N-H ketoimines 3a-3v are readily prepared in high yield via organometallic addition to nitriles and isolated as corresponding bench-stable hydrochloride salts. Homogeneous asymmetric hydrogenation of unprotected N-H ketoimines 3a-3v using Ir-(S,S)-f-binaphane as catalyst provides chiral amines 4a-4v in 90-95% yield with enantioselectivities up to 95% ee.

A new approach for synthesizing alpha,omega-diaminodicarboxylates of various chain lengths has opened the way for making a series of azabicyclo[X.Y.0]alkane amino acids of different ring sizes. beta-Keto phosphonates 21-23 were synthesized in 71-90% yield by the addition of the lithium anion of dimethyl methyl phosphonate to the omega-methyl ester of alpha-tert-butyl N-(PhF)aspartate 3, glutamate 9, and aminoadipate 12 (PhF = 9-phenylfluoren-9-yl). alpha,omega-Diaminodicarboxylates 24-26 of nine to eleven carbon chain lengths were prepared in 78-87% yield from the Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons olefination of alpha-tert-butyl N-(PhF)aspartate beta-aldehyde (5) with aminodicarboxylate-derived beta-keto phosphonates 21-23. The power of this approach for making azabicyclo[X.Y.0]alkane amino acid was then illustrated by the first synthesis of enantiopure indolizidin-9-one amino acid 2 in nine steps and >25% overall yield from inexpensive aspartic acid as chiral educt. Hydrogenation of (2S,8S)-di-tert-butyl 4-oxo-2,8-bis[N-(PhF)amino]non-4-enedioate (24) in 9:1 EtOH:AcOH furnished a 9:1 diastereomeric mixture of 6-alkylpipecolate 28 that was subsequently transformed into azabicyclo[4.3.0]alkane amino acid 2 via lactam cyclization and protecting group manipulations. Because alpha,omega-diaminodicarboxylates 25 and 26 may be similarly converted to heterocycles of larger ring sizes and because alkylation of similar ketones can be used to attach side-chains at different points on the heterocycle, this olefination strategy greatly expands our methodology for synthesizing azabicyclo[X.Y.0]alkane amino acids for the exploration of conformation-activity relationships of various biologically active peptides.

A facile and general protocol for the preparation of 2-amino-1,3,4-oxadiazoles is reported. This method relies on a tosyl chloride/pyridine-mediated cyclization of a thiosemicarbazide, which is readily prepared by acylation of a given hydrazide with the appropriate isothiocyanate. Cyclization of the thiosemicarbazide consistently outperforms the analogous semicarbazide cyclization under these conditions, for 18 distinct examples. Utilizing this protocol, we have prepared 5-alkyl- and 5-aryl-2-amino-1,3,4-oxadiazoles in 78-99% yield.

[Reaction: see text] Addition of lithium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide to perfluorinated ketones 1a-j affords (E)-N-TMS-ketimines 2a-j that are reduced in situ to afford racemic perfluoromethylated amine hydrochloride salts 3a-j in 54-97% yields. Solvolysis of the N-Si bond in MeOH leads to formation of bench-stable, isolable N-H imine Z/E isomer mixtures along with a methanol adduct. Enantioselective reduction of these three-component mixtures provides the first catalytic asymmetric synthesis of trifluoromethylated amines in 72-95% yields and 75-98% ee.