4-DIMETHYLAMINO PYRIDINE (DMAP) CATALYST WITH FLUXIONAL CHIRALITY: SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATIONS A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Science By Gaoyuan Ma In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry November 2015 Fargo, North Dakota North Dakota State University Graduate School Title 4-Dimethylamino Pyridine (DMAP) Catalyst with Fluxional Chirality: Synthesis and Applications By Gaoyuan Ma The Supervisory Committee certifies that this disquisition complies with North Dakota State University’s regulations and meets the accepted standards for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: Prof. Mukund P. Sibi Chair Prof. Gregory R. Cook Prof. Pinjing Zhao Prof. Dean C. Webster Approved: 11/30/2015 Prof. Gregory R. Cook Date Department Chair ABSTRACT Organocatalysis using small organic molecules to catalyze organic transformations, has emerged as a powerful synthetic tool that is complementary to metal-catalyzed transformations and remarkably promote stereoselective synthesis. Our group has designed useful templates, ligands, and additives that use fluxional groups to control and/or enhance stereoselectivity in a variety of asymmetric transformations. A key feature of this strategy is that the size of the fluxional substituent can be varied readily. As an extension of this strategy we became interested in developing efficient and broadly applicable and adjustable 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) organocatalysts. In our design, we surmised that a fluxional group would be effective in relaying stereochemical information from the fixed chiral center to the catalytic center of DMAP. Presented herein the synthesis of novel fluxionally chiral DMAP catalysts and their application in the acylative kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols and axially chiral biaryls, dynamic kinetic resolution of chiral biaryls with low rotation barriers and allylic substitution reactions. In the beginning, a comprehensive study of the chiral relay concept in enantioselective transformations was reviewed and the historic and current story of the chiral relay concept is covered. The design and synthesis of fluxionally chiral 4-dimethylaminopyridine catalysts was introduced. The key issues addressed in this chapter include the design concept regarding a stereoselective fluxionally 4-dimethylaminopyridine catalyst and muti-step synthesis strategies developed for catalyst synthesis. The development of fluxionally chiral 4-dimethylaminopyridine catalysts in the acylative kinetic resolution studies of secondary alcohols as well as axially chiral biaryls is investigated. iii Six different secondary alcohols are resolved with good selectivity factors (6-37) and ten biaryl substrates are resolved with moderate to high selectivity factors (10-51). Dynamic kinetic resolution has more practical applications to organic synthesis than simple kinetic resolution. The dynamic kinetic resolution of atropisomeric biaryls using the novel fluxionally chiral 4-dimethylaminopyridine catalysts was explored and the corresponding acylated products were obtained with 11-80 %ee. The newly designed DMAP catalysts containing fluxional groups as a stereocontrol unit could also be effectively applied as a nucleophilic catalyst in asymmetric allylic aminations. A range of α-methylene-β-amino esters were obtained with good yields and selectivities (up to 72 %ee). iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express the deepest gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Mukund Sibi, for his full support, expert guidance, understanding and encouragement throughout my study and research in NDSU. Without his guidance and persistent help, my thesis work would have been a frustrating pursuit. He always provided me with scientific advice and knowledge and valuable insightful discussions and suggestions about the research, and then I can go through the rough road to finish my thesis. I hope that I could be as lively, enthusiastic, and energetic as Dr. Sibi in the future scientific studies. I thank him wholeheartedly and consider it as a great opportunity to do my doctoral study under his guidance and to learn from his research expertise. Thank you, Dr. Sibi, for everything you have done for me during these years! I am very thankful to Dr. Gregory Cook, Dr. Pinjing Zhao and Dr. Dean Webster for having served on my committee. Their thoughtful questions and comments on my research were valued greatly. Great thanks for helping me with my coursework and academic research during my graduate years. I want to give very special thanks to Dr. Jun Deng, who not only taught me to set up experiments when I began my research, but also laid a foundation for me to carry out my graduate study. In addition, I want to thank Kyle Anderson, Daniel Weisz and Hae Ju Choi for their research assistance and friendship when we worked together. I am also appreciative to Dr. Angel Ugrinov for solving X-ray crystal structures, especially for sharing his crystal software expertise so willingly and being patient with my questions. I want to thank Dr. Ganesh Bala for analytical assistance, Daniel Wanner and Dr. John Bagu for assistance with NMR techniques. v I also thank the former members of the Sibi group: Dr. Selvakumar Sermadurai, Dr. Shinya Adachi, Dr. Yonghua Yang, Dr. Nicolas Zimmerman, Dr. Saravanakumar Rajendran, Dr. Chao Deng. They are very helpful and knowledgeable and I appreciate their help and discussions during my graduate years! I thank all the present members of the Sibi group: Dr. Retheesh Krishnan, Dr. Itaru Suzuki, Dr. Karthikeyan Iyanar, Dr. Ramkumar Moorthy, Hari Subramanian, Eric Serum, Jesse Joyce, Catherine Sutton, Krystal Kalliokoski. Thank you all! Thanks also go to my fellow graduate students at the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. Special thanks go to my dear friends who helped me throughout my academic exploration. I also thank the wonderful staffs in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department for always being so helpful and friendly. They are very nice. I thank stockroom persons for all their help these years with bringing our needed chemicals and supplies. I also thank my friends for providing support and being my side throughout my time here. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of them. Last, I am deeply thankful to my parents. Words can’t express how grateful I am to my mother and father for their love, support, and sacrifices that they have made for me. I want to let them know: “You raise me up to more than I can be.” vi DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my family for their constant support and unconditional love. I love you all. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ v DEDICATION .............................................................................................................................. vii LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... xiii LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... xv LIST OF SCHEMES ................................................................................................................... xvii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................................... xxi CHAPTER 1. CHIRAL RELAY IN ENANTIOSELECTIVE TRANSFORMATIONS ............... 1 1.1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Chiral Relay Substrates and Auxiliaries ............................................................................... 3 1.3. Chiral Lewis Acid Mediated Chiral Relay ......................................................................... 13 1.3.1. Achiral Pyrazolidinone Template and Other Achiral Templates in Enantioselective Diels-Alder Reactions ...................................................................... 20 1.3.2. Achiral Template in Enantioselective 1,3-Dipolar Cycloadditions ............................. 27 1.3.3. Achiral Templates in Enantioselective Conjugate Additions ...................................... 39 1.4. Fluxional Additives in Enantioselective Catalysis ............................................................. 47 1.5. Chiral Ligands with Fluxional Groups ............................................................................... 50 1.6. Chiral Catalysts with Fluxional Groups ............................................................................. 56 1.7. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 59 1.8. Objective of Research ........................................................................................................ 60 1.9. References .......................................................................................................................... 62 CHAPTER 2. FLUXIONALLY CHIRAL 4-DIMETHYL AMINO PYRIDINE CATALYST DESIGN AND SYNTHESIS .................................................................................. 74 2.1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................