The Mannich reaction is one of the most widely utilized chemical transformations for the construction of nitrogen-containing compounds. With the increasing occurrence of nitrogen in drugs and natural products, highly asymmetric variants of the Mannich reaction are desirable. In this communication, we report the application of our dinuclear zinc catalyst to a highly asymmetric Mannich-type reaction to generate syn 1,2-amino alcohols.

We have found that either Bu 3 SnCl/PMHS/KF (aq) or the combination of tributyltin fluoride, PMHS, and catalytic quantities of tetrabutylammonium fluoride can serve as in situ sources of tributyltin hydride for both free radical and palladium-catalyzed hydrostannylation reactions. These methods are tolerant of a variety of functional groups, including silyl ethers. Furthermore, Me 3 SnCl is also reduced under these conditions, providing a relatively convenient and safe manner by which Me 3 -SnH can be formed and reacted. We have also observed that the Bu 3 SnCl/siloxane/fluoride combination offers improvements over the existing protocols for transforming 1-bromoalkynes into trans-1-(tributylstannyl)-1-alkenes. Specifically, the KF/PMHS methodology allows the 1-bromoalkyne to be formed and reacted in a single pot and with substoichiometric amounts of tin. Finally, alternative reductants such as Red-Sil are also amenable to the method.

[structure: see text] A highly convergent synthesis of the proposed structure of amphidinolide A is reported. Instructive applications of several organometallic processes are illustrated, including a highly selective ring-closing metathesis reaction.

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