Asymmetric epoxidation absolute configuration

More than a decade of experience on Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation has confirmed that the method allows a great structural diversity in allylic alcohols and no exceptions to the face-selectivity rules shown in Fig. 10.1 have been reported to date. The scheme can be used with absolute confidence to predict and assign absolute configurations to the epoxides obtained from prochiral allylic alcohols. However, when allylic alcohols have chiral substituents at C(l), C(2) and/or C(3), the assignment of stereochemistry to the newly introduced epoxide group must be done with considerably more care. 

The above-mentioned facts have important consequences on the stereochemical outcome of the kinetic resolution of asymmetrically substituted epoxides. In the majority of kinetic resolutions of esters (e.g. by ester hydrolysis and synthesis using lipases, esterases and proteases) the absolute configuration at the stereogenic centre(s) always remains the same throughout the reaction. In contrast, the enzymatic hydrolysis of epoxides may take place via attack on either carbon of the oxirane ring (Scheme 7) and it is the structure of the substrate and of the enzyme involved which determine the regioselec-tivity of the attack [53, 58-611. As a consequence, the absolute configuration of both the product and substrate from a kinetic resolution of a racemic... 

One of the severest challenges of asymmetric synthesis is the direct enantioselective construction of quaternary stereogenic centers. Brian Pagenkopof of the University of Texas has reported (Chem. Communications 2003 2592) that alkynyl aluminum reagents will open a trisubstituted epoxide such as 10 at the more substituted center, with inversion of absolute configuration. As the epoxide 10 is available in high from 9 by the method of Yian Shi of Colorado State (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 119 11224, 1997), this opens a direct route to quaternary cyclic stereogenic centers. 

A Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation features in a synthesis of (S)-chromanethanol (15). In the key cyclisation step, the absolute configuration of the diol is retained by a double inversion (95SL1255). trans-6-Cyano-2,2-dimethylchroman-3,4-diol is obtained from the racemic diol with excellent optical purity by the stereoselective acylation using Candida cylindraceae lipase (95TA123). 

The first enantioselective total synthesis of ( )-7,8-epoxycembrene C (33) was achieved via a general approach by employing an intramolecular McMurry coupling and Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation as key steps from readily available starting material. The syntheses presented here verified the absolute stereochemistry assignment of the epoxy configuration of 33 as assumed (1R,8R) (Scheme 6-20). °... 

When the alcohol is secondary, the possibility for kinetic resolution exists if the titanium tartrate complex is ctqxiUe of catalyzing the enantioselective oxidation of the amine to an amine oxide (or other oxidation product). The use of the standard asymmetric epoxidation complex, i.e. Ti2(tartrate)2, to achieve such an enantioselective oxidation was unsuccessful. However, modification of the complex so that the stoichiometry lies between Ti2(tartrate)i and Ti2(tartrate)i.s leads to very successful kinetic resolutions of p-hydroxyamines. A representative example is shown in equation (13). " The oxidation and kinetic resolution of more than 20 secondary p-hydroxyamines provi s an indication of the scope of the reaction and of some structural limitations to good kinetic resolution. These results also show a consistent correlation of absolute configuration of the resolved hydroxyamine with the configuration of tartrate used in the catalyst. This correlation is as shown in equation (13), where use of (+)-DIPT results in oxidation of the (5)-P-hydroxyamine and leaves unoxidized the (/ )-enantiomer. 

The Shaipless asymmetric epoxidation reaction is often used as a key step in synthetic protocols involving the synthesis of natural products such as terpenes, carbohydrates, insect pheromones, and pharmaceutical products. The SAE reaction is characterized by its simplicity and reliability. The epoxides are obtained with predictable absolute configuration and in high enantiomeric excess (ee). Moreover, 2,3-epoxy alcohols serve as versatile intermediates for a host of stereospecific transformations. 

In order to determine the absolute configuration of C, we synthesized (3Z,6Z,95,10/O-9,10-epoxy-3,6-henicosadiene (91) and its enantiomer 91 employing the Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation as the key step.55,56 Asymmetric epoxidation of D afforded (2/ ,35)-E of 80.6% ee. This was converted to the corresponding 3,5-dinitrobenzoate F and recrystallized to give enantiomerically pure F. Further synthetic transformation converted F to (95,10/0-91. Bioassay of (95,10/0-91 proved it to be pheromonally active, while the enantiomer (9/ ,105)-91 was inactive. A blend of A, B and C (= 91), however, was pheromonally inactive when tested against H. cunea. Two additional components 92 and 93 were necessary for the pheromone action. In 1987 Dr. H. Arn in Switzerland asked me to synthesize these two compounds. We did this, and in 1989 Toth, Arn and their coworkers published the identification of 92 and 93. 

There are several efficient methods available for the synthesis of homochiral sulfoxides [3], such as asymmetric oxidation, optical resolution (chemical or bio-catalytic) and nucleophilic substitution on chiral sulfinates (the Andersen synthesis). The asymmetric oxidation process, in particular, has received much attention recently. The first practical example of asymmetric oxidation based on a modified Sharpless epoxidation reagent was first reported by Kagan [4] and Modena [5] independently. With further improvement on the oxidant and the chiral ligand, chiral sulfoxides of >95% ee can be routinely prepared by these asymmetric oxidation methods. Nonetheless, of these methods, the Andersen synthesis [6] is still one of the most widely used and reliable synthetic route to homochiral sulfoxides. Clean inversion takes place at the stereogenic sulfur center of the sulfinate in the Andersen synthesis. Therefore, the key advantage of the Andersen approach is that the absolute configuration of the resulting sulfoxide is well defined provided the absolute stereochemistry of the sulfinate is known. 

Asymmetric epoxidation of racemic secondary allyl alcohols 3.17 takes place with kinetic resolution [127], The presence of a substituent on the same face as the reagent at transition state induces a decrease in rate due to steric hindrance. Therefore, according to the (Ry or (S)-absolute configuration of the substrate, the rate of epoxidation with a given catalyst will be different (Figure 7.33). The ratio of rates in a kinetic resolution depends upon the nature of the R substituent, the temperature, and the structure of the tartrate 2.69 (R = Me, Et, /-Pr). Cyclohexyl tartrates have been recommended for kinetic resolutions because bulkier esters give higher relative rate ratios [808]. A few examples of resolutions are shown in Fig-... 

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