Asymmetric Darzens condensation

The Darzens condensation reaction has been used with a wide variety of enolate equivalents that have been covered elsewhere. A recent application of this important reaction was appljed toward the asymmetric synthesis of aziridine phosphonates by Davis and coworkers.In this application, a THF solution of sulfinimine 34 (0.37 mmol, >98% ee) and iodophosphonate 35 (0.74 mmol) was treated with LiHMDS (0.74 mmol) at -78 °C to give aziridine 36 in 75% yield. Treatment of 36 with MeMgBr removed the sulfinyl group to provide aziridine 37 in 72% yield. 

A very interesting organocatalyzed one-pot Michael addition/aldol condensation/Darzens condensation has been reported for the asymmetric synthesis of epoxy-ketones <06JA5475>. An initial asymmetric Michael condensation between 16 and 17 is catalyzed by proline derivative 18. Intermediate 19 then undergoes an aldol condensation followed by a stereoselective Darzens condensation to provide epoxy-ketone 20 in moderate yield and with surprisingly good enantiomeric excess. 

The asymmetric Darzens condensation, which involves both carbon-carbon and carbon-oxygen bond constructions, was realized by use of the chiral azacrown ether 75als2,s ,ss and the quaternary ammonium salts derived from cinchona alka-loids159"621 under phase transfer catalyzed conditions. The a,p-epoxy ketone 80 (R=Ph) was obtained with reasonable enantioselectivity by the reaction of... 

The cyclic a-chloro ketone 81 which forms the (Z)-enolate only also underwent the asymmetric Darzens condensation with various aldehydes by use of the Merck catalyst 7 (R=4-CF3, X=Br) under analogous conditions to furnish the a,(3-epoxy ketones 82 with up to 86 % ee,160611 as shown in Scheme 25. It should be noted that this high enantioselectivity was attained by the reaction at room temperature. 

P. Bako, A. Szolloy, P. Bombicz, L. Toke, Asymmetric C-C Bond Forming Reactions by Chiral Crown Catalysts Darzens Condensation and Nitroalkane Addition to the Double Bond , Synlett 1997, 291-292. 

S. Arai, T. Shioiri, Catalytic Asymmetric Darzens Condensation under Phase-Transfer-Catalyzed Conditions , Tetrahedron Lett. 1998, 39, 2145-2148. 

Epoxidations and Darzens Condensations The asymmetric catalytic epoxida-tion of a,p-unsaturated ketones using cinchona alkaloid-derived catalysts was introduced in the 19708. However, high levels of enantioselectivity were achieved only 20 years later, when Lygo, Arai, 2-t94 others P ... 

Cyclopropanation, Horner-Wadsworth Emmons Reaction, and Darzens Condensation Although induction in the cyclopropanation of alkenes was reported early, this work was disputed [49]. Other reports of cyclopropanations have yielded, at best, low asymmetric inductions [llh,50]. The first example of a catalytic asymmetric Horner-Wadsworth Emmons reaction, which is promoted by a chiral quaternary ammonium salt, was reported recently by the Shioiri group (Scheme 10.10) [51]. The reaction of the prochiral ketone 74 gives optically active a,P-unsaturated ester 76 with 57% ee. 

Promising examples of the catalytic asymmetric Darzens condensation, which yields an epoxide product via carbon-carbon and carbon-oxygen bond formation, have been reported recently by two groups (Scheme 10.11). Toke and co-workers used crown ether 24 in the reaction to form the a,P-unsaturated ketone 78 [38b] with 64% ee, whereas the Shioiri group used the cinchona-derived salt 3a [52], which resulted in 78 with 69% ee. The latter authors propose a catalytic cycle involving generation of a chiral enolate in situ from an achiral inorganic base... 

Metal-based asymmetric phase-transfer catalysts have mainly been used to catalyze two carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions (1) the asymmetric alkylation of amino acid-derived enolates and (2) Darzens condensations [5]. The alkylation ofprochiral glycine or alanine derivatives [3] is a popular and successful strategy for the preparation of acyclic a-amino acids and a-methyl-a-amino acids respectively (Scheme 8.1). In order to facilitate the generation of these enolates and to protect the amine substituent, an imine moiety is used to increase the acidity of the a-hydrogens, and therefore allow the use of relatively mild bases (such as metal hydroxides) to achieve the alkylation. In the case of a prochiral glycine-derived imine (Scheme 8.1 R3 = H), if monoalkylation is desired, the new chiral methine group... 

Whilst simple alkylations of enolates and Michael additions have been successfully catalyzed by phase-transfer catalysts, aldol-type processes have proved more problematic. This difficulty is due largely o the reversible nature of the aldol reaction, resulting in the formation of a thermodynamically more stable aldol product rather than the kinetically favored product. However, by trapping the initial aldol product as soon as it is formed, asymmetric aldol-type reactions can be carried out under phase-transfer catalysis. This is the basis of the Darzens condensation (Scheme 8.2), in which the phase-transfer catalyst first induces the deprotonation of an a-halo... 

The use of chiral crown ethers as asymmetric phase-transfer catalysts is largely due to the studies of Bako and Toke [6], as discussed below. Interestingly, chiral crown ethers have not been widely used for the synthesis of amino acid derivatives, but have been shown to be effective catalysts for asymmetric Michael additions of nitro-alkane enolates, for Darzens condensations, and for asymmetric epoxidations of a,P-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. 

Very recently, Belokon and North have extended the use of square planar metal-salen complexes as asymmetric phase-transfer catalysts to the Darzens condensation. These authors first studied the uncatalyzed addition of amides 43a-c to aldehydes under heterogeneous (solid base in organic solvent) reaction conditions, as shown in Scheme 8.19 [47]. It was found that the relative configuration of the epoxyamides 44a,b could be controlled by choice of the appropriate leaving group within substrate 43a-c, base and solvent. Thus, the use of chloro-amide 43a with sodium hydroxide in DCM gave predominantly or exclusively the trans-epoxide 44a this was consistent with the reaction proceeding via a thermodynamically controlled aldol condensation... 

Chiral phase-transfer catalysts used in the asymmetric Darzens condensation ... 

Synthesis of Optically Active Epoxides. Alkaloids and alkaloid salts have been successfully used as catalysts for the asymmetric synthesis of epoxides. The use of chiral catalysts such as quinine or quinium benzylchloride (QUIBEC) have allowed access to optically active epoxides through a variety of reaction conditions, including oxidation using Hydrogen Peroxide (eq 5), Darzens condensations (eq 6), epoxidation of ketones by Sodium Hypochlorite (eq 7), halohydrin ring closure (eq 8), and cyanide addition to a-halo ketones (eq 9). Although the relative stereochemistry of most of the products has not been determined, enan-tiomerically enriched materials have been isolated. A more recent example has been published in which optically active 2,3-epoxycyclohexanone has been synthesized by oxidation with t-Butyl Hydroperoxide in the presence of QUIBEC and the absolute stereochemistry of the product established (eq 10). ... 

It will be recognized by the reader that the aldol reaction has been one of the most intensely studied reactions (see Volume 2, Chapters 1.5-1.7) in contemporary organic chemistry, in terms of mechanism, stereochemical outcome and practical application, and therefore this work is relevant in the context of the Darzens condensation. Very recently, this technology has been applied to the Darzens condensation, making available a new asymmetric stereocontrolled epoxide synthesis, and this work is discussed in Section 1.13.7.2. 

The condensation of the asymmetric oxazoline (125) and 2-propanone is reported to give the adduct (126 equation 40). The Darzens condensation of aromatic aldehydes with phenacyl halides in the presence of catalytic bovine serum albumin affords epoxy ketones in optical yields as high as 62% ee. ... 

Chiral 2,3-disubstituted DABCOs proc high pressure. While the yields are accept The Darzens condensation of (-)-8-ph examined.Good diastereoselectivities ai Substitutions. Radical displacemc -eaction with allyltributylstannane is ur 4-diphenylmethyloxazolidin-2-one moiec The asymmetric allylic substitubon -egarding chiral ligand development. gands 11 , and 21 are ex... 

Phase transfer reactions have featured in several sections of this book, including epoxidation (Section 4.5), Darzens condensation (Section 7.5) and Wadsworth-Emmons reactions (Section 12.5). Another important aspect of phase-transfer catalysed reactions has been with alkylation reactions. The asymmetric alkylation of glycinate Schiff base (12.45) using N-benzylcinchoninium halides as catalysts is particularly noteworthy, since the products are readily converted into amino acids. Corey and coworkers have developed the original work. 

Galactosylated Mn porphyrins 277 have been prepared as catalysts for asymmetric epoxidation, affording predominantly epoxides of R) configuration from styrenes in up to 23% c.c.125 The apap, oa P and aaaP atropisomos of 277 were isolated. Homochiral C2-symmetric quaternary ammonium salts, e.g. 278, have been prepared from chiral 2,S-imino-hexitols as chiral phase transfer catalysts. However, these were found to give only low asymmetric induction in asymmetric epoxidation and Darzens condensations. 

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