Catalysis Letters, Vol.131, No.3-4, 432-439, 2009
Highly Enantioselective Organocatalytic Addition of Ethyl Trifluoropyruvate to Ketones with Subzero Temperature Microwave Activation
An enantioselective organocatalytic micro-wave-assisted method for the addition of ethyl trifluoro-pyruvate to ketones to synthesize highly enantiomerically enriched organofluorine synthons is described. Besides the high yields, diastereo- and enantioselectivities, the most important observation is that the use of microwave irradiation at subzero temperatures proved to be beneficial. The results indicate that subzero temperature microwave chemistry is a potentially intriguing tool for asymmetric synthesis.
Keywords:Microwave irradiation;Asymmetric synthesis;Organofluorine;Subzero temperature;Organocatalysis