Synlett 2005(16): 2445-2448  
DOI: 10.1055/s-2005-872692
LETTER
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Asymmetric Cyanosilylation of Aldehydes Catalyzed by Novel Organo­catalysts

Yuehong Wen, Xiao Huang, Jinglun Huang, Yan Xiong, Bo Qin, Xiaoming Feng*
Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry & Technology (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, P. R. of China
Fax: +86(28)85418249; e-Mail: xmfeng@scu.edu.cn;
Further Information

Publication History

Received 31 July 2005
Publication Date:
21 September 2005 (online)

Abstract

A novel proline-based N,N′-dioxide, which is easily prepared from inexpensive chemicals, serves as an effective catalyst for enantioselective cyanosilylation of aldehydes in up to 73% ee.

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Only 10% to 30% ee was obtained using the N-monoxide.

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The following are the NMR data of 2f: 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): δ = 10.59 (2 H, d, J = 6.8 Hz, NH), 3.77 (2 H, m), 3.62 (2 H, m), 3.32-3.60 (8 H, m), 2.39-2.64 (8 H, m), 1.57-2.03 (12 H, m), 1.27-1.35 (10 H, m) ppm. 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3): δ = 19.73, 24.39, 25.32, 27.42, 32.26, 32.73, 47.26, 64.72, 67.55, 76.45, 166.28 ppm. HRMS (ESI): m/z calcd for C25H44N4O4: 465.3435 [M + H]+; found: 465.3428 [M + H]+.

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Typical Procedure for the Trimethylsilylcyanation of Aldehydes.
To a solution of 2f (4.7 mg, 0.01 mmol) in CH2Cl2 (0.4 mL) was added freshly distilled benzaldehyde (42 µL, 0.4 mmol) under N2 atmosphere, then TMSCN (68 µL, 0.52 mmol) was added at -78 °C. After stirring for 80 h at this temperature, the reaction was quenched. Further purification was performed by silica gel column chromatography to give the product (76 mg, 92%) as a colorless oil. To the product was added a mixture of 1 M HCl (5 mL) and EtOAc (10 mL) and stirred for 3 h at r.t., the organic layer was washed with distilled H2O, and dried over anhyd Na2SO4. The cyanohydrin was converted into the corresponding acetate by reaction with two equiv of Ac2O and pyridine in CH2Cl2 (5 mL) at r.t. for 1 h. The organic layer was washed with distilled H2O, dried over anhyd Na2SO4 and concentrated. The crude was purified by flash chromatography on silica gel (PE-EtOAc, 10:1) to yield the corresponding acetylated cyanohydrin for further analysis.