Deprotonation desymmetrization reactions

Me o-epoxides, nucleophilic ring-opening reactions by aryllithium/(—)-sparteine (11) have been realized by Alexakis and coworkers with very good differentiation between the enantiotopic positions . Eliminative desymmetrization reactions of me o-oxacycles such as 144 or 147, which are triggered by an enantiotopos-differentiating deprotonation... 

Most of the inherently chiral calix[5]arenes described up to now, owe their chirality, however, to the asymmetric substitution pattern at the narrow rim, and due to the lack of other general, selective derivatization reactions are derived from 1,2-or 1,3-crown ethers. Both compounds possess a symmetry plane and can be desymmetrized by a single O-alkyl or O-acyl residue in position 3 (=5) or 4 (=5).151,152,153 In practice, 1,2-crown ethers 79 were prepared from mono-O-alkyl derivatives by reaction with the appropriate ditosylates, while 80 was obtained from the 1,3-crown-ether by subsequent O-alkylation or O-acylation using a weak base to benefit from the fact, that the first deprotonation leads to a hydrogen-bonded (4/5)monoanion. The picolyl derivatives 79 (n = 2) were resolved by HPLC... 

A variety of other chiral lithium amides, for example 106 and 108, have been applied more recently to bring about enantioselective aldol additions. As sho vn in Eqs. (48) [179] and (49) [180], both simple diastereoselectivity and induced stereroselectivity can be induced by these reagents. In the latter reaction, the enolate itself becomes chiral, because of desymmetrization of ketone 107 on deprotonation. 

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