Dienone substrate

The short synthesis of (+)-frans-sabinene hydrate, an important flavor chemical found in a variety of essential oils from mint and herbs, was developed by C.C. Galopin. The key intermediate of the synthetic sequence was 3-isopropyl-2-cyclopentenone. Initially a Nazarov cyclization of a dienone substrate was attempted for the synthesis of this compound, but the cyclization did not take place under a variety of conditions. For this reason, a sequential Stetter reactionlintramolecular aldol condensation approach was successfully implemented. 

Encouraged by our success with these cyclizatirais, and recognizing that symmetric dienone substrates contain enantiotopic olefins, we then explored the possibility of performing desymmetrization reactions with chiral phase-transfer catalysts. This is somewhat outside the scope of this account, so a detailed description of these efforts will not be given. Nevertheless, we were successful in using cinchona alkaloid-derived catalyst A to desymmetrize a number of dienone substrates with moderate levels of enantiocontrol (Scheme 11). ... 

In 2004, Trauner and co-workers published a follow-up communication on their asymmetric catalytic system. Under optimized conditions, they were able to achieve good to excellent levels of enantioselectivity for a variety of substrates using complex 78 with lower catalyst loadings (10 mol %). It is important to note however, that the specific use of an alkoxy dienone substrate lacking a i-substituent on one of the alkenes (such as 76) was required for high yields and good enantioselectivities. Since the stereocenter formed during electrocyclization is subsequent destroyed on deprotonation of the allylic cation (see Section 3.4.3), the control of absolute stereochemistry in this case is solely due to facially selective reprotonation of the enolate. 

The Nazarov reaction belongs to a type of 4n electrocyclization and can usually be promoted by metal-based catalysts. In 2007, the first enantioselective organo-catalytic Nazarov reaction was reported by Rueping and coworkers [35aj. A chiral N-triflyl-phosphoramide 101 was a better selection for the cyclization of dienone substrates 102, and cyclopentenone products 103 were generated as a diastereo-meric mixture but with excellent enantioselectivity at low catalyst loadings (2 mol%) (Scheme 36.27). 

Experiments with 14C-labelled substrates also demonstrated conclusively the intramolecularity of the rearrangement. The generally accepted scheme involves the formation of the dienone LXXXV which can lose a hydrogen atom if R = H, to form the ortho product or if R H further rearrangement to LXXXVI occurs with subsequent formation of the para product, viz. 

In one of the earliest applications of this type of process to complex molecule synthesis, Corey and Hortmann, in their synthesis of dihydrocostunolide 38, found that photolysis of 36 afforded a photostationary state of 36 and 37 (Scheme 9)19. Hydrogenation of this mixture then gave 38. A recent modification of this synthesis, which avoids the photostationary equilibrium between eudesmane (36) and germacrane (37) forms, was realized using a modified substrate, 3920. Irradiation of 39 provided a 77% yield of a mixture of diastereomeric ketones 41 these are produced via tautomerization of the intially produced trienol 40. Dienone 41 was then easily converted to 38 via a series of conventional steps (Scheme 9). 

As previously mentioned, allenes can only be obtained by 1,6-addition to acceptor-substituted enynes when the intermediate allenyl enolate reacts regioselectively with an electrophile at C-2 (or at the enolate oxygen atom to give an allenyl ketene acetal see Scheme 4.2). The regioselectivity of the simplest trapping reaction, the protonation, depends on the steric and electronic properties of the substrate, as well as the proton source. Whereas the allenyl enolates obtained from alkynyl enones 22 always provide conjugated dienones 23 by protonation at G-4 (possibly... 

Bis-allylic oxidation of 23 and related cyclohexa-1,4-dienes provides a convenient and general preparation of cyclohexa-2,5-dien-l-ones (Scheme 7). These cross-conjugated die-nones are substrates for a variety of photochemical rearrangement and intramolecular cycloaddition reactions. Amide-directed hydrogenations of dienones 24a and 24b with the homogeneous iridium catalyst afford cyclohexanones 25a and 25b, containing three stereogenic centers on the six-... 

More complicated substrates such as some dienones and trienediones, required multi-stage syntheses. For example, the unsaturated keto-ester 6 was synthesised via sequential Wittig reactions, (Scheme 7). 

Allenyne represents an interesting substrate for the intramolecular Pauson-Khand(-type) reaction, where an allene moiety acts as an ene component. Here, there are two possible reaction pathways (Scheme 11.21) (i) the reaction of an external tr-bond of allene moiety gives a bicyclic dienone (type A) or (ii) the reaction of an internal 7i-bond gives a bicyclic cyclopentenone with an alkylidene substituent (type B). 

Diarylpyrylium perchlorates with sodium cyanide yields quantitatively 4-cyano-4//-pyrans (200),222 whereas 2,4,6-trisubstituted substrates give only dienones 202 via unstable 2//-pyrans (201a).248... 

Electrochemical oxidation of alkyl aryl ethers results in oxidative dealkylation and coupling of the intermediate radicals. Electro-oxidation of alkyl (4-fluorophenyl) ethers in the presence of a hydrogen fluoride double salt leads to 4,4-difluorocyclohexa-2,5-dienone in 50% yield (Table 10).182 In the electrochemical oxidation of methyl tetrafluorophenyl ethers with a hydrogen atom at the para position, coupled products 6 arc obtained.183 If the para position in the substrate is occupied by a fluorine substituent, then no reaction occurs. 

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