Cram s rules

Cram s Rule JACS 1952, 74,2748 JACS 1959, 84,5828. empirical rule... 

The addition of methylmagnesium iodide to 2-phenylpropanal is stereoselective in producing twice as much syn-3-phenyl-2-butanol as the anti isomer (entry 5). The stereoselective formation of a particular configuration at a new stereogenic center in a reaction of a chiral reactant is called asymmetric induction. This particular case is one in which the stereochemistry can be predicted on the basis of an empirical correlation called Cram s rule. The structural and mechanistic basis of Cramls rule will be discussed in Chapter 3. 

We will discuss the structural and mechanistic basis of Cram s rule in Chapter 3. As would probably be expected, the influence of a stereogenic center on the diastereoselec-tivity of the reaction is diminished when the center is more remote from the reaction site. 

The more stable the LUMO, the stronger is the interaction with the HOMO of the approaching nucleophile. The observed (Cram s rule) stereoselectivity is then a combination of stereoelectronic effects ftiat establish a preference for a perpendicular substituent and a steric effect that establishes a preference for the nucleophile to approach from the direction occupied by the smallest substituent. 

Addition of Grignard reagents to ketones and aldehydes was one of the reactions which led to the formulation of Cram s rule. Many ketones and aldehydes have subsequently been examined to determine the degree of stereoselectivity. Cram s rule is obeyed when no special complexing functional groups are present near the reaction site. One series of studies is summarized in Table 8.2. 

Reduction of the quaternary immonium salt 161, obtained by treatment of l-methyl-2-ethylidenepyrrolidine with ethyl bromoacetate, by means of either sodium borohydride or formic acid, leads to (—)-erythro-2-(2-N-methylpyrrolidyl)butyric acid (162), in agreement with Cram s rule (196). 

By application of Cram s rule or a more recent model on the reactivity of a-chiral aldehydes or ketones, a prediction can be made, which stereoisomer will be formed predominantly, if the reaction generates an additional chiral center. 

Cram s open-chain model 229 Cram s rule 229, 233 Cram chelate model 229 Cram cyclic model 229 Cram-Felkin-Anh model 191,207, 236 f 246 cubane 12,318 cyanoacetic acid 636 f. cyanohydrin, protected 145, 150 f. cyclic carbonate protection 541 f., 657, 659 f., 666, 670 cyclization -,6-endo 734 -, 5-exo 733 f. 

The addition of organometallic reagents to a-amino ketones e.g., 1 normally obeys Cram s rule the dominant diastereomer is the. syrc-compound81. 

Grignard reagents add to racemic AT-(2-phcnylpropylidene)alkylamine A-oxides 2 to afford hydroxylamines 3a and 3b in good yield (68-90%) but modest diastereoselectivity (d.r. 67 33 — 83 17)7. The major product 3a is the diastereomer predicted by Cram s rule. 1 shows the attack of the Grignard reagent according to the T elkin-Anh explanation of Cram s rule. 

Ketosilanes react with alkyl lithiums in a diastereoselective manner (7), the preferred diastereoisomer being the one predicted on the basis of Cram s Rule acidic or basic treatment provides a stereoselective route to trisubstituted alkenes. 

Active Substrate. If a new stereogenic center is ereated in a molecule that is already optically active, the two diastereomers are not (except fortuitously) formed in equal amounts. The reason is that the direction of attack by the reagent is determined by the groups already there. For certain additions to the carbon-oxygen double bond of ketones containing an asymmetric a carbon. Cram s rule predicts which diastereomer will predominate (diastereo-selecti vity). ... 

There are other stereochemical aspects to the reduction of aldehydes and ketones. If there is a chiral center to the carbonyl group, even an achiral reducing agent can give more of one diastereomer than of the other. Such diastereoselective reductions have been carried out with considerable success. In most such cases Cram s rule (p. 147) is followed, but exceptions are known. ... 

The stereochemistry of addition of organometallic reagents to chiral carbonyl compounds parallels the behavior of the hydride reducing agents, as discussed in Section 5.3.2. Organometallic compounds were included in the early studies that established the preference for addition according to Cram s rule.118... 

Normally, the addition of C-nucleophiles to chiral a-alkoxyaldehydes in organic solvents is opposite to Cram s rule (Scheme 8.15). The anti-Cram selectivity has been rationalized on the basis of chelation control.142 The same anti preference was observed in the reactions of a-alkoxyaldehydes with allyl bromide/indium in water.143 However, for the allylation of a-hydroxyaldehydes with allyl bromide/indium, the syn isomer is the major product. The syn selectivity can be as high as 10 1 syn anti) in the reaction of arabinose. It is argued that in this case, the allylindium intermediate coordinates with both the hydroxy and the carbonyl function leading to the syn adduct. 

Almost 50 years ago, Cram outlined a rule (Cram s rule), which proved to be fruitful in understanding, predicting, and controlling diastereoselectivity induced by a remote stereocenter [258,259], Numerous examples of 1,2 induction have confirmed over the time the predictive character of this rule [260], Afterwards, other important contributions of Felkin and coworkers and Anh... 

For purposes of illustration, consider the erythro selective reaction illustrated in eq. [69]. For aldehydes containing an adjacent asymmetric center (R, Rl = medium and large alkyl substituents), the bias for nucleophilic addition from a given diastereotopic face of the aldehyde is predicted empirically by Cram s rule (the open-chain... 

In all the examples commented upon so far, we have dealt with reactions with internal diastereoselective induction. However, when a chiral centre is already present in one of the components [12] we must refer then to a relative diastereoselective induction, and Cram s rule [13] must be taken into account when the chiral centre is present at the a-position of the aldehyde (28). For instance, in the reaction shown in Scheme 9.7 of the four possible diastereomers only two are formed, the Cram-i yn-aldol 30a being the predominant diastereomer (see below 9.3.3). 

If stoichiometric quantities of the chiral auxiliary are used (i.e., if the chiral auxiliary is covalently bonded to the molecule bearing the prochiral centres) there are in principle three possible ways of achieving stereoselection in an aldol adduct i) condensation of a chiral aldehyde with an achiral enolate ii) condensation of an achiral aldehyde with a chiral enolate, and iii) condensation of two chiral components. Whereas Evans [14] adopted the second solution, Masamune studied the "double asymmetric induction" approach [22aj. In this context, the relevant work of Heathcock on "relative stereoselective induction" and the "Cram s rule problem" must be also considered [23]. The use of catalytic amounts of an external chiral auxiliary in order to create a local chiral environment, will not be considered here. 

Relative stereoselective induction and the "Cram s rule problem" "Double stereodifferentiation ". 

Now, if we allow one enantiomer of the chiral aldehyde 59 to react with the two enantiomers of the chiral enolate M, in one case the two chiral reagents will both promote the same absolute configuration at the two new chiral centres (65a ). However, no such effect will be observed in the other possible combination (c/. 65) (Scheme 9.21). In the first case, the effective "Cram s rule selectivity" shown by the aldehyde will be greater than in its reactions with achiral enolates. For the selectivities chosen the "Cram anti-Cram ratio" should be in our example of the order of 100 1 (see below 9.3.4., Masamune s "double asymmetric induction"). 

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