Chiral Ylide Reagents

Chiral aminosulfoxonium ylides react with electron-deficient alkenes, e.g. a,p-unsaturated ketones and esters, to cyclopropanes in moderate to high yields (56-94%) and up to 34% ee The chiral sulfur ylides A, and were reacted with various Michael acceptors, whereby enantioselectivities up to 53% were achieved. 

---

Asymmetric ylide reactions such as epoxidation, cyclopropanation, aziridination, [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement and alkenation can be carried out with chiral ylide (reagent-controlled asymmetric induction) or a chiral C=X compound (substrate-controlled asymmetric epoxidations). Non-racemic epoxides are significant intermediates in the synthesis of, for instance, pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. 

In reagent-controlled epoxidation the asymmetric induction has its origin in a chiral ylide. The reaction of an achiral aldehyde or ketone with a chiral ylide gives optically active compounds. 

The reaction of chiral phosphonium ylide or related reagent with a 4-substituted cyclohexanone gives an axially dissymmetrical alkene. For example, alkenation of 4-methylcyclohexanone (4.40) with chiral ylide 4.41 containing stereogenic centre on phosphorus gives optically active alkene (S)-(+)-4.42 in 43% yield . 

Generally, arsonium ylides [62] are more reactive but less accessible than phos-phonium ylides. Recently, the chiral arsonium reagent 30 has appeared, and has been applied in asymmetric Wittig-type carbonyl olefinations. This first chiral arsonium reagent also bears 8-phenylmenthyl as a chiral auxiliary on its carboalkoxy portion [63], and gave moderate chemical yields and diastereoselectivities in the conversion of 4-substituted cyclohexanone derivatives to axially chiral non-racemic alkylidene cyclohexanes under the same reaction conditions as used for the related reactions with phosphorus reagents (Scheme 7.15). On the other hand, the corre-... 

Hanessian and coworkers reported an improved variation of this approach. They were able to prepare the chiral phosphorous reagent 95. Upon deprotonation to form the ylide and exposure to ketone 96, the desired product 97 could be formed in good optical purity. 

Pioneering studies in the area of chiral phosphorus reagents for asymmetric synthesis were reported by Bestmann (Equation 12) [68]. Treatment of phosphorus ylide 109 with 4-substituted cyclohexanones thus led to the formation of enantioenriched benzylidenecyclohexanes, such as 111 in... 

Reagent-controlled asymmetric cyclopropanation is relatively more difficult using sulfur ylides, although it has been done. It is more often accomplished using chiral aminosulfoxonium ylides. Finally, more complex sulfur ylides (e.g. 64) may result in more elaborate cyclopropane synthesis, as exemplified by the transformation 65 66 ... 

Of course, the key limitation of the ylide-mediated methods discussed so far is the use of stoichiometric amounts of the chiral reagent. Building on their success with catalytic asymmetric ylide-mediated epoxidation (see Section 1.2.1.2), Aggarwal and co-workers have reported an aza version that provides a highly efficient catalytic asymmetric synthesis of trans-aziridines from imines and diazo compounds or the corresponding tosylhydrazone salts (Scheme 1.43) [68-70]. 

Aldol addition and related reactions of enolates and enolate equivalents are the subject of the first part of Chapter 2. These reactions provide powerful methods for controlling the stereochemistry in reactions that form hydroxyl- and methyl-substituted structures, such as those found in many antibiotics. We will see how the choice of the nucleophile, the other reagents (such as Lewis acids), and adjustment of reaction conditions can be used to control stereochemistry. We discuss the role of open, cyclic, and chelated transition structures in determining stereochemistry, and will also see how chiral auxiliaries and chiral catalysts can control the enantiose-lectivity of these reactions. Intramolecular aldol reactions, including the Robinson annulation are discussed. Other reactions included in Chapter 2 include Mannich, carbon acylation, and olefination reactions. The reactivity of other carbon nucleophiles including phosphonium ylides, phosphonate carbanions, sulfone anions, sulfonium ylides, and sulfoxonium ylides are also considered. 

Sulfur ylides are a classic reagent for the conversion of carbonyl compounds to epoxides. Chiral camphor-derived sulfur ylides have been used in the enantioselective synthesis of epoxy-amides <06JA2105>. Reaction of sulfonium salt 12 with an aldehyde and base provides the epoxide 13 in generally excellent yields. While the yield of the reaction was quite good across a variety of R groups, the enantioselectivity was variable. For example benzaldehyde provides 13 (R = Ph) in 97% ee while isobutyraldehyde provides 13 (R = i-Pr) with only 10% ee. These epoxy amides could be converted to a number of epoxide-opened... 

A variety of optically active 4,4-disubstituted allenecarboxylates 245 were provided by HWE reaction of intermediate disubstituted ketene acetates 244 with homochiral HWE reagents 246 developed by Tanaka and co-workers (Scheme 4.63) [99]. a,a-Di-substituted phenyl or 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenyl (BHT) acetates 243 were used for the formation of 245 [100]. Addition of ZnCl2 to a solution of the lithiated phos-phonate may cause binding of the rigidly chelated phosphonate anion by Zn2+, where the axially chiral binaphthyl group dictates the orientation of the approach to the electrophile from the less hindered si phase of the reagent. Similarly, the aryl phosphorus methylphosphonium salt 248 was converted to a titanium ylide, which was condensed with aromatic aldehydes to provide allenes 249 with poor ee (Scheme 4.64) [101]. 

The possibility to transfer chirality using secondary sulfides has not been exploited very much (Scheme 89). Carveol-derived sulfide 357 has been converted into ylide 358 by the Simon-Smith-type reagent combination... 

---