Barton-McCombie

Scheme 22. The Barton-McCombie reaction [R1R2CHOH— R1R2CH2].

Organic chemists have been aware of reversible addition-fragmentation involving xanthate esters in organic chemistry for some time. It is the basis of the Barton-McCombie process for deoxygenation of alcohols (Scheme 9.37).402 404... 

Scheme 7 Barton-McCombie deoxygenation reaction in the presence of (Me0)2P(0)H...

The Barton-McCombie process is an important synthetic tool for the generation of radical species. Me3SiO-(SiHMeO)n-SiMe3 works as a stoichiometric reductant in the tin-catalyzed reaction since Bu3Sn(OPh) is reduced to Bu3SnH as shown in Scheme 31 [71]. 

Wood [127] reported an innovative development of the Barton-McCombie deoxygenation of alcohols allowed to work under tin-free conditions. A trimethylborane-water complex proves to be an efficient reagent for the reduction of xanthates. Complexation of water by trimethylborane induces a strong decrease of O - H bond dissociation energy from 116 kcal/mol (water) to 86 kcal/mol (Me3B-water complex). 

Scheme 57 Barton-McCombie deoxygenation with Me3B-water complex...

The reduction of thiocarbonyl derivatives by EtsSiH can be described as a chain process under forced conditions (Reaction 4.50) [89,90]. Indeed, in Reaction (4.51) for example, the reduction of phenyl thiocarbonate in EtsSiD as the solvent needed 1 equiv of dibenzoyl peroxide as initiator at 110 °C, and afforded the desired product in 91 % yield, where the deuterium incorporation was only 48% [90]. Nevertheless, there are some interesting applications for these less reactive silanes in radical chain reactions. For example, this method was used as an efficient deoxygenation step (Reaction 4.52) in the synthesis of 4,4-difluoroglutamine [91]. 1,2-Diols can also be transformed into olefins using the Barton-McCombie methodology. Reaction (4.53) shows the olefination procedure of a bis-xanthate using EtsSiH [89]. 

The addition of silyl radicals to thiocarbonyl derivatives is a facile process leading to a-silylthio adducts (Reaction 5.37). This elementary reaction is the initial step of the radical chain deoxygenation of alcohols or Barton McCombie reaction (see Section 4.3.3 for more details). However, rate constants for the formation of these adducts are limited to the value for the reaction of (TMS)3Si radical with the xanthate c-C6HuOC(S)SMe (Table 5.3), a reaction that is also found to be reversible [15]. Structural information on the a-silylthio adducts as well as some kinetic data for the decay reactions of these species have been obtained by EPR spectroscopy [9,72]. 

An interesting neophyl-type radical rearrangement process has been established for the synthesis of azabicycles, which are not readily accessible by other means. Barton McCombie deoxygenation of xanthate 70 under slow addition of (TMS)3SiH and AIBN in refluxing toluene furnished the 2-azabenzonorbor-nane derivative in good yield (Reaction 7.72) [82]. 

The transformation of L-arabinose (58) to lactone 57 was based on a route developed by Marquez and Sharma [51] Selective protection of the primary hydroxy group with TBDPSCl and oxidation of the lactol moiety with bromine afforded lactone 59. Subsequent selective deoxygenation a to the carbonyl group proceeded under Barton-McCombie conditions providing lactone 57 in 21% yield (Scheme 14). 

Miller also explored the ASD of glycerol derivatives through an enantioselective acylation process which relies on the use of a pentapeptide-catalyst which incorporates an A-terminal nucleophilic 3-(l-imidazolyl)-(5)-alanine residue [171], Most recently, Miller has probed in detail the role of dihedral angle restriction within a peptide-based catalyst for ferf-alcohol KR [172], site selective acylation of erythromycin A [173], and site selective catalysis of phenyl thionoformate transfer in polyols to allow regioselective Barton-McCombie deoxygenation [174],... 

When the trifluoromethylation occurs on aketonic carbonyl (such as position 2 or 3 in furanose series), it must be followed by a Barton-McCombie deoxygenation of the hydroxyl. It thus leads to the 2- or 3-C-trifluoromethyl deoxyfuranoses. The transformation of these latter compounds into deoxynucleosides has been reported. Trifluoromethyl 2, 3 -dideoxynucleosides and A-2 3 -vinylic nucleosides have also been prepared according to this approach (Figure 6.34). The CF3 group protects the glycosyl base bound from proteolysis in acidic medium, especially in the case of A-2 3 compounds. ... 

Barton-McCombie deoxygenation is not always stereoselective the diastereo-meric ratios strongly depends on the nature of the protecting groups and of the ester moiety. However, in 2-C-trifluoromethyl-2-deoxyfuranose, the a compound is the major product of the reaction, due to steric hindrance of this a side. In 3-C-trifluoromethyl-3-deoxyfuranose, deoxygenation by tributyltin hydride yields only the a product, if it is performed with oxalate instead of thiocarbonate. Another possibility to obtain this selectivity is to perform the reaction with 1,2,5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-a-D-glucofuranose (Figure 6.34). ... 

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