ACS Catal. 2023 Feb 17;13(4):2240-2249. doi: 10.1021/acscatal.2c05484. Epub 2023 Jan 27.
ABSTRACT
Enantioselective oxa-Pictet-Spengler reactions of tryptophol with aldehydes proceed under weakly acidic conditions utilizing a combination of two catalysts, an indoline HCl salt and a bisthiourea compound. Mechanistic investigations revealed the roles of both catalysts and confirmed the involvement of oxocarbenium ion intermediates, ruling out alternative scenarios. A stereochemical model was derived from density functional theory calculations, which provided the basis for the development of a highly enantioselective stereodivergent variant with racemic tryptophol derivatives.
PMID:37711191 | PMC:PMC10501388 | DOI:10.1021/acscatal.2c05484