Aldol reactions simple diastereoselectivity

Most aldol additions of preformed enolates are run under kinetic control. In some such kinetically controlled aldol reactions simple diastereoselectivity is related to the configuration of the enolate. The seminal investigations of Dubois [65], then intensive studies by the research groups of... 

A stereoconvergent reaction without any correlation between the geometry of the enolate and simple diastereoselectivity occurs when fluoride ions are used to induce an aldol addition of enolsilanes to aldehydes. For example, both a 99 1 and a 9 91 mixture of the following (Z)/( )-enolsilane lead predominantly to the formation of the. un-adduct in a highly selective manner, when the addition is mediated by tris(diethylamino)sulfonium difluorotrimethylsili-conate27,28. 

Summary of the Relationship between Diastereoselectivity and the Transition Structure. In this section we considered simple diastereoselection in aldol reactions of ketone enolates. Numerous observations on the reactions of enolates of ketones and related compounds are consistent with the general concept of a chairlike TS.35 These reactions show a consistent E - anti Z - syn relationship. Noncyclic TSs have more variable diastereoselectivity. The prediction or interpretation of the specific ratio of syn and anti product from any given reaction requires assessment of several variables (1) What is the stereochemical composition of the enolate (2) Does the Lewis acid promote tight coordination with both the carbonyl and enolate oxygen atoms and thereby favor a cyclic TS (3) Does the TS have a chairlike conformation (4) Are there additional Lewis base coordination sites in either reactant that can lead to reaction through a chelated TS Another factor comes into play if either the aldehyde or the enolate, or both, are chiral. In that case, facial selectivity becomes an issue and this is considered in Section 2.1.5. 

Another application of diastereoselective nitro-aldol reactions catalyzed by Bu4NF-3H20 is demonstrated in a simple synthesis of l,4-dideoxy-l,4-imino-D-mannitol (DIM) and amino analogues (Eq. 3.85).134 The nitro-aldol reaction of nitro compounds bearing a-oxy or a-amino function with glyceraldehyde leads to nitrohexitols, which can be reduced to the corresponding amino compounds. Cyclization gives iminopolyols, as shown in Eq. 3.85. 

Traditional models for diastereoface selectivity were first advanced by Cram and later by Felkin for predicting the stereochemical outcome of aldol reactions occurring between an enolate and a chiral aldehyde. [37] During our investigations directed toward a practical synthesis of dEpoB, we were pleased to discover an unanticipated bias in the relative diastereoface selectivity observed in the aldol condensation between the Z-lithium enolate B and aldehyde C, Scheme 2.6. The aldol reaction proceeds with the expected simple diastereoselectivity with the major product displaying the C6-C7 syn relationship shown in Scheme 2.7 (by ul addition) however, the C7-C8 relationship of the principal product was anti (by Ik addition). [38] Thus, the observed symanti relationship between C6-C7 C7-C8 in the aldol reaction between the Z-lithium enolate of 62 and aldehyde 63 was wholly unanticipated. These fortuitous results prompted us to investigate the cause for this unanticipated but fortunate occurrence. 

Marhwald reported that ligand exchange of Ti(rac-BINOLate)(Of-Bu)2 with optically active a-hydroxy acids presents an unexpected and novel approach to enantio-selective direct aldol reactions of aldehydes and ketones (Scheme 12.19). The aldol products have been isolated with a high degree of syn diastereoselectivity. High enantioselectivities have been observed when using simple optically pure a-hydroxy acids. 

There is an important difference between Horeau s and Heathcock s examples in that the aldol reaction generates two chirality elements in the bond-forming step. In principle, analysis of such a reaction requires evaluation of two aspects, i.e., the effect of double asymmetric induction on simple and induced diastereoselectivity. The aldol reaction is not particularly suited for this... 

Catalysis with Bisoxazoline Complexes of Sn(II) and Cu(II). The bisoxazoline Cu(IT) and Sn(II) complexes 81-85 that have proven successful in the acetate additions with aldehydes 86,87, 88 also function as catalysts for the corresponding asymmetric propionate Mukaiyama aldol addition reactions (Scheme 8B2.8) [27]. It is worth noting that eithersyn or anti simple diastereoselectivity may be obtained by appropriate selection of either Sn(II) or Cu(II) complexes (Table 8B2.12). 

The preparation of aldol adducts may occur with simple diastereoselectivity. A definition of the term was given in Section 11.1.3. In a slightly different formulation, simple diastereoselectivity means that a single relative configuration is established at two neighboring C atoms that become stereocenters for the following reasons (1) Both C atoms were sp2-hybridized in the reactants one was part of a nonhomotopic C=X double bond and the other was part of a nonhomotopic C=Y double bond. (2) The formation of a (7-bond between these C atoms causes them to be sp3-hybridized in the reaction product. 

The simple diastereoselectivity of aldol reactions was first studied in detail for the Ivanov reaction (Figure 13.45). The Ivanov reaction consists of the addition of a carboxylate enolate to an aldehyde. In the example of Figure 13.45, the diastereomer of the /1-hydroxycarboxylic acid product that is referred to as the and-diastereomer is formed in a threefold excess in comparison to the. vy/j-diastereoisomer. Zimmerman and Traxler suggested a transition state model to explain this selectivity, and their transition state model now is referred to as the Zimmer-man-Traxler model (Figure 13.46). This model has been applied ever since with good success to explain the simple diastereoselectivities of a great variety of aldol reactions. 

The stereoselective chelation-controlled aldol reaction of unsubstituted lithium ester enolates with (7 s)-2-(p-tolylsulfinyl) cyclohexanone A (Figure 16) led to a high enantio-face differentiation (> 90 < 10), while the simple diastereoselection was rather low for prochiral enolates567. The role of the lithium cation acting as a template is here essential, since sodium, potassium, HMPA or even added ZnCl2 resulted in decreased yield and selectivity. 

An effective control of the simple diastereoselectivity in boron-mediated aldol reactions of various propionate esters (162) was achieved by Abiko and coworkers (equation 45) °. They could show that under usual enolization conditions (dialkylboron triflate and amine) enol borinates are formed, which allowed the selective synthesis of 5yw-configured aldol products (Table 11). The enolization at low temperature (—78 °C) generated a (Z)-enolate selectively, which afforded mainly the syn diastereomer 164 after reaction with isobu-tyraldehyde (163), following a Zimmerman-Traxler transition-state. The anti diastereomer 164 instead was obtained only in small amounts (5-20%). 

The most smdied O-bonded transition metal enolates are titanium enolates . The reason for their success has beeu recognized in the fact that titanium enolates show an enhanced stereochemical control in C—C bond-forming reactions over simple lithium enolates and the possibility of incorporating chiral ligands at the titanium centre, a possibility which has lead to enantioselective aldol reactions with excellent enantiomeric excess. Moreover, titanium euolates have been used in oxidation reactions with remarkable diastereoselectivity. 

T. Nakata et al. developed a simple and efficient synthetic approach to prepare (+)-methyl-7-benzoylpederate, a key intermediate toward the synthesis of mycalamides. The key steps were the Evans asymmetric aldol reaction, stereoselective Claisen condensation and the Takai-Nozaki olefination. The diastereoselective Claisen condensation took place between a 5-lactone and the lithium enolate of a glycolate ester. 

The same bisoxazoline Cu(II) and Sn(II) complexes have been utilized successfully in the corresponding propionate aldol addition reactions (Scheme 8-7). A remarkable feature of these catalytic processes is that either syn or anti simple dia-stereoselectivity may be accessed by appropriate selection of either Sn(II) or Cu(II) complexes. The addition of either - or Z-thiopropionate-derived silyl ke-tene acetals catalyzed by the Cu(II) complexes afford adducts 78, 80, and 82 displaying 86 14-97 3 syn anti) simple diastereoselectivity. The optical purity of the major syn diastereomer isolated from the additions of both Z- and i -enol silanes were excellent (85-99% ee). The stereochemical outcome of the aldol addition reactions mediated by Sn(Il) are complementary to the Cu(U)-catalyzed process and furnish the corresponding anp -stereoisomers 79, 81, and 83 as mixtures of 10 90-1 99 syn/anti diastereomers in 92-99% ee. 

Lewis Basic Phosphoramides. In a series of elegant investigations, Denmark has documented an aldol process that utilizes trichlorosilyl enolates such as 101 and 105 in catalytic, enantioselective addition reactions (Eqs. (8.28) and (8.29)) [45]. These unusual enoxysilanes are prepared by treatment of the corresponding tribu-tylstannyl enolates with SiCl4. Trichlorosilyl enolates are sufficiently reactive to add to aldehydes at -78 °C, but their addition can be substantially accelerated by the addition of Lewis basic phosphoramides. The use of catalytic amounts of chiral phosphoramides leads to the formation of optically active products. Thus, treatment of the cyclohexanone or propiophenone-derived trichloroenolsilanes 101 and 105 with a variety of aldehydes afforded adducts displaying high levels of simple diastereoselectivity and up to 96% ee. On the basis of the stereochemical outcome of the reaction, Denmark has postulated that the reaction proceeds through an or-... 

Myers et al. found that silyl enolates derived from amides undergo a facile non-catalyzed aldol addition to aldehydes at or below ambient temperature [90]. In particular, the use of cyclic silyl enolate 27, derived from (S)-prolinol propionamide, realizes high levels of diastereoface-selection and simple diastereoselection (anti selectivity) (Scheme 10.27). It has been proposed that this non-catalyzed highly stereoselective reaction proceeds via attack of an aldehyde on 27 to produce a trigonal bipyramidal intermediate 29 in which the aldehyde is apically bound 29 then turns to another isomer 30 by pseudorotation and 30 is then converted into 28 through a six-membered boat-like transition state (rate-determining step). 

As the reasons for the diastereoselectivity of syn-selective aldol reactions are well established we will focus on the selectivity of the ring closure. We have carried out studies on intramolecular oxymercurations of a series of simple alkenols related to 8 and have found that they consistently close to give predominantly syn and not anti products (Fig. 3). 

Dicarbonyl compounds may be converted into dianions, which react with electrophiles at the more basic site. Huckin and Weiler found that 3-keto ester dianions undergo aldol addition reactions at the more basic methyl position (equation 32). The lithium/sodium dianion shows surprisingly weak reactivity, giving the aldol in only 11% yield after 1 h at -78 °C In contrast, the lithium enolates of simple ketones and esters, which should be much less basic than the 3-keto ester dianion, react with aldehydes to give nearly quantitative yields of aldols in THF in seconds at -78 °C. ° Seebach and Meyer also studied this reaction, and obtained the oxolactone (equation 33). Simple diastereoselection in the reaction of 3-keto ester dianions has also been studied (vide infra). 

The principal factor that was responsible for the rebirth of the venerable aldol reaction as a modem method of synthesis was the discovery that its stereochemistry can be controlled quite effectively through the use of preformed enolates. In this section is discussed simple diastereoselection, reactions between prochiral enolates and prochiral aldehydes (equation 37) the synJanti stereochemical notation is employed. ... 

Aldol reactions of chiral dioxolanones (113) and (114) are summarized in Scheme 6 and Table 9. ° With both (113) and (114), essentially perfect diasterofacial selectivity is observed. The simple dia-stereoselection is modest to good, and is dependent on the enolate counterion. For the lithium and magnesium enolates, the sense of simple diastereoselection is the same as is observed with the achiral dioxolanone (107) and the chiral dioxolanone (110). Use of the zirconium enolate generally reverses the sense of simple diastereoselection, although the isomer ratios are not very high in some cases. 

The foregoing reactions bear a resemblance to the reactions of 3-keto ester dianions vide supra, equation 32), in that reaction occurs at C-4 instead of C-2. The only study of simple diastereoselection in the aldol reactions of 3-keto ester dianions shows a stereochemical similarity as well. As shown in equation (84), the dianions of a series of 3-keto esters react with aldehydes to give largely the trans lactone (126) data are summarized in Table 10. ° ... 

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