Fernando Arteaga

Phosphine‐Catalyzed β,γ‐Umpolung Domino Reaction of Allenic Esters: Facile Synthesis of Tetrahydrobenzofuranones Bearing a Chiral Tetrasubstituted Stereogenic Carbon Center

An enantio-, diastereo-, regio-, and chemoselective phosphine-catalyzed β,γ-umpolung domino reaction of allenic esters with dienones has been developed for the first time. The designed sequence, involving oxy-Michael and Rauhut-Currier reactions, produced highly functionalized tetrahydrobenzofuranones, bearing a chiral tetrasubstituted stereogenic center, in up to 96 % ee.

Organocatalyzed formal [2 + 2] cycloaddition of ketimines with allenoates: facile access to azetidines with a chiral tetrasubstituted carbon stereogenic center.

An enantioselective organocatalyzed aza-MBH-type reaction of ketimines and allenoates has been developed. The present formal [2 + 2] cycloaddition produces highly functionalized azetidines with a chiral tetrasubstituted carbon stereogenic center in good to excellent yields and high enantioselectivities.

Direct Catalytic Asymmetric Mannich-Type Reaction of α- and β-Fluorinated Amides

The last two decades have witnessed the emergence of direct enolization protocols providing atom-economical and operationally simple methods to use enolates for stereoselective C-C bond-forming reactions, eliminating the inherent drawback of the preformation of enolates using stoichiometric amounts of reagents. In its infancy, direct enolization relied heavily on the intrinsic acidity of the latent enolates, and the reaction scope was limited to readily enolizable ketones and aldehydes. Recent advances in this field enabled the exploitation of carboxylic acid derivatives for direct enolization, offering expeditious access to synthetically versatile chiral building blocks. Despite the growing demand for enantioenriched fluorine-containing small molecules, α- and β-fluorinated carbonyl compounds have been neglected in direct enolization chemistry because of the competing and dominating defluorination pathway. Herein we present a comprehensive study on direct and highly stereoselective Mannich-type reactions of α- and β-fluorine-functionalized 7-azaindoline amides that rely on a soft Lewis acid/hard Brønsted base cooperative catalytic system to guarantee an efficient enolization while suppressing undesired defluorination. This protocol contributes to provide a series of fluorinated analogs of enantioenriched β-amino acids for medicinal chemistry.

Direct Catalytic Asymmetric Mannich-Type Reaction of Alkylamides

Direct enolate formation coupled with subsequent enantioselective C-C bond formation remains a topic of intense interest in asymmetric catalysis. This methodology is achieved even with low acidic amides without an electron-withdrawing group at the α-position in the context of a Mannich-type reaction. Acetate-, propionate-, and butyrate-type 7-azaindoline amides served as enolate precursors to afford the desired Mannich adducts with high stereoselectivity, and ligand-enabled diastereo-divergency provided access to both anti/syn diastereomers. The facile transformation of the amide moiety ensures the synthetic utility of the Mannich adducts.

Facile regio- and stereoselective metal-free synthesis of all-carbon tetrasubstituted alkenes bearing a C(sp3)-F unit via dehydroxyfluorination of Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) adducts.

Highly E-selective all-carbon tetrasubstituted alkenes with a C(sp(3))-F unit have been synthesized through a dehydroxyfluorination of Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) adducts which can be readily prepared from α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds and α-keto esters. A variety of subsequent transformations afforded monofluoromethyl substituted heterocycles in high yields.

Direct Catalytic Asymmetric Aldol Reaction of α-Alkylamides

A catalytic asymmetric aldol reaction directly employing amides as latent enolates has remained elusive because of the resistance of amides to enolization. A direct aldol reaction of α-alkylamides without any electron-withdrawing group harnessed by specific activation of 7-azaindoline amides under soft Lewis acid/Brønsted base cooperative catalysis is reported. Diastereo- and enantioselective coupling with ynals and aromatic aldehydes as well as divergent functional group interconversion of the amide provided expeditious access to a variety of aliphatic and aromatic chiral building blocks.