Michael Marsch

Asymmetric photoredox transition-metal catalysis activated by visible light

Asymmetric catalysis is seen as one of the most economical strategies to satisfy the growing demand for enantiomerically pure small molecules in the fine chemical and pharmaceutical industries. And visible light has been recognized as an environmentally friendly and sustainable form of energy for triggering chemical transformations and catalytic chemical processes. For these reasons, visible-light-driven catalytic asymmetric chemistry is a subject of enormous current interest. Photoredox catalysis provides the opportunity to generate highly reactive radical ion intermediates with often unusual or unconventional reactivities under surprisingly mild reaction conditions. In such systems, photoactivated sensitizers initiate a single electron transfer from (or to) a closed-shell organic molecule to produce radical cations or radical anions whose reactivities are then exploited for interesting or unusual chemical transformations. However, the high reactivity of photoexcited substrates, intermediate radical ions or radicals, and the low activation barriers for follow-up reactions provide significant hurdles for the development of efficient catalytic photochemical processes that work under stereochemical control and provide chiral molecules in an asymmetric fashion. Here we report a highly efficient asymmetric catalyst that uses visible light for the necessary molecular activation, thereby combining asymmetric catalysis and photocatalysis. We show that a chiral iridium complex can serve as a sensitizer for photoredox catalysis and at the same time provide very effective asymmetric induction for the enantioselective alkylation of 2-acyl imidazoles. This new asymmetric photoredox catalyst, in which the metal centre simultaneously serves as the exclusive source of chirality, the catalytically active Lewis acid centre, and the photoredox centre, offers new opportunities for the ‘green’ synthesis of non-racemic chiral molecules.

The relation between ion pair structures and reactivities of lithium cuprates

From Li+ well-solvating solvents or complex ligands such as THF, [12]crown-4, amines etc., lithium cuprates R2CuLi(*LiX) crystallise in a solvent-separated ion pair (SSIP) structural type (e.g. 10). In contrast, solvents with little donor qualities for Li+ such as diethyl ether or dimethyl sulfide lead to solid-state structures of the contact ion pair (CIP) type (e.g. 11). 1H,6Li HOESY NMR investigations in solutions of R2CuLi(*LiX) (15, 16) are in agreement with these findings: in THF the SSIP 18 is strongly favoured in the equilibrium with the CIP 17, and in diethyl ether one observes essentially only the CIP 17. Salts LiX (X=CN, Cl, Br, I, SPh) have only a minor effect on the ion pair equilibrium. These structural investigations correspond perfectly with Bertzs logarithmic reactivity profiles (LRPs) of reactions of R2CuLi with enones in diethyl ether and THF: the faster reaction in diethyl ether is due to the predominance of the CIP 17 in this solvent, which is the reacting species; in THF only little CIP 17 is present in a fast equilibrium with the SSIP 18. A kinetic analysis of the LRPs quantifies these findings. Recent quantum-chemical studies are also in agreement with the CIP 17 being the reacting species. Thus a uniform picture of structure and reactivity of lithium cuprates emerges.

A Rhodium Catalyst Superior to Iridium Congeners for Enantioselective Radical Amination Activated by Visible Light

A bis-cyclometalated rhodium(III) complex catalyzes a visible-light-activated enantioselective α-amination of 2-acyl imidazoles with up to 99 % yield and 98 % ee. The rhodium catalyst is ascribed a dual function as a chiral Lewis acid and, simultaneously, as a light-activated smart initiator of a radical-chain process through intermediate aminyl radicals. Notably, related iridium-based photoredox catalysts reported before were unsuccessful in this enantioselective radical C-N bond formation. The surprising preference for rhodium over iridium is attributed to much faster ligand-exchange kinetics of the rhodium complexes involved in the catalytic cycle, which is crucial to keep pace with the highly reactive and thus short-lived nitrogen-centered radical intermediate.

Structure and Reactivity of Lithiated α‐Amino Nitriles

Investigations aimed at elucidating the structure of lithiated α-amino nitriles B have led to the identification of N-lithio α-amino nitrile anions as characteristic structural features. Their preparations, crystal structures, and solution structures under the reaction conditions, are described. X-ray crystal structure analyses of crystalline 3 and (S, S)-4 reveal the presence of dimeric aggregates B4 with Ci symmetry, held together by four-membered NLiNLi rings, coordinatively saturated at lithium by four THF ligands. The crystal structure of (S, S)-6 shows polymeric aggregation with dimeric subunits similar to those of 3 and (S, S)-4. The solution structure has been investigated by IR and Raman spectroscopy of 2, (S, S)-4 and (S, S)-6, by NMR spectroscopy of 3, (S, S)-5 and (S, S)-6, and by cryoscopic measurements of (S, S)-6 in THF. Trapping experiments complement the results. In THF, which constitutes the principal reaction medium, the lithiated amino nitriles B are found to exist as monomeric species B6 between −110 and +25°C. In less polar solvents, higher aggregation is presumed. NMR spectroscopic studies of 3 show that the favored orientations of the amine and phenyl groups are similar to their conformations in the solid state. In the light of the results obtained, a transition state is proposed to account for the relative topicity observed in the 1,4-additions of enantiopure lithiated α-amino nitriles (S, S)-4, (S, S)-5, and (S, S)-6 to Michael acceptors.

Die Kristallstrukturen eines Lower-order- und eines „Higher-order”-Cyanocuprates: [tBuCu(CN)Li(OEt2)2]∞ und [tBuCutBu{Li(thf)(pmdeta)2CN}]

Deutlich verschieden sind die Bindungsverhaltnisse in den Cyanocupraten 1 und 2, deren Kristallstrukturen jetzt bestimmt wurden (die Strichformeln unten zeigen die wesentlichen Strukturmerkmale). Demnach ist 1 ein Lower-order-Cyanocuprat des Typs RCu(CN)Li. Das Cuprat 2 des Typs R2Cu(CN)Li2 liegt nicht als „Higher-order”-Cyanocuprat mit einer Cu-CN-Bindung vor, sondern als Cyano-Gilman-Cuprat.

[Lithium tert‐butylperoxide]12: Crystal Structure of an Aggregated Oxenoid

The X-ray crystal structure of the dodecameric lithium tert-butylperoxide [2]12 is the first of an alkali or alkaline earth peroxide. It shows the lithium ion bridging the two oxygen atoms of the peroxide unit and a slight lenghtening of the O-O bond, in agreement with quantum-chemical calculations. A calculation for the model reaction of MeLi with LiOOH to give MeOLi and LiOH reveals the importance of Li bridging the O-O bond in the transition state of this reaction, as similarly discussed for many oxidation reactions of (transition-) metal peroxides. Preliminary theoretical studies of the O-O bond length (and thus of the oxenoid character) as a function of the aggregation of 2 disclose that increasing aggregation leads to stabilization of the charge at the anionic oxygen atom and thus to a reduction of the O-O bond length (oxenoid character). Related considerations of the effect of aggregation should also be valid for other lithium (organometallic) compounds and their structure and reactivity as well as other properties.

[(Ph)2(NMe2)C(OLi)⋅THF]2: Crystal Structure of the Tetrahedral Intermediate Formed in the Reaction of N,N‐Dimethylbenzamide and Phenyllithium

Information on the reaction path for the 1,2-eliminiation of LiNMe2 to form benzophenone is provided by the X-ray crystal structure analysis of the tetrahedral adduct [(Ph)2 (NMe2 )C(OLi)⋅THF]2 (a portion of the structure is shown schematically), which is prepared from N,N-dimethylbenzamide and phenyllithium. A N1-Li1 interaction, which is not observed, would lead to loss of the anomeric effect (nN →σ*C-O ) as well as high conformational strain along the C1-N1 bond.

Octahedral Ruthenium Complex with Exclusive Metal-Centered Chirality for Highly Effective Asymmetric Catalysis

A novel ruthenium catalyst is introduced which contains solely achiral ligands and acquires its chirality entirely from octahedral centrochirality. The configurationally stable catalyst is demonstrated to catalyze the alkynylation of trifluoromethyl ketones with very high enantioselectivity (up to >99% ee) at low catalyst loadings (down to 0.2 mol%).

9-Bromo-9-[(bromomagnesium)methylene]fluorene–tetrahydrofuran (1/4) structure of a MgBr/Br carbenoid

In the title compound the C–Br bond is 10 pm longer than in the corresponding vinyl bromide which, among others, is characteristic for the structure of a carbenoid.

Crystal Structure of [2-ZnCl-benzoxazole⋅2 THF]2: The Remarkable Difference between 2-ZnHal- and 2-Li-oxazoles

The strong influence of the metal (M) on the equilibrium 1-M⇌2-M (shown below) is clearly evident: it is far towards the 2-M side with M = Li, whereas it is on the 1-M side for M = ZnCl. The first crystal structure of a 2-metalated oxazole, [3-ZnCl⋅2 THF]2 (below right), has been determined.