Enols racemization

The deprotonation of C-3 substituted l,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones with KHMDS afforded an enantiopure, conformationally chiral enolate with a relatively bulky N — I substituent, which provided a sufficient barrier to enolate racemization. In contrast, LHMDS proved to be ineffective in this transformation, and KHMDS served as an operationally simpler alternative to a mixed... 

The deprotonation of C-3 substituted l,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones with JCHMDS afforded an enantiopure, conformationally chiral enolate with a relatively bulky N — I substituent, which provided a sufficient barrier to enolate racemization. In contrast, LHMDS proved to be ineffective in this transformation, and KHMDS served as an operationally simpler alternative to a mixed base consisting of LDA/n-BuLi. At —100 °C a simultaneous addition of KHMDS and an excess of benzyl bromide to the substrate provided the alkylated product in 75% ee (78% yield). However, the simultaneous addition could not be carried out with a more reactive benzyl iodide. Ultimately, the best result was achieved in a stepwise addition mode, when the deprotonation with KHMDS (20 min) at — 109°C (THF-HMPA) was followed by the addition of an excess of benzyl iodide affording the 3,3-disubstituted benzodiazepine in 97% ee (93% yield) (eq 68). ... 

Similarly, the two diastereoisomeric cyclic hydroxy esters can be obtained when baker s yeast or R. arrhizus is employed. The successful reduction of these racemic a-substituted (3-keto esters to a single enantiomer is based on the enolization/racemization of the keto esters, which allows a dynamic kinetic resolution. If coupled with the specificity of the enzymes from different microorganisms, this can lead to preparation of compounds of diverse chirality. Thus in the series of the 5- and 6-membered ring compounds (Scheme 18) both the lS,2R-cis- and the lS,2S-trans-hydroxy ester can be obtained by switching from baker s yeast to the biomass from R. arrhizus [97]. Such compounds are highly versatile chiral synthons that have been currently used in the asymmetrical synthesis of biologically active compounds [98]. 

If the a carbon atom of an aldehyde or a ketone is a chnality center its stereo chemical integrity is lost on enolization Enolization of optically active sec butyl phenyl ketone leads to its racemization by way of the achiral enol form... 

The product is chiral but is formed as a racemic mixture because it anses from an achiral intermediate (the enol) it is therefore not optically active... 

The enantiomers are obtained as a racemic mixture if no asymmetric induction becomes effective. The ratio of diastereomers depends on structural features of the reactants as well as the reaction conditions as outlined in the following. By using properly substituted preformed enolates, the diastereoselectivity of the aldol reaction can be controlled. Such enolates can show E-ot Z-configuration at the carbon-carbon double bond. With Z-enolates 9, the syn products are formed preferentially, while fi-enolates 12 lead mainly to anti products. This stereochemical outcome can be rationalized to arise from the more favored transition state 10 and 13 respectively ... 

Schemes 3-7 describe the synthesis of cyanobromide 6, the A-D sector of vitamin Bi2. The synthesis commences with an alkylation of the magnesium salt of methoxydimethylindole 28 to give intermediate 29 (see Scheme 3a). The stereocenter created in this step plays a central role in directing the stereochemical course of the next reaction. Thus, exposure of 29 to methanol in the presence of BF3 and HgO results in the formation of tricyclic ketone 22 presumably through the intermediacy of the derived methyl enol ether 30. It is instructive to point out that the five-membered nitrogen-containing ring in 22, with its two adjacent methyl-bearing stereocenters, is destined to become ring A of vitamin Bi2. A classical resolution of racemic 22 with a-phenylethylisocyanate (31) furnishes tricyclic ketone 22 in enantiomerically pure form via diaster-eomer 32.

The synthetic problem is now reduced to cyclopentanone 16. This substance possesses two stereocenters, one of which is quaternary, and its constitution permits a productive retrosynthetic maneuver. Retrosynthetic disassembly of 16 by cleavage of the indicated bond furnishes compounds 17 and 18 as potential precursors. In the synthetic direction, a diastereoselective alkylation of the thermodynamic (more substituted) enolate derived from 18 with alkyl iodide 17 could afford intermediate 16. While trimethylsilyl enol ether 18 could arise through silylation of the enolate oxygen produced by a Michael addition of a divinyl cuprate reagent to 2-methylcyclopentenone (19), iodide 17 can be traced to the simple and readily available building blocks 7 and 20. The application of this basic plan to a synthesis of racemic estrone [( >1] is described below. 

Schemes 28 and 29 illustrate Curran s synthesis of ( )-hirsutene [( )-1]. Luche reduction58 of 2-methylcyclopentenone (137), followed by acetylation of the resulting allylic alcohol, furnishes allylic acetate 138. Although only one allylic acetate stereoisomer is illustrated in Scheme 28, compound 138 is, of course, produced in racemic form. By way of the powerful Ireland ester enolate Clai-sen rearrangement,59 compound 138 can be transformed to y,S-unsaturated tm-butyldimethylsilyl ester 140 via the silyl ketene acetal intermediate 139. In 140, the silyl ester function and the methyl-substituted ring double bond occupy neighboring regions of space, a circumstance that favors a phenylselenolactonization reac-...

In a chiral aldehyde or a chiral ketone, the carbonyl faces are diastereotopic. Thus, the addition of an enolate leads to the formation of at least one stereogenic center. An effective transfer of chirality from the stereogenic center to the diastereoface is highly desirable. In most cases of diastereoface selection of this type, the chiral aldehyde or ketone was used in the racemic form, especially in early investigations. However, from the point of view of an HPC synthesis, it is indispensable to use enantiomerically pure carbonyl compounds. Therefore, this section emphasizes those aldol reactions which are performed with enantiomerically pure aldehydes. 

The addition of lithium enolates to 2-alkoxyaldehydes occurs either in a completely non-stereoselective manner, or with moderate selectivity in favor of the product predicted by the Cram-Felkin-Anh model28 ( nonchelation control 3, see reference 28 for a survey of this type of addition to racemic aldehydes). Thus, a 1 1 mixture of the diastereomeric adducts results from the reaction of lithiated tert-butyl acetate and 2-benzyloxypropanal4,28. 

In the Michael addition of achiral enolates and achiral Michael acceptors the basic general problem of simple diastereoselection (see Section D.1.5.1.3.2.), as described in Section 1.5.2.3.2. is applicable. Thus, the intermolecular 1,4-addition of achiral metal enolates to enones, a.jS-unsat-urated esters, and thioamides, results in the formation of racemic syn-1,2 and/or anti-3,4 adducts. 

Q Chiral racemic y-alkyl-substituted enones the titanium(IV) chloride mediated addition of enol silanes and silylketene acetals to 7 shows high induced diastereoselection (diastereomeric ratios from 89 11 to more than 97 3) and the major isomer 8 results from addition of the enolsilane with ul topicity288. Re face attack on the S enantiomer of 7.)... 

Another approach for the synthesis of enantiopure amino acids or amino alcohols is the enantioselective enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis of hydantoins. As discussed above, hydantoins are very easily racemized in weak alkaline solutions via keto enol tautomerism. Sugai et al. have reported the DKR of the hydantoin prepared from DL-phenylalanine. DKR took place smoothly by the use of D-hydantoinase at a pH of 9 employing a borate buffer (Figure 4.17) [42]. 

Another example of enzyme- and acid-catalyzed DKR has been reported by Bornscheuer [45]. Acyloins were racemized by using an acidic resin through the formation of enol intermediates. The enzymatic resolution was catalyzed by CALB. Since deactivation of this enzyme occurred in the presence of the acidic resin, they designed a simple reactor setup with two glass vials cormected via a pump to achieve a spatial separation between the acidic resin and the enzyme (Figure 4.20). 

Although the conversion of an aldehyde or a ketone to its enol tautomer is not generally a preparative procedure, the reactions do have their preparative aspects. If a full mole of base per mole of ketone is used, the enolate ion (10) is formed and can be isolated (see, e.g., 10-105). When enol ethers or esters are hydrolyzed, the enols initially formed immediately tautomerize to the aldehydes or ketones. In addition, the overall processes (forward plus reverse reactions) are often used for equilibration purposes. When an optically active compound in which the chirality is due to an asymmetric carbon a to a carbonyl group (as in 11) is treated with acid or base, racemization results. If there is another asymmetric center in the molecule. 

In the case of the ketone (12), a racemic mixture was converted to an optically active mixture (optical yield 46%) by treatment with the chiral base (13). This happened beeause 13 reacted with one enantiomer of 12 faster than with the other (an example of kinetic resolution). The enolate (14) must remain coordinated with the chiral amine, and it is the amine that reprotonates 14, not an added proton donor. 

Thus the product in such cases can exist as two pairs of enantiomers. In a di-astereoselective process, one of the two pairs is formed exclusively or predominantly as a racemic mixture. Many such examples have been reported. In many of these cases, both the enolate and substrate can exist as (Z) or (E) isomers. With enolates derived from ketones or carboxylic esters, (E) enolates gave the syn pair of enantiomers (p. 146), while (Z) enolates gave the anti pair. Addition of chiral additives to the reaction, such as proline derivatives, or (—)-sparteine lead to product formation with good-to-excellent asynunetric induction. Ultrasound has also been used to promote asymmetric Michael reactions. Intramolecular versions of Michael addition are well known. ... 

The DKR processes for secondary alcohols and primary amines can be slightly modified for applications in the asymmetric transformations of ketones, enol esters, and ketoximes. The key point here is that racemization catalysts used in the DKR can also catalyze the hydrogenation of ketones, enol esters, and ketoximes. Thus, the DKR procedures need a reducing agent as additional additive to enable asymmetric transformations. 

The reaction mechanism for glutamate racemase has been studied extensively. It has been proposed that the key for the racemization activity is that the two cysteine residues of the enzyme are located on both sides of the substrate bound to the active site. Thus, one cysteine residue abstracts the a-proton from the substrate, while the other detivers a proton from the opposite side of the intermediate enolate of the amino acid. In this way, the racemase catalyzes the racemization of glutamic acid via a so-called two-base mechanism (Fig. 15). 

Thus, decarboxylase of disubstituted malonic acid could be easily converted to racemase of the corresponding monobasic acid, in spite of the fact that decarboxylation and racemization are quite different from each other. The key for the success is the mechanistic consideration focusing on the fact that the intermediate of both reactions is the same type of enolate of monobasic carboxylic acid. 

Enantioselective enolate formation can also be achieved by kinetic resolution through preferential reaction of one of the enantiomers of a racemic chiral ketone such as 2-(f-butyl)cyclohcxanone (see Section 2.1.8 of Part A to review the principles of kinetic resolution). 

Stereochemical Control by the Aldehyde. A chiral center in an aldehyde can influence the direction of approach by an enolate or other nucleophile. This facial selectivity is in addition to the simple syn, anti diastereoselectivity so that if either the aldehyde or enolate contains a stereocenter, four stereoisomers are possible. There are four possible chairlike TSs, of which two lead to syn product from the Z-enolate and two to anti product from the A-enolate. The two members of each pair differ in the facial approach to the aldehyde and give products of opposite configuration at both of the newly formed stereocenters. If the substituted aldehyde is racemic, the enantiomeric products will be formed, making a total of eight stereoisomers possible. 

Scheme 2.5 gives some additional examples of double stereodifferentiation. Entry 1 combines the steric (Felkin) facial selectivity of the aldehyde with the facial selectivity of the enolate, which is derived from chelation. In reaction with the racemic aldehyde, the (R)-enantiomer is preferred. 

Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that a shortfall in this proposal was an inability to prepare the desired vinyl halide 25 in a straightforward and selective manner [19]. In contrast, we reasoned that the selective formation of an enol sulfonate, such as the enol triflate 26a, could be controlled by judicious tuning of enolization conditions starting from the corresponding ketone, and that such an enol sulfonate would possibly be a substrate for a palladium-mediated coupling (Scheme 9.17). In this way a common intermediate from the previously defined synthesis, that is, the racemic ketone rac-13 or its cyano equivalent rac-5 could be used to generate the required enamide. 

At the beginning of investigations on chiral dendrimers in our own group was the question of how to synthesize chiral, non-racemic derivatives of tris(hydroxymethyl)-methane [82], which we wanted to use as dendrimer center pieces. We have developed efficient diastereoselective syntheses of such triols [83-85] from ( R)-3-hydroxybutanoic acid, readily available from the biopolymer PHB [59,60] (cf. Sect. 2.4). To this end, the acid is converted to the dioxanone 52 [86, 87], from which various alkylation products and different aldol adducts of type 53 were obtained selectively, via the enolate (Fig. 20). These compounds have been reduced to give a variety of enantiopure chiral building blocks for dendrimers, such as the core unit 54, triply branching units 55a and 55b or doubly branching unit 56 [1,88]. 

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