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Updated: Jun 16, 2026

Enzymatic Cascade Reactions for the Synthesis of Chiral Amino Alcohols from L-lysine
Published on: February 16, 2018
An organocatalytic asymmetric chlorolactonization.
Daniel C Whitehead1, Roozbeh Yousefi, Arvind Jaganathan
1Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA.
A new organocatalytic method enables enantioselective chlorolactonization using readily available reagents. This approach achieves high enantioselectivities for synthesizing valuable chiral lactones.
Area of Science:
- Organic Chemistry
- Asymmetric Synthesis
- Catalysis
Background:
- Enantioselective chlorolactonization is crucial for synthesizing chiral lactones.
- Developing efficient and selective catalytic systems remains a challenge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel reagent-controlled organocatalytic enantioselective chlorolactonization reaction.
- To explore the scope and limitations of this new synthetic methodology.
Main Methods:
- Utilized 4-aryl pentenoic acids as substrates.
- Employed 0.1 equivalents of (DHQD)2PHAL as the organocatalyst.
- Used various N-chlorinated hydantoins as the terminal chlorenium source.
Main Results:
- Successfully developed a reagent-controlled organocatalytic enantioselective chlorolactonization.
- Achieved enantioselectivities ranging from 43% to 90% ee across ten examples.
- Demonstrated the first enantioselective reagent-controlled chlorolactonization approaching synthetically useful enantioselectivities.
Conclusions:
- The developed method provides a new route for enantioselective chlorolactonization.
- This organocatalytic approach offers a practical way to access chiral lactones with high selectivity.
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