Sterically Demanding Flexible Phosphoric Acids for Constructing Efficient and Multi‐Purpose Asymmetric Organocatalysts
Fabian Scharinger, Ádám Márk Pálvölgyi, Melanie Weisz, Matthias Weil, Christian Stanetty, Michael Schnürch, Katharina Bica
Abstract
Herein, we present a novel approach for various asymmetric transformations of cyclic enones. The combination of readily accessible chiral diamines and sterically demanding flexible phosphoric acids resulted in a simple and highly tunable catalyst framework. The careful optimization of the catalyst components led to the identification of a particularly powerful and multi-purpose organocatalyst, which was successfully applied for asymmetric epoxidations, aziridinations, aza-Michael-initiated cyclizations, as well as for a novel Robinson-like Michael-initiated ring closure/aldol cyclization. High catalytic activities and excellent stereocontrol was observed for all four reaction types, indicating the excellent versatility of our catalytic system. Furthermore, a simple change in the diamine's configuration provided easy access to both product antipodes in all cases.