Absolute Asymmetric Synthesis of Enantiopure Organozinc Reagents, Followed by Highly Enantioselective Chlorination
Journal article, 2013

We report the absolute asymmetric synthesis (AAS) of indenylzinc reagents by using total spontaneous resolution followed by enantiospecific conversion into 1-chloroindene. The chiral complex [Zn(dcp)(ind)(tmeda)] (dcp=2,6-dichlorophenoxy and tmeda=N,N,N,N-tetramethylethylenediamine) (3) was prepared from the achiral starting materials indene, potassium, zinc chloride, TMEDA, and 2,6-dichlorophenol. The reagent resolved spontaneously on crystallization, and single crystals of 3 react with N-chlorosuccinimide in the presence of benzoquinone in 2-propanol to give 1-chloroindene in >98% enantiomeric excess. It was found that (R)-3 gave (R)-1-chloroindene upon reaction, indicating an S(E)2-mechanism. Since bulk samples of 3 gave optically active product upon chlorination, total spontaneous resolution must have occurred. This demonstrates that enantiopure products can be obtained through the absolute asymmetric synthesis of organometallic reagents starting from achiral materials. The general absolute asymmetric synthesis (AAS) method offers easy access to both enantiomers and an almost limitless variation in the design of the product.

asymmetric synthesis

chirality

zinc

crystal growth

total spontaneous resolution

enantioselectivity

Author

Susanne Olsson

University of Gothenburg

Anders Lennartsson

Chalmers, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Polymer Technology

Mikael Håkansson

University of Gothenburg

Chemistry - A European Journal

0947-6539 (ISSN) 1521-3765 (eISSN)

Vol. 19 37 12415-12423

Subject Categories

Polymer Chemistry

DOI

10.1002/chem.201301465

More information

Created

10/7/2017