Cyclization reactions natural products

Cycloisomerization of enynes has been employed to construct an array of natural products.f " Although the precise mechanistic details of the reaction have not been elucidated, and may vary from case to case, one potential mechanism is shown in Scheme 28. Generation of an alkyl- or hydridopaUadium complex in the presence of enyne 183 may lead to carbo- or hydridopalladation to give an alkenyl palladium intermediate 184. Intramolecular cyclization (184 185) then follows to form five-, six-, or seven-membered rings followed by /3-hydride elimination to yield 1,4-diene 186 and/or 1,3-diene 187. There are also examples of yne-yne cyclizations in natural product synthesis. ... 

The Bischler-Napieralski reaction involves the cyclization of phenethyl amides 1 in the presence of dehydrating agents such as P2O5 or POCI3 to afford 3,4-dihydroisoquinoline products 2. This reaction is one of the most commonly employed and versatile methods for the synthesis of the isoquinoline ring system, which is found in a large number of alkaloid natural products. The Bischler-Napieralski reaction is also frequently used for the conversion of N-acyl tryptamine derivatives 3 into p-carbolines 4 (eq 2). 

The cycloaromatization of enediynes, having a structure like 1, proceeds via formation of a benzenoid 1,4-diradical 2, and is commonly called the Bergman cyclization. It is a relatively recent reaction that has gained importance especially during the last decade. The unusual structural element of enediynes as 1 has been found in natural products (such as calicheamicine and esperamicine) which show a remarkable biological activity... 

Myers has discovered a related reaction of the natural product neocarzinostatine 8 (simplified structure). As in the case of the Bergman cyclization a diradical intermediate is generated by a chemical activation step taking place at the reaction site, where it then can cleave DNA. Because of this feature, together with its discriminating affinity towards different DNA strands, neocarzinostatine is regarded as a potential antitumor agent. 

At present the synthetic importance of both the Bergman cyclization and the Myers reaction remains rather small. However, because of the considerable biological activity of the natural products mentioned above, there is great mechanistic interest in these reactions in connection with the mode of action of DNA cleavage. 

The intramolecular Heck reaction presented in Scheme 8 is also interesting and worthy of comment. Rawal s potentially general strategy for the stereocontrolled synthesis of the Strychnos alkaloids is predicated on the palladium-mediated intramolecular Heck reaction. In a concise synthesis of ( )-dehydrotubifoline [( )-40],22 Rawal et al. accomplished the conversion of compound 36 to the natural product under the conditions of Jeffery.23 In this ring-forming reaction, the a-alkenylpalladium(n) complex formed in the initial oxidative addition step engages the proximate cyclohexene double bond in a Heck cyclization, affording enamine 39 after syn /2-hydride elimination. The latter substance is a participant in a tautomeric equilibrium with imine ( )-40, which happens to be shifted substantially in favor of ( )-40. 

It is important to emphasize that the hydroxy dithioketal cyclization can be conducted under mild reaction conditions and can be successfully applied to a variety of substrates.15 However, the utility of this method for the synthesis of didehydrooxocane-contain-ing natural products requires the diastereoselective, reductive removal of the ethylthio group. Gratifyingly, treatment of 13 with triphenyltin hydride and a catalytic amount of the radical initiator, azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN), accomplishes a homolytic cleavage of the C-S bond and furnishes didehydrooxocane 14 in diastereo-merically pure form (95 % yield), after hydrogen atom transfer. 

A direct application of the ring-opening reaction of an epoxide by a metal enolate amide for the synthesis of a complex molecule can be found in the synthesis of the trisubstituted cyclopentane core of brefeldin A (Scheme 8.35) [68a]. For this purpose, treatment of epoxy amide 137 with excess KH in THF gave a smooth cyclization to amide 138, which was subsequently converted into the natural product. No base/solvent combination that would effect cyclization of the corresponding aldehyde or ester could be found. 

Polyene cyclizations are of substantial value in the synthesis of polycyclic terpene natural products. These syntheses resemble the processes by which the polycyclic compounds are assembled in nature. The most dramatic example of biosynthesis of a polycyclic skeleton from a polyene intermediate is the conversion of squalene oxide to the steroid lanosterol. In the biological reaction, an enzyme not only to induces the cationic cyclization but also holds the substrate in a conformation corresponding to stereochemistry of the polycyclic product.17 In this case, the cyclization is terminated by a series of rearrangements. 

Another method for conducting cyclizations catalytic in Cp2TiCl is shown in Scheme 14. It relies on the thermodynamically favorable ring closure of THF from 5-titanoxy radicals [81,82]. This step is mechanistically related to the oxygen rebound steps of oxidation reactions. While the scope of this transformation remains to be established, the presence of substituted THF-derivatives in many natural products renders the method potentially attractive. 

The palladium-catalyzed reductive coupling reactions were used in the synthesis of several natural products, including laurene [75], ceratopicanol [80], and dihydrostreptazolin 141 [81]. The cyclization leading to dihydrostrepta-zolin shown in Eq. 26 highlights the diastereoselectivity and functional group compatibility seen with this catalytic system. 

The palladium-catalyzed cyclization reaction was used in the syntheses of several natural products such as siccanin [86], streptazolin [87], and ceratopi-canol (through a diyne, diene cascade) [80]. The production of the streptazolin precursor 149 through reductive cyclization of 150 is illustrative of the complexity that the reaction can provide (Eq. 29) [87]. 

In a recently published report by MacMillan s group [121] on the enantioselective synthesis of pyrroloindoline and furanoindoline natural products such as (-)-flustramine B 2-219 [122], enantiopure amines 2-215 were used as organocatalysts to promote a domino Michael addition/cyclization sequence (Scheme 2.51). As substrates, the substituted tryptamine 2-214 and a, 3-unsaturated aldehydes were used. Reaction of 2-214 and acrolein in the presence of 2-215 probably leads to the intermediate 2-216, which cyclizes to give the pyrroloindole moiety 2-217 with subsequent hydrolysis of the enamine moiety and reconstitution of the imidazolid-inone catalyst. After reduction of the aldehyde functionality in 2-217 with NaBH4 the flustramine precursor 2-218 was isolated in very good 90 % ee and 78 % yield. 

Furthermore, as described by Mori and coworkers, the domino aldol/cyclization reaction of the 3-keto sulfoxide 2-422 with succindialdehyde (2-423) in the presence of piperidine at r.t. afforded the chromone 2-424 which, on heating to 140 °C, underwent a thermal syn-elimination of methanesulfenic acid to provide 2-426 in 22 % overall yield (Scheme 2.100) [227]. This approach was then used for the synthesis of the natural products coniochaetones A (2-425) and B (2-427) [228]. 

Zard and coworkers [32] reported a simple approach to create another group of natural products, namely the lycopodium alkaloids [15]. These authors first investigated the reaction of O-benzoyl-N-allylhydroxylamide 3-60 with tributyltin hydride and ACCN in refluxing toluene, which led (after formation of the N-radical 3-61 in a 5-exo-trig/5-exo-trig cyclization) to the undesired pyrrolidine 3-62 in 48% yield. Nevertheless, a small structural modification, namely the placement of a chlorine atom at the allyl moiety as in 3-63, induced a 5-exo-/G-endo- instead of the 5-exo-/5-... 

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