Aldol reactions With titanium enolates

Several other examples of zz/z/z -diastereoselectivc aldol reactions with titanium enolates and carbonyl electrophiles have been reported in the literature.58-65... 

Various other examples of, sy -diastereoselective 60-67 or non-selective aldol reactions of titanium enolates with carbonyl electrophiles have been described.68... 

Recent developments of aldol-type reactions with titanium enolates include the a- and /3-C-glycosidation of glycals73 and the diastereoselective addition to 2-acetoxytetrahydrofurans.74 Mukaiyama and co-workers have developed a one-pot procedure for the preparation of unsymmetrical double aldols.75... 

TABLE 7. Stereoselective aldol reactions with titanium ketone enolates... 

The aldol reactions of titanium enolates generated in situ were reported by Harrison [27] to give excellent yield and selectivity for syn aldol products, as shown in Table 2.10. However, methyl ketones tended to eliminate under the reaction conditions and provided a,/i-unsaturated ketones. Reactions with propiophenone and benzaldehyde provided excellent yields of aldolates, with syn aldols being the major product (95 5 ratio). The stereochemical outcome was rationalized by Zimmerman-Traxler transition state model 67. 

The stereoselective addition of the titanium enolate of A-acetyl-4-phenyl-l,3-thiazolidine-2-thione 153 to the cyclic A-acyl iminium ion 154 is utilized in the synthesis of (-)-stemoamide, a tricyclic alkaloid <06JOC3287>. The iminium ion addition product 155 undergoes magnesium bromide-catalyzed awtz-aldol reaction with cinnamaldehyde 156 to give adduct 157, which possesses the required stereochemistry of all chiral centers for the synthesis of (-)-stemoamide. 

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... 

This procedure illustrates a general method for the preparation of crossed aldols. The aldol reaction between various silyl enol ethers and carbonyl compounds proceeds smoothly according to the same procedure (see Table I). Sllyl enol ethers react with aldehydes at -78°C, and with ketones near 0°C. Note that the aldol reaction of sllyl enol ethers with ketones affords good yields of crossed aldols which are generally difficult to prepare using lithium or boron enolates. Lewis acids such as tin tetrachloride and boron trifluoride etherate also promote the reaction however, titanium tetrachloride is generally the most effective catalyst. 

Perkins and coworkers reported on stereoselective aldol reactions with boron and titanium ketone enolates (equations 30 and 31) for the construction of a spiroacetal-dihydropyrone (108) related to natural products auripyrone A and Both are cytotoxic... 

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. 

Titanium enolates of propionyloxazolidinones also undergo aldol reactions with the same sense of induction as the boryl counterparts, but require two or more equivalents of amine base to afford adducts in marginally higher yields but diminished selectivity (eq 33). ... 

For the propionate aldol reaction the Li enolate (7), generated by deprotonation of 2,6-dimethylphenyl propionate with Lithium Diisopropylamide in EtiO, was chosen. Transmetalation with 1.25 equiv of an ethereal solution of (1) takes 24 h at —78 °C. The completion of this step is evident by the disappearance of racemic anti-a do (9) in favor of optically active yw-isomer (10) (91-98% ee) upon reaction with an aldehyde (RCHO) and aqueous workup. At this point, 3-11% of anri-aldol (9) remaining in the reaction mixture is optically active as well (eq 2). This awri-isomer (9) (94-98% ee) becomes the major product if the reaction mixture, containing the putative ( )-titanium enolate derived from (7), is warmed for 4-5 h to —30°C before reaction with an aldehyde (RCHO) again at —78 °C. Isomerization to the (Z)-titanium enolate is a possible explanation of this behavior. Some substrates, aromatic and unsaturated aldehydes, behave exceptionally, as a high proportion of yn-isomer (10) (19-77%) of lower optical purity (47-66% ee) is formed in addition to (9) (94-98% ee). After hydrolysis of the acetonide (6) the products (9/10) are isolated and separated by chromatography in 50-87% yield. The reactions of pivalaldehyde (R = r-Bu) are sluggish at —78°C and have therefore been carried out at —50 to —30°C. 

In addition to enol silyl ethers, an optically active boryl enolate underwent the highly anri-stereoselective aldol reaction with a wide variety of aldehydes in the presence of TiCU (Eq. 34) [120]. The vinyl sulfides shown in Eq. (35) reacted with a,fi-unsaturated ketones via the 1,4-addition pathway in the presence of a titanium salt, but the reaction was followed by the cleavage of a carbon-carbon bond in the cycloalkane to give open chain products in a stereoselective manner [121]. The 1,2-type addition was observed, if the olefinie acetal was used instead of the corresponding carbonyl compound, as shown in Eq. (36) [121], The successive scission of the carbon-carbon bond took place analogously to give the same type of products as shown in Eq. (35). 

Trichlorotitanium enolates are directly prepared from a ketone, TiCU, and a tertiary amine [122,123] and undergo aldol reactions with aldehydes [124-129], ketones [129], and imines [130,131], Intramolecular condensation with esters is also known [132-137], Although these reactions, based on a titanium enolate [16], which often results in high diastereoselectivity in aldol and related reactions [122], will not be discussed in detail in this article, the success of the alkylation of this titanium enolate with SNl-active electrophiles should be discussed owing to the high Lewis acidity of the metal center [123], Equation (37) shows stereoselective alkylation with an orthoacetate, which is usually inert to alkali metal enolates [138], Aminoalkylation of trichlorotitanium enolates with (a-chloroalkyl)amine has been performed analogously [139,140],... 

In analogous fashion, titanium and tin enolates are formed by the reaction of enolizable ketones with a tertiary amine and TiCl4 or SnOTf2, respectively. The reactions of titanium enolates are highly selective and comparable to boron enolates in aldol condensations. 

The first enantioselective total synthesis of (-)-denticulatin A was accomplished by W. Oppolzer. The key step in their approach was based on enantiotopic group differentiation in a meso dialdehyde by an aldol reaction. In the aldol reaction they utilized a bornanesultam chiral auxiliary. The enolization of A/-propionylbornane-10,2-sultam provided the (Z)-borylenolate derivative, which underwent an aldol reaction with the meso dialdehyde to afford the product with high yield and enantiopurity. In the final stages of the synthesis they utilized a second, double-dlastereoditferentiating aldol reaction. Aldol reaction of the (Z)-titanium enolate gave the anf/-Felkin syn product. The stereochemical outcome of the reaction was determined by the a-chiral center in the aldehyde component. 

A chiral aldehyde, attached through a silyl linker to a hydroxymethyl Merrifield resin, was employed for expanding polyketide diversity. Aldol reaction with preformed (H)-enol borinate derived from a suitable chiral (R)-ketone afforded the anti-anti aldol product. Titanium-mediated enolization of the enantiomer (S)-ketone afforded the syn-syn product. 

The demand for environmentally friendly chemistry and its widespread applicability have made water an increasingly popnlar solvent for organic transformations. Mixtures of water and other solvents snch as tetrahydrofnran are now commonly anployed for a number of organic transformations. For instance, the Lewis acid catalysed aldol reaction of silyl enol ethers, commonly known as the Mnkaiyama aldol reaction, which was firstly reported in the early seventies, can be carried ont in snch media. With titanium tetrachloride as the catalyst this reaction proceeds regioselectively in high yields, but the reaction has to be carried ont strictly nnder non-aqneons conditions in order to prevent decomposition of the catalyst and hydrolysis of the sUyl enol ethCTS. In the absence of the catalyst it was observed that water had a beneficial influence on this process (Table 4, entry D) . Nevertheless, the yields in the nncatalysed version WCTe still unsatisfactory. Improved results were obtained with water-tolerant Lewis acids. The first reported example for Lewis acid catalysis in aqueous media is the hydroxymethylation of silyl enol ethers with commercial formaldehyde solution using lanthanide trillates. In the meantime, the influence of several lanthanide triflates in cross-aldol reactions of various aldehydes was examined " " ". The reactions were most effectively carried out in 1 9 mixtures of water and tetrahydrofnran with 5-10% Yb(OTf)3, which can be reused after completion of the reaction (Table 19, entry A). Although the realization of this reaction is quite simple, the choice of the solvent is crucial (Table 20). 

Later in the book, when we deal with asymmetric enolate reactions, boron enolates will be very important. A simple example20 of an aldol reaction with a boron enolate, prepared from the ester 149 and a boron triflate using an amine as base, shows why. The boron enolate 150 could be prepared with a weak base and reacts with the aldehyde without catalysis to give essentially one diastereoisomer of the aldol 151 in good yield. If the titanium enolate (prepared with TiCI4 and an amine) was used, both the yield and the stereoselectivity were worse. In other circumstances enolates of titanium and other metals are very successful. 

Under kinetic control, the reactions of prochiral aldehydes with Z-enolates generally lead to syn aldols, while E-enolates lead to anti aldols. The presence of bulky R groups on the enolates, however, may alter these selectivities. The highest diastereoselectivities are observed with boron or titanium enolates. These selectivity trends are interpreted by a concerted cyclic mechanism. The favored transition state resembles a distorted chair, in line with the Zimmermann-Traxler proposals [57, 160, 253] (Figure 6.70). This model has been supported by theoretical studies [9, 40, 41, 125, 1249], Transition states analogous to C2 and C4 (Figure 6.70) are destabilized by 1,3-ecIipsing interactions between the C-R, M-L and C-R bonds, so that models Ci and C3 are more favorable. For the sake of simplification, only the reaction on one face of the enolates is shown in these models, but enolate face selectivity will be discussed later. In some cases, boatlike transition-state models are invoked to interpret selectivity inversions [401, 402, 666], Moreover, Heathcock and coworkers [105] obtained evidence for the influence of an excess of n-B BOTf on the stereoselectivity of the aldol reactions of Z-enolates. In such reactions, anti aldols can be formed preferentially (see bdow). 

In some cases titanium enolates give as good, if not better, stereoselectivity as the corresponding boron enolate aldol reactions (Volume 2, Chapter 1.7). For example, the tri(isopropoxy)titanium enolate of the chiral ethyl ketone (27) has been found to undergo aldol reactions with aldehydes with very high dia-... 

An important development is the use of D-glucose-derived alkoxy ligands on titanium in cyciopentadi-enyldi(alkoxy)titanium enolates, which undergo efficient enantioselective aldol reactions with aldehydes. The chiral titanium reagent (30), prepared from reaction of cyclopentadienyltitanium trichloride with two equivalents of (l,2 5,6)-di-0-isopropylidene-a-D-glucofuranose, can be used to transmetal late the lithium enolate of t-butyl acetate in ether solution (equation 10). The titanium enolate generated is then... 

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