Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.136, No.14, 5225-5228, 2014
Asymmetric Fluorination of alpha-Branched Cyclohexanones Enabled by a Combination of Chiral Anion Phase-Transfer Catalysis and Enamine Catalysis using Protected Amino Acids
We report a study involving the successful merger of two separate chiral catalytic cycles: a chiral anion phase-transfer catalysis cycle to activate Selectfluor and an enamine activation cycle, using a protected amino acid as organocatalyst. We have demonstrated the viability of this approach with the direct asymmetric fluorination of alpha-substituted cyclohexanones to generate quaternary fluorine-containing stereocenters. With these two chiral catalytic cycles operating together in a matched sense, high enantioselectivites can be achieved, and we envisage that this dual catalysis method has the potential to be more broadly applicable, given the breadth of enamine catalysis. It also represents a rare example of chiral enamine catalysis operating successfully on alpha-branched ketones, substrates commonly inert to this activation mode.