Dynamic resolution of alpha-substituted dihydrocinnamic aldehydes. A new asymmetric synthesis of pharmaceutically important amine building blocks.

Crystallization-induced diastereoisomer transformation (CIDT) was successfully employed in the enantioselective synthesis of 2-alkyl-3-aryl-propan-1-amines. These products are seen as potentially useful building blocks in the field of asymmetric organic chemistry, notably for pharmaceutically relevant compounds. The procedure was based on a recently reported protocol for deracemization of dihydrocinnamic aldehydes in which enantiomerically enriched 1-(amino(phenyl)methyl)naphthalen-2-ol (Betti base) is employed as a resolving agent. Additionally, fenpropimorph, a biologically active substance which contains the 2-alkyl-3-aryl-propan-1-amine moiety was synthetized, as an attempt to assess the usefulness of the enantiomerically enriched amines.

Synthesis and organocatalyzed enantioselective transfer-hydrogenation of beta-amino nitroolefins

The importance of the β-amino nitroalkanes is due to their high versatility allowing a straightforward entry to a variety of nitrogen-containing chiral building blocks; furthermore obtaining them in enantiopure form allows their use in the synthesis of biologically active compounds or their utilization as chiral ligands for different uses. In this work, a reaction for obtaining enantiopure β-amino nitroalkanes through asymmetric organocatalysis has been developed. The synthetic strategy adopted for the obtainment of these compounds was based on an asymmetric reduction of β-amino nitroolefins in a transfer hydrogenation reaction, involving an Hantzsch ester as hydrogen source and a chiral thiourea as organic catalyst. After the optimization of the reaction conditions over the β-acyl-amino nitrostyrene, we tested the reaction generality over other aromatic compound and for Boc protected substrate both aromatic and aliphatic. A scale-up of the reaction was also performed.

Studio sull'applicazione di derivati dell'ammina di betti chirali in sistemi catalitici organici

In this thesis, the development of asymmetric α-alkylation of aldehydes using two new organocatalysts is described. Nowadays organocatalized asymmetric synthesis uses preferentially primary or secondary amines. In our case two new Betti bases derivatives have been used as organocatalysts. We tried to find a method based on resolution to obtain both enantiomers with ee major than 90%. At the end we tried them in an organocatalytic processes which involve indole derivatives and aldehydes as substrates. In questa tesi è descritto lo sviluppo del processo di alfa-alchilazione di aldeidi utilizzando due nuovi catalizzatori organici chirali. Al giorno d’oggi la sintesi asimmetrica organo catalitica sfrutta principalmente ammine primarie e secondarie chirali. Come organo catalizzatori, sono stati utilizzati due nuovi derivati della base di Betti. E’ stato ricercato un metodo che permettesse di risolvere entrambi gli enantiomeri e che permettesse di ottenere un eccesso enantiomerico maggiore del 90%. Infine questi catalizzatori sono stati utilizzati e ottimizzati in micro-processi che utilizzano un substrato indolico e di un’aldeide.

Synthesis and metal complexes of C2 symmetric ligands obtained from (R)-(+)-Betti and dialdehydes for asymmetric induction reactions

The aim of this master’s research thesis was the employment of an enantiopure 1,3-aminoalcohol, the 1-(α-aminobenzyl)-2-naphthol, known as Betti base, for the synthesis of some novel compounds which show a C2 symmetry. Some of these compounds, after derivatization, were used as ligands in association with transition metals to prepare some catalysts for enantioselective catalytic reactions. Some aminoalcohol (Salan-type) derivatives of these compounds were obtained upon reduction and in some cases it was possible to obtain complexes with transition metals such as Mn, Ni, Co and Cu. Furthermore a novel 6-membered analogue bisoxazoline ligand, 2,6-bis((R)-1-Phenyl-1H-naphtho[1,2-e][1,3]oxazin-3-yl)pyridine, was obtained and from it two Cu-complexes were prepared. The metal complexes were employed in some reactions to test the asymmetric induction, which was in some cases up to discrete values.

Organocatalytic tandem reactions of polyfunctional compounds for the synthesis of enantioenriched heterocycles. Reazioni tandem organocatalitiche di composti polifunzionali per la sintesi di eterocicli enantioarricchiti.

In questo lavoro di tesi sono state sviluppate reazioni domino, tandem e procedure one-pot per ottenere eterocicli enatioarricchiti. Lo sviluppo di queste metodologie sintetiche è molto importante perché permettono di ottenere molecole complesse partendo da prodotti semplici, senza effettuare ripetuti passaggi di purificazione (stop-and-go or step-by-step synthesis). Lo scopo di questo lavoro è di ottenere derivati tetraidrofuranici modificati e derivati ossoazzolinici enantioarrichiti tramite reazioni SN2-Michael o tramite reazioni aldolica-ciclizzazione-Michael usando la catalisi asimmetrica a trasferimento di fase (PTC). Come catalizzatori PTC per imprimere enantioselezione sono stati utilizzati sali di ammonio quaternario derivati dagli alcaloidi della Cinchona. Sono state ottimizzate le condizioni di reazione (base inorganica, temperatura, solvente, tempo di reazione) per i diversi substrati presi in considerazione. I prodotti target sono stati ottenuti con buone rese, ottime diastereoselezioni ma con bassa enantioselezione. I risultati ottenuti richiedono un’ulteriore ottimizzazione e dovranno essere valutate variazioni strutturali dei nucleofili utilizzati. In this thesis were developed domino, tandem reactions and one-pot procedures to obtained enantioenriched heterocycles. The development of these methodologies is very fundamental because they allow to obtain complex molecules starting from raw materials, without carrying out repeated purification steps (stop-and-go or step-by-step synthesis). The purpose of this work is to obtain enantioenriched tetrahydrofuran and oxazoline derivatives through a SN2-Michael reaction or a aldol- cyclization-Michael reaction using the phase-transfer asymmetric catalysis (PTC). For imprint enantioselection we used Cinchona alkaloids quaternary ammonium salts derivatives. The reaction conditions (inorganic base, temperature, solvent, reaction time) were optimised for the different substrates taken into account. The target products were obtained with good yields, excellent diastereoselections but with low enantioselections. The obtained results require further optimization and structural changes in the nucleophiles used must be evaluated.

Synthesis, reactivity and applications of 3,5-dimethyl-4-nitroisoxazole derivatives

3,5-dimethyl-4-nitroisoxazole derivatives are useful synthetic intermediates as the isoxazole nucleus chemically behaves as an ester, but establish better-defined interactions with chiral catalysts and lability of its N-O aromatic bond can unveil other groups such as 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds or carboxylic acids. In the present work, these features are employed in a 3,5-dimethyl-4-nitroisoxazole based synthesis of the γ-amino acid pregabalin, a medication for the treatment of epilepsy and neuropatic pain, in which this moiety is fundamental for the enantioselective formation of a chiral center by interaction with doubly-quaternized cinchona phase-transfer catalysts, whose ability of asymmetric induction will be investigated. Influence of this group in cinchona-derivatives catalysed stereoselective addition and Darzens reaction of a mono-chlorinated 3,5-dimethyl-4-nitroisoxazole and benzaldehyde will also be investigated.

Synthesis and dynamic study of atropisomeric compounds containing boron-carbon bond

In this thesis we studied the stereodynamic behavior of 1,2-azaborines variously substituted on boron (7a, 7b, 13). Depending on the hindrance of the asymmetric aryl substituent the resulting conformations could be stereolabile or configurationally stable. Through dynamic NMR and lineshape simulation, the energy rotational barriers of the different conformers are obtained. When the barrier is higher than 22-23 kcal/mol stable atropisomers that are fisically separable could be obtained (case of compound 13) and the free activation energy barrier is determinable by kinetic analysis. Absolute configuration of two atropisomers were assigned by comparison between computational calculations and experimental ECD. Isosteric compound 21 is then synthesized in order to compare the rotational barrier around B-Caryl with the one around Cnaphth-Caryl bond.

Synthesis of enantiopure cyclopentanones by desymmetrization of allylic cyclobutanols

The interest in five-membered ring molecules derives from their important application in many different fields, such as pharmaceutical and agrochemical areas. A common strategy for their formation is four-membered ring expansion, which also allows to add molecular complexity and functional handles within one single operation starting from readily available starting materials. Organocatalysis can be exploited to promote the reaction and to obtain a good enantio- and diastereoselection. This technique involves the exclusive use of organic molecules as catalysts, without resorting to metals. The aim of this work is to obtain enantiopure cyclopentanones starting from achiral allylic cyclobutanols. The reaction consists in a ring expansion promoted by the addition of a halogen to the double bond of the substrate, with formation of a haliranium ion as intermediate, followed by a semipinacol rearrangement to afford the cyclopentanone. The reaction is catalysed by a chiral phosphoric acid that, besides accelerating the rate of the reaction, transmits a specific chirality thanks to its chiral structure, following the asymmetric catalysis principles. Starting from symmetric trans-allylic cyclobutanols, the whole reaction is a desymmetrization and leads to the formation of two new stereogenic centres: a mixture of diastereoisomers is obtained, each as couple of enantiomers; the ratio between the possible configurations is determined by the relative position that the chiral catalyst and the reagent occupy during the reaction. Since the reaction is already optimized, the original aim was to study the scope: first, the synthesis of a set of allylic cyclobutanols and their relative precursors, in order to have a wider range of substrates; then, the identification of the type of substrate that undergoes the expansion, with the study of enantio- and diastereoselectivity obtained in each case. Due to the Covid-19 emergency, most of the work was developed as a bibliographic study.

Computational investigation of a stereoselective synthesis of atropisomeric hydrazides possessing an N–N stereogenic axis

Axially chiral substrates are an interesting and widely studied class of compounds as they can be found in bioactive natural products and are employed as functional materials or as ligands in asymmetric catalytic processes. One branch of this family is the well-known world of the atropisomers. Among them, atropisomeric compounds possessing an N–N stereogenic axis are one truthfully fascinating system but not completely understood yet. In this thesis, we computationally investigated the mechanism of the diastereoselective formation of the N – N chiral axis of a hydrazide under asymmetric phase transfer catalytic conditions. Moreover, during this study, torsional barriers have been calculated for both the reagent and the product at the density functional theory (DFT). These values turned out to suitably match the experimental values and observations. Finally, Electronic Circular Dichroism (ECD) spectra have been simulated in order to assign the chiral absolute configuration to the products.