An analysis of the complementary stereoselective alkylations of imidazolidinone derivatives toward α-quaternary proline-based amino amides.

Alkylations of proline-based imidazolidinones are described based on the principle of self-regeneration of stereocenters (SRS), affording high levels of either the or configured products. Stereoselectivity is dictated solely on the nature of the "temporary" group, where isobutyraldehyde-derived imidazolidinones provide the configured products and 1-naphthaldehyde-derived imidazolidinones afford the complementary configured products. These stereodivergent products can be readily cleaved to afford both α-alkylated proline enantiomers from readily available L-proline. A series of imidazolidinones were alkylated to investigate the origin of the -selectivity. Potential contributions toward the observed -selectivity are discussed on the basis of these experiments, suggesting a refined hypothesis for selectivity may be in order.