Cyclopropanes Enantiomeric excess

In 2004, ruthenium-catalysed asymmetric cyclopropanations of styrene derivatives with diazoesters were also performed by Masson et al., using chiral 2,6-bis(thiazolines)pyridines. These ligands were prepared from dithioesters and commercially available enantiopure 2-aminoalcohols. When the cyclopropanation of styrene with diazoethylacetate was performed with these ligands in the presence of ruthenium, enantioselectivities of up to 85% ee were obtained (Scheme 6.6). The scope of this methodology was extended to various styrene derivatives and to isopropyl diazomethylphosphonate with good yields and enantioselectivities. The comparative evaluation of enantiocontrol for cyclopropanation of styrene with chiral ruthenium-bis(oxazolines), Ru-Pybox, and chiral ruthenium-bis(thiazolines), Ru-thia-Pybox, have shown many similarities with, in some cases, good enantiomeric excesses. The modification... 

From a variety of differently substituted compounds, best results were obtained with the catalysts 195a-c in combination with /-methyl diazoacetate and monoolefins, cyclopropanes were obtained with a relatively high trans/cis ratio and enantiomeric excesses of 44-89% (Table 12). The absolute configuration at the catalyst s chiral center determines the enantioselectivity for both diastereoisomers. 

Easily available copper(II) tartrate has also been used for an enantioselective cyclopropanation. From 3-methoxystyrene and 4-bromo-l-diazo-2-butanone, the cyclopropanes cis/trans-204 were obtained the mainly formed frans-isomer displayed an enantiomeric excess of 46% i99>. This reaction constituted the opening step of asymmetric total syntheses of equilenin and estrone. 

In the presence of catalytic amounts of 207a and at moderate temperatures (—15 to +30 °C), the cyclopropanes derived from styrene and various alkyl diazoacetates were obtained in good yields (80-95 %) with remarkably high enantiomeric excess for both the cis(lS, 2R) and the transilS, 2S) isomer. With increasing steric bulk of the rater substituent (methyl -> neopentyl), both the trans/cis ratio (0.69 - 2.34) and the optical yield (61 ->88% for the /raws-cyclopropane at 0 ° ) became higher 88,95). 

Enantioselective cyclopropanation of monoolefins 214 has also been performed. With the already mentioned chiral catalysts 195a and 209-213 rather high enantiomeric excess was achieved in some cases (Table 16), and the vinylcyclopropane structure was obtained in a subsequent dehydrohalogenation step. 

Use of a chiral diazo ester proved less rewarding in terms of enantioselective cyclopropanation. Only very low enantiomeric excesses were obtained when styrene was cyclopropanated with the carbenoid derived from diazoacetic esters 219 bearing a chiral ester residue 214). 

In the simplest case, the reaction of allyl diazoacetate, the catalyst (iS )-198 or (f )-198 in a concentration as low as 0.1 mol% can still catalyze the formation of enantiomeric-3-oxabicyclo[3.1.0]hexan-2-ones with 95% ee (Scheme 5-60). Substituted alkyl diazoacetates undergo intramolecular cyclopropanation, with similarly high enantiomeric excess (Scheme 5-61).110... 

Ukaji et al.117 reported an enantioselective cyclopropanation reaction in which moderate enantiomeric excess was obtained when a stoichiometric amount of diethyl tartrate was used as a chiral modifier. Takahashi et al.118 achieved better results using the C2-symmetric chiral disulfonamide 205 as the chiral ligand. 

Recent advances in gas chromatographic separations of enantiomers allow precise determination of the enantiomeric purity of the algal pheromones. The czs-disubstituted cyclopentenes, such as multifidene, viridiene, and caudoxirene, are of high optical purity [ 95% enantiomeric excess (e.e.)] whenever they have been found (32,33). The situation is different with the cyclopropanes and the cycloheptadienes, as shown in Table 2 and Figure 1. Hormosirene from female gametes or thalli of... 

Cyclopropanations with diazomethane can proceed with surprisingly high diastereo-selectivities (Table 3.4) [643,662-664]. However, enantioselective cyclopropanations with diazomethane and enantiomerically pure, catalytically active transition metal complexes have so far furnished only low enantiomeric excesses [650,665] or racemic products [666]. These disappointing results are consistent with the results obtained in stoichiometric cyclopropanations with enantiomerically pure Cp(CO)(Ph3P)Fe=CH2 X , which also does not lead to high asymmetric induction (see Section 3.2.2.1). 

For intermolecular cyclopropanations with unsubstituted diazoacetates the highest asymmetric inductions can be achieved with the copper(I) complexes of C2-symmetric, bidentate ligands developed by Pfaltz (e.g. 1) and Evans (2). The chiral rhodium(II) complexes known today do not generally lead to such high enantiomeric excesses as copper complexes in intermolecular cyclopropanations. For intramolecular cyclopropanations, however, chiral rhodium(II) complexes are usually superior to enantiomerically pure copper complexes [1374]. 

The preparation of cyclopropanes by intermolecular cyclopropanation with acceptor-substituted carbene complexes is one of the most important C-C-bond-forming reactions. Several reviews [995,1072-1074,1076,1077,1081] and monographs have appeared. In recent decades chemists have focused on stereoselective intermolecular cyclopropanations, and several useful catalyst have been developed for this purpose. Complexes which catalyze intermolecular cyclopropanations with high enantiose-lectivity include copper complexes [1025,1026,1028,1029,1031,1373,1398-1400], cobalt complexes [1033-1035], ruthenium porphyrin complexes [1041,1042,1230], C2-symmetric ruthenium complexes [948,1044,1045], and different types of rhodium complexes [955,998,999,1002-1004,1010,1062,1353,1401-1405], Particularly efficient catalysts for intermolecular cyclopropanation are C2-symmetric cop-per(I) complexes, as those shown in Figure 4.20. These complexes enable the formation of enantiomerically enriched cyclopropanes with enantiomeric excesses greater than 99%. Illustrative examples of intermolecular cyclopropanations are listed in Table 4.24. 

A second example of the use of ionic chiral auxiliaries for asymmetric synthesis is found in the work of Chong et al. on the cis.trans photoisomerization of certain cyclopropane derivatives [33]. Based on the report by Zimmerman and Flechtner [34] that achiral tmns,trans-2,3-diphenyl-l-benzoylcyclopropane (35a, Scheme 7) undergoes very efficient (0=0.94) photoisomerization in solution to afford the racemic cis,trans isomer 36a, the correspondingp-carboxylic acid 35b was synthesized and treated with a variety of optically pure amines to give salts of general structure 35c (CA=chiral auxiliary). Irradiation of crystals of these salts followed by diazomethane workup yielded methyl ester 36d, which was analyzed by chiral HPLC for enantiomeric excess. The results are summarized in Table 3. 

Rh2(S-TBSP)4 8 and Rh2(S-DOSP)4 9 (Tab. 14.3) [40, 45]. A very unusual feature of the prolinate-catalyzed cyclopropanations is that the reactions proceed with much higher asymmetric induction when hydrocarbon solvents are used instead of dichloromethane [40, 45]. Room-temperature cyclopropanations of styrene with Rh2(S-TBSP) or Rli2(S-D0SP)4 typically occur with 90-92% enantioselectivity, while the Rh2(S-DOSP)4-cata-lyzed reaction at -78°C occurs in 98% enantiomeric excess (Tab. 14.3) [40]. The rhodium prolinate catalysts are very easy to handle, being stable to air, heat, and moisture although it has been reported that the enantioselectivity can decrease if the cyclopropanation is conducted in wet solvents [46]. 

In contrast to the intermolecular cyclopropanation, the dirhodium tetraprolinates give modest enantioselectivities for the corresponding intramolecular reactions with the do-nor/acceptor carbenoids [68]. For example, the Rh2(S-DOSP)4-catalyzed reaction with al-lyl vinyldiazoacetate 32 gives the fused cyclopropane 33 in 72% yield with 72% enantiomeric excess (Eq. 4) [68]. The level of asymmetric induction is dependent upon the substitution pattern of the alkene cis-alkenes and internally substituted alkenes afford the highest asymmetric induction. Other rhodium and copper catalysts have been evaluated for reactions with vinyldiazoacetates, but very few have found broad utility [42]. 

The reaction of vinylcarbenoids with allylic C-H bonds leads to a remarkable transformation, a combined C-H insertion/Cope rearrangement, which is reminiscent of the tandem cyclopropanation/Cope rearrangement of vinylcarbenoids. An interesting application of this chemistry is the asymmetric synthesis of the antidepressant (-i-)-ser-traline 191 (Scheme 14.26) [134]. The Rh2(S-DOSP)4-catalyzed reaction of the vinyldia-zoacetate 189 with 1,3-cyclohexadiene generates the 1,4-cyclohexadiene 190 in 99% enantiomeric excess. The further conversion of 190 to (-t)-sertraline 191 is then achieved using conventional synthetic transformations. 

Chiral dirhodium(II) carboxamidates are preferred for intramolecular cyclopropanation of allylic and homoallylic diazoacetates (Eq. 2). The catalyst of choice is Rh2(MEPY)4 when R " and R are H, but Rh2(MPPIM)4 gives the highest selectivities when these substituents are alkyl or aryl. Representative examples of the applications of these catalysts are listed in Scheme 15.1 according to the cyclopropane synthesized. Use of the catalyst with mirror image chirality produces the enantiomeric cyclopropane with the same enantiomeric excess [33]. Enantioselectivities fall off to a level of 40-70% ee when n is increased beyond 2 and up to 8 (Eq. 2) [32], and in these cases the use of the chiral bisoxazoline-copper complexes is advantageous. 

Kinetic resolution (enantiomer differentiation) of cycloalkenyl diazoacetates has been achieved (for example, according to Eq. 3) [34]. In these cases one enantiomer of the racemic reactant matches with the catalyst configuration to produce the intramolecular cyclopropanation product in high enantiomeric excess, whereas the mismatched enantiomer preferentially undergoes hydride abstraction from the allylic position [35] to yield the corresponding cycloalkenone. With acyclic secondary allylic diazoacetates the hydride abstraction pathway is relatively unimportant, and diastereoselection becomes the means for enantiomer differentiation [31]. 

The (ri" -diene tricarbonyliron)-substituted diazocarbonyl compounds 25 have been found to undergo 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition with methyl acrylate in high yield, but with little or no diastereoselectivity (56). Nevertheless, the facile chromatographic separation of the diastereomeric products 26a,b and 27a,b (Scheme 8.8), permits the synthesis of pure enantiomers when optically active diazo compounds (25) [enantiomeric excess (ee) >96%] are employed. When the reaction of 25 (R = C02Et) with methyl acrylate was carried out at 70 °C, cyclopropanes instead of A -pyrazolines were formed. The enantiomerically pure... 

The enantio-determining step of nucleophilic additions to a-bromo-a,y -unsaturated ketones is mechanistically similar to those of nucleophilic epoxidations of enones, and asymmetry has also been induced in these processes using chiral phase-transfer catalysts [20]. The addition of the enolate of benzyl a-cyanoacetate to the enone 31, catalysed by the chiral ammonium salt 32, was highly diastereoselective and gave the cyclopropane 33 in 83% ee (Scheme 12). Good enantiomeric excesses have also been observed in reactions involving the anions of nitromethane and an a-cyanosulfone [20]. 

Dirhodium(II) tetrakis(carboxamides), constructed with chiral 2-pyrroli-done-5-carboxylate esters so that the two nitrogen donor atoms on each rhodium are in a cis arrangement, represent a new class of chiral catalysts with broad applicability to enantioselective metal carbene transformations. Enantiomeric excesses greater than 90% have been achieved in intramolecular cyclopropanation reactions of allyl diazoacetates. In intermolecular cyclopropanation reactions with monosubsti-tuted olefins, the cis-disubstituted cyclopropane is formed with a higher enantiomeric excess than the trans isomer, and for cyclopropenation of 1-alkynes extraordinary selectivity has been achieved. Carbon-hydro-gen insertion reactions of diazoacetate esters that result in substituted y-butyrolactones occur in high yield and with enantiomeric excess as high as 90% with the use of these catalysts. Their design affords stabilization of the intermediate metal carbene and orientation of the carbene substituents for selectivity enhancement. 

The capabilities of 5-8 for enantioselective cyclopropanation were determined (34) from reactions at room temperature of d- and/or /-menthyl diazoacetate (MDA) with styrene (Table 1), which allows direct comparison with results from both the Aratani (A-Cu) and Pfaltz (P-Cu) catalysts (19, 24). Cyclopropane product yields ranged from 50 to 75%, which were comparable to those obtained with chiral copper catalysts, but enantiomeric excesses were considerably less than those reported from use of either P-Cu or A-Cu. Furthermore, these reactions were subject to exceptional double diastereoselectivity not previously seen to the same degree with the chiral copper catalysts. Although chiral oxazolidinone ligands proved to be promising, the data in Table 1 suggested that steric interactions alone would not sufficiently enhance enantioselectivities to advance RI12L4 as an alternative to A-Cu or P-Cu. 

A-Cu,N-Co, and P-Cu to carbenoid transformations have been limited to intermolecular reactions, for which they remain superior to chiral dirhodium(II) catalysts for intermolecular cyclopropanation reactions. Few examples other than those recently reported by Dauben and coworkers (eq 1) (35) portray the effectiveness of these chiral catalysts for enantioseleetive intramolecular cyclopropanation reactions, and these examples demonstrate their limitations. However, with Rh2(5S-MEPY)4 intramolecular cyclopropanation of 3-methyl-2-buten-1 -yl diazoacetate (eq 2) occurs in high yield and with 92% enantiomeric excess (36). 

Chiral rhodium(II) oxazolidinones 5-7 were not as effective as Rh2(MEPY)4 for enantioseleetive intramolecular cyclopropanation, even though the sterie bulk of their chiral ligand attachments (COOMe versus /-Pr or C Ph) are similar. Significantly lower yields and lower enantiomeric excesses resulted from the decomposition of 11 catalyzed by either Rh2(4S-IPOX)4, Rh2(4S-BNOX)4, or Rh2(4R-BNOX)4 (Table 3). In addition, butenolide 12, the product from carbenium ion addition of the rhodium-stabilized carbenoid to the double bond followed by 1,2-hydrogen migration and dissociation of RI12L4 (Scheme II), was of considerable importance in reactions performed with 5-7 but was only a minor constituent ( 1%) from reactions catalyzed by Rh2(5S-MEPY)4. This difference can be attributed to the ability of the carboxylate substituents to stabilize the earboeation form of the intermediate metal carbene. 

To examine the viability of CIM a number of photoreactions (electrocyclic reactions, Zimmerman (di-n) reaction, oxa-di-7i-methane rearrangement, Yang cyclization, geometric isomerization of 1,2-diphenyl-cyclopropane derivatives, and Schenk-ene reaction) which yield racemic products even in presence of chiral inductors in solution have been explored (Sch. 40) [187,189-200]. Highly encouraging enantiomeric excesses (ee) on two photoreactions within NaY have been obtained photocyclization of tropolone ethylphenyl ether (Eq. (1), Sch. 40) and Yang cyclization of phenyl benzonorbornyl ketone (Eq. (3), Sch. 40). The ability of zeolites to drive a photoreaction that gives racemic products in solution to ee >60% provides... 

Several iodonium ylides, thermally or photochemically, transferred their carbene moiety to alkenes which were converted into cyclopropane derivatives. The thermal decomposition of ylides was usually catalysed by copper or rhodium salts and was most efficient in intramolecular cyclopropanation. Reactions of PhI=C(C02Me)2 with styrenes, allylbenzene and phenylacetylene have established the intermediacy of carbenes in the presence of a chiral catalyst, intramolecular cyclopropanation resulted in the preparation of a product in 67% enantiomeric excess [12]. 

Intramolecular cyclopropanation of allyl diazoacetates gives rise to interesting cyclopropane-fused y-butyrolactones. A chiral ruthenium bis(oxa-zolinyl)pyridine complex 85 was employed for the catalytic cyclization of trans-cinnamyl diazoacetate 83 at room temperature to obtain an optically active lactone 84 in 93% yield with 86% ee (Eq. 34, Fig. 2) [85]. Chiral porphyrin and salen complexes of ruthenium 86 [86] and 87 [87] also catalyzed the asymmetric intramolecular cyclopropanation of 83 to afford 84 in similar yields and enantiomeric excess. 

Once again, the zinc enolates generated in the conjugate addition can be trapped with various electrophiles besides protons. For example, reaction of the enolate 270 obtained by treating cyclohex-2-enone with dimethylzinc in the presence of Cu(OTf)2 and phosphoramidite 269 with trimethylsilyl triflate and diiodomethane provided the cyclopropanation product 271 with good diastereoselectivity and high enantiomeric excess and chemical yield... 

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