Boron enolates, chiral

Reagent control This involves the addition of a chiral enolate or allyl metal reagent to an achiral aldehyde. Chiral enolates are most commonly formed through the incorporation of chiral auxiliaries in the form of esters, acyl amides (oxazolines), imides (oxazolidinones) or boron enolates. Chiral allyl metal reagents are also typically joined with chiral ligands. 

Mandelic acid and its derivatives are utilized as convenient precursors for the introduction of a chiral center, and they possess the extra advantage of bearing a useful functional group. Many mandelic acid derivatives also act as chiral auxiliaries for the induction of a chiral center in stereoselective transformations. Numerous natural products, such as macrolides and ionophore antibiotics, possess a carbon framework that may be viewed synthetically as arising from a sequence of highly stereo- and enantioselective aldol condensations. Boron enolates, chiral auxiliaries derived from mandelic acids 1 or 2, provide remarkably high aldol stereoselectivity. 

Chiral 2-oxazolidones are useful recyclable auxiliaries for carboxylic acids in highly enantioselective aldol type reactions via the boron enolates derived from N-propionyl-2-oxazolidones (D.A. Evans, 1981). Two reagents exhibiting opposite enantioselectivity ate prepared from (S)-valinol and from (lS,2R)-norephedrine by cyclization with COClj or diethyl carbonate and subsequent lithiation and acylation with propionyl chloride at — 78°C. En-olization with dibutylboryl triflate forms the (Z)-enolates (>99% Z) which react with aldehydes at low temperature. The pure (2S,3R) and (2R,3S) acids or methyl esters are isolated in a 70% yield after mild solvolysis. 

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). 

Enantioselective aldoi condensation by means of a chiral auxiliary and boron enolates... 

Scheme 5 details the asymmetric synthesis of dimethylhydrazone 14. The synthesis of this fragment commences with an Evans asymmetric aldol condensation between the boron enolate derived from 21 and trans-2-pentenal (20). Syn aldol adduct 29 is obtained in diastereomerically pure form through a process which defines both the relative and absolute stereochemistry of the newly generated stereogenic centers at carbons 29 and 30 (92 % yield). After reductive removal of the chiral auxiliary, selective silylation of the primary alcohol furnishes 30 in 71 % overall yield. The method employed to achieve the reduction of the C-28 carbonyl is interesting and worthy of comment. The reaction between tri-n-butylbor-... 

Boron enolates containing the chiral information in C2-symmetric ligands of the metal atom, also provide rmt/-/ -hydroxycarboxylic acid derivatives of high optical purity34 -64-70. When 5-(3-cthylpent-3-yl) thiopropanoate is treated with (5,5)-2,5-dimethyl-l-(trifluoromethylsul-... 

Crystalline, diastereomerieally pure syn-aIdols are also available from chiral A-acylsultams. lhe outcome of the induction can be controlled by appropriate choice of the counterion in the cnolate boron enolates lead, almost exclusively, to one adduct 27 (d.r. >97 3, major adduct/ sum of all other diastereomers) whereas mediation of the addition by lithium or tin leads to the predominant formation of adducts 28. Unfortunately, the latter reaction is plagued by lower induced stereoselectivity (d.r. 66 34 to 88 12, defined as above). In both cases, however, diastereomerieally pure adducts are available by recrystallizing the crude adducts. Esters can be liberated by treatment of the adducts with lithium hydroxide/hydrogen peroxide, whereby the chiral auxiliary reagent can be recovered106. 

If a chiral aldehyde, e.g., methyl (27 ,4S)-4-formyl-2-methylpentanoate (syn-1) is attacked by an achiral enolate (see Section 1.3.4.3.1.), the induced stereoselectivity is directed by the aldehyde ( inherent aldehyde selectivity ). Predictions of the stereochemical outcome are possible (at least for 1,2- and 1,3-induction) based on the Cram—Felkin Anh model or Cram s cyclic model (see Sections 1.3.4.3.1. and 1.3.4.3.2.). If, however, the enantiomerically pure aldehyde 1 is allowed to react with both enantiomers of the boron enolate l-rerr-butyldimethylsilyloxy-2-dibutylboranyloxy-1-cyclohexyl-2-butene (2), it must be expected that the diastereofacial selec-tivitics of the aldehyde and enolate will be consonant in one of the combinations ( matched pair 29), but will be dissonant in the other combination ( mismatched pair 29). This would lead to different ratios of the adducts 3a/3b and 4a/4b. 

The chiral auxiliary methodology using boron enolates has been successfully applied to many complex structures (see also Scheme 2.6). 

Enantioselectivity can also be induced by use of chiral boron enolates. Both the (+) and (-) enantiomers of diisopinocampheylboron triflate have been used to generate syn addition through a cyclic TS.132 The enantioselectivity was greater than 80% for most cases that were examined. Z-Boron enolates are formed under these conditions and the products are 2,3-syn. 

The facial selectivity in these chiral boron enolates has its origin in the steric effects of the boron substituents. 

Scheme 2.6 shows some examples of the use of chiral auxiliaries in the aldol and Mukaiyama reactions. The reaction in Entry 1 involves an achiral aldehyde and the chiral auxiliary is the only influence on the reaction diastereoselectivity, which is very high. The Z-boron enolate results in syn diastereoselectivity. Entry 2 has both an a-methyl and a (3-benzyloxy substituent in the aldehyde reactant. The 2,3-syn relationship arises from the Z-configuration of the enolate, and the 3,4-anti stereochemistry is determined by the stereocenters in the aldehyde. The product was isolated as an ester after methanolysis. Entry 3, which is very similar to Entry 2, was done on a 60-kg scale in a process development investigation for the potential antitumor agent (+)-discodermolide (see page 1244). 

Camphor-derived sulfonamide can also permit control of enantioselectivity by use of additional Lewis acid. These chiral auxiliaries can be used under conditions in which either cyclic or noncyclic TSs are involved. This frequently allows control of the syn or anti stereoselectivity.143 The boron enolates give syn products, but inclusion of SnCl4 or TiCl4 gave excellent selectivity for anti products and high enantioselectivity for a range of aldehydes.145... 

These examples and those in Scheme 2.6 illustrate the key variables that determine the stereochemical outcome of aldol addition reactions using chiral auxiliaries. The first element that has to be taken into account is the configuration of the ring system that is used to establish steric differentiation. Then the nature of the TS, whether it is acyclic, cyclic, or chelated must be considered. Generally for boron enolates, reaction proceeds through a cyclic but nonchelated TS. With boron enolates, excess Lewis acid can favor an acyclic TS by coordination with the carbonyl electrophile. Titanium enolates appear to be somewhat variable but can be shifted to chelated TSs by use of excess reagent and by auxiliaries such as oxazolidine-2-thiones that enhance the tendency to chelation. Ultimately, all of the factors play a role in determining which TS is favored. 

The possibility of using chiral auxiliaries or chiral catalysts to achieve enantio-selective Claisen rearrangements has been explored.253 One approach is to use chiral boron enolates. For example, enolates prepared with the chiral diazaborolidine bromide O lead to rearranged products of more than 95% enantiomeric excess.254... 

In Step D another thiazoline chiral auxiliary, also derived from cysteine, was used to achieve double stereodifferentiation in an aldol addition. A tin enolate was used. The stereoselectivity of this reaction parallels that of aldol reactions carried out with lithium or boron enolates. After the configuration of all the centers was established, the synthesis proceeded to P-D lactone by functional group modifications. 

The C(9)-C(14) segment VI was prepared by Steps D-l to D-3. The formation of the vinyl iodide in Step D-3 was difficult and proceeded in only 25-30% yield. The C(15)-C(21) segment VII was synthesized from the common intermediate 17 by Steps E-l to E-6. A DDQ oxidation led to formation of a 1,3-dioxane ring in Step E-l. The A-methoxy amide was converted to an aldehyde by LiAlH4 reduction and the chain was extended to include C(14) and C(15) using a boron enolate of an oxazo-lidinone chiral auxiliary. After reductive removal of the chiral auxiliary, the primary alcohol group was converted to a primary iodide. The overall yield for these steps was about 25%. 

The synthesis of the BC-ring fragment 26 begins with the enantioselective aldol reaction of aldehyde 22 and chiral boron enolate 23 derived from (—)-DIP-Cl as described by Paterson and Brown [42]. The aldol adduct 24 is converted to the... 

The chiral boron enolates generated from /V-acyl oxazolidones such as 7 and 8 (which were named Evans auxiliaries and have been extensively used in the a-alkylation reactions discussed in Chapter 2) have proved to be among the most popular boron enolates due to the ease of their preparation, removal, and recycling and to their excellent stereoselectivity.8... 

Because anti/syn ratios in the product can be correlated to the E(0)/Z(0) ratio of the involved boron enolate mixture,10b initial experiments were aimed at the preparation of highly E(0)-enriched boron enolate. The E(0)/Z(0) ratio increases with the bulk of the alkanethiol moiety, whereas the formation of Z(O) enolates prevails with (S )-aryl thioates. (E/Z = 7 93 for benzenethiol and 5 95 for 2-naphthalene thiol esters). E(O) reagent can be formed almost exclusively by reaction of (5)-3,3-diethyl-3-pentyl propanethioate 64 with the chiral boron triflate. High reactivity toward aldehydes can be retained in spite of the apparent steric demand (Scheme 3-22).43... 

Scheme 3 39 shows the reaction of boron enolates 106 and 108 with chiral aldehydes (2R,4S)- and (2S,4R)-96. In the matched case, lactone 3,4-anti-101 is obtained with very high ee.67... 

Recently, the improved chiral ethyl ketone (5)-141, derived in three steps from (5)-mandelic acid, has been evaluated in the aldol process (115). Representative condensations of the derived (Z)-boron enolates (5)-142 with aldehydes are summarized in Table 34b, It is evident from the data that the nature of the boron ligand L plays a significant role in enolate diastereoface selection in this system. It is also noteworthy that the sense of asymmetric induction noted for the boron enolate (5)-142 is opposite to that observed for the lithium enolate (5)-139a and (5>139b derived from (S)-atrolactic acid (3) and the related lithium enolate 139. A detailed interpretation of these observations in terms of transition state steric effects (cf. Scheme 20) and chelation phenomena appears to be premature at this time. Further applications of (S )- 41 and (/ )-141 as chiral propionate enolate synthons for the aldol process have appeared in a 6-deoxyerythronolide B synthesis recently disclosed by Masamune (115b). 

Although this general principle of asymmetric induction has not been demonstrated for boron enolates, the related addition reactions of allylboranes to aldehydes (eq. [115]) (131) have been examined in this context. The reaction of chiral diol 175 with either triallyl-borane or tri- -methallylborane afforded the boronic esters 176 (Ri = H, Me) in yields exceeding 95% (132a). The addition reactions of 176 to representative aldehydes are summarized in Table 40. In all cases reported, the sense of asymmetric induction from the chiral... 

Access to the corresponding enantiopure hydroxy esters 133 and 134 of smaller fragments 2 with R =Me employed a highly stereoselective (ds>95%) Evans aldol reaction of allenic aldehydes 113 and rac-114 with boron enolate 124 followed by silylation to arrive at the y-trimethylsilyloxy allene substrates 125 and 126, respectively, for the crucial oxymercuration/methoxycarbonylation process (Scheme 19). Again, this operation provided the desired tetrahydrofurans 127 and 128 with excellent diastereoselectivity (dr=95 5). Chemoselective hydrolytic cleavage of the chiral auxiliary, chemoselective carboxylic acid reduction, and subsequent diastereoselective chelation-controlled enoate reduction (133 dr of crude product=80 20, 134 dr of crude product=84 16) eventually provided the pure stereoisomers 133 and 134 after preparative HPLC. 

Perlmutter used an oxymercuration/demercuration of a y-hydroxy alkene as the key transformation in an enantioselective synthesis of the C(8 ) epimeric smaller fragment of lb (and many more pamamycin homologs cf. Fig. 1) [36]. Preparation of substrate 164 for the crucial cyclization event commenced with silylation and reduction of hydroxy ester 158 (85-89% ee) [37] to give aldehyde 159, which was converted to alkenal 162 by (Z)-selective olefination with ylide 160 (dr=89 l 1) and another diisobutylaluminum hydride reduction (Scheme 22). An Oppolzer aldol reaction with boron enolate 163 then provided 164 as the major product. Upon successive treatment of 164 with mercury(II) acetate and sodium chloride, organomercurial compound 165 and a second minor diastereomer (dr=6 l) were formed, which could be easily separated. Reductive demercuration, hydrolytic cleavage of the chiral auxiliary, methyl ester formation, and desilylation eventually led to 166, the C(8 ) epimer of the... 

A further step towards improved selectivity in aldol condensations is found in the work of David A. Evans. The work of Evans [3a] [14] is based in some early observations from Meyers laboratory [15] and the fact that boron enolates may be readily prepared under mild conditions from ketones and dialkylboron triflates [16]. Detailed investigations with Al-propionylpyrrolidine (31) indicate that the enolisation process (LDA, THE) affords the enolate 32 with at least 97% (Z>diastereoselection (Scheme 9.8). Finally, the observation that the inclusion of potential chelating centres enhance aldol diastereoselection led Evans to study the boron enolates 34 of A(-acyl-2-oxazolidones (33), which allow not only great diastereoselectivity (favouring the 5yn-isomer) in aldol condensations, but offer a possible solution to the problem of enantioselective total syntheses (with selectivities greater than 98%) of complex organic molecules (see below, 9.3.2), by using a recyclisable chiral auxiliary. 

The chiral A/ -propionyl-2-oxazolidones (32 and 38) are also useful chiral auxiliaries in the enantioselective a-alkylation of carbonyl compounds, and it is interesting to observe that the sense of chirality transfer in the lithium enolate alkylation is opposite to that observed in the aldol condensation with boron enolates. Thus, whereas the lithium enolate of 37 (see Scheme 9.13) reacts with benzyl bromide to give predominantly the (2/ )-isomer 43a (ratio 43a 43b = 99.2 0.8), the dibutylboron enolate reacts with benzaldehyde to give the (3R, 25) aldol 44a (ratio 44a 44b = 99.7 0.3). The resultant (2R) and (25)-3-phenylpropionic acid derivatives obtained from the hydrolysis of the corresponding oxazolidinones indicated the compounds to be optically pure substances. 

Although the results are easily rationalised in the case of the a-alkylation (attack of the electrophile at the Re face, i.e., attack from the less hindered a face), in the aldol condensation it is somewhat more difficult to rationalise and several factors should be considered. According to Evans [14] one possible explanation for the diastereofacial selection observed for these chiral enolates is illustrated in Scheme 9.14. In the aldol reactions, the more basic carbonyl group of the aldehyde partner interacts with the chelated boron enolate 45 to give the "complex" A which may... 

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