Asymmetric 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition Reactions of Nitrile Oxides Catalyzed by Chiral Binaphthyldiimine-Ni(II) Complexes

Asymmetric cycloaddition reactions between several nitrile oxides and 3-(2-alkenoyl)-2-oxazolidinones and 2-(2-alkenoyl)-3-pyrazolidinone derivatives were carried out in the presence of chiral binaphthyldiimine (BINIM)-Ni(II) complexes as catalysts. Using (R)-BINIM-4(3,5-xylyl)-2QN-Ni(II) complex (30 mol %), good regioselectivity (4-Me/5-Me = 85:15) along with high enantioselectivity (96% ee) of the 4-Me adduct were obtained for the reaction between isolable 2,4,6-trimethylbenzonitrile oxide and 3-crotonoyl-5,5-dimethyl-2-oxazolidinone. Substituted and unsubstituted benzonitrile oxides and aliphatic nitrile oxides, which were generated from the corresponding hydroximoyl chloride in the presence of MS 4 angstrom, were reacted with 3-crotonoyl-5,5-dimethyl-2-oxazolidinone, 5,5-dimethyl-3-(2-pentenoyl)-2-oxazolidinone, 5,5-dimethy-3-[3-(ethoxycarbonyl)propenoyl]-2-oxazolidinone, 1-benzyl-2-crotonoyl-5,5-dimethyl-3-pyrazolidinone, and 1-benzyl-2-[3-(ethoxycarbonyl)propenoyl]-5,5-dimethy-3-pyrazolidinone in the presence of (R)-BINIM-4Ph-2QN-Ni(II) or (R)-BINIM-4(3,5-xylyl)-2QN-Ni(II) complexes (10-30 mol %) as catalysts to give the corresponding cycloadducts in high yields, with high regioselectively (4-R/5-R = 85:15-99:1) and with moderate to high enantioselectivities (42-95% ee) of the 4-R adducts. Higher enantioselectivities and regioselectivities were obtained for the reactions using pyrazolidinone derivatives as the dipolarophiles. For the cycloadditions of 2-(2-alkenoyl)-1-benzyl-5,5-dimethyl-3-pyrazolidinones catalyzed by (R)-BINIM-4(3,5-xylyl)-2QN-Ni(II) complex (30 mol %), the enantioselectivity varied from 75% to 95% ee. The reactions between several nitrile oxides and 2-actyloyl-1-benzyl-5,5-dimethyl-3-pyrazolidinone in the presence of (R)-BlNIM-4(3,5-xylyl)-2QN-Ni(II) complex (10 mol %) resulted in enantioselectivities (79-91 % ee) that exceed those of previously reported enantioselective cycloadditions of acrylic acid derivatives. Furthermore, studies using a molecular modeling program using PM3 calculations were carried out to gain insight into the mechanisms of the asymmetric induction.