Allylic sulfoxides, cycloadditions

The cycloaddition of allenyl sulfoxide 135 and cydopentadiene occurred at room temperature, giving the single adduct 136. The initially formed allylic sulfoxide underwent a rapid [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement. Treatment of 136 with trimethyl phosphite furnished alcohol 137. It should be noted that the reaction of methyl 4-hydroxy-2-butynoate with cydopentadiene failed to give 137. Thus, the allene 135 is considered as a masked and more reactive alkyne equivalent. 

Allylic oxidation is carried out by addition of one equivalent of selenium dioxide. First Se02 will react with the alkene in a [4 + 2] cycloaddition reminiscent of the ene reaction. The initial product is an allylic selenic acid 40, which undergoes - like an allylic sulfoxide -allylic rearrangement to give an unstable intermediate, which decomposes rapidly to the allylic alcohol 42.16... 

Reactions of 3,5-dichloro-2,4,6-trimethyl benzonitrile oxide 241 with fluoro-methyl substituted alkenes 242, bearing a chiral sulfinyl group at -position of the double bond, afford diastereoisomeric 4,5-dihydroisoxazoles 243 and 244 [180] with a stereoselectivity lower than 2 1 (Scheme 110). The authors conclude that the efficiency of allyl sulfoxides to control diastereoselectivity of 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions with nitrile oxides is lower than that of vinyl sulfoxides. 

In 2002 the same author demonstrated the usefulness of this method in a rather demanding context including an intramolecular cycloaddition with an W-sulfinyl urea as a new type of N-sulfinyl dienophile (Scheme 60) [144]. As key steps in the total synthesis of freshwater cyanobacterial hepatotoxins, ( , )-diene 238 was transformed into N-sulfinyl urea 239 which immediately cycloadds intramolecularly yielding tricycle 240 as a single isomer in excellent yield. After reaction with phenylmagnesium bromide the intermediate allylic sulfoxide rearranges cleanly to diastereomerically pure allylic alcohol... 

Hua has used the products of Pauson-Khand cycloadditions for syntheses of optically active pental-enene and racemic pentalenolactone E methyl ester. The racemic ketone in the first case was converted to the necessary optically active intermediate by kinetic resolution via 1,4-addition of an optically active allyl sulfoxide anion. These represented the first synthesis of natural products containing the angularly fused triquinane skeleton from bicyclic Pauson-Khand products (equation 53 and Scheme 20). ... 

It has been demonstrated that cycloadducts (129), which are enolphosphates obtained by regio- and stereospecific [4 + 2] cycloaddition reactions of dienes (130) to a variety of dienophiles, are functionalized versatile synthons having fixed stereochemistry. Their [2,3] sigmatropic rearrangement via allylic sulfoxides and selenoxides (131) provides a direct sterospecific entry to new functionalized bi- and tricyclic allylic alcohol systems (133). The latter has been transformed into the corresponding a-hydroxy ketones (132), key structural subunits of natural products and valuable synthetic intermediates (examples are given in Scheme 32). ... 

EtAlCb catalyzes the Friedel-Crafts acylation of alkenes with acid chlorides, the formal [3 + 2] cycloaddition of alkenes with cyclopropane-1,1-dicarboxylates (eq 21), the Friedel-Crafts alkylation of anilines and indoles with ct-aminoacrylate esters, and the formation of allyl sulfoxides from sulfinyl chlorides and alkenes. EtAlCU induces the Beckmann rearrangement of oxime sulfonates. The cationic intermediates can be trapped with enol silyl ethers (eq 22). EtAlC is the preferred catalyst for addition of the cation derived from an a-chloro sulfide to an alkene to give a cation which undergoes a Friedel-Crafts alkylation (eq 23). ... 

To control the stereochemistry of 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions, chiral auxiliaries are introduced into either the dipole-part or dipolarophile. A recent monograph covers this topic extensively 70 therefore, only typical examples are presented here. Alkenes employed in asymmetric 1,3-cycloaddition can be divided into three main groups (1) chiral allylic alcohols, (2) chiral amines, and (3) chiral vinyl sulfoxides or vinylphosphine oxides.63c... 

Michael-aldol reaction as an alternative to the Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction 14 recent results in conjugate addition of nitroalkanes to electron-poor alkenes 15 asymmetric cyclopropanation of chiral (l-phosphoryl)vinyl sulfoxides 16 synthetic methodology using tertiary phosphines as nucleophilic catalysts in combination with allenoates or 2-alkynoates 17 recent advances in the transition metal-catalysed asymmetric hydrosilylation of ketones, imines, and electrophilic C=C bonds 18 Michael additions catalysed by transition metals and lanthanide species 19 recent progress in asymmetric organocatalysis, including the aldol reaction, Mannich reaction, Michael addition, cycloadditions, allylation, epoxidation, and phase-transfer catalysis 20 and nucleophilic phosphine organocatalysis.21... 

Other hetero-substituted dienes are also useful in synthesis. 1- and 2-Phenylthiobutadienes form versatile intermediates because the sulfide group can be removed reductively or after oxidation to the sulfoxide followed by elimination to a new alkene or [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement to an allylic alcohol. For example, cycloaddition of the 1-phenylthio-substituted diene 41 gave the sulfide 42, which was oxidized to the intermediate sulfoxide. The sulfoxide undergoes... 

The routes leading from lactone A have the advantage of a chiral source of starting materials. With the two chiral centers at C24 and C25 set, the problem reduces down to elaborating the B ring with the appropriate substituents. An early solution was provided in an unusual cyclization of the B ring via an intramolecular Michael addition to the unsaturated aldehyde formed from a nitrile oxide 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition to the allyl methyl ketal of lactone A [76]. This clever use of relative stereocontrol provided by the highly constrained and predictable transition states of both key reactions unfortunately resulted in a low yield. A more conventional approach conceptualized the addition of a sulfoxide [77] to 2 to yield a masked diol-ketone precursor which cyclizes under acidic catalysis. Elimination of the sulfoxide permitted the introduction of the hydroxy substituent at C19 of the spiroketal. 

The tactical use of this rearrangement is important in the context of the broader strategic plan. The combination of the electron-deficient diene (201) and the electron-rich dienophile (202) sets up a cycloaddition reaction that proceeds at a convenient rate and with desired regiocontrol. The recognition that, after the rearrangement, the sulfoxide is the synthetic equivalent of an allylic alcohol exemplifies brilliant strategic planning and synthetic execution. 

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