Highly diastereoselective Csp3–Csp2 Negishi cross-coupling with 1,2-, 1,3- and 1,4-substituted cycloalkylzinc compounds

Nature Chemistry, 2010, 2, 125-130 published on 17.01.2010
Nature Chemistry
Stereoselective functionalizations of organic molecules are of great importance to modern synthesis. A stereoselective preparation of pharmaceutically active molecules is often required to ensure the appropriate biological activity. Thereby, diastereoselective methods represent valuable tools for an efficient set-up of multiple stereocentres. In this article, highly diastereoselective Csp^3 Negishi cross-couplings of various cycloalkylzinc reagents with aryl halides are reported. In all cases, the thermodynamically most-stable stereoisomer was obtained. Remarkably, this diastereoselective coupling was successful not only for 1,2-substituted cyclic systems, but also for 1,3- and 1,4-substituted cyclohexylzinc reagents. The origin of this remote stereocontrol was investigated by NMR experiments and density functional theory calculations. A detailed mechanism based on these experimental and theoretical data is proposed.
LMUexcellent
TU München