Morgan Hans

N-heterocyclic carbene catalyzed carba-, sulfa-, and phospha-Michael additions with NHC·CO2 adducts as precatalysts

N-heterocyclic carbene catalyzed Michael additions have been revisited with 1,3-dialkyl- or 1,3-diarylimidazol(in)ium-2-carboxylates, that is, NHC·CO2 adducts, as the source of the free NHC catalysts in solution. Using these precatalysts, a number of efficient carba-, sulfa-, and phospha-Michael additions were achieved very conveniently, without the need for an external strong base to generate the NHC by deprotonation of an azolium salt. To further expand the scope of the procedure, some NHC-catalyzed sulfa-Michael/aldol organocascades were also investigated.

Continuous-Flow N-Heterocyclic Carbene Generation and Organocatalysis

Two methods were assessed for the generation of common N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) from stable imidazol(in)ium precursors using convenient and straightforward continuous-flow setups with either a heterogeneous inorganic base (Cs2CO3 or K3PO4) or a homogeneous organic base (KN(SiMe3)2). In-line quenching with carbon disulfide revealed that the homogeneous strategy was most efficient for the preparation of a small library of NHCs. The generation of free nucleophilic carbenes was next telescoped with two benchmark NHC-catalyzed reactions; namely, the transesterification of vinyl acetate with benzyl alcohol and the amidation of N-Boc-glycine methyl ester with ethanolamine. Both organocatalytic transformations proceeded with total conversion and excellent yields were achieved after extraction, showcasing the first examples of continuous-flow organocatalysis with NHCs.

Probing the Diastereoselectivity of Staudinger Reactions Catalyzed by N‐Heterocyclic Carbenes

The reaction of ethylphenylketene with 1,3-dimesitylimidazol-2-ylidene (IMes) or 1,3-dimesitylimidazolin-2-ylidene (SIMes) afforded the corresponding azolium enolates in high yields. The two zwitterions were fully characterized by various analytical techniques. Their thermal stabilities were monitored by thermogravimetric analysis and the molecular structure of SIMes⋅EtPhCCO was determined by means of X-ray crystallography. A mechanism was proposed to account for the trans-diastereoselectivity observed in the [2+2] cycloaddition of ketenes and N-protected imines catalyzed by N-heterocyclic carbenes and an extensive catalytic screening was performed to test its validity. The steric bulk of the NHC catalyst markedly affected the cis/trans ratio of the model β-lactam product. The nature of the solvent used to carry out the Staudinger reaction also significantly influenced its diastereoselectivity. Conversely, the nature of the substituent on the N-sulfonated imine reagent and the reaction temperature were less critical parameters.