Mechanism of a Dually Catalyzed Enantioselective Oxa-Pictet-Spengler Reaction and the Development of a Stereodivergent Variant
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Updated: Jul 16, 2025

Development of Heterogeneous Enantioselective Catalysts using Chiral Metal-Organic Frameworks MOFs
Published on: January 17, 2020
Alafate Adili1, John-Paul Webster2, Chenfei Zhao3
1Center for Heterocyclic Compounds, Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, United States.
Abstract:
Enantioselective oxa-Pictet-Spengler reactions of tryptophol with aldehydes proceed under weakly acidic conditions utilizing a combination of two catalysts, an indoline HCl salt and a bisthiourea compound. Mechanistic investigations revealed the roles of both catalysts and confirmed the involvement of oxocarbenium ion intermediates, ruling out alternative scenarios. A stereochemical model was derived from density functional theory calculations, which provided the basis for the development of a highly enantioselective stereodivergent variant with racemic tryptophol derivatives.
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