Aldol condensation reaction stereoselectivity

Stereoselective aldol condensation. The stereoselectivity of the reaction of 1 with the ester 2 can be controlled by the choice of the metal enolate. The products are intermediates to 1-methylcarbapenems. 

One of the first reactions reported on the activation of the a C—H bond was the aldol condensation reaction of glycine, coordinated to Cu11, with acetaldehyde to yield threonine.72 The reaction, which is base catalyzed, proceeds under far milder conditions than for free glycine. Similar reactions have been reported with other metal ions and aldehydes again the postulated intermediate is a carbanion.69 70 By using resolved Co111 complexes, e.g. A-(+)-[Co(en)2(GlyO)]2+, some stereoselectivity can be obtained in the threonine product.73... 

Reymond and Chen88 have investigated the same set of antibodies for their ability to catalyze bimolecular aldol condensation reactions. The antibodies were assayed individually at pH 8.0 for the formation of aldol 111 from aldehyde 109 and acetone. None catalyzed the direct reaction, but in the presence of amine 110 three anti-52a and three anti-52b antibodies showed modest activity. In analogy with natural type I aldolase enzymes, the reaction is believed to occur by formation of an enamine from acetone and the amine, followed by rate-determining condensation of the enamine with the aldehyde. As in the previous example, the catalyst, which was characterized in detail, is not very efficient in absolute terms ( cat = 3 x 10-6 s 1 for the anti-52b antibody 72D4), but it is approximately 600 times more effective than amine alone. Moreover, the reactions with the antibody are stereoselective The enamine adds only to the si face of the aldehyde to give... 

Dianion aldol condensation reactions with Evans oxazolidinones or Oppolzer sultams as chiral auxiliaries have been demonstrated to be a useful method to generate the core skeleton of furofurans with diastereoselectivities of 5 1-20 1. Stereoselective total syntheses of the furofuran lignans (-l-)-eudesmin, (+)-yangambin, (—)-eudesmin, and (-)-yangambin according to this procedure have been reported (Equation 102) <2006TL6433>. 

Stereoselective aldol condensations. Reaction of these substrates (1) with LDA results in decomposition, but the tin(II) enolates can be obtained by use of tin(II) triflate (11, 525) in the presence of N-ethylpiperidine. Addition of aldehydes to the enolates results in formation of p-hydroxy ketones (2) with high iyn-selectivity. 

Some aldol condensation reactions proceed more efficiently and stereoselectively in the ab.sence of solvent than in solution [18]. When the solvent-free aldol reaction is carried out in an inclusion complex with a chiral host complex, diastereo-and enantioselective reactions occur, although enantioselectivity is not high [18]. 

In 2010, Enders and co-workers developed a quadruple cascade AFC/ Michael/Michael/aldol condensation reaction of indoles, acrolein, and nitroalkenes under the catalysis of diphenylprolinol TMS-ether catalyst (S)-104 following an iminium/enamine/iminium/enamine activation sequence (Scheme 6.42). " The reaction provided a straightforward and efficient entry to 3-(cyclohexenylmethyl)-indoles 105 bearing three stereogenic centers in moderate to excellent yields (23-82%) and excellent stereoselectivity (91 9->95 5 dr and 94->99% ee). 

The topic of the stereoselectivity of aldol condensation reactions has received much attention recently owing to efforts directed toward the total synthesis of macrolide antibiotics. The carbon backbone of many of these substances may be viewed as capable of being derived by combinations of several aldol additions. Because of the number of chiral centers, it is necessary that a high level of stereochemical control be achieved in the carbon-carbon bond-forming steps. Hence, a number of fundamental studies have been concerned with stereoselection in aldol addition reactions. 

Indicate whether the aldol condensation reactions shown below would be expected to exhibit high stereoselectivity. If high stereoselectivity is to be expected, show the relative configuration which is to be expected for the predominant product. 

From these and related examples, the following generalizations have been drawn about kinetic stereoselection in aldol condensations. (1) The chair transition state model provides a basis for explaining the stereoselectivity observed in aldol condensation reactions of ketones having one bulky substituent. The preference is Z-enolate syn aldol F-enolate anti aldol. (2) When the enolate has no bulky... 

The early Escherunoser-Stork results indicated, that stereoselective cyclizations may be achieved, if monocyclic olefins with 1,5-polyene side chains are used as substrates in acid treatment. This assumption has now been justified by many syntheses of polycyclic systems. A typical example synthesis is given with the last reaction. The cyclization of a trideca-3,7-dien-11-ynyl cyclopentenol leads in 70% yield to a 17-acetyl A-norsteroid with correct stereochemistry at all ring junctions. Ozonolysis of ring A and aldol condensation gave dl-progesterone (M.B. Gravestock, 1978 see p. 279f.). 

When 2-lithio-2-(trimethylsilyl)-l,3-dithiane,9 formed by deprotonation of 9 with an alkyllithium base, is combined with iodide 8, the desired carbon-carbon bond forming reaction takes place smoothly and gives intermediate 7 in 70-80% yield (Scheme 2). Treatment of 7 with lithium diisopropylamide (LDA) results in the formation of a lactam enolate which is subsequently employed in an intermolecular aldol condensation with acetaldehyde (6). The union of intermediates 6 and 7 in this manner provides a 1 1 mixture of diastereomeric trans aldol adducts 16 and 17, epimeric at C-8, in 97 % total yield. Although stereochemical assignments could be made for both aldol isomers, the development of an alternative, more stereoselective route for the synthesis of the desired aldol adduct (16) was pursued. Thus, enolization of /Mactam 7 with LDA, as before, followed by acylation of the lactam enolate carbon atom with A-acetylimidazole, provides intermediate 18 in 82% yield. Alternatively, intermediate 18 could be prepared in 88% yield, through oxidation of the 1 1 mixture of diastereomeric aldol adducts 16 and 17 with trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA) in... 

The synthesis in Scheme 13.37 also used a me,ro-3,4-dimethylglutaric acid as the starting material. Both the resolved aldehyde employed in Scheme 13.36 and a resolved half-amide were successfully used as intermediates. The configuration at C(2) and C(3) was controlled by addition of a butenylborane to an aldehyde (see Section 9.1.5). The boronate was used in enantiomerically pure form so that stereoselectivity was enhanced by double stereodifferentiation. The allylic additions carried out by the butenylboronates do not appear to have been quite as highly stereoselective as the aldol condensations used in Scheme 13.37, since a minor diastereoisomer was formed in the boronate addition reactions. 

Conjugate reduction.1 This stable copper(I) hydride cluster can effect conjugate hydride addition to a,p-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, with apparent utilization of all six hydride equivalents per cluster. No 1,2-reduction of carbonyl groups or reduction of isolated double bonds is observed. Undesirable side reactions such as aldol condensation can be suppressed by addition of water. Reactions in the presence of chlorotrimethylsilane result in silyl enol ethers. The reduction is stereoselective, resulting in hydride delivery to the less-hindered face of the substrate. 

The aldol condensation of benzaldehyde with the thioacetamide carbanion (RCHCSNRV), derived from the desilylation of the silyl-thioether with tetra-/i-buty-lammonium fluoride, is stereoselective at—80°C producing the erythro isomer of the p-hydroxy thioamide preferentially (Scheme 6.18, R = Me, erythro threo 95 5) via a conformationally mobile intermediate. However, when R is bulky, a greater amount of the threo isomer is formed. Predictably, as the reaction temperature is raised, so the stereoselectively decreases. This procedure contrasts with the corresponding condensation catalysed by titanium salts, where the complexed intermediate produces the threo isomer [47, 48],... 

In large measure, the problem associated with the execution of a stereoselective aldol condensation has been reduced to the generation of a specific enolate geometry. The recent results of Kuwajima (66a), which demonstrate that enolsilanes may be transformed into boryl enolates without apparent loss of stereochemistry (eq. [53]), should enhance the utility of vinyloxyboranes in stereoselective synthesis. The only current drawback to this procedure is associated with the presence of trimethylsilyl triflate (69), which must be removed from the reaction medium before the aldol condensation. It has recently been established that 69 is an effective catalyst for the aldol process (4). 

In contrast to the "classical solution" we have just discussed, we will now consider the aldol condensation -one of the most important carbon-carbon bond formation reactions [3], in both the laboratory and Nature l - as an example of the "contemporary solution" to the problem of acyclic stereoselection. As a reversible reaction, the design of highly stereoselective aldol and related reactions demands that all the stereochemical aspects involved in the C-C bond formation are kinetically controlled. 

Note that aldol condensations I, II and III concern the creation of a relative configuration 2,3-syn, which can be easily achieved starting from the (Z)-enolates 74a-74c. Scheme 9.27 summarises the synthesis of 93 and 95, which are equivalent to fragments B and A, respectively. Compound 88 is the abovementioned Prelog-Djerassi lactonic acid 42 which is obtained in optically pure from (>98% ee). On the other hand, for the stereochemical control of the aldol condensation IV a different methodology is necessary whih involves the coupling of two structurally predefined reactants and which will not be discussed here (Scheme 9.28). An important feature of this reaction is that the coordination of Li" " with the oxygen atom at the P-position of the aldehyde 95 is mainly responsible for the observed stereoselection [22e]. 

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... 

Strategies based on two consecutive specific reactions or the so-called "tandem methodologies" very useful for the synthesis of polycyclic compounds. Classical examples of such a strategy are the "Robinson annulation" which involves the "tandem Michael/aldol condensation" [32] and the "tandem cyclobutene electrocyclic opening/Diels-Alder addition" [33] so useful in the synthesis of steroids. To cite a few new methodologies developed more recently we may refer to the stereoselective "tandem Mannich/Michael reaction" for the synthesis of piperidine alkaloids [34], the "tandem cycloaddition/radical cyclisation" [35] which allows a quick assembly of a variety of ring systems in a completely intramolecular manner or the "tandem anionic cyclisation approach" of polycarbocyclic compounds [36]. 

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