The thesis has been divided in two chapters: Chapter I describes the preparation of primary-amine monocarbamates from enantiopure trans-cyclohexane-1,2-diamines and their use as chiral organocatalysts in the enantioselective Michael addition reaction of aldehydes and ketones to maleimides, to synthesize enantiomerically enriched substituted succinimides. In the conjugate addition reaction of aldehydes to maleimides in conventional volatile organic solvents, it has been found that these organocatalysts are able to generate both enantiomers of the corresponding succinimide using only one enantiomeric form of the catalyst, just by changing the polarity of the solvent. Theoretical calculations justify the mechanism through which this inversion of enantioinduction occurred. In addition, these organocatalysts were used in the enantioselective Michael addition reaction of aldehydes to maleimides, using Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES) as recyclable and environmentally sustainable reaction medium, yielding the corresponding succinimides with excellent yields and high enantioselectivities (up to 94%). The succinimides can be extracted from the DES, which retains the chiral organocatalyst, allowing to reuse both solvent and catalyst. Moreover, the conjugate addition of ketones to maleimides using conventional solvents, allows obtaining the corresponding succinimides with excellent yields but with moderate enantioselectivities (up to 66%). Chapter II shows the results obtained in the enantioselective Michael addition reaction of aldehydes and ketones to nitroalkenes, using the former trans-cyclohexane-1,2-diamine-derived aminocarbamates as chiral organocatalysts, obtaining enantioenriched γ-nitrocarbonyl compounds. In the conjugate addition of isobutyraldehyde to nitroalkenes, the corresponding γ-nitroaldehydes were obtained with enantioselectivities up to 84%. In addition, the enantioselective conjugate addition reaction of ketones to nitroalkenes allowed to obtain interesting γ-nitroketones with high enantioselectivities (up to 96%). Theoretical calculations justify the mechanism involved during this enantioselective process.

The thesis entitled “Organocatalytic Cascade Cyclizations for the Enantioselective Synthesis of Spirooxindoles” is divided into three chapters. Chapter 1: Catalytic Enantioselective Michael Addition/Cyclization Cascade of 3-Isothiocyanato Oxindoles with Nitroolefins A myriad of spirocyclic frameworks present in natural product, and pharmaceutically important compounds, has attracted the synthetic organic chemists to explore their preparation in enantioselective manner. Consequently various strategies have been devised for efficiently accessing highly functionalized spirooxindoles. Among these strategies, the use of 3-isothiocyanato oxindoles as the building block appeared as the most popular one. The combination of 3-isothiocyanato oxindoles and a variety of electrophiles have already been reported. However one of the most popular electrophiles, nitroolefins, has never been used in the reaction with 3-isothiocyanato oxindoles. In this chapter, a highly efficient catalytic asymmetric Michael addition/cyclization cascade reaction between 3-isothiocyanato oxindoles and β-substituted nitroolefins with the help of a cinchonidine-derived bifunctional thiourea catalyst has been discussed. Highly functionalized spirooxindoles containing three successive stereocenters were obtained in high yield with moderate to good diastereo- and enantioselectivity. Reference: Kayal, S.; Mukherjee, S. Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2014, 6696-6700. Chapter 2: Catalytic Aldol-Cyclization Cascade of 3-Isothiocyanato Oxindoles with α-Ketophosphonates for the Enantioselective Synthesis of β-Amino-α-Hydroxyphosphonates The oxindole scaffold containing a quaternary stereocenter at the C3 position is a privileged structural motif present in many biologically active molecules and natural products. In this respect, spirooxindoles have received special attention during the past few years. Similarly, β-Amino and/or hydroxy functionalized phosphonic acids and their derivatives are found to display inhibitory activities towards a range of enzymes such as renin, HIV protease, thrombin, and various classes of protein tyrosine kinases and phosphatases. Considering the importance of both oxindole and β-amino-α-hydroxyphosphonic acid, we reasoned that highly functionalized phosphonic acid derivatives based on a spirooxindole framework could be of potential biological significance, if synthesized in enantiopure form This chapter deals with a cascade aldol-cyclization reaction between 3-isothiocyanato oxindoles and α-ketophosphonates for the enantioselective synthesis of spirooxindole-based β-amino-α-hydroxyphosphonate derivatives. Catalyzed by cinchona alkaloid-based bifunctional thiourea derivatives, this protocol delivers 2-thioxooxazolidinyl phosphonates bearing two adjacent quaternary stereogenic centers, generally in high yields with excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivities. Both the product enantiomers are accessible with nearly equally high level of enantioselectivity. Reference: Kayal, S.; Mukherjee, S. Org. Lett. 2015, 17, 5508-5511. Chapter 3: Catalytic Michael Addition/Cyclization Cascade of 3-Isothiocyanato Oxindoles with Cyclic α,β-Unsaturated Ketones: A Concise Enantioselective Synthesis of Bispiro[indoline-3,2'-pyrrolidine] Among different spirocyclic cores, the spirooxindole framework containing pyrrolidinyl ring represents a very important class owing to their biological activities such as antimicrobial, anticancer, antihypertensive, antidiabetic, antimycobacterial and antitubercular properties. Similarly, the bispirooxindole scaffold recently has drawn considerable interests because of its exclusive structural and stereochemical diversity. Only a few examples have been reported till date for enantioselective construction of the pharmaceutically important bispirooxindole architectures. Considering the importance of bispirooxindoles and pyrrolidinyl spirooxindole scaffolds, we were interested in merging them in a single molecular framework. In this chapter, a Michael addition/cyclization cascade reaction between 3-isothiocyanato oxindoles and exocyclic enones for the enantioselective synthesis of 3,2′-pyrrolidinyl bispirooxindole derivatives has been illustrated. With the help of a quinine-derived bifunctional squaramide as the catalyst, this protocol delivers bispirooxindoles bearing three contiguous stereogenic centers, in high yields and generally with outstanding diastereo- and enantioselectivity. Reference: Kayal, S.; Mukherjee, S. manuscript under preparation.

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