A -alkylated synthesis

In the last fifteen years macrolides have been the major target molecules for complex stereoselective total syntheses. This choice has been made independently by R.B. Woodward and E.J. Corey in Harvard, and has been followed by many famous fellow Americans, e.g., G. Stork, K.C. Nicolaou, S. Masamune, C.H. Heathcock, and S.L. Schreiber, to name only a few. There is also no other class of compounds which is so suitable for retrosynthetic analysis and for the application of modem synthetic reactions, such as Sharpless epoxidation, Noyori hydrogenation, and stereoselective alkylation and aldol reactions. We have chosen a classical synthesis by E.J. Corey and two recent syntheses by A.R. Chamberlin and S.L. Schreiber as examples. 

A general synthesis of tiisubstituted alkenes containing three different alkyl substituents is achieved by the following methodology (288) ... 

This method is suitable only for the preparation of 4-substituted and/or 3,4-disubstituted derivatives, the substituents being only alkyl, aryl or heteroaryl groups. The presence of electron-withdrawing groups in the unsaturated side chain prevents the cyclization step. This is understandable if the influence of such groups on the stability of the intermediate carbonium ion is considered. Of more limited application is the analogous cyclization of diazotized o-aminophenylpropiolic acids, the reaction being referred to as the Richter synthesis (Scheme 70). A related synthesis (also referred to as the Neber-Bossel synthesis)... 

These a-acylaminoketones also provided a convenient synthesis of thiazoles on treatment with phosphorus pentasulfide (Gabriel s method). Although yields range from 45 to 80%, substituents are usually restricted to alkyl, aryl and alkoxy derivatives. Thus, reaction of the a-acylaminoketone (4) with P4S1Q gave the thiazole (5), and thiazole (7) itself was prepared in this manner in 62% yield from formylaminoacetal (6) (14CB3163). The corresponding 5-ethoxy compound was obtained from the a-formamidoester and phosphorus pentasulfide in an inert solvent. 

The reaction of appropriate 1,3-diketones (302) with hydroxylamine hydrochloride in pyridine (79MI41601) has been reported to result in a regiospecific synthesis of 3-alkyl-5-arylisoxazoles, as has the reaction of an a -bromoenone (307) with hydroxylamine hydrochloride in ethanol in the presence of potassium carbonate (81H(16)145). Regiospecific syntheses of 5-alkyl-3-phenylisoxazoles also result from the reaction of an a-bromoenone (307) with hydroxylamine in the presence of sodium ethoxide (81H(16)145). 3-Aryl-5-methylisoxazoles were prepared from phosphonium salts (304) and hydroxylamine (80CB2852). 

Methylene thiirane is obtained by thermolysis of several spirothiirane derivatives which are formally Diels-Alder adducts of methylenethiirane and cyclopentadiene or anthracene <78JA7436). They were prepared via lithio-2-(methylthio)-l,3-oxazolines (c/. Scheme 121). A novel synthesis of the allene episulfide derivatives, 2-isopropylidene-3,3- dimethylthiirane (good yield) or its 5-oxide (poor yield), involves irradiation of 2,2,3,3-tetramethyl-cyclopropanethione or its 5-oxide (81AG293). Substituents on the thiirane ring may be modified to give new thiiranes (Section 5.06.3.9). The synthesis of thiirane 1-oxides and thiirane 1,1-dioxides by oxidation is discussed in Section 5.06.3.3.8 and the synthesis of 5-alkylthiiranium salts by alkylation of thiiranes is discussed in Section 5.06.3.3.4. Thiirene 1-oxides and 1,1-dioxides may be obtained by dehydrohalogenation of 2-halothiirane 1-oxides and 1,1-dioxides (Section 5.06.4.1.2). 

A number of alternative multi-step procedures for the synthesis of a-tert-alkyl ketones are known, none of which possess wide generality. A previous synthesis of 2-tert-penty1cyclopentanone involved reaction of N-1-cyclopentenylpyrrol 1 dine with 3-chloro-3-methy1-l-butyne and reduction of the resulting acetylene (overall yield 46 ). However, all other enamines tested afford much lower yields. Cuprate addition to unsaturated ketones may be useful in certain cases. Other indirect methods have been briefly reviewed. ... 

Although the first all-sulfur macrocycles were prepared many years ago " the first systematic study of such compounds was initiated by Busch and his coworkers , who were interested in the cation binding properties of such ligands. A sequential synthesis was utilized to produce 1,4,8,11-tetrathiacyclotetradecane [tetrathia-14-crown-4 (70)] . In the first step, 1,3-propanedithiol is metallated using sodium and alkylated with 2-chloroethanol. The diol was then treated with thiourea to form the dimercapto-dithioether compound 9. The latter was once again metallated with sodium and allowed to react with 1,3-dibromopropane. The yield of 70 in the ring closure step, conducted at high dilution in absolute ethanol, was 7.5% after recrystallization. The entire sequence is illustrated in Eq. (6.8) . ... 

Because enolate anions ffle sources of nucleophilic car bon, one potential use in organic synthesis is their- reaction with alkyl halides to give a-alkyl derivatives of aldehydes and ketones ... 

Enamine addition to an unsaturated ester, followed by an intramolecular alkylation, provided a facile synthesis of an adamantane bis-/3-ketoester 674). Michael addition of pyrrolidinocycloheptene to other acrylic esters 668) and of other enamines to acrylic acids 675), a chloroacrylonitrile 676), and an unsaturated cyanocarboxamide (577) were reported. 

---