Search

A number of structurally diverse D-mannose-derived lactols, including various deoxy-D-mannoses and conformationally restricted bicyclic D-mannoses, have been synthesized and investigated in mechanistic studies of β-mannosylation via Cs(2)CO(3)-mediated anomeric O-alkylation. It was found that deoxy mannoses or conformationally restricted bicyclic D-mannoses are not as reactive as their corresponding parent mannose. This type of β-mannosylation proceeds efficiently when the C2-OH is left free, and protection of that leads to inferior results. NMR studies of D-mannose-derived anomeric cesium alkoxides indicated the predominance of the equatorial β-anomer after deprotonation. Reaction progress kinetic analysis suggested that monomeric cesium alkoxides be the key reactive species for alkylation with electrophiles. DFT calculations supported that oxygen atoms at C2, C3, and C6 of mannose promote the deprotonation of the anomeric hydroxyl group by Cs(2)CO(3) and chelating interactions between Cs and these oxygen atoms favour the formation of equatorial anomeric alkoxides, leading to the highly β-selective anomeric O-alkylation. Based on experimental data and computational results, a revised mechanism for this β-mannosylation is proposed. The utilization of this β-mannosylation was demonstrated by an efficient synthesis of the hexasaccharide core of complex fucosylated N-linked glycans.

The ability to selectively functionalize ubiquitous C–H bonds streamlines the construction of complex molecular architectures from easily available precursors. Here we report enzyme catalysts derived from a cytochrome P450 that use a nitrene transfer mechanism for the enantioselective amination of primary, secondary and tertiary C(sp³)–H bonds. These fully genetically encoded enzymes are produced and function in bacteria, where they can be optimized by directed evolution for a broad spectrum of enantioselective C(sp³)–H amination reactions. These catalysts can aminate a variety of benzylic, allylic and aliphatic C–H bonds in excellent enantioselectivity with access to either antipode of product. Enantioselective amination of primary C(sp³)–H bonds in substrates that bear geminal dimethyl substituents furnished chiral amines that feature a quaternary stereocentre. Moreover, these enzymes enabled the enantioconvergent transformation of racemic substrates that possess a tertiary C(sp³)–H bond to afford products that bear a tetrasubstituted stereocentre, a process that has eluded small-molecule catalysts. Further engineering allowed for the enantioselective construction of methyl–ethyl stereocentres, which is notoriously challenging in asymmetric catalysis.