Carbocations cholesterol

Perhaps the most spectacular of the natural carbocation rearrangements is the concerted sequence of 1,2-methyl and 1,2-hydride Wagner-Meerwein shifts that occurs during the formation oflanosterol from squalene. Lanosterol is then the precursor of the steroid cholesterol in animals. 

The rearrangement of this initially created C-20 carbocation to lanosterol (Fig. 22-6, step c) is also a remarkable reaction that requires the shift of a hydride ion and of two methyl groups, as indicated by the arrows in the figure. In addition, a hydrogen at C-9 (sterol numbering) is lost as a proton. Lanosterol is named for its occurrence in lanolin, the waxy fat in wool. Although the principal component of lanolin is cholesterol, lanosterol is its precursor both in sheep and in all other animals. Cholesterol is in turn the precursor to other animal sterols. The cholesterol biosynthetic pathway also provides cells with a variety of important signaling molecules.1603... 

A stereochemical study of the synthesis of unsaturated 1,4-aminoalcohols via the reaction of unsaturated 1,4-alkoxyalcohols with chorosulfonyl isocyanate revealed a competition between an retentive mechanism and an SnI racemization mechanism, with the latter having a greater proportion with systems where the carbocation intermediate is more stable.254 An interrupted Nazarov reaction was observed, in which a nonconjugated alkene held near the dienone nucleus undergoes intramolecular trapping of the Nazarov cyclopentenyl cation intermediate.255 Cholesterol couples to 6-chloropurine under the conditions of the Mitsunobu reaction the stereochemistry and structural diversity of the products indicate that a homoallylic carbocation derived from cholesterol is the key intermediate.256 l-Siloxy-l,5-diynes undergo a Brpnsted acid-promoted 5-endo-dig cyclization with a ketenium ion and a vinyl cation proposed as intermediates.257... 

Fig. 15.5 Some isoprenoid diphosphate carbocation intermediates involved in cholesterol biosynthesis, along with some nitrogen containing bisphosphonates, their proposed transition-state-analogues. (DMAPP = dimethylallyl diphosphate,...

Stereospecific 2,3-epoxidation of squalene, followed by a nonconcerted carbocationic cyclization and a series of carbocationic rearrangements, forms lanosterol [79-65-0] (77) in the first steps dedicated solely toward steroid synthesis (109,110). Several biomimetic, cationic cydizations to form steroids or steroidlike nuclei have been observed in the laboratory (111), and the total synthesis of lanosterol has been accomplished by a carbocation—olefin cydization route (112). Through a complex series of enzyme-catalyzed reactions, lanosterol is converted to cholesterol (2). Cholesterol is the principal starting material for steroid hormone biosynthesis in animals. The cholesterol biosynthetic pathway is composed of at least 30 enzymatic reactions. Lanosterol and squalene appear to be normal constituents, in trace amounts, in tissues that are actively synthesizing cholesterol. 

The final stage of cholesterol biosynthesis starts with the cyclization of squalene (Figure 26.11). Squalene is first activated by conversion into squalene epoxide (2,3-oxi-dosqualene) in a reaction that uses O2 and NADPH. Squalene epoxide is then cyclized to lanosterol by oxi-dosqualene cyclase. This remarkable transformation proceeds in a concerted fashion. The enzyme holds squalene epoxide in an appropriate conformation and initiates the reaction by protonating the epoxide oxygen. The carbocation formed spontaneously rearranges to produce lanosterol. Lanosterol is converted into cholesterol in a... 

The Opening of Squalene-2,3-Epoxide Steroids are tetracyclic compounds that serve a wide variety of biological functions, including hormones (sex hormones), emulsifiers (bile acids), and membrane components (cholesterol). The biosynthesis of steroids is believed to involve an acid-catalyzed opening of squalene-2,3-epoxide (Rgure 14-6). Squalene is a member of the class of natural products called terpenes (see Section 25-8). The enzyme squalene epoxidase oxidizes squalene to the epoxide, which opens and frams a carbocation that cyclizes under the control of another enzyme. The cyclized intermediate rearranges to lanosterol, which is converted to cholesterol and other steroids. 

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