Development of Guanidine-Bisurea Bifunctional Organocatalyst Bearing Chirality at the Inner and Outer Sides of the Urea Groups, and Application to Enantioselective α-Hydroxylation of Pyranoindolizine Intermediate for Camptothecin Synthesis

Pyranoindolizine is a tricyclic structure found in various biologically active compounds, such as camptothecin (CPT) and its derivatives. In the case of CPTs, the chirality at the α-position in the α-hydroxyl lactone moiety of pyranoindolizine is important for the antitumor activity. This paper deals with enantioselective oxidation of the α-position in pyranoindolizine lactone, which corresponds at C20 in CPT, with cumene hydroperoxide (CHP) in the presence of newly synthesized guanidine-bisurea bifunctional organocatalysts bearing chirality on both the inner and outer sides of the urea groups.