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Carboxylic acids as a traceless activation group for conjugate additions: a three-step synthesis of (±)-pregabalin
Lingling Chu1, Chisa Ohta, Zhiwei Zuo
1Merck Center for Catalysis at Princeton University , Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States.
Abstract:
The direct application of carboxylic acids as a traceless activation group for radical Michael additions has been accomplished via visible light-mediated photoredox catalysis. Photon-induced oxidation of a broad series of carboxylic acids, including hydrocarbon-substituted, α-oxy, and α-amino acids, provides a versatile CO2-extrusion platform to generate Michael donors without the requirement for organometallic activation or propagation. A diverse array of Michael acceptors is amenable to this new conjugate addition strategy. An application of this technology to a three-step synthesis of the medicinal agent pregabalin (commercialized by Pfizer under the trade name Lyrica) is also presented.
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