Chiral induction crystals, chirality

The high simple diastereoselectivities observed running the [4-1-3] cycloadditions raised the question concerning the induction of chirality. Preliminary experiments involving chiral menthyloxy Fischer carbenes 169 (R = (-)-men-thyl) resulted in the formation of the diastereomeric lactim ethers 173-1 and 173-2 in a 7 3 ratio, which could be separated by means of a crystallization. A final acidic hydrolysis gave the enantiomerically pure e-caprolactams 175 and ent-175 and the acyclic esters, respectively. No signs of racemization have been detected,Eqs. (18,19) [39b]. 

The photochemical behaviour of 7 OEt is the first example in which the reaction of achiral molecules in an achiral crystal packing does not occur at random but stereospecifically, resulting in a syndiotactic structure. As no external chiral catalyst exists in the reaction, the above result is a unique type of topochemical induction , which is initiated by chance in the formation of the first cyclobutane ring, but followed by syndiotactic cyclobutane formation due to steric repulsions in the crystal cavity. That is, the syndiotactic structure is evolved under moderate control of the reacting crystal lattice. 

Chiral induction to obtain the /J-lactam 169 by photolysis of the chiral crystal 168 in the solid state is possible (equation 112). 

A most interesting extension of this type of reaction was performed by Addadi and Lahav (175). Their aim was to obtain chiral polymers by performing die reaction in a crystal of chiral structure. They employed monomers 103. The initial experiments were with a chiral resolved 103 where R1 is (R)- or ( -sec-butyl and R2 is C2H3. This material indeed crystallizes in the required structure, and yields photodimers and polymers with the expected stereochemistry, and with quantitative diastereomeric yield. It was possible to establish that the asymmetric induction was due essentially only to the chirality of the crystal structure and not to direct influences of the sec-butyl. Subsequently they were able, using sophisticated crystal engineering, to obtain chiral crystals from nonchiral 103, and from them dimers and polymers with high, probably quantitative enantiomeric yields. This may be described as an absolute asymmetric polymerization. 

SRURC is such an interesting example of the facile formation of chiral induction from racemic mixtures in the absence of any external symmetry-breaking agent that it deserves special attention. One of the best studied examples is the crystallization of bromofluoro-l,4-benzodiazepinooxazole (Fig. 11.3), which possesses a single asymmetric carbon atom at C14 and a potentially asymmetric bridgehead nitrogen atom at N4. 

Absolute asymmetric synthesis refers to the situation in which an asymmetric induction occurs in the absence of an externally imposed source of chirality [5]. Such reactions are invariably carried out in the crystalline state, where the asymmetric influence governing the enantioselectivity derives from the spontaneous crystallization of an achiral compound in a chiral space group. This phenomenon, which is analogous to the spontaneous crystallization of racemates as... 

As we have seen, one of the main reasons why reactions in crystals lead to high levels of asymmetric induction is that the constituent molecules can be organized in homochiral fixed conformations and intermolecular orientations that are predisposed to formation of a single product enantiomer. With this in mind, it was natural to seek other ways of preorganizing molecules in restricted environments for the purpose of asymmetric synthesis, and one approach that has shown a good deal of promise is the use of chirally modified zeohtes. The great majority of this work has been carried out by Ramamurthy and coworkers at Tulane University [23], and a brief summary is given below. 

To this point, all the examples presented have been ones in which the origin of the asymmetric induction has been unimolecular in nature, that is, the molecules adopt homochiral conformations in the solid state that favor the formation of one enantiomer over the other, usually through the close intramolecular approach of reactive centers bimolecular crystal packing effects appear to play little or no role in governing the stereochemical outcome of such reactions. This raises the interesting question of whether the soUd-state ionic chiral auxiUary approach to asymmetric synthesis could be made to work for conformationally unbiased reactants, i.e., those possessing symmetrical, conformationally locked structures. Two such cases are presented and discussed below. 

X-ray crystallographic analysis also revealed that the crystal of thioamide la was chiral, the space group P2i2i2i. The absolute configuration of (-)-rotatory crystals of la, where the optical rotation was assigned on the basis of CD spectra in a KBr pellet, was determined by the X-ray anomalous scattering method as (-)-(M)-la for the helicity. When (-)-rotatory crystals were irradiated at 0 °C until the reaction conversion reached 100% yield, the asymmetric induction in... 

Katsuki has extended his earlier work on asymmetric induction using achiral catalysts such as 13. In these systems, the stereochemical bias is imbued by a chiral non-racemic axial ligand, such as (+)-3,3 -dimethyl-2,2 -bipyridine A2,A -dioxide (14), which was purified by crystallization with (5)-binaphthol. Epoxidation using these conditions resulted in good ee s and fair yields, as exemplified by the preparation of chromene epoxide 16 <99SL783>. 

Some aspects of the chemistry of helicenes require still more attention. Since the interpretation of the mass spectrum of hexahelicene by Dougherty 159) no further systematic work has been done on the mass spectroscopy of helicenes, to verify the concept of an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction in the molecular ion. Though the optical rotation of a number of helicenes is known and the regular increase of the optical rotation with increasing number of benzene rings has been shown, the dependence of the rotation on the helicity is still unknown. The asymmetric induction in the synthesis of helicenes by chiral solvents, or in liquid crystals, though small, deserves still more attention because application to other organic compounds will be promoted when the explanation of observed effects is more improved. 

Systematic studies of topochemical reactions of organic solids have led to the possibility of asymmetric synthesis via reactions in chiral crystals. (A chiral crystal is one whose symmetry elements do not interrelate enantiomers.) (Green et al, 1979 Addadi et al, 1980). This essentially involves two steps (i) synthesis of achiral molecules that crystallize in chiral structures with suitable packing and orientation of reactive groups and (ii) performing a topochemical reaction such that chirality of crystals is transferred to products. The first step is essentially a part of the more general problem of crystal engineering. An example of such a system where almost quantitative asymmetric induction is achieved is the family of unsymmetrically substituted dienes ... 

Obviously, chirality is an essential property in molecular chemistry, and knots are exciting systems in this context. With a touch of fantasy, it could be conceived that some of the chemical processes for which chirality is essential (enan-tioselection of substrates, asymmetric induction and catalysis, cholesteric phases, and ferroelectric liquid crystals molecular materials for non linear optics...) could one day use enantiomerically pure knots. 

Unless asymmetric induction is complete, it is necessary to remove the undesired enantiomer from the product mixture. Whereas in conventional diastereoselective asymmetric syntheses this removal can typically be readily accomplished by crystallization or chromatography, the separation of enantiomeric products can be problematic. Often, though, with enantio-enriched samples it is possible to recrystallize either the racemate from the pure enantiomer or, preferably, one enantiomer from the other [I2a,16,17], Another very effective method to produce enan-tiopure compounds is by enzymatic resolution of the enantio-enriched product from chiral PTC [16,18]. These methods are illustrated by examples in the alkylation section of this chapter (Chart 10.6). 

Alkylation Alkylation of the phenylindanone 31 with catalyst 3a by the Merck group demonstrates the reward that can accompany a careful and systematic study of a particular phase-transfer reaction (Scheme 10.3) [5d,5f,9,36], The numerous reaction variables were optimized and the kinetics and mechanism of the reaction were studied in detail. It has been proposed that the chiral induction step involves an ion-pair in which the enolate anion fits on top of the catalyst and is positioned by electrostatic and hydrogen-bonding effects as well as 71—71 stacking interactions between the aromatic rings in the catalyst and the enolate. The electrophile then preferentially approaches the ion-pair from the top (front) face, because the catalyst effectively shields the bottom-face approach. A crystal structure of the catalyst as well as calculations of the catalyst-enolate complex support this interpretation [9a,91]. Alkylations of related active methine compounds, such as 33 to 34 (Scheme 10.3), have also appeared [10,11]. 

Topochemical Polymerization The chiral crystalline environment of a monomer itself can be a source of asymmetric induction in solid-state polymerization [69-72], Prochiral monomers such as 37 give enantiomorphic crystals, one of which can be preferentially formed by recrystallization with a trace amount of optically active compounds. Photoir-... 

Jeong HS, Tanaka S, Yoon DK, Choi S-W, Kim YH, Kawauchi S, Araoka F, Takezoe H, Jung H-T (2009) Spontaneous chirality induction and enantiomer separation in liquid crystals composed of achiral rod-shaped 4-arylbenzoate esters. J Am Chem Soc 131 15055-15060... 

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