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Cesare Gennari

Publications and source records attributed to Cesare Gennari.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2007

Rh-catalyzed enantioselective conjugate addition of arylboronic acids with a dynamic library of chiral tropos phosphorus ligands.

A library of 19 chiral tropos phosphorus ligands, based on a free-to-rotate (tropos) biphenol unit and a chiral P-bonded alcohol (11 phosphites, 1-P(O)(2)O to 11-P(O)(2)O) or secondary amine (8 phosphoramidites, 12-P(O)(2)N to 19-P(O)(2)N), were screened, individually and in combinations of two, in the rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition of arylboronic acids to enones and enoates. High enantioselectivities (up to 99 % ee) and excellent yields were obtained in the addition to either cyclic or acyclic substrates. The flexible biphenolic P ligands outperformed the analogous rigid binaphtholic P ligands. Variable-temperature (31)P NMR studies revealed that the biphenolic ligands are tropos even at low temperature. Only below 190 K was a coalescence observed; upon further cooling, two atropisomers were detected. The Rh homocomplexes ([Rh(L(a))(2)](+)) were also studied: in general, a single doublet (P-Rh coupling) was observed in the case of the biphenolic phosphite ligands, over the temperature range 380-230 K, demonstrating their tropos nature in the rhodium complexes even at low temperatures. On the other hand, the phosphoramidites showed different behaviors depending on the structure of the ligand and on the nature of the rhodium source. The spectrum at 230 K of the mixture of [Rh(acac)(eth)(2)] (eth=C(2)H(4)) with phosphite 6-P(O)(2)O and phosphoramidite 19-P(O)(2)N (the most enantioselective ligand combination in the conjugate addition reaction) revealed the presence of four homocomplexes (total approximately 40 %: [Rh{6-P(O)(2)O}(2)], [Rh{(aR)-19-P(O)(2)N}(2)], [Rh{(aS)-19-P(O)(2)N}(2)], [Rh{(aR)-19-P(O)(2)N}{(aS)-19-P(O)(2)N}]) and one heterocomplex, [Rh{6-P(O)(2)O}{(aR)-19-P(O)(2)N}] (approximately 60 %) In the heterocomplex, the biphenol-derived phosphite is free to rotate (tropos) while the biphenol-derived phosphoramidite shows a temperature-dependent tropos/atropos behavior (coalescence temperature=310 K).

Benzene Derivatives↗
PubMed2006

Bicyclic carbohydrate-derived scaffolds for combinatorial libraries.

A bicyclic scaffold derived from the natural monosaccharide d-glucose, and possessing several diversity sites, was linked to various resins through the primary (C-6) hydroxyl and decorated on the solid phase: the hydroxyl group at C-4 was functionalized as ester, ether, and carbamate, the amino group in the second cycle (C-3' position) was functionalized as amide, sulfonamide, and ureido- and thioureido-derivatives. The compounds synthesized on the solid phase were tested for their antiproliferative activity on tumor cell lines.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMed2005

A formal total synthesis of eleutherobin using the ring-closing metathesis (RCM) reaction of a densely functionalized diene as the key step: investigation of the unusual kinetically controlled RCM stereochemistry.

Asymmetric oxyallylation reactions and ring-closing metathesis have been used to synthesize compound 3, a key advanced intermediate used in the total synthesis of eleutherobin reported by Danishefsky and co-workers. The aldehyde 6, which is readily prepared from commercially available R-(-)-carvone in six steps in 30 % overall yield on multigram quantities, was converted into the diene 5 utilizing two stereoselective titanium-mediated Hafner-Duthaler oxyallylation reactions. The reactions gave the desired products (8 and 12) in high yields (73 and 83 %, respectively) as single diastereoisomers, with the allylic alcohol already protected as the p-methoxyphenyl (PMP) ether, which previous work has demonstrated actually aids ring-closing metathesis compared to other protective groups and the corresponding free alcohol. Cyclization under forcing conditions, using Grubbs' second-generation catalyst 13, gave the ten-membered carbocycle (E)-14 in 64 % yield. This result is in sharp contrast to similar, but less functionalized, dienes, which have all undergone cyclization to give the Z stereoisomers exclusively. A detailed investigation of this unusual cyclization stereochemistry by computational methods has shown that the E isomer of the ten-membered carbocycle is indeed less thermodynamically stable than the corresponding Z isomer. In fact, the selectivity is believed to be due to the dense functionality around the ruthenacyclobutane intermediate that favors the trans-ruthenacycle, which ultimately leads to the less stable E isomer of the ten-membered carbocycle under kinetic control. During the final synthetic manipulations the double bond of enedione (E)-16 isomerized to the more thermodynamically stable enedione (Z)-4, giving access to the advanced key-intermediate 3, which was spectroscopically and analytically identical to the data reported by Danishefsky and co-workers, and thereby completing the formal synthesis of eleutherobin.

Catalysis↗
PubMed2005

Rh-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of prochiral olefins with a dynamic library of chiral TROPOS phosphorus ligands.

A library of 19 chiral tropos phosphorus ligands, based on a flexible (tropos) biphenol unit and a chiral P-bound alcohol (11 phosphites) or secondary amine (8 phosphoramidites), was synthesized. These ligands were screened, individually and as a combination of two, in the rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of dehydro-alpha-amino acids, dehydro-beta-amino acids, enamides and dimethyl itaconate. ee values up to 98% were obtained for the dehydro-alpha-amino acids, by using the best combination of ligands, a phosphite [4-P(O)2O] and a phosphoramidite [13-P(O)2N]. Kinetic studies of the reactions with the single ligands and with the combination of phosphite [4-P(O)2O] and phosphoramidite [13-P(O)2N] have shown that the phosphite, despite being less enantioselective, promotes the hydrogenation of methyl 2-acetamidoacrylate and methyl 2-acetamidocinnamate faster than the mixture of the same phosphite with the phosphoramidite, while the phosphoramidite alone is much less active. In this way, the reaction was optimized by lowering the phosphite/phosphoramidite ratio (the best ratio is 0.25 equiv phosphite/1.75 equiv phosphoramidite) with a resulting improvement of the product enantiomeric excess. A simple mathematical model for a better understanding of the variation of the enantiomeric excess with the phosphite/phosphoramidite ratio is also presented.

Alcohols↗
PubMed2003

Copper phosphoramidite-catalyzed enantioselective desymmetrization of meso-cyclic allylic bisdiethyl phosphates.

[reaction: see text] A highly regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselective desymmetrization of five-, six-, and seven-membered meso-cyclic allylic bis-diethyl phosphates (2a, 2b, and 2c, respectively) was obtained with diethylzinc, using catalytic amounts of [Cu(OTf)](2).C(6)H(6) and phosphoramidite ligands 5. Enantiomeric excesses of up to 87, 94, and >98% were obtained for the addition of diethylzinc to cyclopentene, cyclohexene, and cycloheptene bis-diethyl phosphates, respectively.

Journal Article↗