title: The enantioselective organocatalytic 1,4-addition of electron-rich benzenes to alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes.
abstract: The first enantioselective organocatalytic alkylation of electron-rich benzene rings with alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes has been accomplished. The use of iminium catalysis has provided a new strategy for the enantioselective construction of benzylic stereogenicity, an important chiral synthon for natural product and medicinal agent synthesis. The (2S,5S)-5-benzyl-2-tert-butylimidazolidinone amine catalyst has been found to mediate the conjugate addition of a wide variety of substituted and unsubstituted anilines to unsaturated aldehydes. A diverse spectrum of aldehyde substrates can also be accommodated in this new organocatalytic transformation. While catalyst quantities of 10 mol % were generally employed in this study, successful alkylations conducted with catalyst loadings as low as 1 mol % are described.
authors.affiliation: Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
authors.forename: Nick A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Paras
authors.forename: David W C
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: MacMillan
mesh_terms: D000447:Aldehydes / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D000814:Aniline Compounds / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D001555:Benzene Derivatives / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D013237:Stereoisomerism
chemical_list: D000447:Aldehydes; D000814:Aniline Compounds; D001555:Benzene Derivatives