Physical Organic Study of Structure–Activity–Enantioselectivity Relationships in Asymmetric Bifunctional Thiourea Catalysis: Hints for the Design of New Organocatalysts

Abstract

Acidity effect: Correlations of pKa with catalytic activity and stereoselectivity were determined and linear free energy relationships (LFERs) were observed for both pKa−log (k) and pKa−log (R/S) correlations in meta- and/or para-substituted aromatic thioureas (see figure). These results provided a basis for new catalyst development and several improved catalysts were identified in our initial attempts. Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as ”Supporting Information”. Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.