Allylic alcohols enantioselective

The seminal enantioselective allylic alcohols epoxidation realized by Katsuki and Sharpless [18] to which other similarly steroselective reactions soon followed (e.g., bishydroxyla-tion, cyclopropanation, lactonization and catalytic hydrogenation) have been invaluable for this purpose. One of the most significant applications, as far as drug synthesis is concerned, of the Sharpless method from the innumerable ones which have been found in the past 20 years is the routine preparation (Fig. 6) of antipodal pairs of known chirality of (3-blockers such as propranolol (5) [19]. 

Abascal NC, Lichtor PA, GiuUano MW, Miller SJ (2014) Function-oriented investigations of a peptide-based catalyst that mediates enantioselective allylic alcohol epoxidation. Chem Sci 5 4504- 511... 

The first practical method for asymmetric epoxidation of primary and secondary allylic alcohols was developed by K.B. Sharpless in 1980 (T. Katsuki, 1980 K.B. Sharpless, 1983 A, B, 1986 see also D. Hoppe, 1982). Tartaric esters, e.g., DET and DIPT" ( = diethyl and diisopropyl ( + )- or (— )-tartrates), are applied as chiral auxiliaries, titanium tetrakis(2-pro-panolate) as a catalyst and tert-butyl hydroperoxide (= TBHP, Bu OOH) as the oxidant. If the reaction mixture is kept absolutely dry, catalytic amounts of the dialkyl tartrate-titanium(IV) complex are suflicient, which largely facilitates work-up procedures (Y. Gao, 1987). Depending on the tartrate enantiomer used, either one of the 2,3-epoxy alcohols may be obtained with high enantioselectivity. The titanium probably binds to the diol grouping of one tartrate molecule and to the hydroxy groups of the bulky hydroperoxide and of the allylic alcohol... 

In 1980, Katsuki and Sharpless communicated that the epoxidation of a variety of allylic alcohols was achieved in exceptionally high enantioselectivity with a catalyst derived from titanium(IV) isopropoxide and chiral diethyl tartrate. This seminal contribution described an asymmetric catalytic system that not only provided the product epoxide in remarkable enantioselectivity, but showed the immediate generality of the reaction by examining 5 of the 8 possible substitution patterns of allylic alcohols all of which were epoxidized in >90% ee. Shortly thereafter. Sharpless and others began to illustrate the... 

In general, 2-substituted allylic alcohols are epoxidized in good enantioselectivity. Like glycidol, however, the product epoxides are susceptible to ring opening via nucleophilic attack at the C-3 position. Results of the AE reaction on 2-methyl-2-propene-l-ol followed by derivatization of the resulting epoxy alcohol are shown in Table 1.6.1. Other examples are shown below. 

As with i -substituted allyl alcohols, 2,i -substituted allyl alcohols are epoxidized in excellent enantioselectivity. Examples of AE reactions of this class of substrate are shown below. Epoxide 23 was utilized to prepare chiral allene oxides, which were ring opened with TBAF to provide chiral a-fluoroketones. Epoxide 24 was used to prepare 5,8-disubstituted indolizidines and epoxide 25 was utilized in the formal synthesis of macrosphelide A. Epoxide 26 represents an AE reaction on the very electron deficient 2-cyanoallylic alcohols and epoxide 27 was an intermediate in the total synthesis of (+)-varantmycin. 

Although the limited examples of AE reactions on 2,3Z-substituted allyl alcohols appear to give product epoxides in good enantioselectivity, the highly substituted nature of these olefins can have a deleterious effect on the reactivity. For example, Aiai has shown that the 2,3E-substituted allyl alcohol 30 can be epoxidized with either (-)-DET or (+)-DET in good yields and enantioselectivity. However, the configurational isomer 32 is completely unreactive using (-)-DET, even after a 34 h reaction time. 

Desymmetrization of meso-bis-allylic alcohols is an effective method for the preparation of chiral functionalized intermediates from meso-substrates. Schreiber et al has shown that divinyl carbonyl 58 is epoxidized in good enantioselectivity. However, because the product epoxy alcohols 59 and 60 also contain a reactive allylic alcohol that are diastereomeric in nature, a second epoxidation would occur at different rates and thus affect the observed ee for the first AE reaction and the overall de. Indeed, the major diastereomeric product epoxide 59 resulting from the first AE is less reactive in the second epoxidation. Thus, high de is easily obtainable since the second epoxidation removes the minor diastereomer. 

O Connor, S.P. Catalytic, Enantioselective Cyclopropanation of Allylic Alcohols PhD Thesis, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1993. 

The first, and so far only, metal-catalyzed asymmetric 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of nitrile oxides with alkenes was reported by Ukaji et al. [76, 77]. Upon treatment of allyl alcohol 45 with diethylzinc and (l ,J )-diisopropyltartrate, followed by the addition of diethylzinc and substituted hydroximoyl chlorides 46, the isoxazolidines 47 are formed with impressive enantioselectivities of up to 96% ee (Scheme 6.33) [76]. 

Dipolar cydoadditions are one of the most useful synthetic methods to make stereochemically defined five-membered heterocydes. Although a variety of dia-stereoselective 1,3-dipolar cydoadditions have been well developed, enantioselec-tive versions are still limited [29]. Nitrones are important 1,3-dipoles that have been the target of catalyzed enantioselective reactions [66]. Three different approaches to catalyzed enantioselective reactions have been taken (1) activation of electron-defident alkenes by a chiral Lewis acid [23-26, 32-34, 67], (2) activation of nitrones in the reaction with ketene acetals [30, 31], and (3) coordination of both nitrones and allylic alcohols on a chiral catalyst [20]. Among these approaches, the dipole/HOMO-controlled reactions of electron-deficient alkenes are especially promising because a variety of combinations between chiral Lewis acids and electron-deficient alkenes have been well investigated in the study of catalyzed enantioselective Diels-Alder reactions. Enantioselectivities in catalyzed nitrone cydoadditions sometimes exceed 90% ee, but the efficiency of catalytic loading remains insufficient. 

The asymmetric epoxidation of an allylic alcohol 1 to yield a 2,3-epoxy alcohol 2 with high enantiomeric excess, has been developed by Sharpless and Katsuki. This enantioselective reaction is carried out in the presence of tetraisopropoxyti-tanium and an enantiomerically pure dialkyl tartrate—e.g. (-1-)- or (-)-diethyl tartrate (DET)—using tcrt-butyl hydroperoxide as the oxidizing agent. 

Schemes 16-19 present the details of the enantioselective synthesis of key intermediate 9. The retrosynthetic analysis outlined in Scheme 5 identified aldoxime 32 as a potential synthetic intermediate the construction of this compound would mark the achievement of the first synthetic objective, for it would permit an evaluation of the crucial 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction. As it turns out, an enantioselective synthesis of aldoxime 32 can be achieved in a straightforward manner by a route employing commercially available tetronic acid (36) and the MEM ether of allyl alcohol (74) as starting materials (see Scheme 16).

Figure 6.4 Some successful examples of kinetic resolution of allylic alcohols by enantioselective epoxidation [21, 27].

Asymmetric epoxidations of alkenes have been intensively studied since Sharpless initial report on asymmetric epoxidation of allylic alcohols in 1980. This reaction, discussed in Section 9.1.3, has become one of the most widely employed reactions in asymmetric synthesis, due to its reliability and high enantioselectivity [2],... 

Ten years after Sharpless s discovery of the asymmetric epoxidation of allylic alcohols, Jacobsen and Katsuki independently reported asymmetric epoxidations of unfunctionalized olefins by use of chiral Mn-salen catalysts such as 9 (Scheme 9.3) [14, 15]. The reaction works best on (Z)-disubstituted alkenes, although several tri-and tetrasubstituted olefins have been successfully epoxidized [16]. The reaction often requires ligand optimization for each substrate for high enantioselectivity to be achieved. 

The development of Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation (SAE) of allylic alcohols in 1980 constitutes a breakthrough in asymmetric synthesis, and to date this method remains the most widely applied asymmetric epoxidation technique [34, 44]. A wide range of substrates can be used in the reaction ( ) -allylic alcohols generally give high enantioselectivity, whereas the reaction is more substrate-dependent with (Z)-allylic alcohols [34]. 

Reagents of type 1 are the most important and exhibit the highest reactivity towards carbonyl compounds. The reactivity can be further tuned by altering the substitution on titanium. Reagents of type 2 show lower reactivity, but higher selectivities, but have, so far, only been used occasionally (Section 1.3.3.3.8.2.1.2.). Reagents of type 3, derived from chiral alcohols, accomplish efficient enantioselective allyl transfer (Section 1.3.3.3.8.2,3.3.). 

A novel approach was developed very recently by Kita et al. [15]. DKR of allylic alcohols was performed by combining a lipase-catalyzed acylation with a racemization through the formation of allyl vanadate intermediates. Excellent yields and enantioselectivities were obtained. An example is shown in Figure 4.4. A limitation with this approach for the substrates shown in Figure 4.4 is that the allylic alcohol must be equally disubstituted in the allylic position (R = R ) since C—C single bond rotation is required in the tertiary alkoxy intermediate. Alternatively, R or R can be H if the two allylic alcohols formed by migration of the hydroxyl group are enantiomers (e.g. cyclic allylic acetates). 

Allylic alcohols can be converted to epoxy-alcohols with tert-butylhydroperoxide on molecular sieves, or with peroxy acids. Epoxidation of allylic alcohols can also be done with high enantioselectivity. In the Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation,allylic alcohols are converted to optically active epoxides in better than 90% ee, by treatment with r-BuOOH, titanium tetraisopropoxide and optically active diethyl tartrate. The Ti(OCHMe2)4 and diethyl tartrate can be present in catalytic amounts (15-lOmol %) if molecular sieves are present. Polymer-supported catalysts have also been reported. Since both (-t-) and ( —) diethyl tartrate are readily available, and the reaction is stereospecific, either enantiomer of the product can be prepared. The method has been successful for a wide range of primary allylic alcohols, where the double bond is mono-, di-, tri-, and tetrasubstituted. This procedure, in which an optically active catalyst is used to induce asymmetry, has proved to be one of the most important methods of asymmetric synthesis, and has been used to prepare a large number of optically active natural products and other compounds. 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 r-BuOOH. ... 

The enantioselective epoxidation method developed by Sharpless and co-workers is an important asymmetric transformation known today. This method involves the epoxidation of allylic alcohols with fcrt-butyl hydroperoxide and titanium (sopropoxide in the presence of optically active pure tartarate esters, see Eqn. (25). 

In 2004, Yang and Tseng reported the synthesis of a series of new chiral amino thiol ligands derived from L-valine, which were further employed (1 mol%) in the enantioselective alkenylzinc addition to aldehydes, providing an efficient route for chiral ( )-allylic alcohols with enantioselectivities of up to >99% ee, as shown in Scheme 3.67. ... 

Several catalytic systems have been reported for the enantioselective Simmons Smith cyclopropanation reaction and, among these, only a few could be used in catalytic amounts. Chiral bis(sulfonamides) derived from cyclo-hexanediamine have been successfully employed as promoters of the enantioselective Simmons-Smith cyclopropanation of a series of allylic alcohols. Excellent results in terms of both yield and stereoselectivity were obtained even with disubstituted allylic alcohols, as shown in Scheme 6.20. Moreover, this methodology could be applied to the cyclopropanation of stannyl and silyl-substituted allylic alcohols, providing an entry to the enantioselective route to stannyl- and silyl-substituted cyclopropanes of potential synthetic intermediates. On the other hand, it must be noted that the presence of a methyl substituent at the 2-position of the allylic alcohol was not well tolerated and led to slow reactions and poor enantioselectivities (ee<50% ee). ... 

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