Chiral allenes are readily accessed in a single pot operation in the reaction of terminal alkynes, aldehydes, chiral secondary amines, and zinc halides in good yields (up to 77% yield) and excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee) in toluene at 120 °C. The reaction proceeds through initial formation of chiral propargylamine intermediates with creation of a new stereogenic center and subsequent chirality transfer via an intramolecular hydride shift to produce chiral allenes with high enantiomeric purities.

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Reaction of cyclic secondary amines with 1-alkynes and copper(I) chloride at 110-120 °C gives the corresponding alkynylcopper complex, which adds to the iminium ion intermediate formed in situ by hydroamination of 1-alkynes to give the corresponding propargylamine derivatives in up to 94% yield and 99% regioselectivity. The diastereomerically pure chiral propargylamines were obtained in 23-89% yield using optically active 2-benzyl morpholine and N-methyl camphanyl piperazine. These chiral propargylamines are readily converted to the corresponding trisubstitued chiral allenes in 71-89% yields with up to 99% ee upon reaction with ZnBr2 at 120 °C. The results are discussed considering mechanisms involving diastereoselective addition of alkynylcopper complex formed in situ to iminium ions formed in situ regioselectively to produce the corresponding propargylamines, which in turn give the chiral allenes with very high enantioselectivity via an intramolecular 1,5-hydrogen shift in the presence of zinc bromide.

Addition of silyl enol ethers obtained from substituted methyl enones to chiral sulfinimines afforded the β-amino-substituted enones with excellent selectivity. Utility of the obtained N-sulfinyl β-amino ketones possessing α,β-unsaturation is exemplified in the total synthesis of the quinolizidine alkaloid natural products (-)-lasubine I, (+)-lasubine II, and substituted piperidine alkaloid (+)-241-D.

D-(-)-Camphorquinone imines prepared using methanolic ammonia, ethanol amine, exo-(-)-bornylamine, ethylene diamine, propylene diamine, and trans-(R,R)-1,2-diaminocyclohexane, upon reduction using sodium borohydride in methanol, give the corresponding chiral exo amino alcohol and diamine derivatives in good yields (75-95%).