This thesis has been focused on enzymatic kinetic resolutions and stereoselective oxidative transformations of enallenes catalyzed by PdII. In the first part of the thesis, a detailed discussion on Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB)-catalyzed kinetic resolution (KR) of δ-functionalized alkan-2-acetates is shown. We gained a deeper insight into the mechanism of enzyme-substrate recognition. Changing from an anhydrous solvent to water or a water-containing organic solvent enhanced the enantioselectivity. The effect of –OH was also confirmed by a lipase mutant suggesting that the water molecule mentioned above can be partly mimicked. In the second part of the thesis, we developed an efficient KR for allenic alcohols. On this basis, a novel synthesis of optically pure 2-substituted 2,3-dihydrofurans from allenic alcohols via a Ru-catalyzed cycloisomerization was reported. The developed protocol enabled us to assemble an optically pure precursor for total synthesis with three chiral centers from readily available allenol in 2 days. In the third part, we reported a class of reactions involving C–H cleavage under mild conditions: PdII-catalyzed oxidative transformations of enallenes. These reactions are particularly attractive since a number of meticulous structures have been achieved from readily accessible starting materials. The directing effect of an unsaturated hydrocarbon was found to be key for these transformations. In the final part, we developed the carbonylative insertion reaction discussed in the third part of the thesis into an asymmetric version. By using this methodology, a number of cyclopentenone compounds were obtained in good to excellent enantioselectivity.

The thesis entitled “Copper-Catalyzed Novel Oxidative Transformations: Construction of Carbon-Hetero Bonds” is divided into two main sections. Section A deals with the utility of azide as a nitrogen source for C-N bond formation, which is further divided into 4 chapters, and section B presents decarboxylative radical coupling reaction for C-heteroatom bond formation which is further divided in to two chapters. Section A Chapter 1 describes an approach for the direct synthesis of nitrile from the corresponding alcohols using azide as a nitrogen source. Nitrile functionality is a versatile and ubiquitous which occurs in a variety of natural products. Nitrile functionality can be easily transformed into a variety of functional groups and products such as aldehydes, ketones, acids, amines, amides and nitrogen-containing heterocycles, such as tetrazoles and oxazoles. In this chapter a successful attempt for developing a novel methodology to oxidize benzylic and cinnamyl alcohols to their corresponding nitriles in excellent yields has been described. This strategy uses DDQ as an oxidant and TMSN3 as a source of nitrogen in the presence of a catalytic amount of Cu(ClO4)2·6H2O. A few representative examples are highlighted in Scheme 1.1 Scheme 1. Oxidative conversion of alcohols to nitriles Second chapter represents a protocol for the synthesis of 1,5-disubstituted tetrazoles from the corresponding secondary alcohols. Among heterocyles, tetrazole and its derivatives are important class of nitrogen containing molecules. Due to their well-known biological activities as well as vast applications in pharmaceuticals and material science, they are potential targets for synthetic organic chemists. Therefore, a simple and user-friendly method for the synthesis of tetrazole is desirable. In this chapter, a mild and convenient method to synthesize 1,5-disubstituted tetrazoles using easily accessible secondary alcohols by employing TMSN3 as a nitrogen source is developed. This reaction is performed in the presence of a catalytic amount of Cu(ClO4)2·6H2O using DDQ as an oxidant under ambient conditions (Scheme 2).2 Scheme 2. Oxidative conversion of secondary alcohols to tetrazoles Third chapter presents a method for synthesizing amides from their corresponding secondary alcohols. Amide functionality is a crucial backbone in peptide chemistry, it also serve as an important precursor or intermediate for variety of organic transformations. In this contention, a mild and convenient method to synthesize amides using easily accessible secondary alcohols by employing TMSN3 as a nitrogen source is developed. This reaction is performed in the presence of a catalytic amount of Cu(ClO4)2·6H2O using DDQ as an oxidant under ambient conditions (Scheme 3).3 Scheme 3. Oxidative conversion of secondary alcohols to amides Additionally, the application of this methodology has also been revealed for the synthesis azides directly from their alcohols. Some of the representative examples are shown in the Scheme 4.3 Scheme 4. Direct conversion of alcohols to their azides. Fourth chapter describes highly chemoselective Schmidt reaction. The classical Schmidt reaction involves the formation of new carbon-nitrogen bonds in a reaction of a carbon-centred electrophile with hydrazoic acid followed by loss of nitrogen, which usually occurs via a rearrangement. It is well known that under the Schmidt reaction conditions, ketones and carboxylic acids are converted into their corresponding amides and amines respectively, whereas aldehydes furnish a mixture of formanilides and nitriles. In this chapter, Schmidt reaction of aldehydes to obtain their nitriles without formation of the corresponding formanilide is presented (Scheme 5).4 It was also observed that aromatic ketones and acids functionalities were intact under the reaction condition, unlike the conventional Schmidt reaction. Scheme 5. Highly chemoselective Schmidt reaction Section B It is divided into two chapters, describes a copper catalyzed decarboxylative radical coupling for the synthesis of vinyl sulfones and nitroolefins (Scheme 6). Scheme 6. General strategy for the second part First chapter narrates a strategy for synthesizing nitroolefins from the α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids. Nitroolefins represent a unique class of nitro compounds, which have multifaceted utility in organic synthesis. They possess antibacterial, rodent-repelling, and antitumor activities. They serve as important intermediates in organic synthesis. Nitroolefins also react with a variety of nucleophiles, and their electron-deficient character renders them as a powerful dienophiles in Diels-Alder reactions. In our attempt to use the decarboxylative strategy, this chapter describes a method for the nitrodecarboxylation of substituted cinnamic acid derivatives to their corresponding nitroolefins. This nitrodecarboxylation reaction is performed using catalytic amount of CuCl in the presence of air using TBN as a nitrating source (Scheme 7).5 Besides, the reaction provides a useful method for the synthesis of β,β-disubstituted nitroolefin derivatives which are generally difficult to access from other conventional methods. Scheme 7. Decarboxylative nitration Second chapter presents a new protocol for the synthesis of vinyl sulfones from the α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acid. Vinyl sulfones are versatile building blocks, which find their utility as Michael acceptors and used in cycloaddition reactions. This functional group has also been shown to potently inhibit a variety of enzymatic processes, and thus provides unique properties for drug design and medicinal chemistry. Vinyl sulfones are prominent in medicinal chemistry owing to their wide presence in pharmaceutically active molecules, such as enzyme inhibitors and biological activity. In this chapter, we report a method for the construction of C-S bonds via ligand promoted decarboxylative radical sulfonylation of ,-unsaturated carboxylic acids to synthesize vinyl sulfones using Cu catalysis (Scheme 8).6 This is the first report for this particular conversion. Scheme 8. Decarboxylative sulfonation