Carboxylic acids diastereoselective alkylation

Ester enolates which contain the chiral information in the acid moiety have been widely used in alkylations (see Section D.1.1.1,3.) as well as in additions to carbon-nitrogen double bonds (sec Section D.1.4.2.). Below are examples of the reaction of this type of enolate with aldehydes720. The (Z)-enolate generated from benzyl cinnamate (benzyl 3-phenylpropcnoate) and lithium (dimethylphenylsilyl)cuprate affords the /h/-carboxylic acid on addition to acetaldehyde and subsequent hydrogenolysis, The diastereoselectivity is 90 10. 

The A -acyl derivatives of 4-substituted-3,4,5,6-tetrahydro-27/-l,3-oxazin-2-ones proved to behave as effective chiral auxiliaries in asymmetric enolate alkylations and aldol reactions, the stereoselectivities of which were found to be higher for 4-isopropyl than for 4-phenyl derivatives <2006OBC2753>. The transformations of 4-isopropyl-6,6-dimethyl-3-propa-noyl-3,4,5,6-tetrahydro-2/7-l,3-oxazin-2-one 251 to 252 or 253 proceeded with excellent diastereoselectivities (Scheme 47). 6,6-Dimethyl substitution within the oxazine ring facilitated exclusive exocyclic cleavage upon hydrolysis of the C-alkylated and the aldol products 252 and 253, to furnish a-substituted carboxylic acids 254 or a-methyl-/ -hydroxycarboxylic acids 256. 

A camphor-based 3-acyl-2-oxazolidinone has also been used for diastereoselective alkylations66. The A-acylated auxiliary 18 is prepared in three steps from 7,7-dimethyl-2-oxobicy-clo[2.2.1]heptane-l-carboxylic acid (ketopinic acid, 17)67. Deprotonation by lithium diiso-propylamide in tetrahydrofuran at — 78 °C and subsequent alkylation with activated halides [(bromo- or (iodomethyl)benzene, 3-bromo- or 3-iodopropene] furnished moderate to good yields of alkylation products in high diastereomeric ratios (>97 3 by H NMR). With added hexamethylphosphoric triamide the alkylation yields are increased and bromoalkanes also give satisfactory yields. The diastereomeric ratios are, however, much lower (d.r. 70 30 to 85 15)67. 

Seebach and Naef1961 generated chiral enolates with asymmetric induction from a-heterosubstituted carboxylic acids. Reactions of these enolates with alkyl halides were found to be highly diastereoselective. Thus, the overall enantioselective a-alkyla-tion of chiral, non-racemic a-heterosubstituted carboxylic acids was realized. No external chiral auxiliary was necessary in order to produce the a-alkylated target molecules. Thus, (S)-proline was refluxed in a pentane solution of pivalaldehyde in the presence of an acid catalyst, with azeotropic removal of water. (197) was isolated as a single diastereomer by distillation. The enolate generated from (197) was allylated and produced (198) with ad.s. value >98 %. The substitution (197) ->(198) probably takes place with retention of configuration 196>. 

The addition of an allyl metal to a-amino aldehydes has been used by Vara Prasad and Rich (Scheme 12)J23l After the addition step, the allyl group is oxidized to a carboxylic acid and lactonized. Then, the a-carbon of the lactone is alkylated stereoselectively. These investigators also systematically examined the addition reaction to determine its diastereo-selectivity. The highest diastereoselectivity was obtained when allyltrimethylsilane was used in the presence of tin(IV) chloride. An increase in the steric bulk of the protecting group and of the side chain also resulted in a better diastereoselection. Alternatively, Taddei and co-workers 24-26 used a 2-(halomethyl)allylsilane and the side chains were introduced by nucleophilic substitution of the halogen (Scheme 13). 

Additionally, 1,2-dihydroxyethylene dipeptide analogues without the C-terminal carboxylic acid have been used to obtain aspartyl proteases inhibitors.[641 These efforts include stereoselective alkylation of imines, one-pot reductive amination of epoxy ketones, ring opening of epoxides with sodium azide, diastereoselective dihydroxylation of allylic amines, and enzymatic resolution and stereocontrolled intramolecular amidation. 

Asymmetric aikyiation of imide etiolates.1 The sodium enolates of 3 and 7 are alkylated with marked but opposite diastereoselectivity by alkyl halides. The selectivity is improved by an increase in the size of the electrophile, with methylation being the least stereoselective process. The asymmetric induction results from formation of (Z)-enolates (chelation) with the diastereoselectivity determined by the chirality of the C4-substituent on the oxazolidone ring (equations I and II). The products can be hydrolyzed to the free carboxylic acids or reduced by LiAlH4 to the corresponding primary alcohols and the unreduced oxazolidone (1 or 2). 

The diastereoselective alkylation of /V-acyloxazolidinones enolates was examined first. Lithium enolates of 107 were reacted with a variety of alkyl halides, and alkylation products were formed with excellent diastereoselectivities (94-99% de). Hydrolysis gave optically pure carboxylic acids, and the chiral auxiliary was recovered for reuse almost quantitatively.105-106 Highly diastereoselective bromination was also achieved by reaction of the boron enolate of 107 with /V-bromosuccinimide (NBS) (98% de). Optically pure amino acids could be accessed by simple synthetic transformations (Scheme 24.26).106... 

Diastereoselective Alkylation of Chiral Ester and Amide Enolates Generation of Enantiomerically Pure Carboxylic Acids with Chiral Centers in the a-Position... 

Side Note 13.4 presents the diastereoselective alkylation of a very special ester enolate in which one can easily understand what the stereocontrol observed is based upon. However, only very specific carboxylic acid derivatives are made accessible by those alkylations. Much more broadly applicable diastereoselective alkylations of chiral ester or amide enolates will be introduced in Figures 13.42 and 13.43. Figure 13.42 shows alkylations of a propionic acid ester—derived from an enantiomerically pure chiral alcohol—via the and Z -enolate. 

The alkylations of the oxazolidinone-containing amide enolate of Figure 13.43 occur with diastereoselectivities of 93 7 and > 99 1, respectively. The hydrogen peroxide-accelerated alkaline hydrolysis of these compounds occurs with complete retention of the previously established configuration at the a-stereocenter. To date, the Evans synthesis offers the most versatile access to enantiomerically pure a-alkylated carboxylic acids. 

Iron(III) 2-ethylhexanoate is a catalyst for the stereoselective hetero-Diels-Alder reaction of ethyl ( )-4-oxobutenoate with alkyl vinyl ethers to give ci5 -2-alkoxy-3,4-dihydro-2//-pyran-4-carboxylic acid ethyl esters with a high diastereoselectivity (Sch. 57) [203],... 

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