Oxacyclic structures such as tetrahydrofuran (THF) rings are commonly found in many bioactive compounds, and this has led to several efforts toward their stereoselective syntheses. However, the process of catalytic asymmetric cycloetherification for their straightforward synthesis has remained a challenge. In this study, we demonstrate a novel asymmetric synthesis method for THF via the catalytic cycloetherification of ε-hydroxy-α,β-unsaturated ketones mediated by cinchona-alkaloid-thiourea-based bifunctional organocatalysts. This catalytic process represents a highly practical cycloetherification method that provides excellent enantioselectivities, even with low catalyst loadings at ambient temperature.
The 1,5-benzothiazepine moiety is well-known as a versatile pharmacophore, and its derivatives are expected to have antagonism against numerous diseases. Thus, it is desirable to develop a synthetic route that enables facile enantioselective preparation of a wide range of such derivatives. Although the cycloaddition approach could be considered a possible route to these compounds, to date, there has been no precedent of such a protocol. We therefore present the first example of a highly enantioselective net [4 + 3] cycloaddition to afford 1,5-benzothiazepines by utilizing α,β-unsaturated acylammonium intermediates generated by chiral isothiourea catalysts, which undergo two sequential chemoselective nucleophilic attacks by 2-aminothiophenols. This protocol provided cycloadducts in extremely high regioselectivity, with a good-to-excellent stereoselectivity being achieved regardless of the steric and electronic properties of the substrates. This method therefore offers promising synthetic routes for the construction of a library of optically active 1,5-benzothiazepines for assay evaluation.
In a novel organocatalytic formal [3 + 2] cycloaddition to afford chiral 2-oxazolidinones, an enantioselectivity switch could be induced by changing the manner of addition of the reactants, even when the reaction components (cinchona-alkaloid-derived aminothiourea catalyst, substrates, and solvent) were the same.
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