The aldol reaction of acetone with aldehydes in aqueous medium under catalysis by zinc-proline (Zn(L-Pro)2) and secondary amines such as proline, (2S,4R)-4-hydroxyproline (Hyp) and (S)-(+)-1-(2-pyrrolidinomethyl)pyrrolidine (PMP) is shown to proceed by an enamine mechanism, as evidenced by reductive trapping of the iminium intermediate, while the aldol reaction of dihydroxyacetone (DHA) under c...

Formation and Reactions of Acetals and Related Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Reactions of Glucosides and Nucleosides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Reactions of Ketenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Formation and Reactions of Nitrogen Derivatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Imines . . . . . . . . . . . . ...

Direct asymmetric catalytic aldol reactions have been successfully performed using aldehydes and unmodified ketones together with commercially available chiral cyclic secondary amines as catalysts. Structure-based catalyst screening identified L-proline and 5,5-dimethyl thiazolidinium-4-carboxylate (DMTC) as the most powerful amino acid catalysts for the reaction of both acyclic and cyclic keto...

A novel way of combining chiral auxiliaries and substrate directable reactions is described that employs a three-step sequence of aldol/cyclopropanation/retro-aldol reactions for the asymmetric synthesis of enantiopure cyclopropane-carboxaldehydes. In the first step, reaction of the boron enolate of (S)-N-propionyl-5,5-dimethyl-oxazolidin-2-one with a series of alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes ...

(-)-Lyngbyaloside B is a 14-membered macrolide glycoside isolated from the marine cyanobacterium Lyngbya sp. as a cytotoxic substance by Moore and co-workers. The first total synthesis of (-)-lyngbyaloside B and the reassignment of its stereostructure is described. The synthesis features an Abiko-Masamune aldol reaction, a vinylogous Mukaiyama aldol reaction, and a macrocyclization involving an...

The diastereoselective synthesis of cis-2-amino-3-hydroxyindanones was realized by the N-heterocyclic carbene-catalyzed [4 + 1] annulation of phthalaldehyde and imines, which may involve a tandem aza-benzoin reaction and aldol reaction.

Despite their synthetic significance there is a general lack of asymmetric vinylogous aldol reactions that tolerate variations of both the silyloxy furans and aldehydes. We have developed a new chiral organic catalyst based on a carboxylate-ammonium salt prepared from a thiourea-amine and a carboxylic acid. This new catalyst enabled us to develop an efficient asymmetric vinylogous aldol reactio...

[reaction: see text] A highly diastereoselective anti aldol addition utilizing a variety of N-glycolyloxazolidinethiones has been developed. Enolization of an N-glycolyloxazolidinethione with titanium (IV) chloride and (-)-sparteine followed by addition of an aldehyde activated with additional TiCl(4) resulted in highly anti-selective aldol additions, typically with no observable syn isomers. A...

The development of efficient methods for the asymmetric Mukaiyama aldol reaction in aqueous solution has received great attention. We have developed a new series of chiral lanthanide-containing complexes that produce Mukaiyama aldol products with outstanding enantioselectivities. In this paper, we describe an optimized ligand synthesis, trends in stereoselectivity that result from changing lant...

A chiral auxilliary-based direct aldol reaction is reported. The reactions are catalytic in magnesium salts and are facilitated by silylation with chlorotrimethylsilane. The adducts isolated are in high diastereoselectivity (up to 32:1 dr) and favor the anti-aldol diastereomer B. Reactions are operationally simple and can be run under ambient atmosphere without rigorous exclusion of water. Many...