Enantioselective Synthesis of Chiral α-Azido and α-Aryloxy Quaternary Stereogenic Centers via the Phase-Transfer-Catalyzed α-Alkylation of α-Bromomalonates, Followed by SN2 Substitution.

A new efficient synthetic method for chiral α-azido-α-alkylmalonates and α-aryloxy-α-alkylmalonates was developed. The enantioselective α-alkylation of diphenylmethyl tert-butyl α-bromomalonate under phase-transfer catalytic conditions [(S,S)-3,4,5-trifluorophenyl-NAS bromide, 50% KOH, toluene, and -40 °C) provided the corresponding α-bromo-α-alkylmalonates in high chemical yields (≤98%) and high optical yields (≤99% ee). The resulting α-alkylated products were converted to α-azido-α-alkylmalonates (≤96%, ≤97% ee) and α-aryloxy-α-alkylmalonates (≤79%, ≤93% ee) by SN2 substitution with sodium azide and aryloxides, respectively.