Isotellurourea Lewis Base Catalysis

Chiral Lewis bases have emerged as powerful catalysts for a multitude of valuable asymmetric transformations. One class of chiral Lewis bases that holds much potential for asymmetric organocatalysis are the so-called isochalcogenoureas. Over the years the S-based members of this family, the isothioureas, have been established for a variety of different applications. Recently also first reports describing the potential of analogous Se-variants appeared, which showed superior catalytic potential as compared to the S-derivatives. Based on the increased reactivity trend when switching from lighter to heavier chalcogen-based isochalcogenoureas (O < S < Se), we now plan to introduce and establish the so far unprecedented isotelluroureas as Lewis base catalysts within this project. This will result in a new class of highly reactive and versatile high-performance catalysts that can be used for applications where other established systems come to their limits. Mario Waser