We describe an enantioseleclive silylation of cyclopropanes catalyzed by a rhodium precursor and the bisphosphine (S)-DTBM-SEGPHOS. (Hydrido)silyl ethers, generated in situ by the dehydrogenative silylation of cyclopropylmethanols with diethylsilane, undergo asymmetric, intramolecular silylation of cyclopropyl C-H bonds in high yields with high enantiomeric excesses in the presence of the rhodium catalyst. The resulting enantioenriched oxasilolanes are suitable substrates for Tamao-Fleming oxidation to form cyclopropanols with conservation of the ee from the C-H bond silylation. Preliminary mechanistic data suggest that C-H cleavage is likely to be the turnover-limiting and enantioselectivity-determining step.
Graphical Abstract(Hydrido)silyl ethers, generated in situ by the dehydrogenative silylation of cyclopropylmethanols with diethylsilane, undergo asymmetric, intramolecular silylation of cyclopropyl C-H bonds in high yields with high enantiomeric excesses in the presence of a rhodium catalyst. The silylation products are suitable substrates for Tamao-Fleming oxidation to form cyclopropanols with conservation of the ee from the C-H bond silylation.Keywords asymmetric catalysis; C-H activation; cyclopropane; rhodium; silylation The functionalization of C-H bonds with boranes and silanes has been studied intensively, due to the high regioselectivity of these processes for sterically accessible C-H bonds and widespread utility of the products. [1,2] However, the development of enantioselective variants of these reactions, particularly enantioselective functionalization of alkyl C-H bonds, has been limited (Scheme 1). [3][4][5] Kuninobu, Murai and Takai reported the Correspondence to: John F. Hartwig, jhartwig@berkeley.edu. Supporting information for this article is given via a link at the end of the document.
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Author ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript asymmetric silylation of a C-H bond to generate a stereogenic silicon center with up-to 88% enantiomeric excess (ee) (Scheme 1A). [6,7] Shibata, He, Murai and Takai independently reported the synthesis of planar chiral compounds with moderate to high enantioselectivities by asymmetric C-H silylation of ferrocenes. [8][9][10] Recently, we reported an enantioselective silylation of aryl C-H bonds to form enantioenriched benzoxasilole products with up-to 99% ee. [11] Although these reactions can occur with high enantioselectivity, they are limited to the functionalization of aryl C-H bonds. The only published set of enantioselective silylations of alkyl C-H bonds occurs with low ee (37-40% ee) and with limited scope (Scheme 1B). [12] To create the first silylations of alkyl C-H bonds that occur with high enantioselectivity, we investigated systems for the reactions of cyclopropanes. C-H bonds of cyclopropanes are more reactive than sp 3 C-H bonds of unstrained rings or alkyl chains, [13] and the rigid conformation of a cyclopropane could allow for high stereoselectivity. Yu and co-workers reported enantioselective...