Stereoselective Organic Synthesis via Dynamic Kinetic Resolution

Abstract

Asymmetric catalysts, either chemical or biological, effect the reactions of enantiomeric substrates at unequal rates, allowing for the kinetic resolution of racemates. The asymmetric reaction of chirally labile compounds capable of undergoing in situ racemization can, in principle, afford a single stereoisomer in 100% ee and in 100% yield. The second-order reaction provides a powerful tool for the stereoselective synthesis of chiral compounds, as exemplified by, among others, the biochemical hydrolysis of hydantoins or oxazolinones and microbial reductions or BINAP–Ru(II) catalyzed hydrogenation of certain α-substituted β-keto esters. Such transformations are characterized by the presence of parallel reactions interrelated by the stereoinversion of the enantiomeric substrates. The efficiency is decisively affected by the kinetic parameters, particularly the relative rates of the stereoinversion and reaction as well as the intrinsic stereochemical parameters of the catalyst and substrate. Such stereoselective reactions via dynamic kinetic resolution are expressed mathematically and the stereochemical profiles are displayed graphically. The validity of this basic approach has been verified by the correlation to the experimental results.