Diastereoisomers from aldol reaction

Still s synthesis of monensin (1) is based on the assembly and union of three advanced, optically active intermediates 2, 7, and 8. It was anticipated that substrate-stereocontrolled processes could secure vicinal stereochemical relationships and that the coupling of the above intermediates would establish remote stereorelationships. Scheme 3 describes Still s synthesis of the left wing of monensin, intermediate 2. This construction commences with an aldol reaction between the (Z) magnesium bromide enolate derived from 2-methyl-2-trimethylsilyloxy-3-pentanone (21) and benzyloxymethyl-protected (/ )-/ -hydroxyisobutyraldehyde (10).2° The use of intermediate 21 in aldol reactions was first reported by Heathcock21 and, in this particular application, a 5 1 mixture of syn aldol diastereoisomers is formed in favor of the desired aldol adduct 22 (85% yield). The action of lithium diisopropylamide (LDA) and magnesium(n) bromide on 21 affords a (Z) magnesium enolate that... 

Another example is the aldol reaction of benzaldehyde with the chiral eno-late (S)-72, from which a 3.5 1 mixture of diastereoisomers is obtained. When... 

An advantage of these enzymes is that they are stereocomplementary, in that they can synthesize the four possible diastereoisomers of vicinal diols from achiral aldehyde acceptors and DHAP (Scheme 4.2). Although this statement is generally used and accepted, it is not completely true since tagatose-l,6-bisphosphate aldolase (TBPA) from Escherichia coli-the only TBPA that has been investigated in terms of its use in synthesis-does not seems to control the stereochemistry of the aldol reaction when aldehydes different from the natural substrate were used as acceptors [7]. However, this situation could be modified soon since it has been demonstrated that the stereochemical course of TBPA-catalyzed C—C bond formation may be modified by enzyme-directed evolution [8]. 

Asymmetric Mukaiyama aldol reactions in aqueous media [EtOH-H20 (9 1)] were reported with FeCl2 and PYBOX ligands 27a [36] and 27b [37]. The latter provides product 28 with higher yield and diastereo- and enantioselectivity (Scheme 8.9). The ee values given are for the syn-diastereoisomer. Whereas ligand 27a is a derivative ofL-serine, compound 27b has four stereogenic centers, since it was prepared from... 

Acyclic compounds will also react atroposelec-tively amide 9 gave the isoxazoline 10 with >97 3 diastereoselectivity [12], and only one diastereoisomer was obtained from the alkylations or aldol reactions of 11 [13] (Scheme 5). 

The assignment of the diastereoisomers obtained in the aldol reaction of pivalaldehyde and ethyl phenylselanylacetate has been determined, after acetylation, from the NMR spectra to be 1 3 (antilsyn) [48] (Scheme 39). The radi-... 

Yoshikoshi s synthesis15 of nootkatone (then supposed to be the flavouring principle of grapefruit) uses an optically active enone 52 prepared from P-pinene 48 by ozonolysis to (+)-nopinone 49 and a chemo- and regioselective aldol condensation using the silyl enol ether 50. Though the aldol reaction produces a mixture of diastereoisomers of 51, all dehydrate to the same enone E-52. 

Later in the book, when we deal with asymmetric enolate reactions, boron enolates will be very important. A simple example20 of an aldol reaction with a boron enolate, prepared from the ester 149 and a boron triflate using an amine as base, shows why. The boron enolate 150 could be prepared with a weak base and reacts with the aldehyde without catalysis to give essentially one diastereoisomer of the aldol 151 in good yield. If the titanium enolate (prepared with TiCI4 and an amine) was used, both the yield and the stereoselectivity were worse. In other circumstances enolates of titanium and other metals are very successful. 

Now the two parts, 184 and 199, must be linked in a controlled aldol reaction. The lithium enolate 200 reacts with the aldehyde in 199 in the presence of excess Lewis acid Me2AICI to give one diastereoisomer of 201 as the only product. Presumably the aluminium coordinates the tertiary amide and aldehyde oxygen atoms to hold the aldehyde in one Felkin conformation while it is attacked by the lithium enolate from one face only as sketched in 202. 

The use of silyl enol ethers can be illustrated in a synthesis of manicone, a conjugated enone that ants use to leave a trail to a food source. It can be made by an aldol reaction between pentan-3-one (as the enol component) and 2-methylbutanal (as the electrophile). Both partners are enolizable so we shall need to form a specific enol equivalent from the ketone. The silyl enol ether works well. The aldol product will be a mixture of diastereoisomers but it eliminates to give a single compound. 

The aldol reactions in the last section made single diastereoisomers from two achiral compounds. No enantiomerically pure reagents were used, so the reaction had no choice but to give the product diastereoisomer as a racemic mixture of its two enantiomers. 

De Brabander et al. have reported a very rapid enantioselective synthesis of the Prelog-Djerassi lactonic acid through an asymmetric aldol reaction [88] (Scheme 44). The Oppolzer sultam-derived A-propionyl derivative 215 was used to desymmetrize meso-dialdehyde 216, and the diastereoselectivity was found to be 80 %. Oxidation of the resulting lactol 217 to lactone 218 was followed by oxidative removal of the chiral auxiliary. The unwanted diastereoisomer resulting from the aldol reaction was removed chromatographically after the oxidation step. 

Hydroxymethyl-substituted tetrahydrofurans have been prepared with high diastere-oselectivity by reaction of the carbanion derived from 3,4-epoxybutyl phenyl sulfone (g) with aldehydes in the presence of a mixture of lithium and potassium /-buloxidcs (Scheme 8).48 Initial formation of aldol-type adducts is a non-diastereoselective but reversible process thus, subsequent formation of one main diastereoisomer is controlled by the relative rates of cyclization. The configuration of the carbon stereocentre at the oxirane ring is inverted in the course of the 5 2 process, and two new centres are created diastereoselectively (up to 87 13 0 0). 

Stereoselective reduction of a-alkyl-3-keto acid derivatives represents an attractive alternative to stereoselective aldol condensation. Complementary methods for pr uction of either diastereoisomer of a-alkyl-3-hydroxy amides from the corresponding a-alkyl-3-keto amides (53) have been developed. Zinc borohydride in ether at -78 C gave the syn isomer (54) with excellent selectivity ( 7 3) in high yield via a chelated transition state. A Felkin transition state with the amide in the perpendicular position accounted for reduction with potassium triethylborohydride in ether at 0 C to give the stereochemi-cally pure anti diastereoisomer (55). The combination of these methods with asymmetric acylation provided an effective solution to the asymmetric aldol problem (Scheme 6). In contrast, the reduction of a-methyl-3-keto esters with zinc borohydride was highly syn selective when the ketone was aromatic or a,3-unsaturated, but less reliable in aliphatic cases. Hydrosilylation also provided complete dia-stereocontrol (Scheme 7). The fluoride-mediated reaction was anti selective ( 8 2) while reduction in trifluoroacetic acid favored production of the syn isomer (>98 2). No loss of optical purity was observed under these mild conditions. 

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