Cascade reactions double bonds

Detailed accounts of the biosynthesis of the prostanoids have been pubUshed (14—17). Under normal circumstances arachidonic acid (AA) is the most abundant C-20 fatty acid m vivo (18—21) which accounts for the predominance of the prostanoids containing two double bonds eg, PGE2 (see Fig. 1). Prostanoids of the one and three series are biosynthesized from dihomo-S-linolenic and eicosapentaenoic acids, respectively. Concentrations ia human tissue of the one-series precursor, dihomo-S-linolenic acid, are about one-fourth those of AA (22) and the presence of PGE has been noted ia a variety of tissues (23). The biosynthesis of the two-series prostaglandins from AA is shown ia Eigure 1. These reactions make up a portion of what is known as the arachidonic acid cascade. Other Hpid products of the cascade iaclude the leukotrienes, lipoxins, and the hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids (HETEs). Collectively, these substances are termed eicosanoids. 

In turn, the propensity of 1 to respond to steric hindrance can be used to control the site of initiation of an RCM reaction in a polyene substrate (Scheme 9) [20]. Thus, dienyne 25 reacts with the catalyst regioselectively at the least substituted site the evolving ruthenium carbene 26 undergoes a subsequent enyne metathesis leading to a new carbene 27, which is finally trapped by the disubsti-tuted olefin to afford the bicyclo[4.4.0]decadiene product 28. By simply reversing the substitution pattern of the double bonds, the complementary bicyclo [5.3.0] compound 32 is formed exclusively, because the cyclization cascade is then triggered at the other end of the substrate. Note that in both examples tri-substituted olefins are obtained by means of a ruthenium based metathesis catalyst [20] ... 

Malacria and coworkers346 prepared phyllocladane and kaurane types of diterpenes by means of [3 + 2]/[2 + 2 + 2]/[4 + 2] cascade reaction sequences. A representative example of such a reaction sequence has been outlined in equation 171. The five-membered ring of 598 was built by a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between 596 and an all-carbon 1,3-dipole generated from 597. The reaction of 598b with 568h afforded benzocyclobutene 599. The intramolecular [4 + 2] cycloaddition afforded diastereomers 600 and 601 in a 5 1 ratio. It is noteworthy that the exocyclic double bond in 598b neither participates in the [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction nor isomerizes under the reaction conditions applied. 

Radical reaction cascades can be initiated by (TMS)3Si radical addition to unsaturated bonds. Two recent examples are illustrated in equations 54 and 55. The reaction of (TMS)3SiH with the 1,6-enyne derivative 98 afforded the 6-membered cyclic compound having exclusively the exocyclic double bond in E configuration via a 6-exo mode106. On the other hand, hydrosilylation of 99 afforded the 6-membered ring via a 6-endo cyclization of the vinyl radical onto the C=N bond107. 

Recently, a catalytic system consisting of a second generation Grubbs catalyst or an in situ non-carbenic ruthenium complex have allowed a cascade catalytic reaction of cyclopropanation/ring closing metathesis of dienynes containing a malonate or bissulfone moiety. In this reaction, the interaction between the triple bond and one double bond gives a bicyclic product via cyclopropanation, and then the subsequent diene RCM produces the last cyclization step [16] (Scheme 6). 

A diastereoselective formal addition of a 7ra i-2-(phenylthio)vmyl moiety to a-hydroxyhydrazones through a radical pathway is shown in Scheme 2.29. To overcome the lack of a viable intermolecular vinyl radical addition to C=N double bonds, not to mention a reaction proceeding with stereocontrol, this procedure employs a temporary silicon tether, which is used to hold the alkyne unit in place so that the vinyl radical addition could proceed intramolecularly. Thus, intermolecular addition of PhS" to the alkyne moiety in the chiral alkyne 161 leads to vinyl radical 163, which cyclizes in a 5-exo fashion, according to the Beckwith-Houk predictions, to give aminyl radical 164 with an a 7z-arrangement between the ether and the amino group. Radical reduction and removal of the silicon tether without prior isolation of the end product of the radical cyclization cascade, 165, yields the a-amino alcohol 162. This strategy, which could also be applied to the diastereoselective synthesis of polyhydroxylated amines (not shown), can be considered as synthetic equivalent of an acetaldehyde Mannich reaction with acyclic stereocontrol. 

Terpene synthases, also known as terpene cyclases because most of their products are cyclic, utilize a carbocationic reaction mechanism very similar to that employed by the prenyltransferases. Numerous experiments with inhibitors, substrate analogues and chemical model systems (Croteau, 1987 Cane, 1990, 1998) have revealed that the reaction usually begins with the divalent metal ion-assisted cleavage of the diphosphate moiety (Fig. 5.6). The resulting allylic carbocation may then cyclize by addition of the resonance-stabilized cationic centre to one of the other carbon-carbon double bonds in the substrate. The cyclization is followed by a series of rearrangements that may include hydride shifts, alkyl shifts, deprotonation, reprotonation and additional cyclizations, all mediated through enzyme-bound carbocationic intermed iates. The reaction cascade terminates by deprotonation of the cation to an olefin or capture by a nucleophile, such as water. Since the native substrates of terpene synthases are all configured with trans (E) double bonds, they are unable to cyclize directly to many of the carbon skeletons found in nature. In such cases, the cyclization process is preceded by isomerization of the initial carbocation to an intermediate capable of cyclization. 

The addition of organometals to non-activated carbon-carbon double or triple bonds, although a breakthrough in polymer chemistry about 70 years ago, has now become an efficient way of creating linear or cyclic substituted structures. The new organometallic thus formed can be quenched by various electrophiles, or can be used, in the case of polyunsaturated systems, to create polycycles via cascade reactions. 

However, methylenecyclopropanes with tetrasubstituted double bonds are outstandingly reactive in intramolecular Heck reactions and the particularly strained bicyclopropylidene (7) [53] even surpasses styrene and methyl acrylate in its reactivity, as demonstrated in an interesting cascade reaction of the three partners iodobenzene, bicyclopropylidene (7), and... 

The cascade of reactions in hot nitrobenzene starts with a [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement thr unusual in that it forms an allene but is otherwise straightforward. To get to the next intermeci the stable conjugated primary enamine, we must enolize and go back to the ketone again but r the double bond into conjugation. 

CIS double bond to isomerize to trans, and the conformational changes in the protein molecule that result trigger a cascade of reactions that u Itim ately leads to a nerve signal being sent to the brain. 

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