Chloroindolenine approach

That only the wrong C-16 diastereomer seemed to be produced in this reaction was then demonstrated by the Kutney group, who prepared a series of binary indole-indoline alkaloids using the chloroindolenine approach. The apparent simplicity of this coupling reaction and the rapidity in assembling such binary alkaloids prompted an extensive study of reaction conditions (28), with the desire to find a procedure suitable for generation of the C-16 (S) isomer, required for anticancer activity. Despite the intensive effort involved in this in-depth study, no success could be realized, and it was therefore widely accepted that .. . it is very unlikely that any natural dimer could be obtained in this way (7). At this point it may be noted, however, that we were able to show subsequently that the desired C-16 -C-14 PARF relative stereochemistry can be obtained as a preferential result, albeit only in very low yield [3.6% PARF versus 2.1% PREF (priority reflective)], when the chloroindolenine reaction with vindoline is initiated with silver tetrafluoroborate (13). 

Fig. 2. Various conformations of cationic intermediates in the chloroindolenine approach to vinblastine-type alkaloids.

A related approach, developed almost simultaneously by Neuss and co-workers at Eli Lilly (25) and by Kutney et al. in Vancouver (26), utilized as coupling substrate the chloroindoline alkene 17, which, through equilibrium with the corresponding chloroindolenine, was readily prepared by chlorination of dihydrocleavamine 18. Condensation with the 17-deacetyl-16-carboxyhydrazide derivative of vindoline (19) gave a binary indole-indoline product (20) (Scheme 4). The undesired C-16 con-... 

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