Asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized alkenes

The protocol developed by Jacobsen and Katsuki for the salen-Mn catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized alkenes continues to dominate the field. The mechanism of the oxygen transfer has not yet been fully elucidated, although recent molecular orbital calculations based on density functional theory suggest a radical intermediate (2), whose stability and lifetime dictate the degree of cis/trans isomerization during the epoxidation <00AG(E)589>. 

Chapters 4-6 present an overview and a comparison between the various existing strategies for asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized alkenes, a, (3-unsaturated ketones and allylic alcohols. 

Chiral dioxiranes, generated in situ from chiral ketones and Oxone , are promising reagents for the asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized alkenes. Chiral ketone catalysts that are easily accessible in both enantiomers are targets for development. 

Asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized alkenes by NaOCl with 9.38B-type catalysts is found to be substantially accelerated in the presence of near-catalytic quantities of amine N-oxides. What is the mechanistic significance of this observation ... 

Ruthenium complexes [RuCl2(PNNP)] containing tetradentate hybrid ligands 7.53 with P-and N-donors (PNNP) catalyze the asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized alkenes... 

Davis, F. A., Harakal, M. E., Awad, S. B. Chemistry of oxaziridines. 4. Asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized alkenes using chiral 2-sulfonyloxaziridines evidence for a planar transition state geometry. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1983, 105, 3123-3126. 

Curd, R., Fiorentino, M., Serio, M. R. Asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized alkenes by dioxirane intermediates generated from potassium peroxomonosulfate and chiral ketones. J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Common. 1984,155-156. 

The oxidation of saturated hydrocarbons in the presence of iron- or manganese-containing catalysts can be achieved by using a variety of oxidants including alkyl hydroperoxides, peroxycarboxylic acids, iodosyl-benzene, dihydrogen peroxide, and dioxygen (9-11). It has been shown that chiral iron- and manganese-porphyrin complexes catalyze the asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized alkenes (75). Except for a number of experiments in which up to 96 % enantiomeric excess (ee) has been reported (16,17), in most epoxidation reactions with chiral porphyrins only a low to moderate enantiomeric excess of the product is obtained (18,19). In association with these catalysts, alkyl hydroperoxides and iodosylbenzene are often used as primary oxidants (18,19). 

TABLE 5.16. Asymmetric Epoxidation of Unfunctionalized Alkenes with... 

For a recent report on chiral molybdenum-catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized alkenes, see Barlan, A.U., Basak, A., and Yamamoto, H. (2006) Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 45, 5849. 

Halterman RL, Jan S-T (1991) Catalytic asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized alkenes using the first D. -symmetric metallotetraphenylporphyrin. J Org Chem 56 5253-5254... 

Ten years after Sharpless s discovery of the asymmetric epoxidation of allylic alcohols, Jacobsen and Katsuki independently reported asymmetric epoxidations of unfunctionalized olefins by use of chiral Mn-salen catalysts such as 9 (Scheme 9.3) [14, 15]. The reaction works best on (Z)-disubstituted alkenes, although several tri-and tetrasubstituted olefins have been successfully epoxidized [16]. The reaction often requires ligand optimization for each substrate for high enantioselectivity to be achieved. 

The requirement for the presence of an adjacent alcohol group can be regarded as quite a severe limitation to the substrate range undergoing asymmetric epoxidation using the Katsuki-Sharpless method. To overcome this limitation new chiral metal complexes have been discovered which catalyse the epoxidation of nonfunctionalized alkenes. The work of Katsuki and Jacobsen in this area has been extremely important. Their development of chiral manganese (Ill)-salen complexes for asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized olefins has been reviewed1881. 

The epoxidation of unfunctionalized alkenes by dioxiranes was investigated mainly for mechanistic purposes P . Some representative cases are collected in Scheme 3. Although such unfunctionalized alkenes have not been studied as intensively as the other olefin types, the recent asymmetric epoxidations by dioxirane were performed mainly on this substrate class (vide infra) J P. For this purpose, in-situ-generated dioxiranes in carefully buffered aqueous solutions had to be used, since the chiral dioxiranes cannot be readily isolated. Fortunately, the epoxides of unfunctionalized alkenes are more resistant to... 

The catalyhc asymmetric epoxidation of alkenes offers a powerful strategy for the synthesis of enantiomerically enriched epoxides. Among the several existing catalyhc methods, the asymmetric epoxidahon of unfunctionalized alkenes catalyzed by chiral Mn(lll)(salen) complexes such as homochiral [( N.N )-bis(3,5-di-tert-butylsalicylidene)-l,2-cyclohexanediamine]manganese(lll) chloride (22) (Figure 7.7), as developed by Jacobsen and coworkers, represents one ofthe most reliable methods [39]. 

A more recent alternative approach, developed by Jacobsen and co-workers, concerns the catalytic asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized olefins using cheap NaOCl as oxidant in the presence of Mn complexes of chiral Schiff bases as catalysts, the so-called salene (Fig. 3-4). Values of 97% e.e. have been achieved using cis-disubstituted or trisubstituted alkenes. Equation 3-15 describes the Jacobsen epoxidation of olefins schematically. 

Pietikainen, P, Convenient Asymmetric (Salen)Mn(ni)-Catatyzed Epoxidation of Unfunctionalized Alkenes with Hydrogen Peroxide Using Carboxylate Salt Cocatalysts, Tetrahedron 54 4319-A326 (1998). 

The asymmetric epoxidation of alkenes constitutes a powerful approach to enantiomerically enriched epoxides, a class of highly versatile intermediates in organic synthesis [1]. Various effective epoxidation systems have been developed, including epoxidation of allylic [2, 3] and homoallylic [4] alcohols, metalunfunctionalized alkenes [5-7], and the nucleophilic epoxidation of electron-deficient alkenes [8]. During the past 10-15 years, much effort has been devoted to chiral ketone-catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation (Scheme 3.1). The subject has been described in great detail in the first edition [9] and other reviews [10]. This chapter provides an update on progress in this area since the first edition [9]. 

The Jacobsen asymmetric epoxidation reaction was developed at the beginning of the 1990s aiming at filling the existing lack of suitable method for the epoxidation of unfunctionalized alkenes. The catalytic system is particularly selective toward czis-alkenes 61 (Scheme 34.17) and the possible olefin range nicely complements the Sharpless... 

Asymmetric epoxidation of olefins is an effective approach for the synthesis of enan-tiomerically enriched epoxides. A variety of efficient methods have been developed [1, 2], including Sharpless epoxidation of allylic alcohols [3, 4], metal-catalyzed epoxidation of unfunctionalized olefins [5-10], and nucleophilic epoxidation of electron-deficient olefins [11-14], Dioxiranes and oxazirdinium salts have been proven to be effective oxidation reagents [15-21], Chiral dioxiranes [22-28] and oxaziridinium salts [19] generated in situ with Oxone from ketones and iminium salts, respectively, have been extensively investigated in numerous laboratories and have been shown to be useful toward the asymmetric epoxidation of alkenes. In these epoxidation reactions, only a catalytic amount of ketone or iminium salt is required since they are regenerated upon epoxidation of alkenes (Scheme 1). 

The effect of structural variation and the use of different caboxylate salts as cocatalysts was investigated by Pietikainen . The epoxidation reactions were performed with the chiral Mn(III)-salen complexes 173 depicted in Scheme 93 using H2O2 or urea hydrogen peroxide as oxidants and unfunctionalized alkenes as substrates. With several soluble carboxylate salts as additives, like ammonium acetate, ammonium formate, sodium acetate and sodium benzoate, good yields (62-73%) and moderate enantioselectivities (ee 61-69%) were obtained in the asymmetric epoxidation of 1,2-dihydronaphthalene. The results were better than with Ai-heterocycles like Ai-methylimidazole, ferf-butylpyridine. 

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