Organocatalytic Si-CAryl Bond Functionalization-Enabled Atroposelective Synthesis of Axially Chiral Biaryl Siloxanes

J Am Chem Soc. 2023 Sep 20;145(37):20646-20654. doi: 10.1021/jacs.3c07839. Epub 2023 Sep 11.

Abstract

Chiral organosilanes are valuable chemical entities in the development of functional organic materials, asymmetric catalysis, and medicinal chemistry. As an important strategy for constructing chiral organosilanes, the asymmetric functionalization of the Si-CAryl bond typically relies on transition-metal catalysis. Herein, we present an efficient method for atroposelective synthesis of biaryl siloxane atropisomers via organocatalytic Si-C bond functionalization of dinaphthosiloles with silanol nucleophiles. The reaction proceeds through an asymmetric protonation and simultaneous Si-C bond cleavage/silanolysis sequence in the presence of a newly developed chiral Brønsted acid catalyst. The versatile nature of the Si-C bond streamlines the derivatization of axially chiral products into other functional atropisomers, thereby expanding the applicability of this method.