Enantioselectivity cyclic ether reactions

The pioneering work on enantioselective [2,3]-Wittig rearrangement was carried out by Marshall and Lebreton in the ring-contracting rearrangement of a 13-membered cyclic ether using lithium bis(l-phenylethyl) amide (63) as a chiral base (equation 34). Upon treatment with a (S,S)-63 (3 equivalents) in THF at —70 to —15 °C, ether 64 afforded the enantioenriched [2,3]-product 65 in 82% yield with 69% ee. The reaction was applied in the synthesis of (+)-aristolactone (66). 

Catalytic intramolecular O —H insertion is a useful reaction for the construction of cyclic ethers and esters. The Cu-catalyzed highly enantioselective intramolecular O—H insertion of 6- or e-hydroxy-a-diazoesters (Scheme 48) [113] and phenolic O—H bonds (Scheme 49) [114] were achieved by using ligand (S, S,S)-23. The substrates of intramolecular O —H insertions can be easily modified at the side chain, and thus provides a useful method for preparing chiral 2-carboxy cyclic ethers with different ring sizes and substitution patterns. 

Although it is well known that cyclic ethers are readily oxidized to the corresponding lactols or lactones, their asymmetric desymmetrization was not examined until quite recently. However, desymmetrization of prochiral or meso-cydic ethers is expected to be a useful tool for organic synthesis, since many prochiral or raeso-cyclic ethers are available in bulk. Recently, Miyafuji and Katsuki have reported the desymmetrization of 4-terf-butylcyclotetrahydropyran and meso-tetrahydrofurans with the chiral (salen)manganese(III) complex 13 as catalyst (Scheme 9) [24,25]. The oxidation of the former shows only the modest enantioselectivity, while the reaction of the latter exhibits excellent enantioselectivity. The low enantioselectivity (48% ee) observed in the oxidation of 4-ferf-butyltet-rahydropyran has been attributed to the participation of enantiomeric twist-boat conformers. Although 4-ferf-butyltetrahydropyran exists in an equilibrium mixture of chair and enantiomeric twist-boat conformers and the equilibrium ratio of the latter is very small, the latter is considered to be more reactive than the former for stereo electronic reasons. One of a-C-H bonds in the twist-boat conformer almost eclipses the -orbital while those in the chair conformer are gauche or anti to the -orbital. 

The reaction of the allyl carbonates 59, which have a hydroxy group at the end of the carbon chain, with the activated olefin 26a produces the corresponding cyclic ethers 60 in good to high yields (Eq. 25) [21]. The highly enantioselective alkoxyallylation of the activated olefin 26a is achieved by the use of the chiral phosphine ligand 61 (Trost ligand, Eq. 26). 

In 1990, Cabri el al. [40a] reported that the precursor Pd(OAc>2 associated with a biden-tate P P ligand as dppp (1,3-bis-diphenylphosphinopropane) appeared to be more efficient than PPhs in Mizoroki-Heck reactions performed from aryl Inflates and enol ethers (electron-rich alkenes) moreover, the regioselectivity in favour of the a-arylated alkenes was improved to 100%. Since that time, dppp associated with Pd(OAc)2 has been used extensively to catalyse Mizoroki-Heck reactions and to investigate the factors that control the regioselectivity [Ig, 40]. The chiral bidentate (7 )-Binap (2,2 -bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,1-binaphthyl) associated with Pd(OAc)2 has also been used by Shibasaki and coworkers [2b,d,41a] and Overman andPoon [41b] in intramolecular enantioselective Mizoroki-Heck reactions (also, see Link [2f] for an authorative review on the Overman-Shibasaki chemistry), as well as by Hayashi and coworkers [2a, 41c,d] to control the regioselectivity and enantioselectivity of intermolecular Mizoroki-Heck reactions performed from cyclic alkenes (see Schemes 1.3 and 1.2 (Z = O) respectively). 

The organocatalytic transfer hydrogenation of cyclic enones has been also successfully achieved employing the imidazolidinone 12 [24], catalyst that also promotes enantioselective Diels-Alder reactions with cyclic enones [25]. The structure of the dihydropyridine reagent seems to have an important effect on the selectivity of the process since better enantioselectivities are observed when increasing the steric hindrance of the ester moiety 13 (Scheme 2.6). The reduction, which is performed with substoichiometric amounts of imidazolidinone 12 in ether at 0°C,... 

An impressive application is the highly stereocontrolled and enantioselective syntiiesis of (-)-laure-nyne (113 Scheme 54).The key step is the cyclization of the mixed acetal (110) to give the oxocene (112), with the required endocyclic unsaturation at the correct position. The formation of this eight-mem-bered cyclic ether, instead of the corresponding seven-membered ring with an exocyclic double bond, may be rationalized " by an intramolecular ene-type reaction of the intermediate oxocarbenium ion (111). 

The organosilicon reagents also participate in the rhodium-catalyzed reaction with a./S-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, imines, and alkynes (eq 4). The use of optically active diene ligands allows the rhodium-catalyzed transformation to proceed in an enantioselective manner. The reaction can be performed on a gram scale, and the cyclic silyl ether can also be recovered by distillation of a crude product. 

The chiral BOX-copper(ll) complexes, (S)-21a and (l )-21b (X=OTf, SbFg), were found by Evans et al. to catalyze the enantioselective cycloaddition reactions of the a,/ -unsaturated acyl phosphonates 49 with ethyl vinyl ether 46a and the cyclic enol ethers 50 giving the cycloaddition products 51 and 52, respectively, in very high yields and ee as outlined in Scheme 4.33 [38b]. It is notable that the acyclic and cyclic enol ethers react highly stereoselectively and that the same enantiomer is formed using (S)-21a and (J )-21b as the catalyst. It is, furthermore, of practical importance that the cycloaddition reaction can proceed in the presence of only 0.2 mol% (J )-21a (X=SbF6) with minimal reduction in the yield of the cycloaddition product and no loss of enantioselectivity (93% ee). 

The reactions of nitrones constitute the absolute majority of metal-catalyzed asymmetric 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions. Boron, aluminum, titanium, copper and palladium catalysts have been tested for the inverse electron-demand 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of nitrones with electron-rich alkenes. Fair enantioselectivities of up to 79% ee were obtained with oxazaborolidinone catalysts. However, the AlMe-3,3 -Ar-BINOL complexes proved to be superior for reactions of both acyclic and cyclic nitrones and more than >99% ee was obtained in some reactions. The Cu(OTf)2-BOX catalyst was efficient for reactions of the glyoxylate-derived nitrones with vinyl ethers and enantioselectivities of up to 93% ee were obtained. 

Katsuki et al. have reported that high enantioselectivity can be obtained in the oxidation of nonconjugated cyclic enol ethers by using Mn(salen) (34) as the catalyst.138 The reactions were performed in an alcoholic solvent to obtain a-hydroxy acetals as the products, because a-hydroxy acetals are tolerant to a weak Lewis acid like Mn(salen) and do not racemize during the reaction and the isolation procedure (Scheme 29). 

The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of nitrones to vinyl ethers is accelerated by Ti(IV) species. The efficiency of the catalyst depends on its complexation capacity. The use of Ti( PrO)2Cl2 favors the formation of trans cycloadducts, presumably, via an endo bidentate complex, in which the metal atom is simultaneously coordinated to the vinyl ether and to the cyclic nitrone or to the Z-isomer of the acyclic nitrones (800a). Highly diastereo- and enantioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of nitrones with alkenes, catalyzed by chiral polybi-naphtyl Lewis acids, have been developed. Isoxazolidines with up to 99% ee were obtained. The chiral polymer ligand influences the stereoselectivity to the same extent as its monomeric version, but has the advantage of easy recovery and reuse (800b). 

Related catalytic enantioselective processes It is worthy of note that the powerful Ti-catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation procedure of Sharpless [27] is often used in the preparation of optically pure acyclic allylic alcohols through the catalytic kinetic resolution of easily accessible racemic mixtures [28]. When the catalytic epoxidation is applied to cyclic allylic substrates, reaction rates are retarded and lower levels of enantioselectivity are observed. Ru-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation has been employed by Noyori to effect the resolution of five- and six-membered allylic carbinols [29] in this instance, as with the Ti-catalyzed procedure, the presence of an unprotected hydroxyl function is required. Perhaps the most efficient general procedure for the enantioselective synthesis of this class of cyclic allylic ethers is that recently developed by Trost and co-workers, involving Pd-catalyzed asymmetric additions of alkoxides to allylic esters [30]. 

Recently, the first examples of catalytic enantioselective preparations of chiral a-substituted allylic boronates have appeared. Cyclic dihydropyranylboronate 76 (Fig. 6) is prepared in very high enantiomeric purity by an inverse electron-demand hetero-Diels-Alder reaction between 3-boronoacrolein pinacolate (87) and ethyl vinyl ether catalyzed by chiral Cr(lll) complex 88 (Eq. 64). The resulting boronate 76 adds stereoselectively to aldehydes to give 2-hydroxyalkyl dihydropyran products 90 in a one-pot process.The diastereoselectiv-ity of the addition is explained by invoking transition structure 89. Key to this process is the fact that the possible self-allylboration between 76 and 87 does not take place at room temperature. Several applications of this three-component reaction to the synthesis of complex natural products have been described (see section on Applications to the Synthesis of Natural Products ). 

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