Crown-ether-modified cyclic dipeptides as supramolecular chiral catalysts

With the objective to develop supramolecular catalysts for useful chemical transformations, we report here a rapid and efficient solid-phase synthesis of novel cyclic dipeptides (crown-CDPs) with a diversity of L-DOPA derived crown ether substituents and stereochemistry. We prepared and characterized 14 crown-CDPs and evaluated their efficiency as supramolecular epoxidation catalysts in a water/hexanes biphasic system. Yields increase significantly in the presence of the crown-CDPs, though enantioselectivity depends on the nature of the substituents. The results reported constitute a useful approach for chiral epoxides of interest and further illustrate the potential of cyclic peptides as supramolecular catalysts.