A- mevalonolactone

A)-Mevalonolactone [mevalolactone, (/ )-tetrahy-dro-4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2A/-pyran-2-one]. 

On standing in dilute aqueous acid compound A is smoothly converted to mevalonolactone... 

Finally, natural (i )-(-)-mevalonolactone, a key intermediate from a broad spectrum of cellular biological processes and their regulation, was synthesised via eight steps in 55% overall yield and > 99% ee (Scheme 19). In the key step, the aforementioned enantioconvergent chemoenzymatic deracemization route was applied. Thus, 2-methyl-2-benzyl-oxirane ( )-2 g was deracemized on a large scale (10 g) using lyophilized cells of Nocardia EHl and sulfuric... 

CPO has been used occasionally in complex syntheses. An important application of CPO as an enantioselective epoxidation catalyst is the efficient synthesis of (R)-2-mevalonolactone (Scheme 2.26a) [270]. A survey of the literature revealed that the previous methods required many steps to produce the lactone, in low overall yield, with moderate ee, in addition to expensive starting materials. Meanwhile, a retro-synthetic analysis starting with an appropriately functionalized epoxide provided confidence that CPO could rescue the situation if used in the key stereogenic step. Another completed synthesis is depicted in Scheme 2.26b. Again, the epoxide is generated in high yield with conversion to (R)-dimethyl-2-methylaziridine-l,2-dicarboxylate, which may serve as a synthon for P-methylamino acids [283],... 

Scheme 2.26 CPO-catalyzed epoxidations as key steps in the syntheses of (R)-2-mevalonolactone (a) and (R)-dimethyl-2-methylaziridine-l,2-dicarboxylate (b).

M. Fetizon, M. Golfier, and J. M. Louis, Highly selective oxidations of diols by silver carbonate, Chem. Commun., (1969) 1102 A new synthesis of lactones application to ( )-mevalonolactone, ibid., (1969) 1118-1119. 

The typical secondary metabolites of soft corals are diterpenoids, although some species also produce sesquiterpenoids. The sesquiterpene portion of furoquinol (Structure 2.102) is labeled by [2-3H]mevalonolactone in Sinularia capillosa,m while Heteroxenia sp. converts acetate and meva-lonate into cubebol (Structure 2.103) and clavukerin A (Structure 2.104).188 In contrast, acetate is used for cetyl palmitate synthesis in Alcyonium molle, but not for de novo diterpene biosynthesis.188... 

C. Mevalonolactone-2-13C. In a 250-mL Paar hydrogenation bottle are placed 50 mL of 95% ethanol, 0.107 g (0.001 mol) of palladium black (Note 14), and 0.519 g (0.00217 mol) of 5-benzyl-oxy-3-hydroxy-3-methylpentanoic acid-2-13C. The bottle is attached to a Paar hydrogenation apparatus (Note 15), charged to 50 psig with hydrogen, and shaken at room temperature for 2 hr. The... 

The Reformatsky reactions of methyl or ethyl bromoacetate with 4-acetoxy-,2,24 4-benzyloxy-,2 4-tetrahydropyranyloxy-,2 4-chloro-,8 and 4,4-dimethoxy-2-butanone1418 have been carried out. The adducts were converted to mevalonolactone by hydrolysis and, in the case of the acetal reactant, by appropriate reduction and oxidation procedures. The same Reformatsky-type syntheses of mevalonolactone have also been performed using the lithium and magnesium carbanions of acetate esters5,19 25 26 and the dianion of acetic acid28,27 instead of the usual zinc reagent. The intramolecular Reformatsky reaction of 4-(bromoacetoxy)-2-butanone gives mevalonolactone directly.28 A related route to mevalonolactone involves boron trifluoride-catalyzed cycloaddition of ketene to 4-acetoxy-2-butanone followed by hydrolysis.183... 

Enzymes from Gluconobacter roseus organisms proved somewhat less venatile, but did allow a simple enantioselective synthesis, of the unnatural enantiomer of mevalonolactone (35 Scheme 13) in reasonable optical purity. ... 

Pig Liver Esterase (PLE). This is the more used car-boxylesterase (carboxylic-ester hydrolase, EC 3.1.1.1, CAS 9016-18-6) which physiologically catalyzes the hydrolysis of carboxylic acid esters to the free acid anion and alcohol. PLE is a serine hydrolase which has been widely used for the preparation of chiral synthons and these applications have been fully reviewed. An active-site model for interpreting and predicting the specificity of the enzyme has been published. In the pioneering studies of the enzyme applications field, PLE was used for the chiral synthesis of mevalonolactone. Prochiral 3-substituted glutaric acid diesters... 

C]Mevalonolactone is synthesized in two steps from [2- C]acetic acid and 4-benzyloxybutan-2-one although a longer route is required for [3,4- C2]mevalonolactone. The structure of the hemiterpenoid mustelan (8) from the anal glands of the mink (Mustela vison) and the polecat (Mustela putorius) has been... 

S) -( — )-2-Methyl-2-hydroxy-y-butyrolactone (176a) is a useful synthon for the asymmetric construction of acyclic tertiary a-hydroxy acids found in natural products such as the pheromone frontalin and mevalonolactone, the biosynthetic precursor of terpenoids and steroids. This compound is readily prepared from lactone (175) using the asymmetric enolate oxidation protocol and dimethoxy oxaziridine ( + )-(158) <95JOC6l48>. The a-hydroxy lactone (176b), isolated as the benzoate, was obtained in 84% ee and 70% yield. A single crystallization from ethyl acetate improved the ee to >94% (Equation (41)). 

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