A s y m m e t r i c H e t e r o -D i e l s -A l d e r R e a c t i o nAbstract: This paper describes the development of an efficient and atom-economic asymmetric inverse-electron-demand heteroDiels-Alder reaction of six-membered ketones with b,g-unsaturated a-keto esters via enamine-metal Lewis acid bifunctional catalysis.Asymmetric inverse-electron-demand hetero-DielsAlder (IED-HDA) reactions of an electron-rich alkene with an electron-deficient a,b-unsaturated ketone (enone) offers a convenient and valuable entry to the synthesis of dihydropyran and tetrahydropyran derivatives, which constitute important structural motifs in natural products and a variety of biologically important compounds. 1 In most of the IED-HDA reactions, preformed enol ethers derived from aldehydes act as the electron-rich dienophiles. Very recently, several examples of organocatalytic asymmetric inverse electron HDA reactions have been reported. 2 In these reactions, an enamine, which was formed in situ from a catalytic chiral pyrolidine and an aldehyde, served as the dienophiles. Significant effort has been devoted to the development of asymmetric IED-HDA reactions of aldehyde-derived dienophiles, and impressive results have been obtained. In contrast, the IED-HDA reaction of ketone-derived dienophiles has been much less studied. Herein, we describe some of the common strategies that have been developed for the IED-HDA reactions. In this context, we highlight our recent contribution of the asymmetric IED-HDA reaction of six-membered cyclic ketones with b,g-unsaturated a-keto esters catalyzed by primary amine-based enamine-metal Lewis acid bifunctional catalysts. 3The IED-HDA reaction is controlled by the LUMO of the a,b-unsaturated carbonyl compound and the HOMO of the dienophile. Chiral Lewis acids were initially developed to catalyze the enantioselective addition of electronrich alkenes to a,b-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. This reaction has been extensively investigated over the past decade. Earlier results have been summarized in several recent reviews. 1,4 One of the most important works in this field was the development of Cu-BOX complexes as the Lewis acid catalyst. 5 An early example is the [4+2] cycloaddition of electron-rich enol ether with a b,g-unsaturated a-keto ester reported by the Jorgenson group (Scheme 1, Equation 1). 5a Other chiral Lewis acids have also been developed for the IED-HDA reactions. For example, an IED-HDA reaction of N-sulfonyl-1-aza-1,3-Zhenghu Xu (left) was born in Hubei ) and the Scripps Research Institute (2005)(2006)(2007). She started her independent career as an assistant professor at Miami University in 2007. Her current research focus is on the development of enamine-metal Lewis acid bifunctional catalysts for asymmetric organic transformations, and the design and synthesis of porphyrinbased supermolecules.This document was downloaded for personal use only. Unauthorized distribution is strictly prohibited.