C2- and C3-symmetric ligands via ring-opening of aziridines

Abstract: This thesis deals with the design and synthesis of chiralenantiopure nitrogencontaining ligands and the use of theseligands in asymmetric catalysis. A modular synthetic approachto enantiopure nitrogen-containing ligands was developed. Thesynthetic method is based on the ring-opening of activatedchiral aziridines by nitrogen nucleophiles. The aziridines areconveniently prepared from amino alcohols. The structure oftheaziridine and of the nucleophile can be extensively varied andlibraries of ligands are easily prepared. The use of primaryamines affords C2-symmetric bis(sulfonamides), whereas the use ofammonia affords C3-symmetric tris(sulfonamides) that can beelaborated into the corresponding tetra-amines.The C2- and C3-symmetric ligands were used in the asymmetrictitaniummediated addition of diethylzinc to benzaldehyderesulting in modest enantioselection, 76% ee. A thoroughinvestigation of the reaction conditions revealed that theamount of Ti(OiPr)4has a decisive effect on the reaction rate and thestereochemical outcome of the reaction. The reaction timedecreased from about 90 hours to 15 minutes and theenantioselectivity changed from 26% of the (R)- enantiomer to72% of the (S)-enantiomer when the Ti(OiPr)4:benzaldehyde ratio was increased from 0.125:1 to1.48:1. Moreover, the titanium-mediated addition of diethylzincto benzaldehyde was studied in the presence of chiraladditives. The bis(sulfonamides) were also used in thecyclopropanation of cinnamyl alcohol. However, only lowenantioselection was observed, 27% ee.The C3-symmetric tetra-amines were reacted to formazaphosphatranes. These weak acids were only partiallydeprotonated by the strong base KOtBu to form the correspondingproazaphosphatranes. The unexpectedly strong basicity of theproazaphosphatranes was believed to be due to steric effects assuggested by DFT calculations. The tetra-amines and thesulfonamides were used for the preparation of metal complexesof Lewis acidic metals such as titanium(IV) andzirconium(IV).Keywords:asymmetric catalysis, aziridine, benzaldehyde,diethylzinc, enantioselective, ligand, proazaphosphatrane,ring-opening, sulfonamide, symmetry, titanium, zirconium