Enantioselective Synthesis of α-Methyl Carboxylic Acids via Metal and Enzyme Catalysis

This thesis deals with the preparation of a new half-sandwich type ruthenium(II)- catalyst for racemization of optically active secondary alcohols and the development of a highly efficient method in combination with lipases such as Candida antarctica lipase B and Pseudomonas cepacia lipase for dynamic kinetic resolution of various functionalized alcohols under mild reaction conditions.It was shown that the RuCl(CO)2(η5-C5Ph5) complex can racemize optically active aliphatic and aromatic secondary alcohols at room temperature in rather short times. Different parameters, such as the nature of the catalyst, catalyst loading and solvent effect were studied. After the optimization steps, the Ru-catalyzed racemization of (S)-1-phenylethanol in the presence of Candida antarctica lipase B was also investigated. The compatibility of the metal- and enzyme-catalyzed reactions led to a highly efficient coupled catalytic system for transformation of racemic alcohols to their enantiomerically pure acetates. This protocol was applied for a wide range of secondary alcohols. It was shown that in the case of allylic alcohols the obtained enantiopure allylic acetates are useful compounds for synthesis of α-methyl carboxylic acids such as (R)-Flurbiprofen and acyloin acetates. Highly selective dynamic kinetic asymmetric transformation of 3,5-piperidine diol to deliver various 3,5-dioxygenated piperidines is also described.