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Published on: April 4, 2014
Cinchona alkaloid-lewis acid catalyst systems for enantioselective ketene-aldehyde cycloadditions
Cheng Zhu1, Xiaoqiang Shen, Scott G Nelson
1Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA.
Abstract:
Asymmetric cinchona alkaloid-catalyzed acid chloride-aldehyde cyclocondensation (AAC) reactions afford enantioenriched 4-substituted and 3,4-disubstituted beta-lactones with near perfect absolute and relative stereocontrol. These reactions are characterized by the operational simplicity derived from using commercially available or easily obtained (one-step) reaction catalysts and in situ ketene generation from acid chlorides. The range of aldehyde substrates that serve as effective AAC substrates include sterically hindered aldehydes such as cyclohexanecarboxaldehyde and pivaldehyde.
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