Conversion of anilines to chiral benzylic amines via formal one-carbon insertion into aromatic C–N bonds

Insertion of atoms into aromatic carbon-nitrogen bonds is an appealing method for the synthesis of nitrogen-containing molecules and it has the advantage of the availability and abundance of anilines. However, the direct cleavage of aromatic carbon-nitrogen bonds is challenging due to the particularly inert and stable nature of these bonds. Here we report a formal, enantioselective one-carbon insertion into an aromatic carbon-nitrogen bond via an aromaticity dissembly-reconstruction process to directly convert anilines to chiral α-branched benzylic amines. The process involves oxidative dearomatization of para-substituted anilines, chiral sulfur ylide-mediated asymmetric aziridination, and subsequent rearrangement. Chiral sulfur ylides serve as one-carbon insertion units.

Catalytic Asymmetric Aziridination of Benzhydryl Imines and Diazoacetate­ Esters with BOROX Catalysts from 3,3′-Disubstituted VANOL Ligands

This work details the synthesis of 22 new chiral VANOL ligands that differ by the nature of the substituent in the 3- and 3′-positions of the ligand. These ligands were incorporated into boroxinate catalysts that were used to screen the catalytic asymmetric aziridination of benzhydryl imines with ethyl diazoacetate. Each catalyst was screened in the reaction of imines generated from benzaldehyde and cyclohexanecarboxaldehyde and some with 4-nitro- and 4-methoxybenzaldehyde. In addition, the first report of the effect of the ester substituent of the diazoacetate ester on the asymmetric induction in these aziridination reactions is presented. The first X-ray structure of a boroxinate catalyst generated from a VANOL-derived ligand is also reported.

Synthesis of Isothiocineole and Application in Multigram-Scale Sulfur Ylide Mediated Asymmetric Epoxidation and Aziridination

The synthesis of the chiral sulfide isothiocineole from limonene and elemental sulfur on multi-gram scale and its alkylation to make >50 g of the corresponding benzylsulfonium salt are described. The application of this salt to the sulfur ylide-mediated asymmetric epoxidation of aldehydes and the asymmetric aziridination of imines on a >5 g scale is demonstrated.