Enantioselective organocatalyzed synthesis of 2-amino-3-cyano-4H-chromene derivatives

The structural motif that results from the fusion of a benzene ring to a heterocyclic pyran ring, known as chromene, is broadly found in nature and it has been reported to be associated with a wide range of biological activity. Moreover, asymmetric organocatalysis is a discipline in expansion that is already recognized as a well-established tool for obtaining enantiomerically enriched compounds. This review covers the particular case of the asymmetric synthesis of 2-amino-3-cyano-4H-chromenes using organocatalysis. Herein, we show the most illustrative examples of the methods developed by diverse research groups, following a classification based on these five different approaches: (1) addition of naphthol compounds to substituted α,α-dicyanoolefins; (2) addition of malononitrile to substituted o-vinylphenols; (3) addition of malononitrile to N-protected o-iminophenols; (4) Michael addition of nucleophiles to 2-iminochromene derivatives; and (5) organocatalyzed formal (4+2) cycloaddition reaction. In most cases, chiral thioureas have been found to be effective catalysts to promote the synthetic processes, and generally a bifunctional mode of action has been envisioned for them. In addition, squaramides and cinchona derivatives have been occasionally used as suitable catalysts for the substrates activation.