Why do thioureas and squaramides slow down the Ireland–Claisen rearrangement?

A range of chiral hydrogen-bond-donating organocatalysts was tested in the Ireland–Claisen rearrangement of silyl ketene acetals. None of these organocatalysts was able to impart any enantioselectivity on the rearrangements. Furthermore, these organocatalysts slowed down the Ireland–Claisen rearrangement in comparison to an uncatalyzed reaction. The catalyst-free reaction proceeded well in green solvents or without any solvent. DFT calculations showed that the activation barriers are higher for reactions involving hydrogen-donating organocatalysts and kinetic experiments suggest that the catalysts bind stronger to the starting silyl ketene acetals than to transition structures thus leading to inefficient rearrangement reactions.

Stereoselective Aldol Additions of Glycolic Acid and Its Derivatives

This review gives a comprehensive overview of aldol additions of glycolic acid derivatives to achiral aldehydes and acetals affording α,β-dihydroxycarboxylic acids or derivatives thereof. The focus is on simple diastereoselectivity. A selection of related aldol additions is also presented: aldol additions of glycolic acid derivatives to ketones with two different substituents and aldol additions of α-substituted glycolic acid derivatives.1 Introduction1.1 Organization of this Review1.2 Outside the Scope of this Review: Aldol Additions Giving α,β-Dihydroxyaldehydes and α,β-Dihydroxyketones Diastereoselectively1.3 Non-Aldol Routes to Diastereomerically Pure α,β-Dihydroxycarboxylic Acid Derivatives2 Aldol Additions of Glycolic Acid (Derivative) Enolates to Aldehydes2.1 Aldol Additions of Glycolate Enolates (‘Glycolic Acid Dianions’)2.2 Aldol Additions of Glycolic Ester Enolates2.3 Aldol Additions of Glycolic Thioester Enolates2.4 Aldol Additions of Glycolimide Enolates2.5 Aldol Additions of Glycolamide Enolates2.6 Mukaiyama Aldol Additions of Silyl Ketene Acetals of Glycolic Esters­ and Thioesters2.7 Aldol Additions of Glycoloyl Chlorides via Acyl Ammonium Enolates3 Aldol-Providing Substitutions of Glycolimide Enolates in Acetals4 Additions Related to Aldol Additions of Glycolic Acid Derivative Enolates to Aldehydes4.1 Selected Simply Diastereoselective Aldol Additions of Enolates of Glycolic Acid Derivatives to Ketones with Two Different Substituents4.2 Simply Diastereoselective Aldol Additions of Enolates of Glycolic Acid Derivatives with a Methyl Substituent at C-α (Lactic Acid Derivatives)5 Conclusion

Silanediol versus chlorosilanol: hydrolyses and hydrogen-bonding catalyses with fenchole-based silanes

Biphenyl-2,2’-bisfenchyloxydichlorosilane (7, BIFOXSiCl2) is synthesized and employed as precursor for the new silanols biphenyl-2,2’-bisfenchyloxychlorosilanol (8, BIFOXSiCl(OH)) and biphenyl-2,2’-bisfenchyloxysilanediol (9, BIFOXSi(OH)2). BIFOXSiCl2 (7) shows a remarkable stability against hydrolysis, yielding silanediol 9 under enforced conditions. A kinetic study for the hydrolysis of dichlorosilane 7 shows a 263 times slower reaction compared to reference bis-(2,4,6-tri-tert-butylphenoxy)dichlorosilane (14), known for its low hydrolytic reactivity. Computational analyses explain the slow hydrolyses of BIFOXSiCl2 (7) to BIFOXSiCl(OH) (8, E a = 32.6 kcal mol−1) and BIFOXSiCl(OH) (8) to BIFOXSi(OH)2 (9, E a = 31.4 kcal mol−1) with high activation barriers, enforced by endo fenchone units. Crystal structure analyses of silanediol 9 with acetone show shorter hydrogen bonds between the Si–OH groups and the oxygen of the bound acetone (OH···O 1.88(3)–2.05(2) Å) than with chlorosilanol 8 (OH···2.16(0) Å). Due to its two hydroxy units, the silanediol 9 shows higher catalytic activity as hydrogen bond donor than chlorosilanol 8, e.g., C–C coupling N-acyl Mannich reaction of silyl ketene acetals 11 with N-acylisoquinolinium ions (up to 85% yield and 12% ee), reaction of 1-chloroisochroman (18) and silyl ketene acetals 11 (up to 85% yield and 5% ee), reaction of chromen-4-one (20) and silyl ketene acetals 11 (up to 98% yield and 4% ee).

Connective synthesis of 5,5-disubstituted hydantoins by tandem α-amination and α-arylation of silyl ketene acetals

Amination of a silylated ester generates an intermediate urea that transfers an aryl ring to the aminated centre and cyclises to a hydantoin.