New Approaches Towards the Asymmetric Allylation of the Formyl and Imino Groups via Strained Silane Lewis Acids

This dissertation presents new approaches towards the asymmetric allylation of the imino and formyl functionalities by using strained silanes as Lewis acids. Here in the Laboratory of Professor James L. Leighton, chiral homoallylic alcohols and amines are considered privileged products given their important role as building blocks in natural product synthesis. The new approaches reported herein are focused on expanding the scope of imine allylation reactions and gaining full synthetic utility of the corresponding homoallylic amine products by means of economic and user-friendly protocols. In addition, the discovery of a novel catalytic and mild approach to the asymmetric allylation of aldehydes will be the focus of discussion at the end of this works. Chapter 1 will give a brief introduction about general concepts in asymmetric allylation of aldehydes and imines as well as in applications of strained silane Lewis acids in these reactions. Chapter 2 will discuss the development of a novel asymmetric allylation method for N-heteroaryl hydrazones and the N-heteroaryl cleavage from the product to unmask the corresponding free amines. Chapter 3 will carry on these studies into different imine activating groups in search for a more general and user-friendly approach towards both allylation and cleavage protocols. Finally, Chapter 3 will discuss the development of a new methodology in which chiral bismuth (III) complexes can catalyze the asymmetric allylation of aldehydes with achiral strained allylsilanes.