Chiral-at-Ruthenium Catalysts for Nitrene-Mediated Asymmetric C–H Functionalizations

ConspectusAsymmetric transition metal catalysis is an indispensable tool used both in academia and industry for forging chiral molecules in an enantioselective fashion. Its advancement relies in large part on the design and discovery of new chiral catalysts. In contrast to conventional endeavors of generating chiral transition metal catalysts from carefully tailored chiral ligands, the development of chiral transition metal catalysts containing solely achiral ligands (chiral-at-metal catalysts) has been neglected. This Account presents our recent work on the synthesis and catalytic applications of a new class of C2-symmetric chiral-at-ruthenium catalysts. These octahedral ruthenium(II) complexes are constructed from two achiral bidentate N-(2-pyridyl)-substituted N-heterocyclic carbene (PyNHC) ligands and two monodentate acetonitriles, and the dicationic complexes are typically complemented with two hexafluorophosphate anions. The chirality of these complexes originates from the helical cis-arrangement of the bidentate ligands, thereby generating a stereogenic metal center as the exclusive stereocenter in these complexes. The strong σ donor and π acceptor properties of the PyNHC ligands provide a strong ligand field that ensures a high constitutional and configurational inertness of the helical Ru(PyNHC)2 core, while at the same time, the trans-effect exerted by the σ-donating NHC ligands results in high lability of the MeCN ligands and, therefore, provides high catalytic activity. As a result, this chiral-at-ruthenium catalyst scaffold combines formidable structural robustness with high catalytic activity in a unique fashion. Asymmetric nitrene C–H insertion constitutes an efficient strategy for accessing chiral amines. The direct conversion of C(sp3)–H bonds into amine functionality circumvents the need for using functionalized starting materials. Our C2-symmetric chiral-at-ruthenium complexes display exceptionally high catalytic activity and excellent stereocontrol for various asymmetric nitrene C(sp3)–H insertion reactions. The ruthenium nitrene species can be generated from nitrene precursors, such as organic azides and hydroxylamine derivatives, which undergo ring-closing C–H aminations to afford chiral cyclic pyrrolidines, ureas, and carbamates in high yields and with excellent enantioselectivities at low catalyst loadings. Mechanistically, the turnover-determining C–H insertion is proposed to proceed in a concerted or stepwise fashion, depending on the nature of intermediate ruthenium nitrenes (singlet or triplet). Computational studies revealed that the stereocontrol originates from a better steric fit in combination with favorable catalyst/substrate π–π stacking effects for aminations at benzylic C–H bonds. In addition, we also present our research for exploring novel reaction patterns and reactivities of intermediate transition metal nitrenes. First, we discovered a novel chiral-at-ruthenium-catalyzed 1,3-migratory nitrene C(sp3)–H insertion to convert azanyl esters into nonracemic α-amino acids. Second, we found a chiral-at-ruthenium-catalyzed intramolecular C(sp3)–H oxygenation, thereby allowing for the construction of chiral cyclic carbonates and lactones via nitrene chemistry. We expect that our research program on catalyst development and reaction discovery will inspire the creation of novel types of chiral-at-metal catalysts and drive the development of new applications for nitrene-mediated asymmetric C–H functionalization reactions.