Photoinduced, Copper-Catalyzed Enantioconvergent Alkylations
of Anilines by Racemic Tertiary Electrophiles: Synthesis and
Mechanism
Hyungdo Cho
,
Hidehiro Suematsu
,
Paul H. Oyala
,
Jonas C. Peters
,
Gregory C. Fu
Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena,
California 91125, United States
Abstract
Transition-metal catalysis of substitution reactions of alkyl electrophiles by nitrogen nucleophiles
is beginning to emerge as a powerful strategy for synthesizing higher-order amines, as well as
controlling their stereochemistry. Herein, we report that a readily accessible chiral copper catalyst
(commercially available components) can achieve the photoinduced, enantioconvergent coupling
of a variety of racemic tertiary alkyl electrophiles with aniline nucleophiles to generate a new C–N
bond with good ee at the fully substituted stereocenter of the product; whereas this photoinduced,
copper-catalyzed coupling proceeds at −78 °C, in the a bsence of light and catalyst, virtually
no C–N bond formation is observed even upon heating to 80 °C. The mechanism of this new
catalytic enantioconvergent substitution process has been interrogated with the aid of a wide array
of tools, including the independent synthesis of proposed intermediates and reactivity studies,
spectroscopic investigations featuring photophysical and EPR data, and DFT calculations. These
studies led to the identification of three copper-based intermediates in the proposed catalytic
cycle, including a chiral three-coordinate formally copper(II)–anilido (DFT analysis points to its
Corresponding Authors
Jonas C. Peters
– Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, California 91125, United States; jpeters@caltech.edu,
Gregory C. Fu
– Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering,
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States; gcfu@caltech.edu.
ASSOCIATED CONTENT
Supporting Information
The Supporting Information is available free of charge at
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/
Experimental details, including general information, preparation of electrophiles, enantioconvergent coupling reactions, effect
of reaction parameters, functional-group compatibility data, assignments of absolute configuration, mechanistic studies, DFT
calculations, NMR spectra, and HPLC data (PDF)
Accession codes
CCDC 2098015, 2098016, 2098018, 2098019, 2098022, and 2125108 contains the supplementary crystallographic data for this paper.
These data can be obtained free of charge via
www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/data_request/cif
, or by emailing data_request@ccdc.cam.ac.uk, or
by contacting The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre, 12 Union Road, Cambridge CB2 1EZ, UK; fax: +44 1223 336033.
Complete contact information is available at:
https://pubs.acs.org/
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
HHS Public Access
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J Am Chem Soc
. 2022 March 16; 144(10): 4550–4558. doi:10.1021/jacs.1c12749.
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formulation as a copper(I)–anilidyl radical) complex that serves as a persistent radical that couples
with a tertiary organic radical to generate the desired C–N bond with good enantioselectivity.
Graphical Abstract
INTRODUCTION
Amines play an important role in a wide array of disciplines, including biology, materials
science, organic chemistry, and pharmaceutical chemistry.
1
–
4
Although the nucleophilic
substitution of an alkyl halide by an amine is an attractive approach to the synthesis of
higher-order amines, traditional S
N
2 reactions have limited applicability in the case of less
reactive (e.g., hindered and unactivated) electrophiles, which instead engage in undesired
side reactions, such as the elimination of H–X.
5
,
6
Furthermore, conventional substitution
pathways almost never enable the control of stereochemistry at the carbon of the new C–N
bond, starting with a readily available racemic electrophile.
To address these shortcomings with respect to reactivity and enantioselectivity, a number
of laboratories have pursued the use of transition metals to catalyze substitution reactions
of secondary and tertiary alkyl electrophiles by nitrogen nucleophiles.
7
–
13
To date,
catalytic enantioconvergent substitutions have only been described for a few families
of (mostly secondary) alkyl electrophiles, e.g., allylic electrophiles,
14
α
-halocarbonyl
compounds,
15
–
18
α
-cyano-
α
-halocarbonyl compounds,
18
,
19
propargylic electrophiles,
18
,
20
benzylic electrophiles,
18
and unactivated alkyl halides that bear a directing group.
21
Whereas a variety of bioactive molecules include as a subunit an arylamine (aniline) wherein
the nitrogen is attached to a stereocenter (Figure 1A),
22
,
23
to our knowledge there has
been only one report of the synthesis of this motif via the enantioconvergent alkylation of
an aniline by a racemic alkyl electrophile.
24
In the present study, we establish that, with
the aid of a chiral copper catalyst and light, anilines can be coupled with a variety of
racemic tertiary alkyl electrophiles to generate N-alkylanilines that bear a fully substituted
stereocenter with good enantiomeric excess (Figure 1B). Mechanistic studies are consistent
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with (
L1
)CuCl acting as a photoreductant and with [(
L1
)Cu(NHAr)]Cl serving as a key
intermediate in the catalytic cycle.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Reaction development.
Seeking to expand the rather limited scope of enantioconvergent substitutions of alkyl
electrophiles by nitrogen nucleophiles, we chose to explore reactions of
α
-halonitriles
with anilines to generate
α
-aminonitriles. In particular, we decided to examine the use
of tertiary
α
-halonitriles as electrophiles so as to produce
α
-disubstituted
α
-aminonitriles.
Whereas catalytic enantioselective Strecker reactions of aldimines provide a versatile
approach to the synthesis of enantioenriched
α
-monosubstituted
α
-aminonitriles,
25
,
26
corresponding reactions of ketimines to afford
α
-disubstituted
α
-aminonitriles are less well-
developed.
27
–
31
Upon irradiation (blue LED) in the presence of CuCl and DTBM-SEGPHOS (
L1
), a
racemic tertiary
α
-chloronitrile undergoes substitution by
p
-toluidine (1.2 equiv) to furnish
the desired
α
-disubstituted
α
-aminonitrile in good yield and ee (Table 1, entry 1: 77% yield,
92% ee; CuCl,
L1
, and BTPP are all commercially available). Control experiments establish
that CuCl,
L1
, and light are critical for coupling under these conditions (entries 2–4; >95%
recovery of the alkyl halide). The yield of the reaction is not particularly sensitive to small
amounts of water or of air, which have no impact on enantioselectivity (entries 5 and 6).
When a lower catalyst loading is employed (2.0 mol% copper), a turnover number greater
than 25 is observed (entry 7). A discrete, isolable copper–
L1
complex, (
L1
)CuCl (
Cu
A
)
32
,
33
may be used in place of CuCl/
L1
(entry 8). Whereas the photoinduced, copper-catalyzed
coupling occurs in good yield at –78 °C, the corresponding S
N
2 reaction does not proceed to
a significant extent even at 80 °C (entry 9).
An array of racemic tertiary
α
-halonitriles serve as suitable electrophiles in these
enantioconvergent N-alkylations. For example, consistently good enantioselectivity is
observed as the R
1
group varies from Me to
i
-Bu (Figure 2A,
2a
–
2c
; on a gram scale (1.28 g
of product), the coupling to produce
2b
proceeds in 64% yield, 92% ee), although the yield
is sensitive to the size of R
1
. Functional groups such as an ester, olefin, unactivated alkyl
chloride, aryl fluoride, aryl chloride, aryl bromide, amide, and phosphonate are compatible
with the method (
2e
–
2l
; also, an acetal, alcohol, alkylboronate ester, alkyl bromide, alkyl
iodide, aryl iodide, aryl triflate, benzofuran, epoxide, ketone, sulfide, and tertiary amine:
see the Supporting Information). Not only
α
-aryl-
α
-halonitriles (
2a
–
2j
), but also
α
-acyl-
and
α
-phosphonyl-substituted (
2k
and
2l
; Br as the leaving group)
α
-halonitriles, serve as
suitable coupling partners.
The scope of this photoinduced, copper-catalyzed asymmetric N-alkylation is also
reasonably broad with respect to the arylamine nucleophile. In the case of aniline itself,
a substantial amount of addition of the electrophile to the para position is observed (C–
C coupling: 24% yield, 27% ee; C–N coupling: 18% yield, 86% ee). However, if the
para position bears a substituent, moderate-to-good yields and good enantioselectivities are
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obtained with either an electron-poor or an electron-rich aniline as the nucleophile (Figure
2B,
2m
–
2r
). Furthermore, meta substitution of the aniline can sufficiently impede addition
to the para position such that the desired N-alkylation proceeds in fair yield as well as good
enantioselectivity (
2s
–
2u
).
It is noteworthy that enantioconvergent N-alkylation can be achieved with electrophiles that
bear a leaving group other than chloride or bromide. In the case of a carbonate or a fluoride,
although substitution does not occur in good yield and ee under the standard conditions, the
addition of TBACl/B(OMe)
3
enables the desired C–N bond formation to proceed smoothly
with good enantioselectivity (eq 1). To our knowledge, this is the first example of an
alkyl fluoride serving as a suitable electrophile in a metal-catalyzed enantioconvergent
substitution by a nitrogen nucleophile.
(1)
The standard reaction conditions can be applied to the enantioconvergent N-alkylation of
anilines by racemic tertiary electrophiles that lack a cyano group. Thus,
α
-haloamides are
also suitable substrates, leading to coupling with good ee for both N-alkyl and N-aryl
secondary amides (Figure 3,
2v
–
2x
). Furthermore, the chiral catalyst can provide promising
enantioselectivity when it is necessary to distinguish between two alkyl substituents on the
electrophilic carbon, such as secondary vs. methyl (
2y
) or branched primary vs. methyl (
2z
).
Mechanistic studies.
Our current working hypothesis is that these photoinduced, copper-catalyzed
enantioconvergent C–N couplings may be proceeding through the pathway outlined in
Figure 4. Thus, copper(I) complex
Cu
A
, which is a competent catalyst for the coupling
(Table 1, entry 8; 10 mol%
Cu
A
, rather than 10 mol% CuCl/12 mol%
L1
, was utilized
in all catalyzed reactions for our mechanistic studies) undergoes excitation upon blue-LED
irradiation to generate
Cu
A
*
, which reacts with electrophile R–Cl to afford organic radical
R• and copper(II) complex
Cu
B
. Complex
Cu
B
then undergoes base-induced substitution by
the aniline to furnish copper complex
Cu
C
, which combines with R• to provide the coupling
product and regenerate copper(I) complex
Cu
A
.
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Cu
A
.
A solution of
Cu
A
in toluene at –78 °C shows a characteristic absorption at 376 nm
(
ε
= 3890 M
−1
cm
−1
), as does the reaction mixture (the coupling depicted in Table 1)
prior to irradiation (Figure 5A); because the concentrations of copper for the two UV–vis
spectra are the same, virtually all of the copper in the reaction mixture appears to be
present as
Cu
A
prior to irradiation (see the Supporting Information). As illustrated in Figure
5B, room-temperature
31
P NMR spectroscopic analysis is consistent with this conclusion
(>95%).
34
During a catalytic C–N coupling, the concentration of
Cu
A
decreases somewhat
as the reaction progresses, to 54% of total copper at 64% conversion, according to
1
H NMR
spectroscopy at –78 °C (see the Supporting Information).
Having identified
Cu
A
as a major component of the reaction mixture, we carried out an
investigation of its photophysical properties. The steady-state emission spectrum of
Cu
A
*
shows a single emission band (
λ
max
= 480 nm) at temperatures ranging from 77 K to room
temperature (see the Supporting Information). The luminescence decay of
Cu
A
*
observed at
480 nm at room temperature shows two sets of decay curves, with lifetimes of 3.8 ns and
0.36 μs (Figure 5C).
To avoid complications arising from the two competing luminescence-decay pathways, we
measured the lifetime of an excited state of
Cu
A
by transient absorption spectroscopy
(
λ
pump
= 355 nm,
λ
probe
= 580 nm) as a function of electrophile concentration at room
temperature (Figure 5D). Addition of 2-chloro-2-phenylbutane-nitrile results in a decrease
of the excited-state lifetime of
Cu
A
* that allows for the determination of the second-order
rate constant,
k
q
= 3.7 × 10
8
M
–1
s
–1
, for the quenching process. The excited-state reduction
potential of
Cu
A
* is estimated to be
E
1/2
(Cu
II/I*
) ~ –2.6 V (vs Fc/Fc
+
), based on
E
00
(3.0
eV) and
E
1/2
(Cu
II/I
; ~ 0.4 V vs Fc/Fc
+
; irreversible), which are derived from emission
spectroscopy and electrochemical characterization by cyclic voltammetry (CV); a CV of the
model electrophile shows an irreversible feature at
E
P
~ –2.2 V (Figure 5E).
Steps 1 and 2 of the catalytic cycle (Figure 4).
No reaction between
Cu
A
and 2-chloro-2-phenylbutanenitrile occurs in toluene at –78 °C
after 30 min in the dark, as determined by
1
H NMR spectroscopy. However, when this
mixture is irradiated at –78 °C for 30 min, the initially colorless solution turns dark
purple, and analysis by
1
H NMR spectroscopy shows that a C–C coupled dimer derived
from the electrophile is formed (Figure 5F: 43% yield based on
Cu
A
; ~ 1:1 mixture of
diastereomers). Formation of the dimer is readily accommodated by the reaction mechanism
illustrated in Figure 4; specifically, excitation of
Cu
A
(step 1), followed by chlorine atom
transfer, furnishes R• (step 2), which engages in radical–radical coupling in the absence
of aniline (this R–R dimer is observed as a minor side product in the photoinduced,
copper-catalyzed C–N coupling of this electrophile under the standard conditions; see the
Supporting Information).
Cu
B
.
X-band continuous-wave (CW) EPR spectroscopy of the dark-purple solution obtained
from this photoinduced reduction of 2-chloro-2-phenylbutanenitrile by
Cu
A
shows a signal
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characterized by large
31
P hyperfine couplings from two phosphorous atoms (Figure
5F, black spectrum). We hypothesized that this paramagnet is (
L1
)CuCl
2
(
Cu
B
), which
we then independently synthesized from
L1
and CuCl
2
(toluene, r.t. to –78 °C) and
crystallographically characterized (Figure 5F; see the Supporting Information); the CW-EPR
spectrum of this
Cu
B
at 77 K matches that of the photoinduced reduction of 2-chloro-2-
phenylbutanen-itrile by
Cu
A
(Figure 5F, black and red spectra). Upon monitoring the
standard catalyzed C–N coupling reaction (Table 1), we determined that
Cu
B
is the
predominant, but not the sole, paramagnetic species after 30 min of irradiation (Figure 5F,
blue spectrum; 82% conversion of the electrophile, 66% yield of the coupling product).
Cu
C
and step 3 of the catalytic cycle (Figure 4).
X-band CW-EPR spectroscopic analysis of a catalytic reaction after 10 min of irradiation
shows that a different copper(II) species is dominant at the beginning of the coupling
process (Figure 6A, red spectrum; 32% conversion of the electrophile, 22% yield of the
coupling product; see the Supporting Information). We have determined that a matching
EPR spectrum is observed upon treating
Cu
B
with
p
-toluidine in the presence of BTPP
at –90 °C (Figure 6A, black spectrum; if either
p
-toluidine or BTPP is absent, the black
EPR spectrum is not observed). Under the same conditions, use of a different copper halide
complex (Br instead of Cl) or a different base (2-
tert
-butyl-1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidine
(BTMG) instead of BTPP) leads to no noticeable change in the black EPR spectrum
(including superhyperfine structures resolved in their second derivatives; see the Supporting
Information), consistent with the paramagnet being a copper(II) complex in which
neither the halide nor the Brønsted base is bound (see the Supporting Information). We
therefore postulated that this complex might be three-coordinate [(
L1
)Cu(NHAr)]X (
Cu
C
),
(
L1
)Cu=NAr, or four-coordinate (
L1
)Cu(NHAr)
2
.
This paramagnetic copper complex (
Cu
C
) is unstable at –78 °C, decomposing over 30
min (as observed by CW-EPR spectroscopy) and forming (
E
)-1,2-di-
p
-tolyldiazene (this
dimer is observed as a minor side product in photoinduced, copper-catalyzed N-alkylations
of
p
-toluidine under the standard coupling conditions). Because the thermal instability of
Cu
C
frustrated our attempts at crystallographic characterization, we investigated its structure
through EPR spectroscopy (Figure 6B). The X-band CW-EPR signal of
Cu
C
is dominated
by hyperfine coupling to
63/65
Cu (
I
= 3/2) and two inequivalent
31
P (
I
= 1/2) nuclei, without
any additional hyperfine splitting being clearly resolved (see the Supporting Information).
We investigated the incorporation of
p
-toluidine in the spin system using isotopically labeled
p
-toluidine (
p
-toluidine-
15
N
and
p
-toluidine-
ND
2
). The X-band CW-EPR spectra of these
isotopologues show only very subtle differences in the second-derivative plots (Figure 6B,
bottom panel). For quantitative determination of the natural abundance
14
N and introduced
2
H and
15
N couplings, we turned to pulse EPR spectroscopy. Field-dependent Q-band
hyperfine sublevel correlation (HYSCORE) spectra of
15
N labeled
Cu
C
show a single set
of elongated correlation ridges in the (–,+) quadrant, indicating that the coupling falls into
the strongly coupled regime where
A
> 2
ν
I
(Figure 6C, middle panel).
35
These features
are well simulated by a
single class
of highly anisotropic
15
N hyperfine tensor with
A
(
15
N)
= ±[6, 90, 6] MHz,
a
iso
(
15
N) = ±24.3 MHz. The
14
N signals present in the analogous
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HYSCORE spectra of natural-abundance
Cu
C
also fall into the strong-coupling regime
but are additionally complicated by the influence of
14
N nuclear quadrupole interaction
(Figure 6C, top panel). These spectra are well simulated by scaling the
15
N hyperfine
tensor determined from
15
N HYSCORE by the proportion of
15
N/
14
N gyromagnetic ratios
(|
γ
15
N|/|
γ
14
N| = 1.403), with further variation of the
14
N nuclear quadrupole parameters.
The simulated
14
N quadrupole parameters are identical to those determined for the amide
nitrogen of structurally relevant Ni(III)-amide and -anilido species using similar HYSCORE
spectroscopic methods,
36
and they are consistent with the presence of a trisubstituted
nitrogen with a lone pair oriented roughly orthogonal to the trigonal plane, as expected
for a Cu–NHAr moiety. Q-band HYSCORE spectroscopy of
2
H-labeled
Cu
C
shows a
single set of intense cross-peaks in the (+,+) quadrant that thus fall into the weakly
coupled regime where
A
< 2
ν
I
(Figure 6C, bottom panel), which are well-simulated by
a
single class
of relatively anisotropic
2
H hyperfine tensor with
A
(
2
H) = ±[8.9, 4.3, 1.5]
MHz,
a
iso
(
2
H) = ±4.9 MHz. The presence of multiple equivalent NHAr ligands could be
ruled out by simulations that showed that the equivalent
14
/15
N nuclei would generate
combination peaks
37
,
38
that are absent in the observed spectra. Additionally, multiple
equivalent
1
H couplings of the class detected directly from the
2
H HYSCORE could not
be accommodated by simulations of the X-band CW-EPR spectra (see the Supporting
Information). Collectively, the spectroscopic data are consistent with the presence of a single
trisubstituted nitrogen with a single N–H, i.e.,
Cu
C
as [(
L1
)Cu(NHAr)]Cl.
Further support for the proposed structure of
Cu
C
has been obtained by comparing the
experimentally derived CW-EPR parameters to values predicted by DFT calculations for the
various possible structures. Only three-coordinate [(
L1
)Cu(NHAr)]Cl is predicted to have
EPR parameters similar to those observed (see the Supporting Information).
DFT calculations of
Cu
C
indicate that there is considerable spin density on the aniline
ligand (0.33 e
−
on NH, 0.32 e
−
on the aromatic ring) and less spin density on copper (0.15
e
−
) (Figure 6D), indicating that
Cu
C
is more accurately viewed as a copper(I)–(anilidyl
radical) complex, rather than as its formal assignment as a copper(II)–anilido complex.
39
The substantial spin density at the para carbon of the aniline (0.17 e
−
) is consistent with our
observation of significant C–C bond formation at that position when it is not blocked.
39
–
41
CONCLUSION
We have developed a photoinduced, copper-catalyzed method for the enantioconvergent N-
alkylation of anilines by an array of racemic tertiary alkyl electrophiles that generates fully-
substituted stereocenters with good ee. The catalyst, composed of commercially available
components, effects asymmetric C–N bond formation at –78 °C, whereas the corresponding
uncatalyzed coupling does not proceed at a significant rate even at 80 °C. Although the use
of alkyl chlorides as electrophiles is the primary focus of this study, examples have been
presented of the use of uncommon related electrophiles, specifically, an alkyl fluoride and
an alkyl carbonate, under similar conditions. Mechanistic studies have provided support for
key intermediates and elementary steps in the proposed catalytic cycle. Future investigations
will explore the development of other enantioselective bond-forming processes that employ
catalysts based on earth-abundant copper.
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Supplementary Material
Refer to Web version on PubMed Central for supplementary material.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study is dedicated to Prof. K. Barry Sharpless on the occasion of his 80th birthday. Support has been provided
by the National Institutes of Health (National Institute of General Medical Sciences: R01-GM109194), the Korea
Foundation for Advanced Studies (graduate research fellowship to H.C.), the National Science Foundation (support
of the Caltech EPR Facility; NSF-1531940), the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation (support of the Beckman
Institute Laser Resource Center and the Molecular Materials Resource Center), and the Dow Next-Generation
Educator Fund (grant to Caltech). We thank Dr. Bruce S. Brunschwig (Molecular Materials Resource Center), Dr.
Mona Shahgoli (Mass Spectroscopy Facility), Dr. Michael K. Takase (X-Ray Crystallography Facility), Dr. David
Vander Velde (NMR Facility), Dr. Scott C. Virgil (Center for Catalysis and Chemical Synthesis), Dr. Jay R. Winkler
(Beckman Institute Laser Resource Center), Dr. Caiyou Chen, Dr. Heejun Lee, Dr. Felix Schneck, Dr. Cooper
Citek, Dr. Jaika Dörfler, Dr. Dylan J. Freas, Dr. Pablo Garrido Barros, Dr. Giuseppe Zuccarello, Dr. Suzanne M.
Batiste and Christian M. Johansen for technical assistance and
/
or helpful discussions.
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We were unable to carry out the 31P NMR spectroscopic studies at −78 °C, due to overlap of the
low-temperature spectrum of
Cu
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We have demonstrated that CuC can couple with an organic radical to afford a new C–N bond. Thus,
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Figure 1.
Anilines wherein the nitrogen is attached to a stereocenter. A) Examples of bioactive
compounds. B) This report: Photoinduced, copper-catalyzed enantioconvergent alkylations
of anilines by racemic tertiary alkyl electrophiles.
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Figure 2.
Tertiary
α
-halonitriles as electrophiles. A) Scope of electrophiles. B) Scope of nucleophiles.
Reactions were conducted on a 0.8-mmol scale, and yields are for purified compounds. All
data are the average of two runs. X=Cl, unless otherwise noted.
a
X=Br. Bpin, pinacolboryl.
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Figure 3.
Tertiary
α
-haloamides as electrophiles. Reactions were conducted on a 0.8-mmol scale,
and yields are for purified compounds. All data are the average of two runs. X=Cl, unless
otherwise noted.
a
X=Br.
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Figure 4.
Outline of a possible mechanism for the photoinduced, copper-catalyzed enantioconvergent
alkylation of anilines by racemic tertiary electrophiles. P
P =
L1
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Figure 5.
Mechanistic studies:
Cu
A
and
Cu
B
(in toluene at r.t., unless otherwise noted). A) Absorption
and emission spectra of
Cu
A
(0.5 mM), reaction mixture ([
Cu
A
] = 0.5 mM, [2-chloro-2-
phenylbutanenitrile] = 5 mM, [
p
-toluidine] = 6 mM, and [BTPP] = 6 mM), blue-LED lamp.
B)
31
P NMR spectroscopy (162 MHz): comparison of a reaction mixture prior to irradiation
versus
Cu
A
. C) Luminescence lifetime of
Cu
A
* (
λ
probe
= 480 nm). D) Stern-Volmer
quenching of
Cu
A
* by 2-chloro-2-phenylbutanenitrile (
λ
pump
= 355 nm,
λ
probe
= 580 nm).
E) Redox potentials (0.1 M TBAPF
6
in THF; scan rate = 20–50 mV/s). F) Steps 1 and 2
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of the catalytic cycle: X-band CW-EPR spectra of
Cu
B
from a photoinduced reduction of
2-chloro-2-phenylbutanenitrile by
Cu
A
([
Cu
A
] = 5 mM and [2-chloro-2-phenylbutanenitrile]
= 50 mM; black), independent synthesis of
Cu
B
(red; X-ray crystal structure: thermal
ellipsoids at 50% probability (solvents and hydrogen atoms are omitted for clarity)), and a
catalyzed reaction after 30 min at –78 °C (blue); acquisition parameters: MW frequency =
9.37 GHz, MW power = 140 μW, modulation amplitude = 0.4 mT, conversion time = 5.02
ms, and temperature = 77 K.
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Figure 6.
Mechanistic studies:
Cu
C
. A) X-band CW-EPR spectra of a catalyzed reaction after 5 min
at –78 °C (red) and of
Cu
C
prepared independently (black); acquisition parameters: MW
frequency = 9.36 GHz, MW power = 140 μW, modulation amplitude = 0.4 mT, conversion
time = 5.02 ms, and temperature = 77 K. B) X-band CW-EPR spectra (top panel) and 2
nd
derivative (bottom panel) of
Cu
C
in toluene generated from isotopologues of
p
-toluidine
(black traces); acquisition parameters: MW frequency = 9.372–9.374 GHz, MW power =
140 μW, modulation amplitude = 0.1 mT, conversion time = 5.3 ms, and temperature = 77 K.
C) Q-band HYSCORE of
Cu
C
in toluene generated from isotopologues of
p-
toluidine (left)
measured at 1206 mT (
g
= 2.015) with overlay of
14/15
N or
2
H simulation contours (right,
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red) with experimental contours (right, gray); experimental conditions: MW frequency =
34.005 GHz,
τ
= 128 ns, t
1
= t
2
= 100 ns, Δt
1
= Δt
2
= 12 ns, shot repetition time (srt) = 1.5
ms, and temperature = 30 K. D) Calculated spin-density plot of
Cu
C
viewed perpendicular
to the NHAr plane and at a 45° angle (bp86 def2-TZVP; contour value = 0.005).
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