Epoxides deprotonations, lithium diisopropylamide

The a-protons of iron acyl complexes are acidic and these can be deprotonated with Lithium diisopropylamide (LDA) or with n-butyllithimn. Thus the corresponding enolates are readily functionalized and undergo reaction with alkyl halides, aldehydes, disulfides, trimethylsilyl chloride, and epoxides to afford the corresponding a-derivatized products. " Early work on racemic complexes revealed that these transformations occur in a highly diastereoselective fashion,... 

The stereochemical information is introduced by (J )-methyl p-toluenesulfoxide 110. This compound is deprotonated with lithium diisopropylamide and reacted with a-chloro methylacetate 109 to give a-chloroketone 111. This ketone when reacted with diisobutylaluminum hydride at —78°C gives (J )-chlorohydrine 112, whereas reaction of ketone 111 with diisobutylaluminum hydride and zinc chloride gives the corresponding (S)-chlorohydrine 113. Treatment of both chlorohydrines with potassium carbonate resulted in the formation of epoxides 114 and 116. These can now be reacted with either (Z)- or (T)-vinyl cuprates to give the desired homoallylic alcohols 115 and 117 in diastereomeric excesses around 90%. 

Organometallic addition to the /V-methoxy-A -methylamide (15) also affords an exceptionally stable tetrahedral intermediate (16) and carbonyl-protecting group, first used in the synthesis of X-206. Deprotonation of the hydrazone in intermediate (16) was subsequently carried out with lithium diisopropylamide. The resulting dianion initiated a novel attack upon epoxide (17) and in the ensuing transformation was followed by tetrahydrofuran ring formation as depicted, in 71% yield, all in one pot (Scheme 4). 

---