Cyclopropanation silyl enol ethers

The Simmons-Smith reaction has been used as the basis of a method for the indirect a methylation of a ketone. The ketone (illustrated for cyclohexanone) is first converted to an enol ether, an enamine (16-12) or silyl enol ether (12-22) and cyclopropanation via the Simmons-Smith reaction is followed by hydrolysis to give a methylated ketone. A related procedure using diethylzinc and diiodomethane allows ketones to be chain extended by one carbon. In another variation, phenols can be ortho methylated in one laboratory step, by treatment with Et2Zn and... 

Longifolene has also been synthesized from ( ) Wieland-Miescher ketone by a series of reactions that feature an intramolecular enolate alkylation and ring expansion, as shown in Scheme 13.26. The starting material was converted to a dibromo ketone via the Mr-silyl enol ether in the first sequence of reactions. This intermediate underwent an intramolecular enolate alkylation to form the C(7)—C(10) bond. The ring expansion was then done by conversion of the ketone to a silyl enol ether, cyclopropanation, and treatment of the siloxycyclopropane with FeCl3. 

For cyclopropanations with ethyl diazoacetate, a rather weak influence of the olefin structure has been noted 59 60, (Table 7). The preference for the sterically less crowded cyclopropane is more marked for 1,2-disubstituted than for 1,1-disubstituted olefins. The influence of steric factors becomes obvious from the fact that the ratio Z-36/E-36, obtained upon cyclopropanation of silyl enol ethers 35, parallels Knorr s 90> empirical substituent parameter A.d of the group R 60). These ZjE ratios, however, do not represent the thermodynamic equilibrium of both diastereomers. 

Diverging results have been reported for the carbenoid reaction between alkyl diazoacetates and silyl enol ethers 49a-c. Whereas Reissig and coworkers 60) observed successful cyclopropanation with methyl diazoacetate/Cu(acac)2, Le Goaller and Pierre, in a note without experimental details u8), reported the isolation of 4-oxo-carboxylic esters for the copper-catalyzed decomposition of ethyl diazoacetate. According to this communication, both cyclopropane and ring-opened y-keto ester are obtained from 49 c but the cyclopropane suffers ring-opening under the reaction conditions. 

Whereas metal-catalyzed decomposition of simple diazoketones in the presence of ketene acetals yields dihydrofurans 121,124,134), cyclopropanes usually result from reaction with enol ethers, enol acetates and silyl enol ethers, just as with unactivated alkenes 13). l-Acyl-2-alkoxycyclopropanes were thus obtained by copper-catalyzed reactions between diazoacetone and enol ethers 79 105,135), enol acetates 79,135 and... 

This reaction is extended to the intramolecular ring closure of the intermediate radical 224 with olefinic or trimethylsilylacetylenic side chains [121]. Cu(BF4)2 is also effective as an oxidant (Scheme 89) [122]. Conjugate addition of Grignard reagents to 2-eyclopenten-l-one followed by cyclopropanation of the resulting silyl enol ethers gives the substituted cyclopropyl silyl ethers, which are oxidized to 4-substituted-2-cyclohexen-l-ones according to the above-mentioned method [123]. (Scheme 88 and 89)... 

The ring-opening of the cyclopropane nitrosourea 233 with silver trifiate followed by stereospecific [4 + 2] cycloaddition yields 234 [129]. (Scheme 93) Oxovanadium(V) compounds, VO(OR)X2, are revealed to be Lewis acids with one-electron oxidation capability. These properties permit versatile oxidative transformations of carbonyl and organosilicon compounds as exemplified by ring-opening oxygenation of cyclic ketones [130], dehydrogenative aroma-tization of 2-eyclohexen-l-ones [131], allylic oxidation of oc,/ -unsaturated carbonyl compounds [132], decarboxylative oxidation of a-amino acids [133], oxidative desilylation of silyl enol ethers [134], allylic silanes, and benzylic silanes [135]. 

Cyclopropanation of l,3-dienes. a,0-Unsaturated carbenes can undergo [4 + 2]cycloaddition with 1,3-dienes (12, 134), but they can also transfer the carbene ligand to an isolated double bond to form cyclopropanes. Exclusive cyclopropanation of a 1,3-diene is observed in the reaction of the a,(3-unsaturated chromium carbene 1 with the diene 2, which results in a frans-divinylcyclopropane (3) and a seven-membered silyl enol ether (4), which can be formed from 3 by a Cope rearrangement. However, the tungsten carbene corresponding to 1 undergoes exclusive [4 + 2]cycIoaddition with the diene 2. 

The reaction of vinylcarbenoids with vinyl ethers can lead to other types of [3 + 2] cycloadditions. The symmetric synthesis of 2,3-dihydrofurans is readily achieved by reaction of rhodium-stabilized vinylcarbenoids with vinyl ethers (Scheme 14.17) [107]. In this case, (J )-pantolactone is used as a chiral auxihary. The initial cyclopropanation proceeds with high asymmetric induction upon deprotection of the silyl enol ether 146, ring expansion occurs to furnish the dihydrofuran 147, with no significant epi-merization during the ring-expansion process. 

The reaction of Cjq with silylated nucleophiles [47] requires compounds such as silyl ketene acetals, silylketene thioacetals or silyl enol ethers. It proceeds smoothly and in good yields in the presence of fluoride ions (KF/18-crown-6) (Scheme 3.10). The advantage of the latter synthesis is the realization of the cyclopropanation under nearly neutral conditions, which complements the basic conditions that are mandatory for Bingel reactions. Reaction with similar silyl ketene acetals under photochemical conditions and without the use of F does not lead to methanofullerenes but to dihydrofullerene acetate [48]. 

Silyl enol ethers can also be used in the cyclopropanation reaction. Reissig showed that the reaction between methyl diazoacetate 53 and various enol ethers 52a-c using bu-box ligand 3 proceeded in moderate yields, as shown in Table 9.5 (Fig. 9.17fl), with trans/cis ratios up to 97 3 and ee between 32 and 49%. Pfaltz showed that cyclic enol ethers can be used as well." Cyclopentenyl enol ether 55 proceeded with methyl diazoacetate 53 and bu-box ligand 3 to afford the cyclopropanation products in 56% yield, a trans/cis ratio of 27 73, trans ee of 87% and cis ee of 92% (Fig. 9.11b, p. 544). 

Trimethylsilyloxy-substituted alkenes are by far the most widely used enol ethers because of their straightforward preparation from the corresponding ketones (equation 20)78-82 -pjjg electron-rich character of silyl enol ethers allows for highly chemoselective cyclopropanations in the presence of additional double bonds (eqnation 21). ... 

The overall sequence of cyclopropanation of a cyclic silyl enol ether, chlorination with FeCl3, and dehydrochlorination represents a very reliable one-carbon ring expansion method for cycloalkanomer (Table 11). 

The selective cyclopropanation of the a-enone silyl enol ether 75, by methylene iodide and the zinc-silver couple 2), is remarkable. Only the double bond bearing the tri-methylsiloxy group reacted to yield the 1-trimethylsiloxy vinylcyclopropane 76 when not more than 1.1 equivalent of the Simmons-Smith reagent was used, but the bis-cyclopropanation product 77 was obtained in good yield with an excess (3 equivalents) of the cyclopropanating reagent, Eq. (24) 42). 

In contrast, the related silyl enol ethers are available by mild selective transformations from carbonyl compounds or other precursors 55). Their stability and that of products derived from these alkenes can easily be regulated by choosing suitable substituents at silicon. Selective cleavage of a Si—O-bond is possible with fluoride reagents under very mild conditions, and this is why cyclopropane ring opening can now be performed with high chemoselectivity. 

A large variety of silyl enol ethers 96 has been transformed to the corresponding cyclopropanes 97 by reaction with methyl diazoacetate in the presence of copper catalysts (Eq. 28). Although at first the isolation of mainly ring-opened products had been reported 56), the preparation of methyl 2-siloxycyclopropanecarboxylates proceeds generally in very good yields (Table 2)57). 

If the olefin is chiral (entries 23-25) high diastereoselectivity has been observed, when the center of asymmetry is at C-3 of cyclic silyl enol ethers (entry 24). Cyclopropanation then occurs trans to the substituent at this carbon 57) exclusively, and due to the very mild cleavage conditions this mww-relationship is preserved in the subsequent ring opening (vide infra). This protocol has been applied to introduce a side chain during the stereoselective synthesis of a prostaglandin58> and of dicranenone A 59). 

Whereas methyl 2-siloxycyclopropanecarboxylates are thermally stable up to temperatures as high as 170 °C, they readily rearrange at low temperatures under the influence of appropriate Lewis acids. Catalytic amounts (0.05-0.4 equiv.) of iodo-trimethylsilane within minutes to days promote a quantitative ring opening of cyclopropanes 755 to the corresponding silyl enol ethers 156 (Eq. 68, Table 4)88). 

Table 4. Isomerization of Cyclopropanes 155 to Silyl Enol Ethers 156 According to Eq. 68...

Coupling of ketones with electron-deficient alkenes via a methylene group (cf. II, 315-316). This modified Giese reaction involves cyclopropanation of the silyl enol ether of a ketone, mcrcuration, and finally demercuration and coupling with an alkcnc via a radical chain reaction. 

Copper complexes derived from bis(-2,6-dichlorophenyle-dene)-( 15,25)-1,2-diaminocyclohexane (11) catalyze various reactions such as Diels-Alder reaction, aziridination (eq 20), cyclopropanation, and silyl enol ether addition to pyruvate esters. Although the scope of these reactions may be sometimes limited, enantioselectivities are generally high. The same complex (with copper(I) salts) catalyzes the asymmetric insertion of silicon- hydrogen bond into carbenoids. ... 

Little quantities of iodotrimethylsilane catalyse the rearrangement of 2-siloxy cyclopropanes to their isomeric silyl enol ethers (equation 102), whereas an equimolar amount of this silylating agent gives a highly donor substituted diene. Both product types are promising intermediates, yet their chemistry still remains to be explored. 

Again, much efficiency was gained by switching from alkoxy to siloxycyclopropanes . Dibromocarbene addition to silyl enol ethers generates cyclopropanes which open to a-bromo a,j5-unsaturated carbonyl compounds on thermolysis or treatment with acid in methanol (equation 137) . It has been shown that this homologation process also works for siloxycyclopropanes obtained by addition of other carbenoids (equation and that it is useful for terpene preparation . ... 

Vinylcyclopropanols can be prepared either from the readily available cyclopro-panone hemiacetaP, from 1-hydroxycyclopropanecarboxaldehyde derivativesfrom a,a -dichloroacetone, from the silver Simmons-Smith cyclopropanation of a-ethylenic ketone silyl enol ethers from the dye-sensitized photo-oxygenation of alkylidene-cyclopropanes or from the ring-opening of oxaspiropentanes (cf. Section III.C). Consequently, they become participants of choice in a number of useful chemical transformations (see also Section IV.A). 

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