Deprotection 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano- 1,4-benzoquinone

The next major obstacle is the successful deprotection of the fully protected palytoxin carboxylic acid. With 42 protected functional groups and eight different protecting devices, this task is by no means trivial. After much experimentation, the following sequence and conditions proved successful in liberating palytoxin carboxylic acid 32 from its progenitor 31 (see Scheme 10) (a) treatment with excess 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-l,4-benzoquinone (DDQ) in ie/t-butanol/methylene chloride/phosphate buffer pH 7.0 (1 8 1) under sonication conditions, followed by peracetylation (for convenience of isolation) (b) exposure to perchloric acid in aqueous tetrahydrofuran for eight days (c) reaction with dilute lithium hydroxide in H20-MeOH-THF (1 2 8) (d) treatment with tetra-n-butylammonium fluoride (TBAF) in tetrahydrofuran first, and then in THF-DMF and (e) exposure to dilute acetic acid in water (1 350) at 22 °C. The overall yield for the deprotection sequence (31 —>32) is ca. 35 %. 

Studies directed toward the synthesis of bicyclomycin have resulted in the discovery of efficient routes to the construction of the 2-oxa-8,10-diazabicyclo[4.2.2]decane system (160). Thus, the monolactim ether (155) with a hydroxypropyl side chain at position 3, on oxidation with 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-l,4-benzoquinone (DDQ), gave the product (156) in good yield, presumably via an iminium species (Scheme 51). No trace of the spiro compound (157) could be detected in this reaction. The formation of (156) is probably kinetically controlled. Prior protection of the alcohol as a silyl ether, followed by DDQ oxidation, gave the pyrazinone (158) subsequent deprotection and acid treatment gave the thermodynamically preferred spiro compound (159). The method has been extended to the synthesis of (160), having an exocyclic methylene this compound is a key intermediate in the total synthesis of bicyclomycin [88JCS(P1)2585]. 

For the synthesis of the non-diene analogue 65, which bears a benzyl group in the terminal position (Scheme 17), 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzoquinone (DDQ) cleavage of the p-methoxybenzyl (PMB) ether at the C15-position did not proceed in the presence of the benzyl moiety (oxidation of the methylene in allylic-benzylic-position in C23-position). Therefore, we inverted the order of the first two steps (1) DDQ deprotection on 44 and (2) nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction performed on a free primary alcohol in C15 position. After this minor modification, completion of the synthesis followed the established route Suzuki-Miyaura crosscoupling reaction between alkyl iodide 73 (via its trialkylboronate species) and vinyl iodide 60 to yield 74 selective carbamate installation and final deprotection to afford DDM analogue 65. 

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