Allylic acetates, decarboxylative eliminations

Trost and coworkers have devised a stereocontrolled 1,3-diene synthesis employing a palladium-catalysed decarboxylative elimination procedure from allylic acetates carrying carboxylic acid functionality ji- to the acetate group (equation 18)48. This decarboxylative elimination strategy has been applied to the synthesis of an insect pheromone, codlemone48a and the ethyl ester of vitamin A carboxylic acid (Table 5)48b. 

The decarboxylation of ally / -keto carboxylates generates 7r-allylpalladium enolates. Aldol condensation and Michael addition are typical reactions for metal enolates. Actually Pd enolates undergo intramolecular aldol condensation and Michael addition. When an aldehyde group is present in the allyl ji-keto ester 738, intramolecular aldol condensation takes place yielding the cyclic aldol 739 as a main product[463]. At the same time, the diketone 740 is formed as a minor product by /3-elimination. This is Pd-catalyzed aldol condensation under neutral conditions. The reaction proceeds even in the presence of water, showing that the Pd enolate is not decomposed with water. The spiro-aldol 742 is obtained from 741. Allyl acetates with other EWGs such as allyl malonate, cyanoacetate 743, and sulfonylacetate undergo similar aldol-type cycliza-tions[464]. 

Formates. The decarboxylation reaction of metal formates is a fairly general route for the synthesis of metal hydrides and it has been applied to many transition metals. As an example, allyl palladium formates, which are believed to be intermediates in the catalytic reductive cleavage of allylic acetates and carbonates with formic acid to give monoolefins (Scheme 6.32), have been synthesized. In fact the complexes undergo decarboxylation and the reductive elimination of the allyl hydrido fragments, supporting the catalytic cycle proposed [105]. 

Several 1,3-diene syntheses involving elimination reactions that are catalyzed by Pd(Ph3P)4 have been reported. The first involves the Et3N mediated elimination of HOAc from allylic acetates in refluxing THF. A complementary procedure involves the Pd(Ph3P)4 catalyzed decarboxylative elimination of /3-acetoxy-carboxylic acids (eq 46). The substrates are easily prepared by the condensation of enals and carboxylate enolates irrespective of the diastereomeric mixture, ( )-alkenes are formed in a highly stereocontrolled manner. The geometry of the double bond present in the enal precursor remains unaffected in the elimination and the reaction is applicable to the formation of 1,3-cyclohexadienes. 

Allylic acetates afford olefins by elimination of acetic acid whereas carboxylic acids are readily decarboxylated with Pd catalysts. 

In 1985, O Malley et al. published the total syntheses of rac-averufin (103) and rac-nidurufin (104) (65). These are both early precursors of the aflatoxins in their biosynthesis. Nidurufin (104) is the direct successor of averufin (103) and the direct precursor of versiconal hemiacetal acetate (12, see Scheme 2.1). Nidurufin (104) and averufin (103) are accessible by the same synthesis route only the two last steps differ firom each other (see Scheme 2.17). The first reaction was a double Diels-Alder reaction with dichloro-p-benzoquinone (97) and two equivalents of diene 98. Then, three of the four alcohol functions were selectively MOM-protected (—> 99). The remaining alcohol was converted into the allyl ether and then subjected to a reductive Claisen rearrangement, followed by MOM-protection of the redundant alcohol ( 100). By addition/elimination of PhSeCl, 101 was formed. Deprotonation of t-butyl 3-oxobutanoate, followed by reaction with 101 yielded the pivotal intermediate 102. This could be converted into rac-averufin (103) by deprotection of the alcohols and decarboxylation at the side chain. The last step was a p-TsOH-catalyzed cyclization to give 103. By treating 102 with /m-CPBA, the double bond is epoxidized. rac-Nidurufin (104) was then formed by cyclization of this epoxide under acidic conditions. 

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