Conformation ring systems

The number of possible conformations rises dramatically with increasing ring size. Therefore, large ring systems carmot be handled by the methods applied to small rings. However, in rigid polymacrocyclic structures for example, an overall... 

Fig. 9.8 The intramolecular parameters that may be checked when exploring the conformational space of a ring system.

When two different substituents are attached to each carbon atom of the double bond, cis-trans isomers can exist. In the case of c T-2-butene (Fig. 1.11a), both methyl groups are on the same side of the double bond. The other isomer has the methyl groups on opposite sides and is designated as rran5--2-butene (Fig. l.llb). Their physical properties are quite different. Geometric isomerism can also exist in ring systems examples were cited in the previous discussion on conformational isomers. 

MO methods have been used to calculate dipole moments of each of the three ring systems (73MI50403, B-70MI50400). Calculated values for aziridine are somewhat higher (2.09-2.40 D) than the known experimental value (1.89 D). Dipole moment studies on a few simple aziridines have led to the determination of the preferred conformation of N-arylaziridines in solution and in the vapor state (71JCS(C)2104, 66DOK(169)839). For the 1-azirine system, no values have been determined experimentally, but values of 2.40-2.56 D for 1-azirine and 2.50-2.51 D for 2-azirine have been calculated (73MI50403). 

The decalin (bicyclo[4.4.0]decane) ring system provides another important system for study of conformational effects in cyclohexane rings. Equilibration of the cis and trans isomers reveals that the trans isomer is favored by about 2.8 kcal/mol. Note that this represents a change in configuration, not conformation. The energy difference can be analyzed by noting that the cis isomer has three more gauche butane interactions that are... 

The replacement of carbon by other elements produces changes in several structural parameters and consequently affects the conformational characteristics of the molecule. In this section, we will first describe some stereochemical features of heterocyclic analogs of cycloalkanes. For the purpose of elaborating conformational principles, the discussion will focus on six-membered rings, so that the properties may be considered in the context of a ring system possessing a limited number of low-energy conformations. 

The incorporation of heteroatoms can result in stereoelectronic effects that have a pronounced effect on conformation and, ultimately, on reactivity. It is known from numerous examples in carbohydrate chemistry that pyranose sugars substituted with an electron-withdrawing group such as halogen or alkoxy at C-1 are often more stable when the substituent has an axial, rather than an equatorial, orientation. This tendency is not limited to carbohydrates but carries over to simpler ring systems such as 2-substituted tetrahydropyrans. The phenomenon is known as the anomeric ect, because it involves a substituent at the anomeric position in carbohydrate pyranose rings. Scheme 3.1 lists... 

This chapter will deal exclusively with three-membered rings containing the hetero atoms O, S and N, and fused to the steroid skeleton. Because of the conformational requirements in steroids, not all of the usual methods of synthesis of three-membered rings are applicable to the fused ring system. For the synthesis of steroids to which an aziridine, oxirane or thiirane is attached either in the side chain or at a ring position but not directly fused to the nucleus, the methods discussed in this chapter, as well as others, are applicable. 

Perhaps the most notable difference between S-N and N-O compounds is the existence of a wide range of cyclic compounds for the former. As indicated by the examples illustrated below, these range from four- to ten-membered ring systems and include cations and anions as well as neutral systems (1.14-1.18) (Sections 5.2-5.4). Interestingly, the most stable systems conform to the well known Htickel (4n -1- 2) r-electron rule. By using a simple electron-counting procedure (each S atom contributes two electrons and each N atom provides one electron to the r-system in these planar rings) it can be seen that stable entities include species with n = 1, 2 and 3. 

FIGURE 25.30 The structure of cholesterol, drawn (a) in the traditional planar motif and (b) in a form that more accurately describes the conformation of the ring system. 

Based on the successful series of transformations summarized in Scheme 1, Schreiber and Santini developed an efficient and elegant synthesis of periplanone B (1),8 the potent sex pheromone of the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana. This work constitutes the second total synthesis of periplanone B, and it was reported approximately five years after the landmark periplanone B synthesis by W.C. Still9 (see Chapter 13). As in the first synthesis by Still, Schreiber s approach to periplanone B takes full advantage of the facility with which functionalized 5-cyclodecen-l-one systems can be constructed via anionic oxy-Cope rearrangements of readily available divinylcyclohexanols.5 7 In addition, both syntheses of periplanone B masterfully use the conformational preferences of cyclo-decanoid frameworks to control the stereo- and regiochemical course of reactions carried out on the periphery of such ring systems.10... 

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