Double bonds natural product synthesis

An obvious drawback in RCM-based synthesis of unsaturated macrocyclic natural compounds is the lack of control over the newly formed double bond. The products formed are usually obtained as mixture of ( /Z)-isomers with the (E)-isomer dominating in most cases. The best solution for this problem might be a sequence of RCAM followed by (E)- or (Z)-selective partial reduction. Until now, alkyne metathesis has remained in the shadow of alkene-based metathesis reactions. One of the reasons maybe the lack of commercially available catalysts for this type of reaction. When alkyne metathesis as a new synthetic tool was reviewed in early 1999 [184], there existed only a single report disclosed by Fiirstner s laboratory [185] on the RCAM-based conversion of functionalized diynes to triple-bonded 12- to 28-membered macrocycles with the concomitant expulsion of 2-butyne (cf Fig. 3a). These reactions were catalyzed by Schrock s tungsten-carbyne complex G. Since then, Furstner and coworkers have achieved a series of natural product syntheses, which seem to establish RCAM followed by partial reduction to (Z)- or (E)-cycloalkenes as a useful macrocyclization alternative to RCM. As work up to early 2000, including the development of alternative alkyne metathesis catalysts, is competently covered in Fiirstner s excellent review [2a], we will concentrate here only on the most recent natural product syntheses, which were all achieved by Fiirstner s team. 

One of the first enantioselective transition metal-catalyzed domino reactions in natural product synthesis leading to vitamin E (0-23) was developed by Tietze and coworkers (Scheme 0.7) [18]. This transformation is based on a Pdn-catalyzed addition of a phenolic hydroxyl group to a C-C-double bond in 0-20 in the presence of the chiral ligand 0-24, followed by an intermolecular addition of the formed Pd-spe-cies to another double bond. 

Since Huisgen s definition of the general concepts of 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition, this class of reaction has been used extensively in organic synthesis. Nitro compounds can participate in 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition as sources of 1,3-dipoles such as nitronates or nitroxides. Because the reaction of nitrones can be compared with that of nitronates, recent development of nitrones in organic synthesis is briefly summarized. 1,3-Dipolar cycloadditions to a double bond or a triple bond lead to five-membered heterocyclic compounds (Scheme 8.12). There are many excellent reviews on 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition, in particular, the monograph by Torssell covers this topic comprehensively. This chapter describes only recent progress in this field. Many papers have appeared after the comprehensive monograph by Torssell. Here, the natural product synthesis and asymmetric 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition are emphasized.630 Synthesis of pyrrolidine and -izidine alkaloids based on cycloaddition reactions are also discussed in this chapter. 

The plan for a tandem cyclization as the key step in the synthesis of morphine alkaloids has been successfully performed [95]. Three examples are given in Scheme 7.10. Specifically, the initially formed aryl radical, generated by bromine abstraction from compound 74, underwent a tandem cyclization to construct the desired carbocyclic skeleton. Depending on the nature of the Z substituent to the double bond, the product radicals either abstracted hydrogen from silane (Z = C02Me or CN) or eliminated thiyl radical (Z = SPh). 

Metathesis reactions are now widely used in natural product synthesis. Novel retrosynthetic analyses were developed because a carbon-carbon single bond can be formed after hydrogenation of a double bond constructed by metathesis. Although many types of metathesis are now known, the reaction is classified by olefin, enyne, and alkyne metatheses in this chapter. 

The Wittig reaction lias proved to be especially useful in the synthesis of natural products, such as vitamin A, which contain a number of carbon-carbon double bonds. An industrial synthesis of vitamin A is outlined in the following equations ... 

Metal enolates have played a Umited role in the metal-catalyzed isomerization of al-kenes . As illustrated in a comprehensive review by Bouwman and coworkers, ruthenium complex Ru(acac)3 (51) has been used to isomerize a wide range of substituted double bonds, including aUylic alcohols (131), to the corresponding ketones (132) (equation 38) . The isomerization of aUylic alcohols affords products that have useful applications in natural product synthesis and in bulk chemical processes. An elegant review by Fogg and dos Santos shows how these complexes can be used in tandem catalysis, where an alkene is subjected to an initial isomerization followed by a hydroformylation reaction ... 

The Ti(OCHMe2)4 and diethyl tartrate can be present in catalytic amounts (15-10mol%) if molecular sieves are present. Polymer-supported catalysts have also been reported.Both (-I-) and (—) diethyl tartrate are readily available, so either enantiomer of the product can be prepared. The method has been successful for a wide range of primary allylic alcohols, including substrates where the double bond is mono-, di-, tri-, and tetrasubstituted, " and is highly useful in natural product synthesis. The mechanism of the Sharpless epoxidation is believed to involve attack on the substrate by a compound formed from the titanium alkoxide and the diethyl tartrate to produce a complex that also contains the substrate and the f-BuOOH.i 2 ... 

Cyclization by way of the aldehyde (22, R = CHO) provides the appropriate ester of the bicyclic nucleus (23), which on deprotection gives an unstable sodium salt. Formation of the [2,3] double bond by this intramolecular Wittig procedure has been widely used for both analogue and natural product synthesis (35). Cyclization is achievable even using a thiol ester such as (24) which leads to the protected olivanic acid MM 22383 [74819-56-0] (25), C28H26N4OiiS (36). Addition of thiols to the double bond of phosphorane-derived derivatives lacking a C-2 substituent (26) has been used for the... 

Ciufolini and co-workers demonstrated the use of 1,3-dipolar azide-olefin cycloaddition reactions in the total synthesis of ( )-FR66979 (52) [25], an antitiunor agent which is structurally related to the mitomycins [26]. Thus, the triazoline 50 was obtained as a single diastereomer by smooth cycloaddition of the activated double bond and the dipole in 49 by heating in toluene. Brief photolysis of 50 provided aziridine 51, which fragmented to 52 (Scheme 8B). Other intramolecular azide-alkene cycloaddition in natural product synthesis is illustrated by a munber of examples [27-32]. 

Olefin metathesis reaction that reorganizes carbon-carbon double bonds provides fundamentally new strategies for natural product synthesis and polymer chemistry. Hilvert and coworkers built up an artificial metalloenzyme by covalently tethering a Grubbs-Hoveyda-type Ru complex to a protein scaffold [78]. An /V-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligand, which has been reported as a suitable ligand for a number of water-soluble ruthenium-based metathesis catalysts, was derivatized with an electrophilic bromoacetamide. The Ru carbene complex (27 in Figure 10.16) was then attached by site-selective alkylation of the cysteine... 

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