Enantioselective synthesis of 2,2-disubstituted terminal epoxides via catalytic asymmetric corey-chaykovsky epoxidation of ketones

Abstract

Catalytic asymmetric Corey-Chaykovsky epoxidation of various ketones with dimethyloxosulfonium methylide using a heterobimetallic La-Li3-BINOL complex (LLB) is described. The reaction proceeded smoothly at room temperature in the presence of achiral phosphine oxide additives, and 2,2-disubstituted terminal epoxides were obtained in high enantioselectivity (97%-91% ee) and yield (>99%-88%) from a broad range of methyl ketones with 1-5 mol% catalyst loading. Enantioselectivity was strongly dependent on the steric hindrance, and other ketones, such as ethyl ketones and propyl ketones resulted in slightly lower enantioselectivity (88%-67% ee).