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Updated: May 18, 2026

Efficient Construction of Drug-like Bispirocyclic Scaffolds Via Organocatalytic Cycloadditions of α-Imino γ-Lactones and Alkylidene Pyrazolones
Published on: February 7, 2019
Catalytic, enantioselective N-acylation of lactams and thiolactams using amidine-based catalysts
Xing Yang1, Valentina D Bumbu, Peng Liu
1Department of Chemistry, Washington University, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA.
Abstract:
In contrast to alcohols and amines, racemic lactams and thiolactams cannot be resolved directly via enzymatic acylation or classical resolution. Asymmetric N-acylation promoted by amidine-based catalysts, particularly Cl-PIQ 2 and BTM 3, provides a convenient method for the kinetic resolution of these valuable compounds and often achieves excellent levels of enantioselectivity in this process. Density functional theory calculations indicate that the reaction occurs via N-acylation of the lactim tautomer and that cation-π interactions play a key role in the chiral recognition of lactam substrates.
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