Betaines carbonyl epoxidation

Polyfluoroalkyl- andperfluoroalkyl-substituted CO and CN multiple bonds as dipolarophiles. Dmzo alkanes are well known to react with carbonyl compounds, usually under very mild conditions, to give oxiranes and ketones The reaction has been interpreted as a nucleophilic attack of the diazo alkane on the carbonyl group to yield diazonium betaines or 1,2,3 oxadiazol 2 ines as reaction intermediates, which generally are too unstable to be isolated Aromatic diazo compounds react readily with partially fluorinated and perfluorinated ketones to give l,3,4-oxadiazol-3-ines m high yield At 25 °C and above, the aryloxa-diazolines lose nitrogen to give epoxides [111]... 

Stereoselective epoxidation can be realized through either substrate-controlled (e.g. 35 —> 36) or reagent-controlled approaches. A classic example is the epoxidation of 4-t-butylcyclohexanone. When sulfonium ylide 2 was utilized, the more reactive ylide irreversibly attacked the carbonyl from the axial direction to offer predominantly epoxide 37. When the less reactive sulfoxonium ylide 1 was used, the nucleophilic addition to the carbonyl was reversible, giving rise to the thermodynamically more stable, equatorially coupled betaine, which subsequently eliminated to deliver epoxide 38. Thus, stereoselective epoxidation was achieved from different mechanistic pathways taken by different sulfur ylides. In another case, reaction of aldehyde 38 with sulfonium ylide 2 only gave moderate stereoselectivity (41 40 = 1.5/1), whereas employment of sulfoxonium ylide 1 led to a ratio of 41 40 = 13/1. The best stereoselectivity was accomplished using aminosulfoxonium ylide 25, leading to a ratio of 41 40 = 30/1. For ketone 42, a complete reversal of stereochemistry was observed when it was treated with sulfoxonium ylide 1 and sulfonium ylide 2, respectively. ... 

Dimethylsulfonium methylide is both more reactive and less stable than dimethylsulfoxonium methylide, so it is generated and used at a lower temperature. A sharp distinction between the two ylides emerges in their reactions with a, ( -unsaturated carbonyl compounds. Dimethylsulfonium methylide yields epoxides, whereas dimethylsulfoxonium methylide reacts by conjugate addition and gives cyclopropanes (compare Entries 5 and 6 in Scheme 2.21). It appears that the reason for the difference lies in the relative rates of the two reactions available to the betaine intermediate (a) reversal to starting materials, or (b) intramolecular nucleophilic displacement.284 Presumably both reagents react most rapidly at the carbonyl group. In the case of dimethylsulfonium methylide the intramolecular displacement step is faster than the reverse of the addition, and epoxide formation takes place. 

Stoichiometric sulfur ylide epoxidation was first reported by A.W. Johnson [23] in 1958, and subsequently the method of Corey and Chaykovsky has found widespread use [24-26]. The first enantioselective epoxidations using stoichiometric amounts of ylide were reported in 1968 [27, 28]. In another early example, Hiyama et al. used a chiral phase-transfer catalyst (20 mol%) and stoichiometric amounts of Corey s ylide to effect asymmetric epoxidation of benzaldehyde in moderate to good enantiomeric excess (ee) of 67 to 89% [29]. Here, we will focus on epoxidations using catalytic amounts of ylide [30-32]. A general mechanism for sulfur ylide epoxidation is shown in Scheme 10.2, whereby an attack by the ylide on a carbonyl group yields a betaine intermediate which collapses to yield... 

A two-step mechanism (Scheme 3.34) for epoxidation was proposed in which intermediate betaine A and B are obtained from the carbonyl compound and sulfonium ylides irreversibly and from aminosulfoxonium ylide reversibly (step 1). Betaine (A or B) then undergoes ring closure (step 2) irreversibly. 

Sulphonium ylids also react as nucleophiles towards carbonyl groups but the intermediate sulphonium betaines decompose to give oxiranes (epoxides) fioo] through an internal... 

The reaction between sulfur ylides and carbonyl compounds entails attack of the ylide on the carbonyl to form a betaine, which then collapses with expulsion of the neutral sulfide or sulfoxide (Scheme 1 X = R2S ). - - a theoretical study of this mechrmism has appeared. Ylides belonging to the general classes of (1) and (2) differ in stability and in the relative rates of the two mechanistic steps. Specifically, the more stable (2) reacts reversibly with carbonyl groups, whereas (1) undergoes a kinetic addition to the substrate followed by a rapid collapse of the betaine to an epoxide. Differences in chemoselectivity and stereoselectivity between Ae ylides are attributed to this key difference. - - ... 

Reaction of the sulfur ylide with the carbonyl group of aldehydes, ketones, or enones forms a betaine intermediate, which decomposes by intramolecular displacement of Me2S by the oxyanion to yield the corresponding epoxide. 

Although a free radical mechanism has been proposed for this reaction, it is much more plausible that the Schlotterbeck reaction involves a nucleophilic attack of the diazoalkane on the carbonyl group to form a diazonium betaine or neutral A -1,2,3-oxadiazoline intermediate, which then decomposes to give either a ketone or an epoxide as illustrated here. 

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