynes is also included.

Cytochrome P450s (cyt P450s) are the major oxidative enzymes in human oxidative metabolism of drugs and xenobiotic chemicals. In nature, the iron heme cyt P450s utilize oxygen and electrons delivered from NADPH by a reductase enzyme to oxidize substrates stereo- and regioselectively. Significant research has been directed toward achieving these events electrochemically. This feature article discusses the direct electrochemistry of cyt P450s in thin films, and the utilization of such films for electrochemically-driven biocatalysis. Maintaining and confirming structural integrity and catalytic activity of cyt P450s in films is an essential feature of these efforts. We highlight here our efforts to elucidate the influence of iron heme spin state and secondary structure of human cyt P450s on voltammetric and biocatalytic properties, using methodologies to quantitatively describe the dynamics of these processes in thin films. We also describe the first cyt P450/reductase films that accurately mimic the natural biocatalytic pathway, and show how they can be used with voltammetry to elucidate key mechanistic features. Such bioelectronic cyt P450 systems have high value for future drug development, toxicity screening, fundamental investigations, and chemical synthesis systems.

Biocatalysis is today a standard technology for the industrial production of several chemicals, and the number of biotransformation processes running on a commercial scale is constantly increasing. Among biocatalysts, bacterial multicomponent monooxygenases (BMMs), a diverse group of nonheme diiron enzymes that activate dioxygen, are of primary interest due to their ability to catalyze a variety of complex oxidations, including reactions of mono- and dihydroxylation of phenolic compounds. In recent years, both directed evolution and rational design have been successfully used to identify the molecular determinants responsible for BMM regioselectivity and to improve their activity toward natural and nonnatural substrates. Toluene o-xylene monooxygenase (ToMO) is a BMM isolated from Pseudomonas sp. strain OX1 which hydroxylates a wide spectrum of aromatic compounds. In this work we investigate the use of recombinant ToMO for the biosynthesis in recombinant cells of Escherichia coli strain JM109 of 4-hydroxyphenylethanol (tyrosol), an antioxidant present in olive oil, from 2-phenylethanol, a cheap and commercially available substrate. We initially found that wild-type ToMO is unable to convert 2-phenylethanol to tyrosol. This was explained by using a computational model which analyzed the interactions between ToMO active-site residues and the substrate. We found that residue F176 is the major steric hindrance for the correct positioning of the reaction intermediate leading to tyrosol production into the active site of the enzyme. Several mutants were designed and prepared, and we found that the combination of different mutations at position F176 with mutation E103G allows ToMO to convert up to 50% of 2-phenylethanol into tyrosol in 2 h.

Organotrifluoroborates are robust reagents capable of withstanding ozonolysis of remote alkenes, thus providing a new route to oxo-substituted organotrifluoroborates. The primary ozonides initially generated upon ozonolysis can be reduced with Zn/AcOH to afford the carbonyl compounds. Alternatively, capture of the carbonyl oxides with either an appropriate N-oxide or H2O easily gives the desired oxo-substituted organotrifluoroborates. Both unsaturated alkyltrifluoroborates and -aryltrifluoroborates effectively participate in the reaction. The process provides oxo-functionalized organotrifluoroborates that cannot be prepared directly via either transmetalation or hydroboration protocols.

The group’s recent advances in catalytic carbon-to-heteroatom bond forming reactions of alkenes and alkynes are described. For the C–O bond formation reaction, a well-defined bifunctional ruthenium-amido catalyst has been successfully employed for the conjugate addition of alcohols to acrylic compounds. The ruthenium-hydride complex (PCy3)2(CO)RuHCl was found to be a highly effective catalyst for the regioselective alkyne-to-carboxylic acid coupling reaction in yielding synthetically useful enol ester products. Cationic ruthenium-hydride catalyst generated in-situ from (PCy3)2(CO)RuHCl/HBF4·OEt2 was successfully utilized for both the hydroamination and related C–N bond forming reactions of alkenes. For the C–Si bond formation reaction, regio- and stereoselective dehydrosilylation of alkenes and hydrosilylation of alkynes have been developed by using a well-defined ruthenium-hydride catalyst. Scope and mechanistic aspects of these carbon-to-heteroatom bond-forming reactions are discussed.

Alkenes are attractive starting materials for organic synthesis and the development of new selective functionalization reactions are desired. Previously, our laboratory discovered a unique Pd-catalyzed hydroalkoxylation reaction of styrenes containing a phenol. Based upon deuterium labeling experiments, a mechanism involving an aerobic alcohol oxidation coupled to alkene functionalization was proposed. These results inspired the development of a new Pd-catalyzed reductive coupling reaction of alkenes and organometallic reagents that generates a new carbon-carbon bond. Optimization of the conditions for the coupling of both organostannanes and organoboronic esters is described and the initial scope of the transformation is presented. Additionally, several mechanistic experiments are outlined and support the rationale for the development of the reaction based upon coupling alcohol oxidation to alkene functionalization.

β-Carotene ethenolysis under promotion of well-defined ruthenium catalysts were examined as a novel method of synthesis of vitamin A derivatives. Efficient reaction was promoted by the second-generation Hoveyda catalyst. The products of ethenolysis in positions C15-C15′, C11-C12, and C9-C10 were detected, but cleavage of the C11-C12 double bond predominated. Even better regioselectivity at this position was observed for cross—metathesis between β-carotene and functionalized alkenes.

The cationic ruthenium-hydride complex, formed in-situ from the treatment of the tetranuclear ruthenium-hydride complex {[(PCy3)(CO)RuH]4(μ4-O)(μ3-OH)(μ2-OH)} with HBF4·OEt2, was found to be a highly effective catalyst for the intermolecular coupling reaction of arylketones and 1-alkenes to give the substituted indene and ortho-C–H insertion products. The formation of the indene products was resulted from the initial alkene isomerization followed by regioselective ortho-C–H insertion of 2-alkene and the dehydrative cyclization. The preliminary mechanistic studies revealed a rapid and reversible ortho-C–H bond activation followed by the rate-limiting C–C bond formation step for the coupling reaction.

Wacker-type oxidative cyclization reactions have been the subject of extensive research for several decades, but few systematic mechanistic studies of these reactions have been reported. The present study features experimental and DFT computational studies of Pd(OAc)2/pyridine-catalyzed intramolecular aerobic oxidative amination of alkenes. The data support a stepwise catalytic mechanism that consists of (1) steady-state formation of a PdII-amidate-alkene chelate with release of one equivalent of pyridine and AcOH from the catalyst center, (2) alkene insertion into a Pd–N bond, (3) reversible β-hydride elimination, (4) irreversible reductive elimination of AcOH, and (5) aerobic oxidation of palladium(0) to regenerate the active trans-Pd(OAc)2(py)2 catalyst. Evidence is obtained for two energetically viable pathways for the key C–N bond-forming step, featuring a pyridine-ligated and a pyridine-dissociated PdII species. Analysis of natural charges and bond lengths of the alkene-insertion transition state suggest that this reaction is best described as an intramolecular nucleophilic attack of the amidate ligand on the coordinated alkene.

Propylene-grown Xanthobacter cells (strain Py2) degraded several chlorinated alkenes of environmental concern, including trichloroethylene, 1-chloroethylene (vinyl chloride), cis- and trans-1,2-dichloroethylene, 1,3-dichloropropylene, and 2,3-dichloropropylene. 1,1-Dichloroethylene was not degraded efficiently, while tetrachloroethylene was not degraded. The role of alkene monooxygenase in catalyzing chlorinated alkene degradations was established by demonstrating that glucose-grown cells which lack alkene monooxygenase and propylene-grown cells in which alkene monooxygenase was selectively inactivated by propyne were unable to degrade the compounds. C2 and C3 chlorinated alkanes were not oxidized by alkene monooxygenase, but a number of these compounds were inhibitors of propylene and ethylene oxidation, suggesting that they compete for binding to the enzyme. A number of metabolites enhanced the rate of degradation of chlorinated alkenes, including propylene oxide, propionaldehyde, and glucose. Propylene stimulated chlorinated alkene oxidation slightly when present at a low concentration but became inhibitory at higher concentrations. Toxic effects associated with chlorinated alkene oxidations were determined by measuring the propylene oxidation and propylene oxide-dependent O2 uptake rates of cells previously incubated with chlorinated alkenes. Compounds which were substrates for alkene monooxygenase exhibited various levels of toxicity, with 1,1-dichloroethylene and trichloroethylene being the most potent inactivators of propylene oxidation and 1,3- and 2,3-dichloropropylene being the most potent inactivators of propylene oxide-dependent O2 uptake. No toxic effects were seen when cells were incubated with chlorinated alkenes anaerobically, indicating that the product(s) of chlorinated alkene oxidation mediates toxicity.

The enantioselective intramolecular aminative functionalization of unactivated alkenes and related π-systems is a straight-forward and atom economical strategy for the synthesis of chiral nitrogen heterocycles. These reactions can be categorized as oxidatively neutral, such as alkene hydroamination, or as oxidative reactions, such as alkene difunctionalization, e.g. aminooxygenation and carboamination. This perspective reviews the current work in the field and explores mechanistic trends that are common among the different catalysts and reaction types.

An account of the total synthesis of the tetracyclic alkaloid (−)-acutumine is presented. A first-generation approach to the spirocyclic subunit was unsuccessful due to incorrect regioselectivity in a radical cyclization. However, this work spawned a second-generation strategy in which the spirocycle was fashioned via a radical–polar crossover reaction. This process merged an intramolecular radical conjugate addition with an enolate hydroxylation, and created two stereocenters with excellent diastereoselectivity. The reaction was promoted by irradiation with a sunlamp, and a ditin reagent was required for aryl radical formation. These facts suggest that the substrate may function as a sensitizer, thereby facilitating homolytic cleavage of the ditin reagent. The propellane motif of the target was then installed via annulation of a pyrrolidine ring onto the spirocycle. The sequence of reactions used included a phenolic oxidation, an asymmetric ketone allylation mediated by Nakamura’s chiral allylzinc reagent, an anionic oxy-Cope rearrangement, a one-pot ozonolysis–reductive amination, and a Lewis acid promoted cyclization of an amine onto an α,β-unsaturated dimethyl ketal. Further studies of the asymmetric ketone allylation demonstrated the ability of the Nakamura reagent to function well in a mismatched situation. A TiCl4-catalyzed regioselective methyl enol etherification of a 1,3-diketone completed the synthesis.

Alkenes are found in a great number of biologically active molecules and are employed in numerous transformations in organic chemistry. Many olefins exist as E or higher energy Z isomers. Catalytic procedures for stereoselective formation of alkenes are therefore valuable; nonetheless, methods for synthesis of 1,2-disubstituted Z olefins are scarce. Here we report catalytic Z-selective cross-metathesis reactions of terminal enol ethers, which have not been reported previously, and allylic amides, employed thus far only in E-selective processes; the corresponding disubstituted alkenes are formed in up to >98% Z selectivity and 97% yield. Transformations, promoted by catalysts that contain the highly abundant and inexpensive molybdenum, are amenable to gram scale operations. Use of reduced pressure is introduced as a simple and effective strategy for achieving high stereoselectivity. Utility is demonstrated by syntheses of anti-oxidant C18 (plasm)-16:0 (PC), found in electrically active tissues and implicated in Alzheimer’s disease, and the potent immunostimulant KRN7000.

An unprecedented application of aryliodine (III) diacetates as substrates in Pd-Ag catalyzed arylation of alkenes is described. The mechanistic studies revealed that the binary Pd-Ag catalysis leads to the decomposition of aryliodine (III) diacetates to oxygen and aryl iodides followed by arylation of alkenes forming Heck-type products. Under optimized conditions both electron-rich and electron-deficient alkenes undergo arylation in high yields. Advantageously, the reaction proceeds smoothly in water as a solvent and neither organic ligands nor inert atmosphere are required.

A coordinatively unsaturated ruthenium complex catalyzed the formation of a carbon-carbon bond between two judiciously chosen alkene and alkyne partners in good yield, and in a chemo- and regioselective fashion, in spite of the significant degree of unsaturation of the substrates. The resulting 1,4-diene forms the backbone of the cytotoxic marine natural product amphidinolide P. The alkene partner was rapidly assembled from (R)-glycidyl tosylate, which served as a linchpin in a one-flask, sequential three-components coupling process using vinyllithium and a vinyl cyanocuprate. The synthesis of the alkyne partner made use of an unusual anti-selective addition under chelation control conditions of an allyltin reagent derived from tiglic acid. In addition, a remarkably E-selective E2 process using the azodicarboxylate-triphenylphosphine system is featured. Also featured is the first example of the use of a β-lactone as a thermodynamic spring to effect macrolactonization. The oxetanone ring was thus used as a productive protecting group that increased the overall efficiency of this total synthesis. This work was also an opportunity to further probe the scope of the ruthenium-catalyzed alkene-alkyne coupling, in particular using enynes, and studies using various functionalized substrates are described.

Cross metathesis of the acrolein derived phosphono allylic carbonate and hydroxy alkenes using second generation Grubbs catalyst and copper (I) iodide gave the substituted phosphonates in good yield. Stereospecific palladium (0)-catalyzed cyclization gave tetrahydrofuran and tetrahydropyran vinyl phosphonates. Regioselective Wacker oxidation of the vinyl phosphonate gave the β-keto phosphonate, which underwent HWE reaction with benzaldehyde to yield the unsaturated ketone. The utility of the cross metathesis/cyclization protocol was further demonstrated by a formal synthesis of centrolobine.

Rhodium complexes of diazaphospholane ligands catalyze the asymmetric hydroformylation of N-vinyl carboxamides, allyl ethers and allyl carbamates; products include 1,2- and 1,3-amino aldehydes and 1,3-alkoxy aldehydes. Using glass pressure bottles, short reaction times (generally less than 6 hours), and low catalyst loading (commonly 0.5 mol %), 20 substrates are successfully converted to chiral aldehydes with useful regioselectivity and high enantioselectivity (up to 99% ee). Chiral Roche aldehyde is obtained with 97% ee from the hydroformylation of allyl silyl ethers. Commonly difficult substrates such as 1,1- and 1,2-disubstituted alkenes undergo effective hydroformylation with greater than 89% ee and complete conversion for six examples. Palladium-catalyzed aerobic oxidative amination of allyl benzyl ether followed by enantioselective hydroformylation yields the β3-aminoaldehyde with 74% ee.

The cationic ruthenium-hydride complex [(η6-C6H6)(PCy3)(CO)RuH]+BF4− was found to be a highly regioselective catalyst for the oxidative C–H coupling reaction of aryl-substituted amides and unactivated alkenes to give ortho-alkenylamide products. The kinetic and spectroscopic analyses support a mechanism involving a rapid vinyl C–H activation followed by a rate-limiting C–C bond formation steps.

Mono- and 2,2′-di-substituted terminal alkenes can be isomerized into the more stable internal Z- and E- alkenes by treating them with catalytic amounts of [(allyl)PdCl]2 or [(allyl)NiBr]2, a triarylphosphine and silver triflate at room temperature. The isomeric ratio (E:Z) depends on the alkenes, the (E)-isomer being the major one. The reaction is tolerant to a wide variety of functional groups including other reactive olefins. Unlike the more reactive Ir catalysts, monosubstituted alkenes give almost exclusively the 2-alkenes. Direct comparison to two of the best-known catalysts for this process, (Ir(PCy3)3]+ [BPh4]−, and Grubbs Generation II metathesis catalyst) is also reported.

A detailed mechanistic study of the intramolecular hydroamination of alkenes with amines catalyzed by rhodium complexes of a biaryldialkylphosphine are reported. The active catalyst is shown to contain the phosphine ligand bound in a κ1, η6 form in which the arene is π-bound to rhodium. Addition of deuterated amine to an internal olefin showed that the reaction occurs by trans addition of the N-H bond across the C=C bond, and this stereochemistry implies that the reaction occurs by nucleophilic attack of the amine on a coordinated alkene. Indeed, the cationic rhodium fragment binds the alkene over the secondary amine, and the olefin complex was shown to be the catalyst resting state. The reaction was zero-order in substrate, when the concentration of olefin was high, and a primary isotope effect was observed. The primary isotope effect, in combination with the observation of the alkene complex as the resting state, implies that nucleophilic attack of the amine on the alkene is reversible and is followed by turnover-limiting protonation. This mechanism constitutes an unusual pathway for rhodium-catalyzed additions to alkenes and is more closely related to the mechanism for palladium-catalyzed addition of amide N-H bonds to alkenes.

Several toluene monooxygenase-producing organisms were tested for their ability to oxidize linear alkenes and chloroalkenes three to eight carbons long. Each of the wild-type organisms degraded all of the alkenes that were tested. Epoxides were produced during the oxidation of butene, butadiene, and pentene but not hexene or octadiene. A strain of Escherichia coli expressing the cloned toluene-4-monooxygenase (T4MO) of Pseudomonas mendocina KR1 was able to oxidize butene, butadiene, pentene, and hexene but not octadiene, producing epoxides from all of the substrates that were oxidized. A T4MO-deficient variant of P. mendocina KR1 oxidized alkenes that were five to eight carbons long, but no epoxides were detected, suggesting the presence of multiple alkene-degrading enzymes in this organism. The alkene oxidation rates varied widely (ranging from 0.01 to 0.33 μmol of substrate/min/mg of cell protein) and were specific for each organism-substrate pair. The enantiomeric purity of the epoxide products also varied widely, ranging from 54 to >90% of a single epoxide enantiomer. In the absence of more preferred substrates, such as toluene or alkenes, the epoxides underwent further toluene monooxygenase-catalyzed transformations, forming products that were not identified.

α-Amino acids are essential building blocks for protein synthesis, and are also widely useful as components of medicinally active molecules and chiral catalysts.1,2,3,4,5 Efficient chemo-enzymatic methods for the synthesis of enantioenriched α-amino acids have been devised, but the scope of these methods for the synthesis of unnatural amino acids is limited.6,7 Alkene hydrogenation is broadly useful for enantioselective catalytic synthesis of many classes of amino acids,8,9 but this approach is not applicable to the synthesis of α-amino acids bearing aryl or quaternary alkyl α-substituents. The Strecker synthesis—the reaction of an imine or imine equivalent with hydrogen cyanide, followed by nitrile hydrolysis—is an especially versatile chemical method for the synthesis of racemic α-amino acids (Fig. 1).10,11 Asymmetric Strecker syntheses using stoichiometric chiral reagents have been applied successfully on gram-to-multi-kilogram scales to the preparation of enantiomerically enriched α-amino acids.12,13,14 In principle, Strecker syntheses employing sub-stoichiometric quantities of a chiral reagent provide a practical alternative to these approaches, but the reported catalytic asymmetric methods have seen only limited use on preparative scales (e.g., > 1 gram).15,16 The limited use of existing catalytic methodologies may be ascribed to several important practical drawbacks, including the relatively complex and precious nature of the catalysts, and the requisite use of hazardous cyanide sources. Herein we report a new catalytic asymmetric method for the syntheses of highly enantiomerically enriched non-proteinogenic amino acids using a simple chiral amido-thiourea catalyst to control the key hydrocyanation step. Because this catalyst is robust and lacks sensitive functional groups, it is compatible with safely handled aqueous cyanide salts, and is thus adaptable to large-scale synthesis. This new methodology can be applied to the efficient syntheses of amino acids that are not readily prepared by enzymatic methods or by chemical hydrogenation.

Alkene insertion into Pd–N bonds is a key step in Pd-catalyzed oxidative amidation of alkenes. A series of well-defined Pd(II)-sulfonamidate complexes have been prepared and shown to react via insertion of a tethered alkene. The Pd–amidate and resulting Pd–alkyl species have been crystallographically characterized. The alkene insertion reaction is found to be reversible, but complete conversion to oxidative amination products is observed in the presence of O2. Electronic-effect studies reveal that alkene insertion into the Pd–N bond is favored kinetically and thermodynamically with electron-rich amidates.

The Pt-catalyzed enantioselective addition of bis(pinacolato)diboron to simple monosubstituted alkenes is described. This reaction occurs in the presence of a readily available chiral phosphonite ligand and is effective with a variety of terminal alkene substrates. Importantly, the reaction can operate with catalyst loadings of only 1 mol% Pt. While oxidation of the intermediate 1,2-bis(boronate) ester provides the chiral 1,2-diol as the reaction product, the intermediate may also be subjected to homologation/oxidation to furnish a chiral 1,4-diol as the reaction product.

Background:

Many polyhydroxylated piperidines are inhibitors of the oligosaccharide processing enzymes, glycosidases and glycosyltransferases. Aza-C-linked disaccharide mimetics are compounds in which saturated polyhydroxylated nitrogen and oxygen heterocycles are linked by an all-carbon tether. The saturated oxygen heterocycle has the potential to mimic the departing sugar in a glycosidase-catalysed reaction and aza-C-linked disaccharide mimetics may, therefore, be more potent inhibitors of these enzymes.

Results:

The scope, limitations and diastereoselectivity of the dihydroxylation of stereoisomeric 2-butyl-1-(toluene-4-sulfonyl)-1,2,3,6-tetrahydro-pyridin-3-ols is discussed. In the absence of a 6-substituent on the piperidine ring, the Upjohn (cat. OsO4, NMO, acetone-water) and Donohoe (OsO4, TMEDA, CH2Cl2) conditions allow complementary diastereoselective functionalisation of the alkene of the (2R*,3R*) diastereoisomer. However, in the presence of a 6-substituent, the reaction is largely controlled by steric effects with both reagents. The most synthetically useful protocols were exploited in the two-directional synthesis of aza-C-linked disaccharide analogues. A two-directional oxidative ring expansion was used to prepare bis-enones such as (2R,6S,2'S)-6-methoxy-2-(6-methoxy-3-oxo-3,6-dihydro-2H-pyran-2-ylmethyl)-1-(toluene-4-sulfonyl)-1,6-dihydro-2H-pyridin-3-one from the corresponding difuran. Selective substitution of its N,O acetal was possible. The stereochemical outcome of a two-directional Luche reduction step was different in the two heterocyclic rings, and depended on the conformation of the ring. Finally, two-directional diastereoselective dihydroxylation yielded seven different aza-C-linked disaccharide analogues.

Conclusion:

A two-directional approach may be exploited in the synthesis of aza-C-linked disaccharide mimetics. Unlike previous approaches to similar molecules, neither of the heterocyclic rings is directly derived from a sugar, allowing mimetics with unusual configurations to be prepared. The work demonstrates that highly unsymmetrical molecules may be prepared using a two directional approach. The deprotected compounds may have potential as inhibitors of oligosaccharide-processing enzymes and as tools in chemical genetic investigations.