Acyl fluorides stereoselectivity

Stereoselective reduction of a-alkyl-3-keto acid derivatives represents an attractive alternative to stereoselective aldol condensation. Complementary methods for pr uction of either diastereoisomer of a-alkyl-3-hydroxy amides from the corresponding a-alkyl-3-keto amides (53) have been developed. Zinc borohydride in ether at -78 C gave the syn isomer (54) with excellent selectivity ( 7 3) in high yield via a chelated transition state. A Felkin transition state with the amide in the perpendicular position accounted for reduction with potassium triethylborohydride in ether at 0 C to give the stereochemi-cally pure anti diastereoisomer (55). The combination of these methods with asymmetric acylation provided an effective solution to the asymmetric aldol problem (Scheme 6). In contrast, the reduction of a-methyl-3-keto esters with zinc borohydride was highly syn selective when the ketone was aromatic or a,3-unsaturated, but less reliable in aliphatic cases. Hydrosilylation also provided complete dia-stereocontrol (Scheme 7). The fluoride-mediated reaction was anti selective ( 8 2) while reduction in trifluoroacetic acid favored production of the syn isomer (>98 2). No loss of optical purity was observed under these mild conditions. 

Conversion of Thioketones to Ketones. Thioketones generated by a Norrish-type photofragmentation of a sulfenyl acetophenone are trapped in situ by [3 + 2] dipolar cycloaddition with a silyl nitronate (eq 10). Fluoride treatment of the resulting heterocycle produces the ketone. This transformation is compatible with a variety of functional groups and has been used as part of a synthetic manipulation in which an a-acyl cyclic thioether is converted stereoselectively, with ring enlargement, to a ketolactone (methynolide synthesis). ... 

Reactions with secondary acceptors proceeded in lower yields and exhibited sharply diminished stereoselectivities. It should be mentioned that 1,2-epoxides can be converted [43] to other glycosylating agents, thiophenyl glycoside 66, pentenyl glycoside 67, fluoride 68, which can be helpful after acylation at C-2 for the synthesis of 2-deoxy-P-glycosides (Scheme 15). 

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