Alkyl derivatives natural product synthesis applications

The appearance of the 2-(indol-3yl)ethylamine (tryptamine) unit in both tryptophan-derived natural products and in synthetic materials having potential pharmacological activity has generated a great deal of interest in the synthesis of such compounds. Several procedures which involve either direct 3-alkylation or tandem 3-functionalization/modification have been developed. Similarly, methodology applicable to preparation of tryptophan analogues has been widely explored. 

With respect to the application of tartaric acid-derived PTCs [22,23] for natural product synthesis, the work of Shibasaki s group should be highlighted herein. Using his powerful bidentate TaDiAS PTCs, asymmetric phase-transfer-catalyzed alkylations, Michael addition reactions, and Mannich-type reactions have been systematically carried out. 

Propiolaldehyde diethyl acetal has found numerous synthetic applications in the literature which may be briefly summarized. The compound has been utilized in the synthesis of unsaturated and polyunsaturated acetals and aldehydes by alkylation of metal-lated derivatives, " by Cadiot-Chodkiewicz coupling with halo acetylenes, " and by reaction with organocuprates. Syntheses of heterocyclic compounds including pyrazoles, isoxazoles, triazoles, and pyrimidines have employed this three-carbon building block. Propiolaldehyde diethyl acetal has also been put to use in the synthesis of such natural products as polyacetylenes " and steroids. ... 

Synthetic applications of the asymmetric Birch reduction and reduction-alkylation are reported. Synthetically useful chiral Intermediates have been obtained from chiral 2-alkoxy-, 2-alkyl-, 2-aryl- and 2-trialkylsllyl-benzamides I and the pyrrolobenzodlazeplne-5,ll-diones II. The availability of a wide range of substituents on the precursor benzoic acid derivative, the uniformly high degree of dlastereoselection in the chiral enolate alkylation step, and the opportunity for further development of stereogenic centers by way of olefin addition reactions make this method unusually versatile for the asymmetric synthesis of natural products and related materials. 

It is also important to note that the potential synthetic utility of the asymmetric alkylation protocol discussed in this section has been fruitfully demonstrated by its application to the stereoselective synthesis of various biologically adive natural products possessing unique a-amino acid derivatives as their structural components [27,28]. 

The vast synthetic utility of the asymmetric phase-transfer alkylation of glycine Schiff base 2 has been realized by its successful application to the synthesis of various useful amino acid derivatives and natural products. 

In spite of the immense quantity of literature available on alkyl-substituted phenols including their syntheses, chemical and physical properties, their great importance as intermediates in the synthesis of natural products, as well as their many applications in science or industry, much less is known about aryl-substituted phenols and their derivatives. Even in recent comprehensive reviews on phenols1,2) no chapter specifically concerning arylated phenols has been included. What may be the reasons for this strange gap ... 

Dutch elm disease is a fungal disease, carried by elm bark beetles, which devastated the elm populations of many parts of the world in the 1970s. The beetles assemble at a suitable elm tree on the call of a pheromone containing, among compounds derived from the tree, one charactacteristic of the beetle itself, multistriatin 48. The stereochemistry of this compound was deduced by the synthesis of the various possible isomers as so little natural product was available.8 We shall use three of these syntheses to illustrate the application of aza-enolates to alkylation reactions. 

Sylvestre Julia and co-workers discoveried in 1991 a direct synthesis of olefins by reaction of carbonyl compounds with lithio derivatives of 2-[alkyl- or (2 -alkenyl)- or benzyl-sulfonylj-benzothiazoles (BT, 5). Since the initial study of the reaction of metallated BT sulfone 5 with carbonyl compounds, the versatility of these derivatives has been fully demonstrated through their application in the total synthesis of a large number of nature products. Kocienski and co-workers found in 1998 that l-phenyl-17/-tetrazol-5-yl sulfone (PT, 6) is a better olefination partner comparing to BT sulfones. This allowed the one-port Julia-Lythgoe olefination to be employed more efficiently and broadly, especially in the synthesis of nature products. 

The literature on basic- and acid-catalyzed alkylation of phenol and of its derivatives is wide [1,2], since this class of reactions finds industrial application for the synthesis of several intermediates 2-methylphenol as a monomer for the synthesis of epoxy cresol novolac resin 2,5-dimethylphenol as an intermediate for the synthesis of antiseptics, dyes and antioxidants 2,6-dimethylphenol used for the manufacture of polyphenylenoxide resins, and 2,3,6-trimethylphenol as a starting material for the synthesis of vitamin E. The nature of the products obtained in phenol methylation is affected by the surface characteristics of the catalyst, since catalysts having acid features address the electrophilic substitution in the ortho and para positions with respect to the hydroxy group (steric effects in confined environments may however affect the ortho/para-C-alkylation ratio), while with basic catalysts the ortho positions become the... 

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