Chemoselectivity Wittig olefination

Fig. 9.9. Chemoselective and stereoselective Wittig olefination with a nonstabilized ylide.

A keto group was extensively used in olefinations, providing a convenient access to natural-type oxonine products. Chemoselective formation of silyl enol ether of oxonine 171 (Scheme 34) followed by Wittig olefination, deprotection, and diastereoselective methylation afforded acetate 172 in good yield <2004JA1642>. 

The Homer-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction is also a useful option for producing olefins in the solid phase. Supported stabilized phosphonoactates, as they are more acidic than phosphonium salts, can readily give the corresponding ylides with weak bases such as DBU, DIPEA, EtaN. One still has to make sure that these reaction conditions are chemoselective. Both types of reactions, Wittig and Homer-Wadsworth-Emmons, have been successfully used in cyclative and/or functionalizing cleavage. 

DFT calculations combined with a distortion/interaction energy analysis showed that the anomalous Z selectivity observed in Wittig reactions of ( rt/j< -substituted benzalde-hydes is not caused by phosphoms-heteroatom interactions in the addition TS but is predominantly steric in nature. An efficient synthesis of olefins by the coupling of stabilized, semi-stabilized, and non-stabilized phosphorus ylides with various carbonyl compounds in the presence of silver carbonate has been reported. The first catalytic (in phosphane) Wittig reaction has been developed by utilizing an organosilane that chemoselectively reduces a phosphane oxide pre-catalyst to a phosphane. Sodium carbonate and A,A-diisopropyl-ethylamine have been employed as bases. The kinetic E/Z... 

Takai and Utimoto showed that reactions of aldehydes and a gem-diiodoalkane with chromium(II) chloride gave Wittig-type olefination products (Scheme 5.25) [35]. The notable points of this transformation are stereoselective ( )-alkene formation and chemoselective reaction with the aldehyde. Ketones are recovered unchanged. Instead of a gem-diiodoalkane, a-acetoxy bromide can also be used for this transformation [36]. 

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