Asymmetric induction also

Whereas the configurations of the sugars are truly a lasting monument to Emil Fischer, the concept of asymmetric induction, also referred to as partial asymmetric synthesis, initiated a new era in chemical research that is still with us today. 

The asymmetric induction also depends on the nature of the electrophile. Thus, iodomethane gave lower selectivities than the less reactive methyl sulfate or 4-methylbenzenesulfonate2. Higher alkyl 4-mcthylbenzenesulfonates or sulfates, however, react too slowly (yields 10-20%) at the low temperatures required in order to achieve a high enantiomeric excess in the alkylation reaction15. Furthermore, oxirane and alkyl chlorides did not react at all at these temperatures2-20. 

Asymmetric induction also occurs during osmium tetroxide mediated dihydroxylation of olefinic molecules containing a stereogenic center, especially if this center is near the double bond. In these reactions, the chiral framework of the molecule serves to induce the diastereoselectivity of the oxidation. These diastereoselective reactions are achieved with either stoichiometric or catalytic quantities of osmium tetroxide. The possibility exists for pairing or matching this diastereoselectivity with the face selectivity of asymmetric dihydroxylation to achieve enhanced or double diastereoselectivity [25], as discussed further later in the chapter. 

Asymmetric induction also takes place in the cinchona catalyzed addition of thioacetic acid to a,/3-unsaturated dicarboxylic acid esters. Both the reaction rate and optical purity of the addition products are influenced by the nature of the alkoxy or thioalkoxy group in the unsaturated substrate. Generally, thioesters are more reactive towards thioacetic acid and better enantioselectivities are observed for unhindered esters11. 

The stereochemical outcome of an aldol reaction involving more than one chiral component is consistent with the rule of approximate multiplicativity of diastereofacial selectivities intrinsic to the chiral reactants. For a matched case, the diastereoselectivity approximates (substrate DS) X (reagent DS). For a mismatched case, the diastereoselectivity is (substrate DS) (reagent DS). Double asymmetric induction also can be used to enforce the inherent facial selectivity of a chiral aldehyde, as shown below. 

A more eflicient and general synthetic procedure is the Masamune reaction of aldehydes with boron enolates of chiral a-silyloxy ketones. A double asymmetric induction generates two new chiral centres with enantioselectivities > 99%. It is again explained by a chair-like six-centre transition state. The repulsive interactions of the bulky cyclohexyl group with the vinylic hydrogen and the boron ligands dictate the approach of the enolate to the aldehyde (S. Masamune, 1981 A). The fi-hydroxy-x-methyl ketones obtained are pure threo products (threo = threose- or threonine-like Fischer formula also termed syn" = planar zig-zag chain with substituents on one side), and the reaction has successfully been applied to macrolide syntheses (S. Masamune, 1981 B). Optically pure threo (= syn") 8-hydroxy-a-methyl carboxylic acids are obtained by desilylation and periodate oxidation (S. Masamune, 1981 A). Chiral 0-((S)-trans-2,5-dimethyl-l-borolanyl) ketene thioketals giving pure erythro (= anti ) diastereomers have also been developed by S. Masamune (1986). 

A catalytic enantio- and diastereoselective dihydroxylation procedure without the assistance of a directing functional group (like the allylic alcohol group in the Sharpless epox-idation) has also been developed by K.B. Sharpless (E.N. Jacobsen, 1988 H.-L. Kwong, 1990 B.M. Kim, 1990 H. Waldmann, 1992). It uses osmium tetroxide as a catalytic oxidant (as little as 20 ppm to date) and two readily available cinchona alkaloid diastereomeis, namely the 4-chlorobenzoate esters or bulky aryl ethers of dihydroquinine and dihydroquinidine (cf. p. 290% as stereosteering reagents (structures of the Os complexes see R.M. Pearlstein, 1990). The transformation lacks the high asymmetric inductions of the Sharpless epoxidation, but it is broadly applicable and insensitive to air and water. Further improvements are to be expected. 

Meyers has demonstrated that chiral oxazolines derived from valine or rert-leucine are also effective auxiliaries for asymmetric additions to naphthalene. These chiral oxazolines (39 and 40) are more readily available than the methoxymethyl substituted compounds (3) described above but provide comparable yields and stereoselectivities in the tandem alkylation reactions. For example, addition of -butyllithium to naphthyl oxazoline 39 followed by treatment of the resulting anion with iodomethane afforded 41 in 99% yield as a 99 1 mixture of diastereomers. The identical transformation of valine derived substrate 40 led to a 97% yield of 42 with 94% de. As described above, sequential treatment of the oxazoline products 41 and 42 with MeOTf, NaBKi and aqueous oxalic acid afforded aldehydes 43 in > 98% ee and 90% ee, respectively. These experiments demonstrate that a chelating (methoxymethyl) group is not necessary for reactions to proceed with high asymmetric induction. 

The influence of 1,2-asymmctric induction on the exchange of diastereotopic bromine atoms has also been investigated22,23. Thus, treatment of the / -silyloxydibromo compound 15 with butyllithium at — 110°C in the presence of 2-methylpropana led to products 17-19 after the reaction mixture was warmed to 20 °C. The distribution of the products indicates that the diastereomeric lithium compounds 16 A and 16B were formed in a ratio of 84 16, with 16A being kinetically favored by 1,2-asymmetric induction. Formation of the m-configurated epoxide (cis,anti-18) was slowed to such an extent that its formation was incomplete and a substantial amount of the parent bromohydrin 17 remained. The analogous m.yyn-configurat-ed epoxide was not observed. Presumably for sterie reasons, the parent bromohydrin did not cyclize to the epoxide but instead led to the ketone 1923. 

It is interesting to speculate that asymmetric induction may be the consequence of the exo anomeric effect, a stereoelectronic effect that favors the conformation 5 that places the aglycone O-C bond antiperiplanar to the pyran C(1) —C(2) bond7fi. Related asymmetric induction has also been observed in aldehyde addition reactions of the related, but racemic, pinacol (Z)-y-(tetrahydropyranyloxy)allylboronate49. As indicated in the examples above, however, the level of diastereoselectivity is modest and the only application in asymmetric synthesis is Wuts exo-brevicomin synthesis75. 

These results show that chemical yields are generally higher than for most aldol-type additions of ester cnolates. mainly because of the chemical activation of the methylene group by the sulfoxide, which makes this reaction suitable for any aldehyde or ketone. High asymmetric induction is also generally observed. The aldol adducts obtained by addition to aldehydes have been transformed into optically active four- and five-membered lactones38. 

High 1,2-asymmetric induction is also observed in the Lewis acid induced alkylation of an a-ethoxyearbamate with tctraalkyllcad104. 

A substituent placed in the side chain may also cause asymmetric induction. This has been utilized in a total synthesis of acoradiene, in which 3-[l,5-dimethyl-6-(trimethylsilyl)-4-hex-... 

Asymmetric induction may also derive from chirality in the amine part of the enamine. The reaction of the enamine (S)-l-(l-cyclohexenyl)-2-(methoxymethyl)pyrrolidine with ( )-(2-ni-troethenyl)arenes gives, after hydrolysis, a single diastereomeric product in >90% ee30. 

Solladie and coworkers545 confirmed the earlier result of Nishihata and Nishio546 that the carbonation of the a-sulphinyl carbanion proceeds under kinetic control with retention of configuration at the metallated carbon atom. However, they also found that the stereochemical outcome of this reaction depends on other factors. They observed that 90% of asymmetric induction may be achieved under kinetic control (reaction time < 0.5 min) by using a base with low content of lithium salts, a result consistent with an electrophilic assistance by the lithium cation (equation 286)545. 

Demailly and coworkers195 found that the asymmetric induction increased markedly when optically active methyl pyridyl sulfoxide was treated with an aldehyde. They also synthesized (S)-chroman-2-carboxylaldehyde 152, which is the cyclic ring part of a-tocopherol, by aldol-type condensation of the optically active lithium salt of a,/3-unsaturated sulfoxide. Although the diastereomeric ratio of allylic alcohol 151 formed from lithium salt 149 and 150 was not determined, the reaction of 149 with salicylaldehyde gave the diastereomeric alcohol in a ratio of 28 72196. 

Reaction of p-nitrophenyl 2-(p-tolylsulfinyl)acetate 161 with aryl aldimines in the presence of imidazole was found to give /j-lactams 162 and amides 163206. In the cyclization, only the two 3,4-trans derivatives were formed out of a possible four diastereomeric pairs and, interestingly, the ratio of two diastereomeric pairs went up to 6.7 1. This means not only that internal asymmetric induction207 affords the trans derivative, but that also a relatively high asymmetric induction took place during the reaction. 

Fluoboric acid is also an efficacious promoter of cyclic oxo-carbenium ions (Scheme 4.24) bearing an activated double bond which, in the presence of open-chain and cyclic dienes, rapidly undergo a Diels-Alder reaction [91]. Chiral a, -unsaturated ketones bearing a -hydroxy substituents, protected as acetals, react with various dienes in the presence of HBF4, affording Diels-Alder adducts that were isolated as alcohols by hydrolysis of the acetal group by TsOH. Some examples of reactions with isoprene are reported in Table 4.23. The enantios-electivity of the reaction is dependent on the size of the substituent R on the of-carbon high levels of asymmetric induction were observed with R = z-Pr (90 1) and R = t-Bu (150 1) and low levels with R = Me (2.7 1) and R = Ph (3.0 1). Scheme 4.24 shows the postulated reaction mechanism. 

---