Cope rearrangement conformation

In this beautiful synthesis of periplanone B, Still demonstrated a classical aspect and use of total synthesis - the unambiguous establishment of the structure of a natural product. More impressively, he demonstrated the usefulness of the anionic oxy-Cope rearrangement in the construction of ten-membered rings and the feasibility of exploiting conformational preferences of these medium-sized rings to direct the stereochemical course of chemical reactions on such templates. 

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... 

The stereochemistry of acyclic anionic oxy-Cope rearrangements is consistent with a chair TS having a conformation that favors equatorial placement of both alkyl and oxy substituents and minimizes the number of 1,3-diaxial interactions.214 For the reactions shown below, the double-bond configuration is correctly predicted on the basis of the most stable TS available in the first three reactions. In the fourth reaction, the TSs are of comparable energy and a 2 1 mixture of E- and Z-isomers is formed. 

The stereoselectivity achieved in the synthesis in Scheme 13.12 is the result of a preferred conformation for the base-catalyzed oxy-Cope rearrangement in Step B. Although the intermediate used in Step B was a mixture of stereoisomers, both gave predominantly the desired relative stereochemistry at C(4) and C(7). The stereoselectivity is based on the preferred chair conformation for the TS of the oxy-Cope rearrangement. 

The next homolog, 1,5-hexadiene (1,5-HD), is of special chemical interest because the molecule is capable of undergoing the so-called Cope rearrangement. A GED study of 1,5-HD was also recently reported6. Because of the increased conformational complexity of this molecule compared to that of 1,4-PD, the structural details of the various con-formers could not be resolved and only averaged structure parameters were determined from the gas phase. Molecules in the solid state are frozen, mostly in only one conformation, which may but must not represent the conformational ground state. Therefore, conformational isomerization is usually not discussed with X-ray structures presented in the literature. 

Now the stereochemistry. Assume the thermodynamically more stable iminium ion forms (Me groups cis). The Cope rearrangement occurs from a chair conformation. This puts the Ph, H2, and HI 1 all pointing up both before and after the rearrangement. Assuming the Mannich reaction occurs without a change in conformation (a reasonable assumption, considering the proximity of the nucleophilic and electrophilic centers), the Ph, H2, and HI 1 should all be cis in the product. 

It was shown74 that the folded conformation of bicyclic substrates is a prerequisite for isomerizations such as 177 - 178. Thus, vyw-9-vinyl triene 183, being in the open conformation, undergoes an unusual Cope rearrangement to give the intermediate 184 which starts a cascade of thermal isomerizations at 60-65 °C (equation 57) whereas the awft -9-vinyl epimer 185 rearranges into the indene derivative 186 at 110°C in benzene solution (equation 58)74. 

An irreversible consecutive reaction as a driving force to shift an unfavorable Cope rearrangement equilibria in the needed direction can be illustrated by the Cope-Claisen tandem process used for the synthesis of chiral natural compounds243. It was found that thermolysis of fraws-isomeric allyl ethers 484 or 485 at 255 °C leads to an equilibrium mixture of the two isomers in a 55 45 ratio without conversion into any other products (equation 184). Under the same conditions the isomer 487 rearranges to give the Cope-Claisen aldehyde 491 (equation 185). Presumably, the interconversion 484 485 proceeds via intermediate 486 whose structure is not favorable for Claisen rearrangement. In contrast, one of the two cyclodiene intermediates of process 487 488 (viz. 490 rather than 489) has a conformation appropriate for irreversible Claisen rearrangement243. 

It should be noted that the stereochemical aspects of the Cope rearrangement are widely used for synthesis of various natural products, e.g. of the elemene-type derivatives 493-496 starting from germacrene-type sesquiterpenes 492 having cyclodeca-1,5-diene structure with stable conformations (equation 186)244. 

The Cope rearrangement is the conversion of a 1,5-hexadiene derivative to an isomeric 1,5-hexadiene by the [3,3] sigmatropic mechanism. The reaction is both stereospecific and stereoselective. It is stereospecific in that a Z or E configurational relationship at either double bond is maintained in the transition state and governs the stereochemical relationship at the newly formed single bond in the product.137 However, the relationship depends upon the conformation of the transition state. When a chair transition state is favored, the EyE- and Z,Z-dienes lead to anli-3,4-diastereomcrs whereas the E,Z and Z,/i-isomcrs give the 3,4-syn product. Transition-state conformation also... 

Dienes, 11 addition to, 194-198 cisoid conformation, 197, 350 conjugated, 11 Cope rearrangement, 354 cycUsation, 346 cycloaddition to, 348 Diels-Alder reaction, 197, 349 excited state, 13 heat of hydrogenation, 16,194 isolated, 11 m.o.s of, 12 polymerisation, 323 Dienone intermediates, 356 Dienone/phenol rearrangement, 115 Dienophiles, 198, 350 Digonal hybridisation, 5 Dimedone, 202 Dimroth s Et parameter, 391 solvatochromic shifts, 391 solvent polarity, 391 Y and,392 Dinitrofluorobenzene proteins and, 172... 

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