Thesis advisor: Amir H. Hoveyda / Homoallylic alcohols and amines are commonly used building blocks for synthesis of biologically active molecules, yet a survey of the methods for their synthesis reveals a plague of limitations. Notably, the use of toxic reagents (Cr-, Mn-, and Sn-containing), precious metal catalysts (Ir- and In-based), non-ambient reaction temperatures (–78 to 140 °C), and extended reaction times (up to 240 hours), limit application on larger scale. The protection/deprotection sequences required to install directing/activating groups for reaction efficiency and enantioselectivity not only add synthetic steps but the conditions required for removal of such entities are not amenable to more complex and sensitive molecules. The development of catalytic enantioselective methods for addition of allyl moieties to readily available substrates including halomethyl ketones, trifluoromethyl-substituted ketimines, and nitriles have been developed. In the first two cases, an aminophenol-based boryl catalyst is utilized for enantioselective additions of allyl moieties through transition states controlled by either electrostatic attraction between a C–X bond and the catalyst’s ammonium moiety or minimization of steric and dipolar repulsion. In the latter, multicomponent additions to nitriles have been developed for synthesis of cyclic amines. In all cases, application is demonstrated through synthesis of otherwise difficult-to-access derivatives or biologically active molecules. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Chemistry.

Thesis advisor: Amir H. Hoveyda / A previously developed catalytic system which can catalyze a variety of efficient and enantioselective allyl additions has been expanded to include regio-, diastereo-, Z-, and enantioselective crotyl addition reactions. As discussed in Chapter 1, we were able to carry out efficient crotyl additions to N-phosphinoyl imines by discovering a sufficiently Lewis acidic co-catalyst, zinc(II) methoxide. This finding enabled us to vastly improve reaction efficiency, in addition to enabling a 1,3-borotropic shift during the course of the reaction, turning a previously α selective transformation into a γ-selective one. These findings allowed us to develop a catalytic, enantioselective crotyl addition to N-phosphinoyl imines utilizing the commercially available Z-crotyl–B(pin). When the reaction conditions elucidated for crotyl additions to imines were utilized on a more electrophilic substrate, such as trifluoromethyl ketones, an entirely different finding was observed (Chapter 2). We found that if direct addition is more facile than 1,3-borotropic shift the transformation will again be α-selective, furnishing a linear product, rather than the typically observed, branched crotyl addition product. This finding allowed us to establish the first broadly applicable, efficient, regio-, Z-, and enantioselective crotyl addition to trifluoromethyl ketones. We then highlighted the utility of these products by using this method in tandem with Z-selective olefin metathesis, affording complex, enantioenriched, trifluoromethyl-containing homoallylic alcohols. During the course of these studies, and through density functional theory computations, we learned that Z- and E-crotyl–B(pin) react through distinct transition states to form the same Z-olefin-containing product with varying levels of enantioselectivity. These findings led us to the results reported in Chapter 3, the first examples of enantioselective aminophenol-promoted allyl additions to aldehydes. We were able to utilize Z-CF3-allyl–B(pin) and Z-Cl-allyl–B(pin) (both accessed through catalytic olefin metathesis) in Z- and enantioselective additions to aldehydes, affording products which cannot be accessed readily through previously reported methods. We quickly realized the potential of Z-chloro-substituted homoallylic alcohols for the synthesis of Z-homoallylic alcohols, to demonstrate this potential, we carried out the total synthesis of mycothiazole, which we accomplished in seven steps from commercially available materials and 17% overall yield, a marked improvement over the previous synthetic strategy. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Chemistry.

Under the conditions of transfer hydrogenation utilizing chromatographically purified ortho-cyclometallated iridium C,O-benzoate precatalysts, enantioselective carbonyl crotylation and methallylation can be performed in the absence of stoichiometric metallic reagents and stoichiometric chiral modifiers. In the case of carbonyl crotylation, use of a preformed precatalyst rather than an in situ generated catalyst results in lower reaction temperatures, providing generally higher diastereoselectivity and yields. By utilizing a more reactive leaving group in chloride over acetate on our methallyl donor, the inherently shorter lifetime of the olefin π-complex is compensated for, giving our group’s first report of reactivity utilizing 1,1-disubstituted allyl donors. / text