Cyclohexanone diastereoselective reduction

Fig. 17.53. Diastereoselective reduction of a cyclohexanone with dissolving sodium.

Diastereoselective Reductions. NaBH4, like other small complex hydrides (L1BII4 and LiAlHa), shows an intrinsic preference for axial attack on cyclohexanones, as exemplified by the reduction of 4-f-butylcyclohexanone (eq 8). This preference, which is due to stereoelectronic reasons, can be counterbalanced by steric biases. For example, in 3,3,5-... 

Summary rac-l-(4-Fluorophenyl)-l-methyl-l-sila-2-cyclohexanone (rac-1) and rac-(SiS, C/ /Sii ,CS)-2-acetoxy-l-(4-fluorophenyl)-l-methyl-l-silacycIohexane [rac-(Si5,Ci /Siiil,C5)-3a] were synthesized as substrates for stereoselective microbial transformations. Resting free cells of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (DSM 11285) and growing cells of the yeasts Trigonopsis variabilis (DSM 70714) and Kloeckera corticis (ATCC 20109) were found to reduce rac- diastereoselectively to yield mixtures of the enantiomers (S S,CR)- and (SLR,C5)-l-(4-fluorophenyl)-l-methyl-1-sila-2-cyclohexanol [(Si5,C/ )-2a and (SLR,CS)-2a]. In the case of Kloeckera corticis (ATCC 20109), diastereoselective reduction of rac-1 gave a quasi-racemic mixture of (Si5,CR)-2a and (SiR,CS)-2a (diastereomeric purity 95 % de, yield 95 %). Enantioselective ester hydrolysis (kinetic resolution) of the 2-acetoxy-l-silacyclohexane rac-(Si5,CR/Si/ ,C5)-3a yielded the optically active l-sila-2-cyclohexanol (Si/ ,C5)-2a [enantiomeric purity >99% ee yield 56 % (relative to (Si, C5)-3a)]. 

Fraga CAM, Teixeira LHP, Menezes CMOS et al (2004) Studies on diastereoselective reduction of cyclic J -keto esters with boron hydrides. Part 4 the reductive profile of functionalized cyclohexanone derivatives. Tetrahedron 60 2745-2755... 

A series of 2-substituted cyclohexanones was studied over a wide range of temperature in an attempt to optimize the diastereoselectivity of diisobutylaluminium phenoxides in the reduction of ketones.161 Hydride transfer dominates at high temperature, but a Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley-type interconversion of the aluminium alcoholate intermediates (via the reactant ketone) is an important factor in diastereoselection at low temperature. 

The diastereoselectivity of reduction of 2-substituted cyclohexanones with 4-substituted aluminium phenoxides has been investigated over a wide temperature range (—75 to +80 °C).276 Hydride transfer dominates at high temperature whereas an MPV-type reaction contributes at lower temperatures. 

In contrast, sterically undemanding hydride donors such as NaBH4 or LiAlH4 reduce 4-fert-butylcyclohexanone preferentially through an axial attack. This produces mainly the cyclohexanol with the equatorial OH group (Figure 8.8, middle and bottom reactions). This difference results from the fact that there is also a stereoelec-tronic effect which influences the diastereoselectivity of the reduction of cyclohexanones. 

A related reductive cyclisation has been developed by Schafer et al. in which the cathodic cyclisation of A-(oxoalkyl)pyridinium salts led to indolizidine and quinolizidine derivatives <95AG(E)2007, 03EJO2919>. Electrolyses of the pyridinium salts were carried out in a divided beaker-t5q)e cell at a mercury pool cathode under constant current, using 1 M aqueous sulfuric acid as the electrolyte. In this way, cyclisation of cyclopentanone 129 to the isomeric quinolizidines 130 and 131 was achieved in high yield and with excellent diastereoselectivity (Scheme 38). The stereochemical course of the reaction with cyclohexanone 133 was not as well defined, with three of the four possible diastereoisomers being given in a ratio of 10 21 26 (for 134,135 and 136 respectively). 

Any explanation of facial selectivity must account for the diastereoselection observed in reactions of acyclic aldehydes and ketones and high stereochemical preference for axial attack in the reduction of sterically unhindered cyclohexanones along with observed substituent effects. A consideration of each will follow. Many theories have been proposed [8, 9] to account for experimental observations, but only a few have survived detailed scrutiny. In recent years the application of computational methods has increased our understanding of selectivity and can often allow reasonable predictions to be made even in complex systems. Experimental studies of anionic nucleophilic addition to carbonyl groups in the gas phase [10], however, show that this proceeds without an activation barrier. In fact Dewar [11] suggested that all reactions of anions with neutral species will proceed without activation in the gas phase. The transition states for reactions such as hydride addition to carbonyl compounds cannot therefore be modelled by gas phase procedures. In solution, desolvation of the anion is considered to account for the experimentally observed barrier to reaction. 

For more conformationally-constrained chiral substrates, however, diastereoselectivity can be expected to be good to excellent. Lithium enolates derived from sterically unencumbered cyclohexanones undergo preferential axial acylation as illustrated by the reductive acylation of (R)-(-)-carvone 4 to afford a 3 1 mixture of esters 5 and 6. whereas equatorial acylation is favored in compounds that possess an alkyl substituent in a 1,3-syn-axial relationship to the reacting center, as in the conversion of tricyclic enone 7 to ester 8 (epimeric with the product from the more traditional sequence of acylation followed by alkylation). (In substrates of this kind it is assumed that the transition state structure is based on a twist-boat conformation which permits the reagent to approach along an axial-like trajectory on the less encumbered, lower face of the substrate.) ... 

The flowing afterglow-triple quadrupole technique has been used to measure the diastereoselectivity of the reduction of a range of cyclohexanones by silicon hydride ions in the gas phase. Strikingly, the axial or equatorial preferences in these intrinsic diastereoselectivities are consistently similar to results in condensed phase. 

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