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Transition metal-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation is one of the most efficient methods for the preparation of chiral α-substituted propionic acids. However, research on this method, employing cleaner earth-abundant metal catalysts, is still insufficient in both academic and industrial contexts. Herein, we report an efficient nickel-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of α-substituted acrylic acids affording the corresponding chiral α-substituted propionic acids with up to 99.4% ee (enantiomeric excess) and 10,000 S/C (substrate/catalyst). In particular, this method can be used to obtain (R)-dihydroartemisinic acid with 99.8:0.2 dr (diastereomeric ratio) and 5000 S/C, which is an essential intermediate for the preparation of the antimalarial drug Artemisinin. The reaction mechanism has been investigated via experiments and DFT (Density Functional Theory) calculations, which indicate that the protonolysis of the C-Ni bond of the key intermediate via an intramolecular proton transfer from the carboxylic acid group of the substrate, is the rate-determining step. Research on employing cleaner and more environmentally friendly earth-abundant metal catalysts for asymmetric hydrogenation is still insufficient in both academic and industrial contexts. Herein, the authors report the synthesis of chiral α-substituted propionic acids via nickel-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of α-substituted acrylic acids using H2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive Summary: Skipped dienes are of great importance but remain challenging to synthesize because of the presence of a sp3 hybrid carbon between the two alkenes. Herein, we have developed the first nickel‐catalyzed regio‐, (E)‐stereo‐ and linear‐selective ring‐opening/cross‐coupling reaction of vinylaziridines with organoboronic acids under mild conditions to construct various skipped aminodienes. The reaction exhibits wide functional‐group compatibility, and could be adapted for the introduction of skipped aminodiene functionality into bioactive molecules. In addition, the reaction could be carried out on a gram‐scale, delivering the ring‐opening products in high yields and with linear‐selectivity (90% yield, l : b >20 : 1). Furthermore, DFT calculations and mechanistic experiments provided detailed insights into the mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive Summary: Skipped dienes are of great importance but remain challenging to synthesize because of the presence of a sp3 hybrid carbon between the two alkenes. Herein, we have developed the first nickel‐catalyzed regio‐, (E)‐stereo‐ and linear‐selective ring‐opening/cross‐coupling reaction of vinylaziridines with organoboronic acids under mild conditions to construct various skipped aminodienes. The reaction exhibits wide functional‐group compatibility, and could be adapted for the introduction of skipped aminodiene functionality into bioactive molecules. In addition, the reaction could be carried out on a gram‐scale, delivering the ring‐opening products in high yields and with linear‐selectivity (90% yield, l : b >20 : 1). Furthermore, DFT calculations and mechanistic experiments provided detailed insights into the mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chiral tertiary alcohols are an important structural motif, however, the general and efficient methodologies for their synthesis are less reported. Herein, we report a Ni(ІІ)-catalyzed asymmetric alkenylation and arylation of aryl ketones with organoborons under air via a 1,5-metalate shift strategy to obtain chiral tertiary allylic alcohols and diaryl alcohols. The reaction demonstrates good functional group tolerance and delivers chiral tertiary alcohols with good to excellent results. Furthermore, this method can be applied to the late-stage modification of drugs and the efficient synthesis of natural products. Notably, the reaction proceeds through an outer-sphere mechanism. The Ni(II) complex functions both as a Lewis acid to activate the ketone and create a chiral environment, and as coordination bridge linking the ketone and the organoboron-derived "ate" complex, facilitating the 1,5-metalate shift without forming a C-Ni bond. This approach contrasts with traditional transition metal-catalyzed nucleophilic addition reactions that involve carbon-metal bond formation., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The asymmetric hydrogenation of benzophenones, catalyzed by low-activity earth-abundant metal copper, has hitherto remained a challenge due to the substrates equipped with two indistinguishably similar aryl groups. In this study, we demonstrated that the prochiral carbon of the ortho-bromine substrate exhibits the highest electrophilicity and high reactivity among the ortho-halogen substituted benzophenones, as determined by the Fukui function (f+) analysis and hydrogenation reaction. Considering that the enantiodirecting functional bromine group can be easily derivatized and removed in the products, we successfully achieved a green copper-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of ortho-bromine substituted benzophenones. This method yielded a series of chiral benzhydrols with excellent results. The utility of this protocol has been validated through a gram-scale reaction and subsequent product transformations. Hirshfeld partition (IGMH) and energy decomposition analysis (EDA) indicate that the CH···HC multiple attractive dispersion interactions (MADI) effect between the catalyst and substrate enhances the catalyst's activity., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The precise control of Z and E configurations of the carbon-carbon double bond in alkene synthesis has long been a fundamental challenge in synthetic chemistry, even more pronounced when simultaneously striving to achieve enantioselectivity [( Z , R ), ( Z , S ), ( E , R ), ( E , S )]. Moreover, enantiopure non-natural α-amino acids are highly sought after in organic and medicinal chemistry. In this study, we report a ligand-controlled stereodivergent synthesis of non-natural α-quaternary amino acids bearing trisubstituted alkene moieties in high yields with excellent enantioselectivity and Z / E selectivities. This success is achieved through a palladium/copper-cocatalyzed three-component assembly of readily available aryl iodides, allenes, and aldimine esters by simply tuning the chiral ligands of the palladium and copper catalysts.

Fluorinated amino acids and related peptides/proteins have been found widespread applications in pharmaceutical and agricultural compounds. However, strategies for introducing a C-F bond into amino acids in an enantioselective manner are still limited and no such asymmetric catalysis strategy has been reported. Herein, we have successfully developed a Pd/Cu/Li ternary system for stereodivergent synthesis of chiral fluorinated amino acids. This method involves a sequential desymmetrization of geminal difluoromethylenes and allylic substitution with amino acid Schiff bases via Pd/Li and Pd/Cu dual activation, respectively. A series of non-natural amino acids bearing a chiral allylic/benzylic fluorine motif are easily synthesized in high yields with excellent regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselectivities (up to >20 : 1 dr and >99 % ee). A density functional theory (DFT) study revealed the F-Cu interaction of the allylic substrate and the Cu catalyst significantly influence the stereoselectivity., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

An iridium-catalyzed remote site-switchable hydroarylation of alkenes was reported, delivering the products functionalized at the subterminal methylene and terminal methyl positions on an alkyl chain controlled by two different ligands, respectively, in good yields and with good to excellent site-selectivities. The catalytic system showed good functional group tolerance and a broad substrate scope, including unactivated and activated alkenes. More importantly, the regioconvergent transformations of mixtures of isomeric alkenes were also successfully realized. The results of the mechanistic studies demonstrate that the reaction undergoes a chain-walking process to give an [Ar-Ir-H] complex of terminal alkene. The subsequent processes proceed through the modified Chalk-Harrod-type mechanism via the migratory insertion of terminal alkene into the Ir-C bond followed by C-H reductive elimination to afford the hydrofunctionalization products site-selectively., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

A highly chemoselective earth-abundant transition metal copper catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of C=O bonds of exocyclic α,β-unsaturated pentanones was realized using H 2 . The desired products were obtained with up to 99 % yield and 96 % ee (enantiomeric excess) (99 % ee, after recrystallization). The corresponding chiral exocyclic allylic pentanol products can be converted into several bioactive molecules. The hydrogenation mechanism was investigated via deuterium-labelling experiments and control experiments, which indicate that the keto-enol isomerization rate of the substrate is faster than that of the hydrogenation and also show that the Cu-H complex can only catalyze chemoselectively the asymmetric reduction of the carbonyl group. Computational results indicate that the multiple attractive dispersion interactions (MADI effect) between the catalyst with bulky substituents and substrate play important roles which stabilize the transition states and reduce the generation of by-products., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Chiral α,β-unsaturated γ-lactams bearing simple γ- substituents are found in biologically active molecules and natural products, however, their synthesis still remains difficult. Herein, we report an efficient kinetic resolution (KR) of γ-substituted α,β-unsaturated γ-lactams via a Cu-catalyzed asymmetric boron conjugate addition, which also leads to the efficient synthesis of chiral β-hydroxy-γ-lactams with β,γ-stereogenic carbon centers. The KR proceeded smoothly with a wide range of γ-alkyl or aryl substituted substrates including those bearing aromatic heterocycles and different N-protected substrates in up to 347 of s value. Their highly versatile transformations, synthetic utility in biologically active molecules, and inhibitory activities against cisplatin-sensitive ovarian cancer cell A2780 have also been demonstrated. Differing from the well-known mechanism involving Cu-B species in Cu-catalyzed boron conjugate additions, our mechanistic studies using density functional theory (DFT) calculations and experiments indicate that a Lewis acid Cu I -catalyzed mechanism is the likely pathway in the catalytic reaction., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The allylic alcohol structural motif is prevalent in many important molecules and valuable building blocks. The rearrangement reaction is one of the most important transformations, however there are only a few reports for the 1,3-rearrangement of allylic alcohols. Herein, a 1,3-rearrangement of allylic alcohols catalyzed by an Ir(III) dihydride complex is described. This reaction could provide the corresponding less accessible allylic alcohols regio- and stereoselectively from readily available E/Z mixtures of the substrates. Furthermore, a tandem alkene isomerization followed by 1,3-rearrangement of homoallylic alcohols was also realized. In addition, this rearrangement reaction could be used to synthesize the natural product Navenone B. Mechanistic investigation indicated that the reaction pathway involved a π-allyl-Ir(V) intermediate and that the dihydride in the iridium catalyst acts as a hydrogen switch to modulate the valence of the iridium center., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The stereodivergent synthesis of allene compounds bearing α,β-adjacent central chiralities has been realized via the Pd/Cu-catalyzed dynamic kinetic asymmetric alkylation of racemic allenylic esters. The matched reactivity of bimetallic catalytic system enables the challenging reaction of racemic aryl-substituted allenylic acetates with sterically crowded aldimine esters smoothly under mild reaction conditions. Various chiral non-natural amino acids bearing a terminal allenyl group are easily synthesized in high yields and with excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivities (up to >20 : 1 dr, >99 % ee). Importantly, all four stereoisomers of the product can be readily accessed by switching the configurations of the two chiral metal catalysts. Furthermore, the easy interconversion between the uncommon η 3 -butadienyl palladium intermediate featuring a weak C=C/Pd coordination bond and a stable Csp 2 -Pd bond is beneficial for the dynamic kinetic asymmetric transformation process (DyKAT)., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The first asymmetric Ni/Cu cocatalyzed benzylation of aldimine esters is reported. A series of benzyl-substituted α-quaternary amino acids could be synthesized in high yield and with high levels of enantioselectivity (up to 90 % yield and 99 % ee). The experimental and theoretical calculation results suggested that the strong electrophilicity of the η 3 -benzylnickel intermediate is crucial for the high reactivity, enabling the reaction under base-free conditions. Furthermore, this method has been applied to the synthesis of the cell adhesion inhibitor BIRT-377 analogues, and the key intermediate of the NK1 receptor antagonist PD154075 and CCK-B receptor antagonist CI-988., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Asymmetric desymmetrization has been demonstrated to be a powerful strategy for building stereocenters in asymmetric synthesis. Herein, a Pd/Cu catalyzed asymmetric desymmetrization reaction with a simple geminal dicarboxylate is reported. A wide scope of imino esters bearing an aryl or heteroaromatic group were compatible with this bimetallic catalytic system. The reactions proceeded smoothly, giving the desired products in good yields with high to excellent regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselectivity (up to 20 : 1 branched:linear, >20 : 1 dr, >99 % ee). Notably, the reaction favored branched selectivity, which is unusual for the Pd-catalyzed allylic alkylation reaction. In addition, the standard product could be easily transformed to other valuable molecules such as chiral allylic alcohols, carbamates, and organic boron compounds. Furthermore, DFT calculations were conducted to explain the origin of the branched selectivity., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The development of efficient and straightforward methods for obtaining all optically active isomers of structurally rigid spirocycles from readily available starting materials is of great value in drug discovery and chiral ligand development. However, the stereodivergent synthesis of spirocycles bearing multiple stereocenters remains an unsolved challenge owing to steric hindrance and ring strain. Herein, we report an enantio- and diastereodivergent synthesis of rigid spirocycles through dual-metal-catalyzed [3+2] annulation of oxy π-allyl metallic dipoles with less commonly employed nucleophilic dipoles (imino esters). A series of spiro compounds bearing a pyrroline and an olefin were easily synthesized in an enantio- and diastereodivergent manner (up to 19:1 dr, >99 % ee), which showed great promise as a new type of N-olefin ligand. Preliminary mechanistic studies were also carried out to understand the process of this bimetallic catalysis., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

3,3-Disubstituted oxindoles bearing quaternary and tertiary stereogenic centers are privileged structural motifs, which widely exist in pharmaceutical and natural products. Herein, a highly regio-, enantio-, and diastereoselective allylic alkylation of 3-alkyl oxindoles through synergistic iridium and copper catalysis is described, which provides a series of 3,3-disubstituted oxindole derivatives containing adjacent quaternary and tertiary stereogenic centers in excellent yields, enantiomeric excess, and diastereomeric ratio (for 30 examples, up to 97 % yield, >99 % ee, and >20 : 1 dr). This method provides exclusive branched selectivity, excellent enantio- and diastereoselectivities, and good functional compatibility. Control experiments suggested that the chiral copper catalyst is required for achieving high reactivities and diastereoselectivities under mild reaction conditions., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)