Alkenes limonene

Among chiral dialkylboranes, diisopinocampheylborane (8) is the most important and best-studied asymmetric hydroborating agent. It is obtained in both enantiomeric forms from naturally occurring a-pinene. Several procedures for its synthesis have been developed (151—153). The most convenient one, providing product of essentially 100% ee, involves the hydroboration of a-pinene with borane—dimethyl sulfide in tetrahydrofuran (154). Other chiral dialkylboranes derived from terpenes, eg, 2- and 3-carene (155), limonene (156), and longifolene (157,158), can also be prepared by controlled hydroboration. A more tedious approach to chiral dialkylboranes is based on the resolution of racemates. /n j -2,5-Dimethylborolane, which shows excellent enantioselectivity in the hydroboration of all principal classes of prochiral alkenes except 1,1-disubstituted terminal double bonds, has been... 

Limonene, a fragrant hydrocarbon found in lemons and oranges, is bio-synthesized from geranyl diphosphate by the following pathway. Add curvec arrows to show the mechanism of each step. Which step involves an alkene electrophilic addition (The ion 0P2064- is the diphosphate ion, and "Base is an unspecified base in the enzyme that catalyzes the reaction.)... 

Plants produce a vast array of terpenes, alkenes built in multiples of five carbon atoms. Many terpenes have characteristic fragrances. For example, the fresh odor of a pine forest is due to pinene, a ten-carbon molecule with a ring structure and one double bond. The fragrances of terpenes make them important in the flavor and fragrance industry. Limonene, another ten-carbon molecule with a ring and two double bonds, is the principal component of lemon oil. Geraniol, a chainlike molecule with two double bonds, is one of the molecules that is responsible for the fragrance of roses and is used in many perfumes. Many other terpenes have important medicinal properties. 

Selenium dioxide is also an oxygen donor to alkenes. In this case, however, the initial reaction of the double bond is with the selenium center followed by two pericyclic steps. After hydrolysis of the organo-selenium intermediate, the result is a hydroxylation at the allylic carbon position65. Thus, limonene (2) yields racemic p-mentha-l,8(9)-dien-4-ol66. The high toxicity of selenium intermediates and prevalence of many rearrangements has limited the widespread use of the reagent in synthesis. 

Adults of some species also produce 4-oxo-( )-2-alkenals. Other types of simple compounds that have been found in the defensive secretions of true bugs include common terpenoids such as a- and (3-pinenes, limonene, linalool, and Z, -oc-farnesene, and simple aromatic compounds such as benzyl alcohol, ben-zaldehyde,p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, methyl p-hydroxybenzoate,phenylethanol, and guaicol. In general, although a number of species may share particular components, each species does appear to produce its own particular blend. In at least one species, the blend of defensive compounds is reported to vary with season and/or diet [36]. 

Further variations on the epoxyketone intermediate theme have been reported. In the first (Scheme 9A) [78], limonene oxide was prepared by Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation of commercial (S)-(-)- perillyl alcohol 65 followed by conversion of the alcohol 66 to the crystalline mesylate, recrystallization to remove stereoisomeric impurities, and reduction with LiAlH4 to give (-)-limonene oxide 59. This was converted to the key epoxyketone 60 by phase transfer catalyzed permanganate oxidation. Control of the trisubstituted alkene stereochemistry was achieved by reaction of the ketone with the anion from (4-methyl-3-pentenyl)diphenylphosphine oxide, yielding the isolable erythro adduct 67, and the trisubstituted E-alkene 52a from spontaneous elimination by the threo adduct. Treatment of the erythro adduct with NaH in DMF resulted... 

Another group of bicyclic aliphatic phosphines has been introduced by Sasol [15], Their ligands are based on addition of PH3 to limonene (the R-enantiomer). A mixture of two diastereomeric compounds is obtained due to the two configurations of the methyl group at the C-4 position (Figure 7.9). The Lim-H compounds obtained can be functionalised at the phosphorus atom with the usual radical reactions with alkenes or substitution reactions of their conjugate bases formed after treatment with BuLi with electrophiles. 

A new stereoselective epoxidation catalyst based on a novel chiral sulfonato-salen manganese(III) complex intercalated in Zn/Al LDH was used successfully by Bhattacharjee et al. [125]. The catalyst gave high conversion, selectivity, and enantiomeric excess in the oxidation of (i )-limonene using elevated pressures of molecular oxygen. Details of the catalytic activities with other alkenes using both molecular oxygen and other oxidants have also been reported [126]. 

Hydrocarbon resins comprise a range of low-molecular-weight products (M < 3000) used as adhesives, hot-melt coatings, tackifying agents, inks, and additives in rubber. These include products based on monomers derived from petroleum as well as plant sources. The petroleum-derived products include polymers produced from various alkenes, isoprene, piperylene, styrene, a-methylstyrene, vinyltuolene, and dicyclopentadiene. The plant-derived products include polyterpenes obtained by the polymerization of dipentene, limonene,... 

Cyclic alkenes usually show a distinct molecular ion peak. A unique mode of cleavage is the retro-Diels-Alder reaction shown by limonene ... 

Extension of the above oxidation studies to alkenes such as limonene gave a complex mixture of products that resulted from all possible ene reactions to the trisubstituted double bond (Fig. 30) [165], However, use of NaY zeolite as the microreactor and in the presence of a small amount of pyridine, the photosensitized oxidation of the alkenes is regioselective, yielding only the cis and trans products that result from hydrogen abstraction from the least hindered allylic carbon center. These studies illustrated that a microreactor can provide unprecedented opportunities to conduct selective oxidation of olefins. 

Cyclic alkenes usually show a distinct molecular ion peak. A unique mode of cleavage is the retro-Diels-Alder reaction. This reaction is illustrated with limonene in Scheme 1.11. A retro-Diels-Alder reaction in this example gives two isoprene molecules. Since the reaction is an example of a rearrangement, one of the isoprene moieties is a neutral molecule. 

It may seem strange to classify a type of bond as a functional group, but you will see later that C=C double bonds impart reactivity to an organic molecule just as functional groups consisting of, say, oxygen or nitrogen atoms do. Some of the compounds produced by plants and used by perfumers are alkenes (see Chapter 1). For example, pinene has a smell evocative of pine forests, while limonene smells of citrus fruits. 

White peach scale. Several scale sex pheromones have now been elucidated each of them possesses an asymmetric center and usually a trisubstituted alkene link within an isoprenoid framework (43). The structure of the white peach scale pheromone, R,Zb-II (Figure 8), lent itself to synthesis with another chiral starting material, namely limonene (44). Selective ozonlysis followed by workup with dimethyl sulfide-methanol provided a ketoacetal, III. Wittig methylenation followed by hydrolytic cleavage of the acetal gave a dienaldehyde, IV. Conversion of the aldehyde via the acid to an amide (45) with enantiomerically pure ot-methylbenzylamine permitted chromatographic assessment of the purity of the diene aldehyde (and the limonene). The required R-isomer of the diene aldehyde was >48% ee. 

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