Novel 1,4-chiral diamine ligand possessing a trans-9,10-dihydro-9,10-ethanoanthracene backbone was synthesized. The synthetic plan involves first LiAlH4 reduction of the Diels-Alder adduct obtained by reaction of dimenthyl fumarate and anthracene, which is followed by reacting the corresponding alcohol and subsequent attachment of mesylate and triflate units to get good leaving groups which are available substances for introducing nitrogen units via SN2 type reactions. Consequently, by using dimesyl ester and ditriflate esters five catalysts 27, 29, 30, 33 and 38 were synthesized. The first four catalysts 27, 29, 30 and 33 were used in transfer hydrogenation reactions with transition metal whereas catalyst 38 used as an organocatalyst in direct aldol reaction between acetone and p-nitrobenzaldehyde.

The two projects described in this dissertation demonstrate the wide utility of noble metal N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes. The first project details the design of iridium NHC amino acid complexes for asymmetric transfer hydrogenation (ATH) of prochiral ketones. Iridium(I) bis-NHC complexes were found to undergo oxidative addition with a variety of alpha-amino acids, generating chiral iridium(III) complexes of the form Ir(NHC)2(aa)(H)(X) (aa = amino acid, X = halide). The complexes were screened for ATH of aryl and alkyl ketones, and optimization studies found enantioselectivity in this system was highly sensitive to the reaction temperature, NHC ligand, and amino acid. Incorporation of secondary amino acids was essential to enantioselectivity. Aryl ketones were reduced in high conversion and enantioselectivity when employing the Ir(IMe)2(L-Pro)(H)(I) catalyst in isopropyl alcohol, in some cases giving over 90% ee of the alcohol products. Density functional theory calculations were conducted in order to gain insight into the active catalytic species, and the results suggest that the high enantioselectivity of this system primarily arises from steric effects. The second project details the design of rhodium and iridium NHC piano-stool complexes featuring derivatized tetramethylcyclopentadienyl ligands (Cp*R, R = alkyl or aryl substituent) for antimicrobial applications. Complexes of the form (Cp*R)M(NHC)Cl2 (M = Rh or Ir) were synthesized by transmetallation of the NHC ligand using silver(I) oxide in the presence of the desired noble metal Cp*R dimer. The complexes were screened for biological activity against various bacteria, yeast, and fungi. Many of these compounds were highly active against Mycobacterium smegmatis, displaying minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) as low at 0.25 microgram per mL. Analysis of structure-activity relationships found that incorporation of the NHC ligand greatly enhances the antimicrobial properties of rhodium and iridium piano-stool complexes, more so than previously investigated diamine, amino acid, or beta-diketonato ligands. Cytotoxicity studies on one of the rhodium NHC complexes showed this compound was nontoxic towards mammalian cells at low concentrations, which strengthens the potential of these types of compounds as viable drug candidates. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation describes two practical applications of a series of complexes featuring the noble metals rhodium and iridium. In all of these complexes, the metal center is bonded to one or two groups known as N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs). The most common structural variant of NHCs are five-membered rings. The metal is usually bonded to a carbon atom on these rings, which is flanked by two nitrogen atoms. Noble metal complexes containing NHCs are widely investigated in contemporary chemical literature for a variety of reactions, primarily because noble metals form exceptionally strong bonds with NHCs, making these complexes very stable. N-Heterocyclic carbene compounds are also fairly easy to synthesize and structurally modify, which allows fine-tuning for specific applications. The first project in this dissertation employed iridium NHC amino acid complexes for the selective production of alcohols, meaning only one structure of the alcohol product is favorably generated. This is an important transformation in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, which often require the synthesis of highly pure products. These complexes were found to be quite successful for this application on a range of model substrates, in some cases generating as high as 95% of one alcohol product over the other. Product selectivity was found to depend on the specific structure of the NHC compound. The second project investigated the antimicrobial properties of rhodium and iridium NHC complexes. In recent years, the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance against traditional pharmaceuticals has led to an interest in the development of metal-based drugs, which may allow for metal-specific mechanisms of drug action that are not possible for commonly employed antimicrobial agents. These NHC complexes were screened for biological activity against various bacteria, yeast, and fungi. Many of the complexes displayed high activity against Mycobacterium smegmatis, comparable to those displayed by other clinical drugs such as ampicillin or streptomycin. These results were highly encouraging, as Mycobacterium smegmatis often serves as a model to study other mycobacteria.

This dissertation describes the design and synthesis of a series of half-sandwich amino acid complexes of the form), (aa = α-amino carboxylate), and their utility as asymmetric transfer hydrogenation catalysts of ketones. Variation of the metal center, the n-ring, and the aa was used to tune these systems for specific sets of ketones. Upon reaction with homochiral]s, the ligand environment in all of these complexes is pseudotetrahedral, leading to stereogenic metal ions (SM, RM). The addition of another stereogenic center from the amino acid ligand (the carbon, RC or SC;glycine) gives rise to two pairs of diastereomeric complexes. / Ph. D.

A detailed mechanistic investigation of the previously reported ruthenium pseudo-dipeptide-catalyzed asymmetric transfer hydrogenation (ATH) of aromatic ketones was performed. It was found that the addition of alkali metals has a large influence on both the reaction rate and the selectivity, and that the rate of the reaction was substantially increased when THF was used as a co-solvent. A novel bimetallic mechanism for the ruthenium pseudo-dipeptide-catalyzed asymmetric reduction of prochiral ketones was proposed. There is a demand for a larger substrate scope in the ATH reaction, and heteroaromatic ketones are traditionally more challenging substrates. Normally a catalyst is developed for one benchmark substrate, and a substrate screen is carried out with the best performing catalyst. There is a high probability that for different substrates, another catalyst could outperform the one used. To circumvent this issue, a multiple screen was executed, employing a variety of ligands from different families within our group’s ligand library, and different heteroaromatic ketones to fine-tune and to find the optimum catalyst depending on the substrate. The acquired information was used in the formal total syntheses of (R)-fluoxetine and (S)-duloxetine, where the key reduction step was performed with high enantioselectivities and high yield, in each case. Furthermore, a new iron-N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-catalyzed hydrosilylation (HS) protocol was developed. An active catalyst was formed in situ from readily available imidazolium salts together with an iron source, and the inexpensive and benign polymethylhydrosiloxane (PMHS) was used as hydride donor. A set of sterically less demanding, potentially bidentate NHC precursors was prepared. The effect proved to be remarkable, and an unprecedented activity was observed when combining them with iron. The same system was also explored in the reduction of amides to amines with satisfactory results. / <p>At the time of doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript.</p>

In this thesis a methodology to synthesize anti-β-hydroxy-α-amino esters possessing olefins has been investigated. The developed procedures originate from two already established procedures in which α-amido-β-keto esters, which do not contain olefins, has been stereoselectively reduced to the corresponding anti-β-hydroxy-α-amino alcohols via asymmetric transfer hydrogenation coupled with dynamic kinetic resolution. Both established methods, one solvent free and one emulsion procedure, have been investigated on the expanded substrate scoop. Four different α-amido-β-keto ester containing olefins were tested and it was found that the ketones were reduced to desired anti-β-hydroxy-α-amino esters in both procedures, but also side products were formed where the olefins were reduced. The ratio of the different products was dependent on the structure of the starting α-amido-β-keto ester, ligand used on the catalyst and reaction conditions such as number of equivalents of base and reaction temperature. The diastereoselectivity for the desired products was in favor of the anti stereoisomer, however, the dr was worse than in the established procedures. The usefulness of this methodology was then demonstrated by a formal total synthesis of Sphingosine.

De nouveaux β-aminoalcools chiraux ont été synthétisés en 3 à 4 étapes avec de bons rendements globaux (19-42%). Ils ont été testés en tant que ligands dans la réaction de réduction de cétones aromatiques par transfert d’hydrogène. Des excès énantiomériques jusqu’à 91% ont été obtenus avec de bonnes conversions jusqu’à 99%. La réduction asymétrique de cétones aromatique par le borane a été également étudiée. Ces β-aminoalcools se sont montrés actifs mais pas très énantiosélectifs. Ces composés ont également été utilisés en tant que ligands dans la réaction d’addition du diéthylzinc sur des aldéhydes aromatique conduisant aux produits désirés avec de bons rendements (jusqu’à 98%) et de bonnes énantiosélectivités (jusqu’à 80%). En revanche, la réaction d’addition d’autres organométalliques (l’organozincique, le silane, l’étain et le nickel) sur aldéhydes montre de faible énantiosélectivité dans la plupart de cas.Dans la dernière partie de ce travail, un des β-aminoalcools synthétisés a été évalué dans la réaction de cyanation catalytique énantiosélective d’aldimines. Malgré des bonnes conversions obtenues, des faible énantiosélectivités ont été observées. / Chiral β-aminoalcohol compounds were prepared in 3 or 4 steps from isosorbide in good overall yields (19-42%). These compounds were used as ligands in the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones giving good enantioselectivities (up to 91% ee) and excellent conversions (up to 99%). The asymmetric reduction of aromatic ketones by borane complexes using these aminoalcohols was also evaluated. Good catalytic activity but low enantioselectivity were observed. Asymmetric addition of diethylzinc to aromatic aldehydes using these β-aminoalcohols was also studied leading to desired products in good yields (up to 98%) and good enantioselectivities (up to 80%). However, no asymmetric induction was observed when using other organometallics (organozinc, silane, nickel, tin).The last part of this work consisted in evaluating one of these β-aminoalcohols in the Titanium-catalyzed asymmetric cyanation of aldimines. Despite good conversions, low enantioselectivities were observed.

Ce travail de thèse porte sur la synthèse de nouveaux composés chiraux à partir de l’isosorbide et de l’isomannide en vue de leurs applications en catalyse asymétrique. Dans une première partie, de nouvelles monophosphines ont été synthétisées et appliquées en tant que ligands dans la réaction d'hydrogénation asymétrique d’oléfines. Des excès énantiomériques jusqu’à 96% ont été observés. Elles ont également été employées en tant que catalyseurs organiques dans les réactions de cyclisation [3 +2]. De bonnes activités catalytiques et des excès énantiomériques modestes sont obtenus. Dans une deuxième partie, une série de composés azotés chiraux a été synthétisée en 3 à 4 étapes avec de bons rendements globaux. Ils ont été testés en tant que ligands dans la réaction de réduction de cétones aromatiques par transfert d’hydrogène. Des excès énantiomériques jusqu’à 73% ont été obtenus. La réaction d’addition de phénylacétylène sur d’imines a également été étudiée. Les complexes formés se sont montrés actifs mais pas très énantiosélectifs. Ces composés azotés ont également été utilisés en tant que catalyseurs organiques dans la réaction d’addition de Michael de cétones aromatiques sur le nitrostyrène. Toutefois, ils n’ont permis de conduire qu’à de faibles énantiosélectivités. Dans une dernière partie, des composés de type thiourée ont été synthétisés en 5 étapes. Ces thiourées ont été appliquées en catalyse organique dans la réaction d’alkylation de type Friedel-Crafts entre différents substrats indoliques et nitrooléfines, et dans la réaction d’addition conjuguée des hydroxylamines sur des pyrazoles pour la synthèse de dérivés β-aminoacides. Ces catalyseurs se sont révélés actifs mais peu énantiosélectifs. / The Thesis deals with the synthesis of new chiral compounds derived from isosorbide and isomannide and their applications to asymmetric catalysis. The first part of this work consisted in perfecting the chemical and enantioselective hydrogenation conditions of olefins using chiral monophosphines as ligands (up to 96% ee). These phosphines were also used as organocatalysts for [3+2] cyclisation reactions showing good catalytic activity and moderate enantioselectivity. The second part turned to the synthesis of a series of chiral nitrogen compounds which were evaluated in the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones giving good enantioselectivity (up to 73% ee). The complexes formed with amine ligands were also applied to the addition reaction of phenylacetylene to imines. Good catalytic activity but low enantioselectivity were observed. These nitrogen compounds were also used as organocatalysts in the Michael addition reaction of aromatic ketones to the nitrostyrene. Again, low enantiomeric excess was obtained. The last part of this work consisted in preparing new chiral thiourea compounds which were applied as organocatalysts to the Friedel-Crafts alkylation reaction of different indoles with nitroolefines, and to the conjugate addition reaction of hydroxylamines to pyrazoles derivatives for the synthesis of β-amino acids. In two cases, these catalysts have proved active but not enantioselective.