Enol ethers cycloadditions

Greene and co-workers used a dichloroketene/enol ether cycloaddition and a Beckmann ring expansion as key reactions en route to (+)-preussin [76]. 

Inspired by the previous results, Leighton et al. reported the enantioselective [3 + 2] acylhydrazone-enol ether cycloaddition reaction by employing the same pseudoephedrine-based chiral silane. The pyrazohdine product was obtained in 61% yield with 6 1 dr and 77% ee in 24 h. The use of tert-butyl vinyl ether led to an improvement in both diastereoselectivity and enantioselectivity as shown in Scheme 34 [108]. 

Enantioselective [3+2] cycloaddition of halohydrazones 692 with dipolarophile 691 in the presence of ligand 693 under Lewis acid conditions, followed by reduction, provided an entry to chiral dihydropyrazole scaffolds 694 in excellent yields and good ees (Scheme 86) <2005JA8276>. Highly enantioselective synthesis of pyrazolidines 698 was achieved by the [3+2] acylhydrazone-enol ether cycloadditions of 695 and 696 in the presence of a chiral silicon Lewis acid 697 (Equation 148) <2005JA9974>. 

Shrrakawa, S., Lombardi, P. J., Leighton, J. L. (2005). A simple and general chiral silicon Lewis acid for asymmetric synthesis Highly enantioselective [3+2] acylhydrazone-enol ether cycloadditions. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 127, 9974-9975. 

In 1959 Carboni and Lindsay first reported the cycloaddition reaction between 1,2,4,5-tetrazines and alkynes or alkenes (59JA4342) and this reaction type has become a useful synthetic approach to pyridazines. In general, the reaction proceeds between 1,2,4,5-tetrazines with strongly electrophilic substituents at positions 3 and 6 (alkoxycarbonyl, carboxamido, trifluoromethyl, aryl, heteroaryl, etc.) and a variety of alkenes and alkynes, enol ethers, ketene acetals, enol esters, enamines (78HC(33)1073) or even with aldehydes and ketones (79JOC629). With alkenes 1,4-dihydropyridazines (172) are first formed, which in most cases are not isolated but are oxidized further to pyridazines (173). These are obtained directly from alkynes which are, however, less reactive in these cycloaddition reactions. In general, the overall reaction which is presented in Scheme 96 is strongly... 

The hetero Diels-Alder [4+2] cycloaddition (HDA reaction) is a very efficient methodology to perform pyrimidine-to-pyridine transformations. Normal (NHDA) and Inverse (IHDA) cycloaddition reactions, intramolecular as well as intermolecular, are reported, although the IHDA cycloadditions are more frequently observed. The NHDA reactions require an electron-rich heterocycle, which reacts with an electron-poor dienophile, while in the IHDA cycloadditions a n-electron-deficient heterocycle reacts with electron-rich dienophiles, such as 0,0- and 0,S-ketene acetals, S,S-ketene thioacetals, N,N-ketene acetals, enamines, enol ethers, ynamines, etc. 

A chiral titanium(IV) complex has also been used by Wada et al. for the intermole-cular cycloaddition of ( )-2-oxo-l-phenylsulfonyl-3-alkenes 45 with enol ethers 46 using the TADDOL-TiX2 (X=C1, Br) complexes 48 as catalysts in an enantioselective reaction giving the dihydropyrans 47 as shown in Scheme 4.32 [47]. The reaction depends on the anion of the catalyst and the best yield and enantioselectivity were found for the TADDOL-TiBr2 up to 97% ee of the dihydropyrans 47 was obtained. 

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). 

More recently, further developments have shown that the reaction outlined in Scheme 4.33 can also proceed for other alkenes, such as silyl-enol ethers of acetophenone [48 b], which gives the endo diastereomer in up to 99% ee. It was also shown that / -ethyl-/ -methyl-substituted acyl phosphonate also can undergo a dia-stereo- and enantioselective cycloaddition reaction with ethyl vinyl ether catalyzed by the chiral Ph-BOX-copper(ll) catalyst. The preparative use of the cycloaddition reaction was demonstrated by performing reactions on the gram scale and showing that no special measures are required for the reaction and that the dihydro-pyrans can be obtained in high yield and with very high diastereo- and enantioselective excess. 

Two different alkenes can be brought to reaction to give a [2 -I- 2] cycloaddition product. If one of the reactants is an o, /3-unsaturated ketone 11, this will be easier to bring to an excited state than an ordinary alkene or an enol ether e.g. 12. Consequently the excited carbonyl compound reacts with the ground state enol ether. By a competing reaction pathway, the Patemo-Buchi reaction of the 0, /3-unsaturated ketone may lead to formation of an oxetane, which however shall not be taken into account here ... 

High-pressnre promoted cycloadditions of nitroalkenes and enol ethers eliminate the nse of Lewis acids fEq 8 106 "Thus, even sterically hmdered nitroalkenes react with 2,3-thhydro-furan to give the exo cyclic nitronates stereoselecdvely without using Lewis acids... 

Trifluoro-2-nitrosopropene can be generated in situ from 1 -bromo-3,3,3-trifluoropropan-2-one 2-oxime. It is a highly reactive nitrosoalkene that readily undergoes cycloaddition with silyl enol ethers and other die-nophiles to give CF3- substituted 1,2-oxazines (92JOC339). 

The most frequently encountered, and most useful, cycloaddition reactions of silyl enol ethers are Diels-Alder reactions involving silyloxybutadicncs (Chapter 18). Danishefsky (30) has reviewed his pioneering work in this area, and has extended his studies to include heterodienophiles, particularly aldehydes. Lewis acid catalysis is required in such cases, and substantial asymmetric induction can be achieved using either a chiral lanthanide catalyst or an a-chiral aldehyde. 

The insertion of alkynes into a chromium-carbon double bond is not restricted to Fischer alkenylcarbene complexes. Numerous transformations of this kind have been performed with simple alkylcarbene complexes, from which unstable a,/J-unsaturated carbene complexes were formed in situ, and in turn underwent further reactions in several different ways. For example, reaction of the 1-me-thoxyethylidene complex 6a with the conjugated enyne-ketimines and -ketones 131 afforded pyrrole [92] and furan 134 derivatives [93], respectively. The alkyne-inserted intermediate 132 apparently undergoes 671-electrocyclization and reductive elimination to afford enol ether 133, which yields the cycloaddition product 134 via a subsequent hydrolysis (Scheme 28). This transformation also demonstrates that Fischer carbene complexes are highly selective in their reactivity toward alkynes in the presence of other multiple bonds (Table 6). 

Recently, Akiyama et al. reported an enantiocontrolled [3+2] cycloaddition of chirally modified Fischer alkenylcarbene complexes 180 with aldimines 181 under Lewis-acid catalysis (Sn(OTf)2) to afford enantiomerically pure 1,2,5-trisubstituted 3-alkoxypyrrolines 182 (Scheme 40) [121]. The mode of formation of these products 182 was proposed to be a [4+2] cycloaddition, with the complexes 180 acting as a 1-metalla- 1,3-diene with subsequent reductive elimination. Upon hydrolysis under acidic conditions, the enol ethers give the enantiomerically pure 3-pyrrolidinones 183 (Table 9). 

Intermolecular [4C+2S] cycloaddition reactions where the diene moiety is contained in the carbene complex are less frequent than the [4S+2C] cycloadditions summarised in the previous section. However, 2-butadienylcarbene complexes, generated by a [2+2]/cyclobutene ring opening sequence, undergo Diels-Alder reactions with typical dienophiles [34,35] (Scheme 59). Also, Wulff et al. have described the application of pyranylidene complexes, obtained by a [3+3] cycloaddition reaction (see Sect. 2.8.1), in the inverse-electron-demand Diels-Alder reaction with enol ethers and enamines [87a]. Later, this strategy was applied to the synthesis of steroid-like ring skeletons [87b] (Scheme 59). 

Cycloalkenones and/or their derivatives can also behave as dienic partners in the Diels-Alder cycloaddition. It is well documented [41] that cyclic acetals, for example, can interconvert with ring-opened enol ether forms, in a reversible manner the latter compounds can then be trapped by various dienophiles. Thus dienes 119 and 120 reacted with [60]-fullerene (Ceo) at high pressure, affording highly thermally stable products [42] (Scheme 5.16). Ketones 123 and 124 could be directly obtained by cycloaddition of enol forms 121 and 122 of 2-cyclopen-ten-and 2-cyclohexen-l-one, respectively. 

Synthesis of highly functionalized 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrans by high-pressure Lewis-acid-catalyzed cycloaddition of enol ethers and a,/i-unsaturated aldehydes [83]... 

Cyclopropyl ketones 95 also react with enol ether 100 in presence of 5 mol% of [Au(NTf2)(lPr)] in a [4+2] cycloaddition reaction to afford the bicycle[3.2.0] heptane skeleton 101 (Scheme 5.26) [26]. 

Scheme 5.26 [4+2] cycloaddition reaction catalysed by golden-NHC complex between cyclopropyl ketones and enol ether... 

The stereochemistry of these reactions depends on the lifetime of the dipolar intermediate, which, in turn, is influenced by the polarity of the solvent. In the reactions of enol ethers with tetracyanoethylene, the stereochemistry of the enol ether is retained in nonpolar solvents. In polar solvents, cycloaddition is nonstereospecific, as a result of a longer lifetime for the zwitterionic intermediate.177... 

Lewis acid catalysis has been used to promote stepwise [2 + 2] cycloaddition of silyl enol ethers and unsaturated esters.178 The best catalyst is (C2H5)2A1C1 and polyfluoroalkyl esters give the highest stereoselectivity. The reactions give the more stable trans products. 

The low yields, which are observed among styrenyl adducts, reflect a combination of the poor reactivity of the styrene at the low temperature of the reaction. For example, the combination of t-butyl Grignard with the 2,4-bis-OBoc-benzyl alcohol 15 affords the corresponding benzopyran 50 in only 50% yield even when carried out in the presence of 5-10 equivalents of the styrene (method H, Fig. 4.27).27 Yields for substituted benzopyran styrene adducts are still lower (method G, Fig. 4.27). For example, addition of methyl lithium to 2,4-bis-OBoc-benzylaldehyde 5 followed by the addition of the dienophile and magnesium bromide affords benzopyran 51 in a paltry 27% yield. Method F is entirely ineffective in these cases, because the methyl Grignard reagent competes with the enol ether and with styrene 1,4-addition of methyl supercedes cycloaddition. 

As expected, other enol ethers work well in these procedures. For example, Jones and Selenski find that implementation of method F, which occurs by addition of MeMgBr to benzaldehyde 5 in the presence of dihydropyran (DHP) at 78 °C affords a 66% yield of the corresponding tricyclic ketal 59 with better than 50 1 endo diastereoselectivity (Fig. 4.31).27 On the contrary, Lindsey reports use of method H with the benzyl alcohol 35 and diethylketene acetal. The cycloaddition reaction occurs almost instantaneously upon deprotonation of the benzyl alcohol 35 by f-butyl-magnesium bromide in the presence of the ketene acetal and yields the corresponding benzopyran ortho ester 60 in a 67% yield.29... 

Yaodong Huang, while pursuing the synthesis of ( + )-berkelic acid (69), reported a diastereoselective cycloaddition using method H that leads to another type of 5,6-aryloxy spiroketals (Fig. 4.36).32 For example, addition of three equivalents of t-butyl magnesium bromide to alcohol 70 in the presence of the exocyclic enol ether 71 proceeds in a 72% yield to the spiroketal 72 with a 4.5 1 selectivity favoring the endo approach (Fig. 4.36). Additional experiments suggest the bromine atom decreases the HOMO-LUMO band gap and improves diastereoselectivity. 

Selenski investigated the use of chiral enol ether auxiliaries in order to adapt method F-H for enantioselective syntheses. After surveying a variety of substituted and unsubstituted enol ethers derived from a vast assortment of readily available chiral alcohols, she chose to employ enol ethers derived from trans-1,2-phenylcyclohexanol such as 73 and 74 (Fig. 4.37). These derivatives were found to undergo highly diastereoselective cycloadditions resulting in the formation of 75 and 76 in respective... 

Jason Green has successfully applied the Selenski method to the synthesis of (+ )-bromoheliane (79, Fig. 4.38).34 In this example, two equivalents of the chiral enol ether are added to the benzaldehyde 77 in diethyl ether (0.1 M) and cooled to —78 °C. Methyl Grignard is then added. The cycloaddition occurs while the reaction warms to room temperature. The benzopyran adduct 78 forms in 80% yield with 50 1 diaster-eoselectivity. DFT calculations and experiments suggest that the diastereoselectivity depends on the magnitude of the HOMO-LUMO band gap. In this instance, the LUMO of the supposed o-QM intermediate is computed to be —2.6 eV, whereas the HOMO of the enol ether is —5.9 eV. A 50 1 selectivity is recorded for resulting 3.3 eV gap. For reactions of 2,5-bis-OBoc-4-methyl-benzaldehyde, where the HOMO-LUMO gap is larger (3.6 eV), a 20 1 ratio of diastereomers is observed. 

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