No abstract

Using renewable biomass chitosan as a raw material, crosslinked chitosan microsphere (CCM) was prepared by inverse suspension, which was then immersed in the ethanol solution of Yb(OTf)3 to fabricate CCM‐supported Yb(OTf)3 (Yb(OTf)3@CCM). The three‐component [3+2] cycloaddition of isatins, tetrahydroisoquinolines and 5‐alkenyl rhodanines was developed with Yb(OTf)3@CCM as a green heterogeneous catalyst, which gave access to a suite of architecturally complex bispiro‐fused heterocycles merging four pharmacophores with moderate to excellent yields (50–96 %) and diastereoselectivities (up to 99 : 1 dr). The reaction mechanism was preliminarily clarified by controlled experiments and dynamic high‐resolution mass spectrometry studies. The synthetic potential of this protocol was proved by a gram‐scale reaction which furnished the product with comparable results (85 % yield and 72 : 28 dr). Moreover, the catalyst could be recovered just through filtering, washing and drying process, and reused five times with the catalytic activity remaining in an acceptable range (from 93 % to 73 % yield).

The efficient organocatalyzed Michael/ammonolysis cascade reaction of N-protected 4-aminopyrazolones and α,β-unsaturated acyl phosphates has been developed. This tactic gives rise to architecturally multifarious spiro(2-oxopyrrolidinyl)-5,4′-pyrazolones in good productiveness (up to 88% yield) and with moderate to good diastereoselectivities (up to 20:1 dr). These novel hybrid heterocycles would be promising candidates for drug-discovery programs and chemical biology.