Enantioselective Friedel–Crafts Reactions in Pyridinium-Based Ionic Liquids
471
the reaction. A decreased reaction temperature should slow
down the reaction but help to improve selectivity. To test this
was obtained on top. Because N-ethyl-pyridinium bromide is hygro-
scopic, the silver(i) trifluoroacetate used was in excess. Therefore, a
1 M solution of N-ethyl-pyridinium bromide was added drop by drop.
This step was repeated until no more AgBr was seen to form. To ensure
no excess N-ethyl-pyridinium bromide in the mixture, the solution was
subsequently tested with 1 M silver(i) trifloroacetate solution. Finally,
the mixture was stirred for 10 min, and the precipitate of AgBr was fil-
tered off. Any colour and impurities present in the synthesized ILs were
removed by passing the ILs through a charcoal column with distilled
◦
hypothesis we also carried out the reactions at 0 and −20 C
and the results are shown in Table 4.
It must be noted that decreasing the reaction temperature
◦
+
−
to near 0 C leads to freezing of [EtPy] [BF4] . Therefore,
very low yields and selectivity are seen (entry 1). Therefore,
+
−
the reactions were only investigated in [EtPy] [CF3COO] .
In all cases, a decrease in temperature gave lower over-
all yields as expected, but the enantioselectivities increased
significantly.
[
26]
water.
Finally, the water was removed by rotary evaporation under
◦
vacuum at ∼65 C. The resulting ILs were dried in an oven overnight at
◦
6
5 C to remove any residual moisture.
Friedel–Crafts Reactions using the ILs
WealsoinvestigatedthereusabilityandefficiencyoftheIL
for the reaction of 1a with 2 catalyzed by the (R)-BINOL-Br–
titanium complex. The recycling process involved washing
the used ILs with diethyl ether. Any organic residue left in
the IL layer could be separated by the ether wash.The IL layer
The reactions were carried out under N2 atmosphere in oven-dried
◦
glassware. ILs were dried overnight in an oven at 70 C. Chiral ligands
(
0.05 mmol, 10 mol-%) and catalyst (0.05 mmol, 10 mol-%) were added
to 1 mL of pyridinium-based IL. The mixture was stirred until the solid
was completely dissolved. During this step, gentle heating was needed
was then separated and evaporated under reduced pressure at
◦
(
∼45–60 C). The system was then cooled to the specific temperature.
◦
6
[
5 C. Successive runs were performed with the recovered IL
In the meantime, ethyl glyoxylate was prepared by the distillation of a
commercially available ethyl glyoxylate–toluene solution. It should be
noted that toluene distilled first at around 110 C, while ethyl glyoxy-
+
−
+
−
EtPy] [BF4] or [EtPy] [CF3COO] for the acylation at
◦
room temperature for 24 h.
late (∼98% GC) was left as residue. Freshly distilled ethyl glyoxylate
As results in Table 5 show, both ILs could be recovered
efficiently and almost without loss of activity and selectivity,
as the yields and e.e. are not affected even after the fifth run
with the recovered IL. However, yields of the IL recovery
from the used catalyst–IL system were relatively low.
(
1 mmol) and amine (0.5 mmol) were added to the reaction system.After
a specific reaction time, 3 mL of water and 3 mL of diethyl ether were
added to quench the reaction. It should be noted that after adding water,
i
Ti(OPr )4 became a white suspension, which could be filtered off easily.
However, this phenomenon did not occur for Cu(OTf)2. The water layer
was evaporated under reduced pressure and the ILs could be recycled
and purified. They were then reused. The organic layer was concen-
trated under reduced pressure and the product was purified by flash
chromatography on silica gel using hexanes/ethyl acetate (70/30) as an
eluent.
Conclusions
Pyridinium-based ILs are desirable media for the asymmet-
ric Friedel–Crafts reaction of aromatic compounds with ethyl
glyoxylate. The reaction proceeds at a relatively low tem-
perature and a high product yield and e.e. are achieved.
(
R)-2-[4-(Dimethylamino)phenyl]-2-hydroxyacetic
Acid Ethyl Ester 3a
◦
−1
+ −
White solid, m.p. 104 C. HPLC (1.0 mL min ) tr/min 11.7, 12.6
major). δH (500 MHz, CDCl3) 1.22 (t, 3H, CH2CH3), 3.00 (s, 6H,
[
EtPy] [CF3COO] is found to be the best solvent to effi-
(
ciently substitute for the traditional organic solvents. Appli-
cations of the pyridinium-based ILs as solvents for a number
of other reactions are under investigation in our laboratory.
N(CH3)2), 3.47 (d, 1H, OH), 4.20 (q, 2H, CH2CH3), 5.10 (d, 1H, CH),
6.71 (m, 2H, Ar), 7.22–7.26 (m, 2H, Ar).
(
R)-2-[2-Chloro-4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]-2-hydroxyacetic
Acid Ethyl Ester 3b
Colourless oil. HPLC (1.0 mL min 1) tr/min 13.2 (minor), 16.8
major). δH (500 MHz, CDCl3) 1.22 (t, 3H, CH2CH3), 2.99 (s, 6H,
N(CH3)2), 3.60 (d, 1H, OH), 4.24 (q, 2H, CH2CH3), 5.43 (d, 1H, CH),
.67 (dd, 1H, Ar), 6.91 (d, 1H, Ar), 7.22 (d, 1H, Ar).
Experimental
−
All reactions were carried out under a nitrogen atmosphere. The reac-
tion products were analyzed using a Hewlett Packard CP-3800 HPLC
equipped with a chiralcel OD-H column (hexanes/propan-2-ol, 90/10).
The enantiomeric excesses were determined by the area ratios of each
chromatographic peak. H NMR spectroscopy was employed to confirm
the products (500 MHz, in CDCl3).
(
6
1
(
R)-2-[2-Bromo-4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]-2-hydroxyacetic
Acid Ethyl Ester 3c
Colourless oil. HPLC (1.0 mL min 1) tr/min 11.3, 16.5 (major). δH
−
Synthesis of 1-Ethyl-pyridinium Trifluoroacetate
and 1-Ethyl-pyridinium Tetrafluoroborate
(
(
6
500 MHz, CDCl3) 1.20 (t, 3H, CH2CH3), 2.92 (s, 6H, N(CH3)2), 3.58
d, 1H, OH), 4.22 (q, 2H, CH2CH3), 5.40 (d, 1H, CH), 6.66 (dd, 1H,Ar),
+
−
Two ILs ,1-ethyl-pyridinium trifluoroacetate ([EtPy] [CF3COO] ) and
.94 (d, 1H, Ar), 7.18 (d, 1H, Ar).
+ −
-ethyl-pyridinium tetrafluoroborate ([EtPy] [BF4] ), were prepared
following literature methods.
1
[
19]
(
R)-2-[2-Methyl-4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]-2-hydroxyacetic
Trifluoroacetic acid or tetrafluoroboric acid (0.2 mol) were slowly
added to a stirred slurry of silver(i) oxide (0.1 mol) and distilled water
Acid Ethyl Ester 3d
Light yellow oil. HPLC (1.0 mL min 1) tr/min 11.1, 16.0 (major).
δH (500 MHz, CDCl3) 1.24 (t, 3H, CH2CH3), 2.43 (s, 3H,ArCH3), 2.96
s, 6H, N(CH3)2), 3.43 (d, 1H, OH), 4.21 (q, 2H, CH2CH3), 5.29 (d, 1H,
CH), 6.55–6.61 (m, 2H, Ar), 7.13 (d, 1H, Ar).
−
(
50 mL). To avoid photodegradation of Ag2O, the reaction mixture was
fully covered with aluminum foil. The mixture was stirred continuously
until the reaction was complete, which was indicated by the formation
of a solution. A solution of N-ethyl-pyridinium bromide (0.2 mol) was
added to the reaction mixture. As the reaction took place and the ILs
formed, a yellow precipitate of silver(i) bromide was observed. The
mixture was stirred at room temperature for a certain time until no
more precipitate formed. The stirring was stopped and the precipitate
allowed to settle to the bottom of the beaker until a clear aqueous layer
(
(
R)-2-[2-Methoxy-4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]-2-hydroxyacetic
Acid Ethyl Ester 3e
Colourless oil. HPLC (1.0 mL min 1) tr/min 17.4, 20.5 (major). δH
−
(500 MHz, CDCl3) 1.21 (t, 3H, CH2CH3), 2.96 (s, 6H, N(CH3)2), 3.61