The development of a chiral-at-metal iridium(III) complex for the highly efficient catalytic asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of β,β'-disubstituted nitroalkenes is reported. Catalysis by this inert, rigid metal complex does not involve any direct metal coordination but operates exclusively through weak interactions with functional groups properly arranged in the ligand sphere of the iridium complex. Although the iridium complex relies only on the formation of three hydrogen bonds, it exceeds the performance of most organocatalysts with respect to enantiomeric excess (up to 99% ee) and catalyst loading (down to 0.1 mol %). This work hints at an advantage of structurally complicated rigid scaffolds for non-covalent catalysis, which especially relies on conformationally constrained cooperative interactions between the catalyst and substrates.

Asymmetric catalysts, whether metal complexes with chiral ligands, chiral organometallics, or chiral organic compounds (organocatalysts), achieve asymmetric induction by transferring chiral information from the catalyst to the substrate(s). [1] The source of the catalysts chirality therefore plays a crucial role for its mode of action, and is typically derived from one or more tetrahedral stereogenic centers (mostly carbon atoms, but also heteroatoms, such as sulfur or phosphorus), axial chirality, planar chirality, or a combination thereof (Scheme 1). In contrast, only few reports exist of asymmetric catalysts that derive their chirality exclusively from an octahedral stereocenter. [2][3][4] This seems surprising, considering the prevalence of the octahedral coordination geometry in chemistry and its ability to support the generation of structures with high complexity and, as a result of ligand crowding and chelate effects, often low conformational flexibility. [5] We recently demonstrated the use of chiral-atmetal octahedral complexes for the tailored design of a highly efficient asymmetric noncovalent catalyst that requires low catalyst loading by reporting an inert iridium(III)-based catalyst for the conjugate asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of b,b-disubstituted nitroalkenes. [6] However, excellent metal-, bio-, and organo-catalysts already exist for this transformation, [7] and we were therefore wondering whether an octahedral chiral-at-metal catalyst could be developed for a more challenging asymmetric conversion. In this respect, the asymmetric conjugate addition of carbon nucleophiles to b,b-disubstituted nitroalkenes constitutes a highly attractive reaction as it permits the construction of a stereogenic carbon atom bound to four other carbon substituents (all-carbon quaternary stereocenter). [8] Only a handful of studies are available dealing with this particular reaction, thereby presumably reflecting the involved challenge of overcoming a significant steric repulsion between the incoming carbon nucleophile and the carbon substituents of the nitroalkene electrophile. Nevertheless, Hoveyda and co-workers introduced a Cu-catalyzed dialkylzinc conjugate addition, [9] Arai and co-workers reported a Cu-catalyzed addition of indoles to isatin-derived nitroalkenes, [10] Jia and co-workers disclosed a Ni-catalyzed addition of indoles to b-CF 3 -b-disubstituted nitroalkenes, [11] Ricci and co-workers reported a phase-transfer asymmetric organocatalytic conjugate addition of cyanide to b,b-disubstituted nitroalkenes, albeit with only modest enantioselectivities, [12] Melchiorre and co-workers introduced the asymmetric vinylogous Michael addition of cyclic enones to nitroalkenes catalyzed by natural cinchona alkaloids, including one reaction using a b,b-disubstituted nitroalkene, [13] and finally Kastl and Wennemers introduced a proline-peptide-catalyzed asymmetric addition of aldehydes to b,b-disubstituted nitroalkenes under formation of g-nitroaldehydes. [14] The restricted scope of dialkylzinc reagents and t...

Based on a metal-templated approach using a rigid and globular structural scaffold in the form of a bis-cyclometalated octahedral iridium complex, an exceptionally active hydrogen-bond-mediated asymmetric catalyst was developed and its mode of action investigated by crystallography, NMR, computation, kinetic experiments, comparison with a rhodium congener, and reactions in the presence of competing H-bond donors and acceptors. Relying exclusively on weak forces, the enantioselective conjugate reduction of nitroalkenes can be executed at catalyst loadings as low as 0.004 mol% (40 ppm), representing turnover numbers of up to 20 250. A rate acceleration by the catalyst of 2.5 × 10(5) was determined. The origin of the catalysis is traced to an effective stabilization of developing charges in the transition state by carefully orchestrated hydrogen-bonding and van der Waals interactions between catalyst and substrates. This study demonstrates that the proficiency of asymmetric catalysis merely driven by hydrogen-bonding and van der Waals interactions can rival traditional activation through direct transition metal coordination of the substrate.

Metall‐vermittelte Organokatalyse: Der enantioselektive Aufbau quartärer Stereozentren wird durch die Ligandensphäre eines inerten bis‐cyclometallierten Iridiumkomplexes (siehe Bild) katalysiert. In diesem Komplex dient allein die metallzentrierte Chiralität als Quelle für die effektive asymmetrische Induktion.

Asymmetric Catalysis with an Inert Chiral-at-Metal Iridium Complex. -Novel chiral iridium complexes are synthesized and used as a catalyst for the asymmetric hydrogenation reaction of β,β-disubstituted nitroolefins. The obtained results demonstrate that this new class of inert chiral-at-metal octahedral complexes is a promising candidate for highly efficient low-loading asymmetric non-covalent catalysts. -(CHEN, L.-A.; XU, W.; HUANG, B.; MA, J.; WANG, L.; XI, J.; HARMS, K.; GONG, L.; MEGGERS*, E.; J. Am. Chem. Soc. 135 (2013) 29, 10598-10601, http://dx.

Construction of an All-Carbon Quaternary Stereocenter.-An iridium complex that draws its chirality exclusively from an Ir-centered octahedral stereocenter is described as highly efficient catalyst for the asymmetric Michael addition of indoles to nitroacrylic esters to give products with quaternary stereocenters with excellent stereoselectivity. -(CHEN, L.-A.; TANG, X.; XI, J.; XU, W.; GONG, L.; MEGGERS*, E.; Angew.

Key words asymmetric hydrogenation non-covalent catalysis iridium Downloaded by: University of Illinois at Chicago. Copyrighted material.