Asymmetric Kinetic Resolution of 2‐Aryl Oxetanes by Dinuclear Titanium Radical Catalysis

2-Aryl oxetanes are valuable strained-ring synthons, yet a broadly useful chemical kinetic resolution of this substrate class has remained largely unavailable. Here we report a dinuclear (salen)titanium-catalyzed radical ring-opening strategy for the kinetic resolution of 2-aryl oxetanes under mild conditions. The reaction accommodates diverse aryl-, heteroaryl-, and drug-conjugated substrates, delivering enantioenriched oxetanes with high regio- and enantioselectivity. The resulting oxetanes serve as versatile chiral platforms and enable concise, modular, and enantio-retentive access to pharmaceutically relevant targets, including (S)-Atomoxetine, (S)-Nisoxetine, and (S)-Fluoxetine. Mechanistic studies support a Curtin-Hammett-type stereochemical model in which diastereomeric Ti-oxetane intermediates, differentiated by an unusual ligand-substrate C-H···π interaction, display distinct stability/reactivity relationships during C─O bond homolysis. Beyond establishing a broadly useful kinetic resolution of 2-aryl oxetanes, this work reveals an unusual mode of attractive ligand-substrate recognition in salen-titanium radical catalysis.

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Journal
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Published
2026-08-17
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.9795533
Primary Topic
Radical Photochemical Reactions
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Asymmetric Kinetic Resolution of 2‐Aryl Oxetanes by Dinuclear Titanium Radical Catalysis

Jingda Liu, Li‐Ping Xu, Jie Jiang, Yongqiang Zhang et al.
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Radical Photochemical Reactions
article

Asymmetric Kinetic Resolution of 2‐Aryl Oxetanes by Dinuclear Titanium Radical Catalysis

Jingda Liu, Li‐Ping Xu, Jie Jiang, Yongqiang Zhang, Huaxi Sun, Hui‐Mei Jiang
article en

Abstract

2-Aryl oxetanes are valuable strained-ring synthons, yet a broadly useful chemical kinetic resolution of this substrate class has remained largely unavailable. Here we report a dinuclear (salen)titanium-catalyzed radical ring-opening strategy for the kinetic resolution of 2-aryl oxetanes under mild conditions. The reaction accommodates diverse aryl-, heteroaryl-, and drug-conjugated substrates, delivering enantioenriched oxetanes with high regio- and enantioselectivity. The resulting oxetanes serve as versatile chiral platforms and enable concise, modular, and enantio-retentive access to pharmaceutically relevant targets, including (S)-Atomoxetine, (S)-Nisoxetine, and (S)-Fluoxetine. Mechanistic studies support a Curtin-Hammett-type stereochemical model in which diastereomeric Ti-oxetane intermediates, differentiated by an unusual ligand-substrate C-H···π interaction, display distinct stability/reactivity relationships during C─O bond homolysis. Beyond establishing a broadly useful kinetic resolution of 2-aryl oxetanes, this work reveals an unusual mode of attractive ligand-substrate recognition in salen-titanium radical catalysis.

Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Shandong University (CN), University of Jinan (CN), State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Program
Openalex Percentile: Top 18%
Radical Photochemical Reactions
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