Uploaded March 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Using chiral auxiliaries for asymmetric synthesis - diastereoselective aldol reactions with chelating enolates and cyclic transition states. The transition states can be constructed using the Zimmerman-Traxler model.
Motivation in my previous video:
youtu.be/XZ30Fup3xyA
Following selective enolisation, either by hard enolisation with strong bases such as LDA or by soft enolisation methods using a Lewis acid and a weak base, a stereodefined enolate can react with aldehydes in an aldol reaction. Both the nucleophile and electrophile are prochiral and so we form two new stereocentres from this reaction. The reaction is diastereoselective. The diastereoselectivity can be increased by using chelation into a six-membered ring transition state, in which big groups prefer to go equatorial.
A chiral auxiliary can be used to select further for a particular combination of stereocentres that can be formed in this reaction. The chiral auxiliary adds another level of diastereoselectivity and the Evans auxiliary can lead to very high d.r. (diastereomeric ratio). When the aldol reaction is complete, the chiral auxiliary can be cleaved carefully, separate by chromatograhpy, and recycled.
Another type of chiral auxiliary is the lactate auxiliary which uses a stereocentre derived from lactic acid. Both enantiomers of lactic acid are available in the chiral pool. There are similar types of diastereoselectivity observed with these chiral auxiliaries and this topic will be expanded upon in my next video.
REFERENCES
Evans Aldol Reaction:
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1981, 103, 8, 2127–2129
doi.org/10.1021/ja00398a058
Lactate Aldol Auxiliaries:
Tet.Letters Vol. 35. No. 48, pp. 9083-9086. 1994
doi.org/10.1016/0040-4039(94)88434-X
FURTHER DETAIL
Felkin-Anh Model:
youtu.be/JvF5NQ54-z4
Boron aldol reaction:
youtu.be/b9KWPWeVkZg
Another example of use of chiral auxiliaries:
youtu.be/zlclJzdrtBI
#chemistry #organicchemistry #education
Using chiral auxiliaries for asymmetric synthesis - diastereoselective aldol reactions with chelating enolates and cyclic transition states. The transition states can be constructed using the Zimmerman-Traxler model.
Motivation in my previous video:
youtu.be/XZ30Fup3xyA
Following selective enolisation, either by hard enolisation with strong bases such as LDA or by soft enolisation methods using a Lewis acid and a weak base, a stereodefined enolate can react with aldehydes in an aldol reaction. Both the nucleophile and electrophile are prochiral and so we form two new stereocentres from this reaction. The reaction is diastereoselective. The diastereoselectivity can be increased by using chelation into a six-membered ring transition state, in which big groups prefer to go equatorial.
A chiral auxiliary can be used to select further for a particular combination of stereocentres that can be formed in this reaction. The chiral auxiliary adds another level of diastereoselectivity and the Evans auxiliary can lead to very high d.r. (diastereomeric ratio). When the aldol reaction is complete, the chiral auxiliary can be cleaved carefully, separate by chromatograhpy, and recycled.
Another type of chiral auxiliary is the lactate auxiliary which uses a stereocentre derived from lactic acid. Both enantiomers of lactic acid are available in the chiral pool. There are similar types of diastereoselectivity observed with these chiral auxiliaries and this topic will be expanded upon in my next video.
REFERENCES
Evans Aldol Reaction:
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1981, 103, 8, 2127–2129
doi.org/10.1021/ja00398a058
Lactate Aldol Auxiliaries:
Tet.Letters Vol. 35. No. 48, pp. 9083-9086. 1994
doi.org/10.1016/0040-4039(94)88434-X
FURTHER DETAIL
Felkin-Anh Model:
youtu.be/JvF5NQ54-z4
Boron aldol reaction:
youtu.be/b9KWPWeVkZg
Another example of use of chiral auxiliaries:
youtu.be/zlclJzdrtBI
#chemistry #organicchemistry #education










![Sumatriptan Synthesis Explained - Organic Chemistry (Indoles, Diazotation)
A quick run-through of key ideas when planning on making indole ring systems in organic chemistry, showcased in the synethesis of sumatriptan.
I go over the mechanisms of the Fischer indole synthesis and a diazotation reaction.
#organicchemistry #chemistry #synthesis
Sumatriptan was released by Glaxo in the 1990s as a pharmaceutical agent for the treatment for migraines, after the standard medicinal chemistry exploration. The large-scale industrial synthesis involves a Fischer indole disconnection as its key step of making the bicyclic aromatic rings system. The mechanism involves a [3,3] sigmatropic rearrangement (a pericyclic reaction) in which a weak nitrogen-nitrogen bond is broken at the expense of big thermodynamic benefits of the generation of aromaticity. The indole system can be seen to be aromatic by counting electrons and showing that it conforms to Huckels rule.
The formation of the the N-N bond is done by a diazotation reaction, and goes through an intermediate diazonium ion. This is a common reaction for forming new bonds directly between two nitrogen atoms and uses nitrous acid (HONO) reacted with an (aryl) amine. These diazonium ions can also be used as intermediates with a really good leaving group - being nitrogen gas - in other types of substitution reactions. The diazonium ion also is prone to oxidative addition type reaction mechanisms on interaction with appropriate metals.
The starting materials for the industrial synthesis come from classic nitration conditions using nitric acid and sulfuric acid. The para selectivity of nitration can be explained mainly from the stabilisation of an intermediate carbocation.
The other aldehyde starting material is easier to handle on a large scale when masked as the dimethyl acetal - this, for example, make it less sensitive to hydrate formation with water and therefore also unintended oxidation under atmospheric conditions. The dimethyl acetal collapses under the Fischer indole reaction conditions, being aqueous acid, by the usual SN1 type process.
There are other alternative retrosynthesis ideas that can be used for this molecule, but most will involve using the central indole core as the focus. There are many alternative indole formation mechanisms and processes, that each might have their merit on occasion. The Fischer indole is probably the most archetypal disconnection, and it is certainly one of the most traditional and well-precedented. When using other carbonyl compounds in this type of mechanism, care must be taken for the regioselectivity for the enamine formation - under most circumstances this is under thermodynamic control. Disconnections therefore need to be taken carefully if the indole ring has more substitution, particularly if there are groups at the 2 and 3 positions (these are on the pyrrole type ring component of the indole). Sumatriptan Synthesis Explained - Organic Chemistry (Indoles, Diazotation)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/v2lSd253nwU/mqdefault.jpg)