Asymmetric aldol condensation

Acetoxy-l,7-octadiene (40) is converted into l,7-octadien-3-one (124) by hydrolysis and oxidation. The most useful application of this enone 124 is bisannulation to form two fused six-membered ketonesfl 13], The Michael addition of 2-methyl-1,3-cyclopentanedione (125) to 124 and asymmetric aldol condensation using (5)-phenylalanine afford the optically active diketone 126. The terminal alkene is oxidi2ed with PdCl2-CuCl2-02 to give the methyl ketone 127 in 77% yield. Finally, reduction of the double bond and aldol condensation produce the important intermediate 128 of steroid synthesis in optically pure form[114]. 

Scheme 5 details the asymmetric synthesis of dimethylhydrazone 14. The synthesis of this fragment commences with an Evans asymmetric aldol condensation between the boron enolate derived from 21 and trans-2-pentenal (20). Syn aldol adduct 29 is obtained in diastereomerically pure form through a process which defines both the relative and absolute stereochemistry of the newly generated stereogenic centers at carbons 29 and 30 (92 % yield). After reductive removal of the chiral auxiliary, selective silylation of the primary alcohol furnishes 30 in 71 % overall yield. The method employed to achieve the reduction of the C-28 carbonyl is interesting and worthy of comment. The reaction between tri-n-butylbor-... 

A key step in the synthesis of the spiroketal subunit is the convergent union of intermediates 8 and 9 through an Evans asymmetric aldol reaction (see Scheme 2). Coupling of aldehyde 9 with the boron enolate derived from imide 8 through an asymmetric aldol condensation is followed by transamination with an excess of aluminum amide reagent to afford intermediate 38 in an overall yield of 85 % (see Scheme 7). During the course of the asymmetric aldol condensation... 

The synthesis of the polyol glycoside subunit 7 commences with an asymmetric aldol condensation between the boron enolate derived from imide 21 and a-(benzyloxy)acetaldehyde (24) to give syn adduct 39 in 87 % yield and in greater than 99 % diastereomeric purity (see Scheme 8a). Treatment of the Weinreb amide,20 derived in one step through transamination of 39, with 2-lithiopropene furnishes enone 23 in an overall yield of 92 %. To accomplish the formation of the syn 1,3-diol, enone 23 is reduced in a chemo- and... 

Other asymmetric syntheses, based on aldol condensation of chiral a-sulfinyl carbanions with carbonyl compounds, are the formation of / -hydroxyketones from /J-sulfinylhydrazones 166211-214, of /3, /l -dihydroxyketones from 3-(p-tolylsulfinyl-methyl)-A2-methylisoxalinones 167215, of /1-hydroxyacids from 2-(p-tolylsulfinylmethyl)oxazolines 168216 and of /J-hydroxyesters from ethyl-p-tolylsulfinyl-W-methoxyacetamide 169217. 

Paterson, I., Delgado, O., Florence, G.J., Lyothier, I., Scott, J.P., Sereinig, N. (2003) 1,6-Asymmetric Induction in Boron-Mediated Aldol Condensations Application to a Practical Total Synthesis of (-F)-Discodermolide. Organic Letters, 5, 35-38. 

Other asymmetric syntheses, based on aldol condensation of chiral a-sulfinyl carbanions with carbonyl compounds, are the formation of -hydroxyketones from -sulfinylhydrazones of -dihydroxyketones from 3-(p-tolylsulfmyl-... 

Annual Volume 71 contains 30 checked and edited experimental procedures that illustrate important new synthetic methods or describe the preparation of particularly useful chemicals. This compilation begins with procedures exemplifying three important methods for preparing enantiomerically pure substances by asymmetric catalysis. The preparation of (R)-(-)-METHYL 3-HYDROXYBUTANOATE details the convenient preparation of a BINAP-ruthenium catalyst that is broadly useful for the asymmetric reduction of p-ketoesters. Catalysis of the carbonyl ene reaction by a chiral Lewis acid, in this case a binapthol-derived titanium catalyst, is illustrated in the preparation of METHYL (2R)-2-HYDROXY-4-PHENYL-4-PENTENOATE. The enantiomerically pure diamines, (1 R,2R)-(+)- AND (1S,2S)-(-)-1,2-DIPHENYL-1,2-ETHYLENEDIAMINE, are useful for a variety of asymmetric transformations hydrogenations, Michael additions, osmylations, epoxidations, allylations, aldol condensations and Diels-Alder reactions. Promotion of the Diels-Alder reaction with a diaminoalane derived from the (S,S)-diamine is demonstrated in the synthesis of (1S,endo)-3-(BICYCLO[2.2.1]HEPT-5-EN-2-YLCARBONYL)-2-OXAZOLIDINONE. 

A very interesting organocatalyzed one-pot Michael addition/aldol condensation/Darzens condensation has been reported for the asymmetric synthesis of epoxy-ketones <06JA5475>. An initial asymmetric Michael condensation between 16 and 17 is catalyzed by proline derivative 18. Intermediate 19 then undergoes an aldol condensation followed by a stereoselective Darzens condensation to provide epoxy-ketone 20 in moderate yield and with surprisingly good enantiomeric excess. 

The intermediate enolate or enol ether from the initial reduction of an enone may be alkylated in situ (Eq. 281).455 / -Substituted cyclopentenones may be asymmetrically reduced and alkylated459 (see section on asymmetric reductions of enones). Enolates may also be trapped with an aldehyde in a reductive aldol condensation of an enone with an aldehyde,455 permitting a regioselective aldol condensation to be carried out as shown in Eq. 282.455 This class of reductive aldol condensation reactions can also occur in a cyclic manner (Eq. 283).460... 

In the reductive aldol condensation of an ,/J-unsaturated ester and an aldehyde shown in Eq. 291, the initial step is believed to be the addition of an in situ formed rhodium hydride to the a,/Tunsaturated ester, followed by reaction of the resulting rhodium enolate with the aldehyde.470 The reaction has been carried out both inter-470 and intramolecularly471,472 as well as in an asymmetric fashion (Eq. 291). 

Imide Systems. Imide compounds 22 and 23, or Evans reagents, derived from the corresponding oxazolidines are chiral auxiliaries for effective asymmetric alkylation or aldol condensation and have been widely used in the synthesis of a variety of substances. 

In 1964, Mitsui et al.5 used a chiral auxiliary to achieve asymmetric aldol condensation, although the stereoselectivity was not high (58%) at that time. Significant improvement came in the early 1980s when Evans et al.6 and Masa-mune et al.7 introduced a series of chiral auxiliaries that led to high stereo-... 

As with the above pyrrolidine, proline-type chiral auxiliaries also show different behaviors toward zirconium or lithium enolate mediated aldol reactions. Evans found that lithium enolates derived from prolinol amides exhibit excellent diastereofacial selectivities in alkylation reactions (see Section 2.2.32), while the lithium enolates of proline amides are unsuccessful in aldol condensations. Effective chiral reagents were zirconium enolates, which can be obtained from the corresponding lithium enolates via metal exchange with Cp2ZrCl2. For example, excellent levels of asymmetric induction in the aldol process with synj anti selectivity of 96-98% and diastereofacial selectivity of 50-200 116a can be achieved in the Zr-enolate-mediated aldol reaction (see Scheme 3-10). 

In general, a good level of predictability is now associated with the sense of asymmetric induction in aldol condensations of achiral enolates and chiral a-substituted aldehydes. At present, the perturba-... 

Extensive investigations have been directed toward the development of chiral ester enolates that might exhibit practical levels of aldol asymmetric induction. Much of the early work in this area has been reviewed (111). In general, metal enolates derived from chiral acetate and propionate esters exhibit low levels of aldol asymmetric induction that rarely exceed 50% enantiomeric excess. The added problems associated with the low levels of aldol diastereoselection found with most substituted ester enolates (cf. Table 11) further detract from their utility as effective chiral enolates for the aldol process. Recent studies have examined the potential applications of the chiral propionates 121 to 125 in the aldol condensation (eq. [94]), and the observed erythro-threo diastereoselection and diastere-oface selection for these enolates are summarized in Table 31. For the six lithium enolates the threo diastereoselection was found to be... 

The utility of chiral oxazoline enolates in asymmetric synthesis has elegantly been demonstrated by Myers (106,120). The stereoselective aldol condensations of these enolates have been examined in a hmited number of cases (eq. [107]) (32,121). Assuming that the enolate formed has the geometry indicated in 164 (120b), the diastereoselection observed for both the aldol condensation and the previously reported alkylations favors electrophile attack on the Re face as indicated. In contrast, the unsubstituted enolate 163b exhibits significantly poorer diastereoface selection with a range of aldehydes (eq. [108]) (121). 

Finally, another possibility is to design enantioselective syntheses by using external chiral auxiliaries either in catalytic or in stoichiometric quantities [21], Since these strategies are nowadays of great interest in organic synthesis, we will consider here some of the most recent results achieved in enantioselective aldol condensations, as well as in the asymmetric epoxidation and hydroxylation of olefmic double bonds. 

Enantioselective aldol condensations Chiral enolates. "Simple asymmetric induction"... 

Although in the recent years the stereochemical control of aldol condensations has reached a level of efficiency which allows enantioselective syntheses of very complex compounds containing many asymmetric centres, the situation is still far from what one would consider "ideal". In the first place, the requirement of a substituent at the a-position of the enolate in order to achieve good stereoselection is a limitation which, however, can be overcome by using temporary bulky groups (such as alkylthio ethers, for instance). On the other hand, the ( )-enolates, which are necessary for the preparation of 2,3-anti aldols, are not so easily prepared as the (Z)-enolates and furthermore, they do not show selectivities as good as in the case of the (Z)-enolates. Finally, although elements other than boron -such as zirconium [30] and titanium [31]- have been also used succesfully much work remains to be done in the area of catalysis. In this context, the work of Mukaiyama and Kobayashi [32a,b,c] on asymmetric aldol reactions of silyl enol ethers with aldehydes promoted by tributyltin fluoride and a chiral diamine coordinated to tin(II) triflate... 

Table 9.6 shows the effect of both the addition time and the polarity of the solvent, as well as the nature of the aldehyde, in the catalytic asymmetric aldol condensation promoted by tributyltin fluoride and a chiral diamine coordinated to tin(n) triflate. 

Asymmetric aldol condensation of aldehyde and chiral acyl oxazolidinone, the Evans chiral auxiliary. 

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