Publication Date:
2018-05-25
Description:
Identifying catalyst activation modes that exploit one-electron chemistry and overcome associated deactivation pathways will be transformative for developing first-row transition metal catalysts with performance equal or, ideally, superior to precious metals. Here we describe a zinc-activation method compatible with high-throughput reaction discovery that identified scores of cobalt-phosphine combinations for the asymmetric hydrogenation of functionalized alkenes. An optimized catalyst prepared from ( R , R )-Ph-BPE {Ph-BPE, 1,2-bis[(2 R ,5 R )-2,5-diphenylphospholano]ethane} and cobalt chloride [CoCl 2 ·6H 2 O] exhibited high activity and enantioselectivity in protic media and enabled the asymmetric synthesis of the epilepsy medication levetiracetam at 200-gram scale with 0.08 mole % catalyst loading. Stoichiometric studies established that the cobalt (II) catalyst precursor ( R , R )-Ph-BPECoCl 2 underwent ligand displacement by methanol, and zinc promoted facile one-electron reduction to cobalt (I), which more stably bound the phosphine.
Keywords:
Chemistry
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Geosciences
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
