2-Cyclohexenone photocycloaddition reactions

In recent years the application of photocycloaddition reactions to organic synthesis has been growing in importance. - The procedure described is illustrative of a general method based on a photocycloaddition reaction for the introduction of an activated alkyl group specifically to the a-carhon atom of an a,/3-unsaturated cyclohexenone. Especially significant is the fact that the method is also applicable to... 

Control over the absolute configuration in cyclohexenone photocycloadditions has been achieved by auxiliary-induced diastereoselectivity. In particular, esters related to compound 26, which are derived from a chiral alcohol but not from methanol, lend themselves as potential precursors, from which the chiral auxiliary can be effectively cleaved [42, 43]. In a recent study, the use of additives was advertised to increase the diastereomeric excess in these reactions [44], An intriguing auxiliary-induced approach was presented by Piva et al., who employed chiral 13-hydroxy-carboxylic adds as tethers to control both the regioselectivity and the diastereoselectivity of intramolecular [2 + 2]-photocycloaddition reactions [45]. In Scheme 6.14 the reaction of the (S)-mandelic acid derived substrate 38 is depicted, which led with very good stereocontrol almost exclusively to product 39a, with the other diastereoisomer 39b being formed only in minor quantities (39a/39b = 96/4). Other acids, such as (S)-lactic acid, performed equally well. The chiral tether could be cleaved under basic conditions to afford enantiomerically pure cydobutane lactones in good yields. 

Substrates A3 (Q = O) have been employed not only as starting materials for fragmentation reactions but also to probe novel stereoselectivity concepts. The photochemical transformation of axial chirality into central chirality was achieved by Carreira et al., who employed chiral, enantiomerically pure allenes in intramolecular [2 + 2]-photocycloaddition reactions (Scheme 6.27) [79]. The reaction of enantiomerically pure (99% ee) cyclohexenone 71, for example, yielded the two diastereomeric products 72a and 72b, which differed only in the double bond configuration. Apparently, the chiral control element directs the attack at the allene to its re face. The double bond isomerization is due to the known configurational liability of the vinyl radical formed as intermediate after the first C—Cbond formation step (see Scheme 6.2, intermediate C). 

The photocycloaddition chemistry of oc,P-unsaturated 8-lactones is similar to the chemistry of y-lactones. Complications arise as with cyclohexenones because anti-addition to the a,P-unsaturated double bond can occur, particularly in the intermolecular addition mode. Even if one product prevails, intermolecular [2 + 2]-photocycloaddition reactions are often sluggish. Despite the fact that alkene 92, for example, was employed in a twofold excess relative to dihydropyranone 91, the reaction delivered only 32% of the desired product 93 (43% based on recovered starting material Scheme 6.33). The relative product configuration, which was established by X-ray crystallography, came as a surprise because the lactone apparently... 

The importance of the ethylene ketal described above with respect to stereocontrol of the de-Mayo reaction is emphasized by later published works of two other teams. Fetizon and co-workers obviously followed a similar concept and carried out photocycloaddition reactions with 96a in model studies (Scheme 23) (Si). As can be seen from retroaldol product 98, exclusive a attack of the cyclohexene has taken place. Thus, the relative stereochemistry of the BC ring connection is opposite to that of taxane. Totally comparable results were obtained by Berkowitz et al. in the course of cycloaddition reactions of cyclopentene, cyclohexene, or those of a cyclohexenone ketal to the camphor derivative 96b (.84). 

Additions to Cyclohexenones and Related Systems - Caldwell and his coworkers have studied the photochemical addition of 1,1-diphenylethene to 4,4-dimethylcyclohex-2-enone. The products from this reaction, carried out in cyclohexane, are shown in Scheme 1. Although other evidence (see reference 9b above and references cited therein) has suggested that an exciplex is not a key interaction in such (2+2)-photocycloaddition reactions Caldwell et al. conclude from their detailed study of this system that a triplet exciplex is involved. Schuster and his coworkers have reported that a variety of cyclic enones (17) -(19) add photochemically to fullerene. The yields of the adducts vary but with some of the less heavily substituted enones the yields can be reasonable as shown by the data under the appropriate structure. Suginome et aO report the synthesis of the cycloadducts (20) by the photochemical addition of various ethenes to the enone (21). The adduct (22) was also synthesized by photochemical addition of methoxycyclohexene to the enone (20). 

An interesting use of removable chiral auxiliaries in photocycloaddition reactions concerns imminium salts. With cyclic enones, the observed asymmetric induction does not result from an approach of the double bonds in parallel planes because of the triplet nature of the reactive excited state. In contrast, the corresponding imminium salts react through their singlet excited state, and an approach of the reactants in parallel planes is now required during the cycloaddition process. For chiral imminium salts 130 derived from a cyclohexenone and a pyrrolidine having a C2 axis of symmetry, the intramolecular [2 -I- 2] photocycloaddition process occurs with a de up to 82%. As expected, the stereochemis-... 

The reaction of an olefin with a 1,3-diketone enol, known as the de Mayo reaction [116], is an important member of the [23-2] photocycloaddition reaction family. This and related processes were discussed by Sato et al. [117]. 1,3-Dioxi-nones (62) react with ethylene to give cyclobutane products. (Kaneko et al. [118] and Demuth et al. [119] have written reviews on this subject.) The intermolecular reactions of olefins with enones, carried out by Organ et al. [120], are complementary to the work on spirodioxinone derivatives (e.g., 63) by Sato et al. [121]. Reaction of enone 64 with cyclohexene led to a mixture of seven products, with the all-cis isomer formed in 32% yield. However, higher selectivity was seen for the reaction with a protected cyclohexenone (65), which afforded the all-cis isomer (66) in 54% yield, and reaction with cyclopentene (67), which gave 68 as a single product in 90% yield, as shown in Scheme 17 (also see Fig. 8). 

Electron-rich alkenes are often used as addends for this type of cycloaddition. As described by R. Neier a cyclic P-amido cyclohexenone (compare with the open-chain substrate before) undergoes clean [2+2] cycloaddition to tetramethylethylene. Additionally a useful method for the enhancement of diastereomeric purity is described. Many starting materials, which are used for [2+2] photocycloaddition reactions, are protected enols of... 

Two other examples of photocycloaddition reactions of cyclohexenones with alkenyl and alkynyl substituents at the 4-position are listed in Table 5, entries 16 and... 

A series of (2+2) photocycloaddition reactions have been carried out using (5R)-5-menthyloxy-2(5H)-furanone (32) as the substrate. Photoaddition of cyclopentenone to this substrate gives the four products (33)-(36) with some level of regioselectivity but no facial selectivity. Interestingly, cyclohexenone, cyclohepten-one and cyclooctenone fail to undergo the mixed addition. High facial selectivity is observed when more complex enones such as the 3,5,5-trimethylcyclohexenone and isophorone, (37) are used. The reaction affords adducts of the type illustrated... 

In contrast to cyclopentenones and cyclohexenones, medium-ring vinylogous esters are not suitable for photocycloaddition reaction unless the olfin coupling partner is substituted. For example, when ( -3-(but-3-enyloxy)cyclooct-2-enone 78a is irradiated under a variety of conditions, no intramolecular cycloadduction occurs. However, upon substitution of a vinyl or phenyl on the olefin, the cycloaddition proceeds efficiently to give diastereomeric mixtures 79b/c, and 80b/c, respectively. The dramatically enhanced yields and rates of the photoaddition reactions upon olefin substitution result from the stabilization of the 1,4-biradical by a vinyl or phenyl. A mixture of diastereomers is formed presumable because the rotational relaxation of the intermediate 1,4-diradical is faster than [2 + 2] ring closure. 

Photochemical Cycloadditions. Isobutene has been widely used in intermolecular [2 + 2] photocycloaddition reactions with enones. The weakly polarized isobutene is often used to study the regioselectivity of the photocycloaddition. Cyclohexenones (eq 9), cyclopentenones (eq 10), and functionalized enones (eq 11 ) undergo cycloaddition with isobutene. Patemo-Biichi... 

Most investigations of the photocycloaddition of simple a,0-unsaturated carbonyls have involved the reactions of the ring compounds cyclopentenone and cyclohexenone. The photoaddition of 2-cyelohexenone to a number of different olefins has been reported by Corey and co-workers(94) ... 

Ring enlargement.1 A new route to seven-membered ring systems from a cyclohexenone (1) involves a photocycloaddition of ethylene to provide the bicy-clooctanone 2. Addition of lithio-1,3-dithiane to 2 provides the adduct 3, which on reaction with HgO and HBF4 forms an unstable rearranged hydroxy aldehyde... 

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