Barton modification

Since its introduction in 1954, the Barton modification has enjoyed considerable utility in Wolff-Kishner reductions, especially with sterically hindered or otherwise relatively inaccessable ketones. A selection of structural examples is presented in Table 2. 

Table 2 Wolff-Kishner Reduction of Carbonyls Using the Barton Modification...

Rearrangements of nonconjugated alkenes have also been observed. Thus, a triterpenoid (partial structure 38) afforded the alkene (39 32% yield) upon reduction (Barton modification), a result attributed to initial base-induced isomerization of (38) to the corresponding a,3-unsaturated ketone followed by rearrangement during reduction. ... 

During the final stages of the asymmetric total synthesis of antimitotic agents (+)- and (-)-spirotryprostatin B, the C8-C9 double bond had to be installed, and at the same time the carboxylic acid moiety removed from C8. R.M. Williams et al. found that the Kochi- and Suarez modified Hunsdiecker reaction using LTA or PIDA failed and eventually the Barton modification proved to be the only way to achieve this goal. After the introduction of the bromine substituent at C8, the C8-C9 double bond was formed by exposing the compound to sodium methoxide in methanol. This step not only accomplished the expected elimination but also epimerized the C12 position to afford the desired natural product as a 2 1 mixture of diastereomers at C12. The two diastereomers were easily separated by column chromatography. 

The last, but certainly not the least, is the Barton modification to the Hunsdiecker reaction.24-26 It involves decomposition of thiohydroxamate esters in halogen donor solvents such as CCU, BrCCh, CHI3, or CH2I2 promoted by a source of radical initiation, which could be radical initiator (e.g., 18—>20),24 thermal (e.g., 21—>22),25 or photolytic26 conditions. The Barton modification is highly compatible with most functional groups. For example, under photolytic conditions, acid 23 was converted to acid chloride 24, which, without isolation, was treated with the sodium salt of Z/-hydroxypyridine-2-thione (19) with bromotrichloromethane as solvent to give alkyl bromide 25 in 90% yield.26... 

The success of dibekacin prompted worldwide attention to the removal of selected OH groups in aminoglycoside antibiotics susceptible to modification by resistant bacteria, and the chemical deoxygenation procedure of D. H. R. Barton was found particularly useful. 

Gates, K. S. Covalent modification of DNA by natural products. In Comprehensive Natural Products Chemistry Barton, D. Nakanishi, K. Meth-Cohn, O. Kool, E. T., Eds. Elsevier New York, 1999 Vol. 7, pp 491-552. 

The transformation of endocyclic nitrone 56 (made from N,0-bis-protected hydroxylamine 55) to lactam 20 can be carried out by photochemical activation or by a two-step modification of Barton s protocol, that is, by trapping the nitrone oxygen followed by an alkali-promoted, semi-pinacol-like rearrangement (03JOC8065). 

A useful modification of the Barton deoxygenation of secondary alcohols involves the use of O-phenylthionocarbonates developed by Robins et al. [15]. Application of this method for the generation and cyclization of a hex-5-ynyI radical is shown is Scheme 5. The precursors are readily prepared from D-ribose by a Grignard addition, followed by selective alcohol derivatizations. The major exo-isomer has been converted into carba-a-D-ribofuranose [16]. 

The method is a modification of one used by Barton and McCombie.8 Reduction of ketones.9 Ketones can be reduced to alcohols by Bu3SnH in the presence of either AIBN or a Lewis acid, but this reaction is limited to unhindered ketones. However, even sterically hindered ketones, such as f-butyl methyl ketone, can be reduced under high pressure (10 kbar) in the absence of a catalyst. This method is particularly useful in the case of cyclopropyl and a,p-epoxy ketones, which are reduced to the corresponding alcohols. Reduction of these ketones with Bu3SnH under radical conditions results in ring-opened products. 

Sequences in which addition precedes cyclization are not as straightforward to conduct as the reverse however, they are very important because a net annulation results (that is, a new ring is formed by the union of two acyclic precursors in one experimental step). The intermediate radical is differentiated from the other radicals provided that the cyclization reaction is rapid, but it can be difficult to differentiate the initial radical from the final radical. As illustrated in Scheme 57, this is particularly true in the tin hydride method because many different types of radicals react with tin hydride at similar rates. Reaction of (69) under standard radical addition conditions produces (70), which results from a sequence of addition/cy-clization/addition.233 That the last C—C bond is formed actually results from a lack of selectivity the initial and final radicals are not differentiated and they must undergo the same reaction. Of course, this lack of selectivity is of no consequence if the product contains the desired skeleton and the needed functionality for subsequent transformations. Such sequences are very useful for forming three carbon-carbon bonds, and they can also be conducted by Barton s thiohydroxamate method.234 Structural modifications are required to differentiate the initial and final radicals, and, as illustrated by the conversion of (71) to (72), phenyl groups can provide the needed differentiation (probably by retarding the rate of addition more than they retard the rate of hydrogen abstraction). Clive has demonstrated that phenyl-substituted vinyl radicals also provide the needed selectivity, as illustrated by the second example in Scheme 57.233... 

Perhaloalkanes serve as bromination or iodination agents in the radical decarbox-ylative halogenation of carboxylic acids. In an interesting modification of the Hunsdiecker-Bodin reaction Barton and coworkers have applied iV-hydroxypyridine-2-thione esters as nonelectrophilic intermediates for the decarboxylative bromination and iodination of primary, secondary and tertiary aliphatic and alicyclic592, as well as aroma-... 

Rozwarski DA, Grant GA, Barton DHR, Jacobs WR Jr, Sacchettini 44. JC. Modification of the NADH of the isoniazid target (InhA) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Science 1998 279 98-102. 

The Huang-Minlon and related modifications 1.142.22 The Barton and related modifications... 

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