Epoxidation synthetic application

Recendy, Darzens reaction was investigated for its synthetic applicability to the condensation of substituted cyclohexanes and optically active a-chloroesters (derived from (-)-phenylmenthol). In this report, it was found that reaction between chloroester 44 and cyclohexanone 43 provided an 84% yield with 78 22 selectivity for the axial glycidic ester 45 over equatorial glycidic ester 46 both having the R configuration at the epoxide stereocenter. 

Hydrogenation of epoxides lends itself well to both synthetic applications and mechanistic studies. The reaction is complex, for either carbon-oxygen bond may break with or without inversion of configuration, and the product may contain deoxygenated products (92,93) as well as ketones derived by isomerization (26). The reaction is especially sensitive to both catalyst and environment (74). 

The Sharpless-Katsuki asymmetric epoxidation (AE) procedure for the enantiose-lective formation of epoxides from allylic alcohols is a milestone in asymmetric catalysis [9]. This classical asymmetric transformation uses TBHP as the terminal oxidant, and the reaction has been widely used in various synthetic applications. There are several excellent reviews covering the scope and utility of the AE reaction... 

The successful synthesis of 2-thienyl and substituted 2- and 3-thienyl-acetylenes in yields as high as 60-80% opened a wide variety of synthetic applications. Various addition reactions with carbonyl compounds or epoxides could be carried out with ease. Aliphatic as well as aromatic amine addition reactions, or condensation reactions with hydrazine or hydroxylamine could be easily performed. 

A synthetic application of the sonolysis of iron carbonyls is the preparation of useful ferrilactones. The alkenyl epoxides (2, R = H, Ph, 1-hexanyl) are smoothly converted to the corresponding ferrilactone complexes (3) on reaction with Fe2(CO)9 suspended in THF and sonicated at room temperature [53]. Such complexes undergo several synthetically useful transformations (Scheme 3.7) including oxidation with Ce(IV) as a route to P-lactone natural products or P-lactam antibiotics and reaction with CO to afford 5-lactones [54]. Somewhat surprisingly this reaction is efficient even in diethyl ether, a volatile solvent which delivers low cavitation energy. 

A broad spectrum of chemical reactions can be catalyzed by enzymes Hydrolysis, esterification, isomerization, addition and elimination, alkylation and dealkylation, halogenation and dehalogenation, and oxidation and reduction. The last reactions are catalyzed by redox enzymes, which are classified as oxidoreductases and divided into four categories according to the oxidant they utilize and the reactions they catalyze 1) dehydrogenases (reductases), 2) oxidases, 3) oxygenases (mono- and dioxygenases), and 4) peroxidases. The latter enzymes have received extensive attention in the last years as bio catalysts for synthetic applications. Peroxidases catalyze the oxidation of aromatic compounds, oxidation of heteroatom compounds, epoxidation, and the enantio-selective reduction of racemic hydroperoxides. In this article, a short overview... 

We began these studies with the intention of applying this tandem asymmetric epoxidation/asymmetric allylboration sequence towards the synthesis of D-olivose derivative 63 (refer to Figure 18). As the foregoing discussion indicates, our research has moved somewhat away from this goal and we have not yet had the opportunity to undertake this synthesis. This, as well as the synthesis of the olivomycin CDE trisaccharide, remain as problems for future exploration. Because it is the enantioselectivity of the tartrate ester allylboronates that has limited the success of the mismatched double asymmetric reactions discussed here, as well as in several other cases published from our laboratorythe focus of our work on chiral allyiboronate chemistry has shifted away from synthetic applications and towards the development of a more highly enantioselective chiral auxiliary. One such auxiliary has been developed, as described below. 

Working on modifications of trehalose, Richardson (with P.A. Monroe and Les Hough) demonstrated the selective tosylation at 0-2 of 4.6.4. 6 -di-(9-benzylidene-a,a-trehalose to afford a symmetrical 2,2 -ditosylate, which could be converted into the bis-manno-epoxide by the action of base (Scheme 24). The latter underwent trans-diaxial ring-opening with nucleophiles at C-3 and C-3, and many synthetic applications of this intermediate have now been recorded. One of these is shown in Scheme 24, from the Richardson-Hough laboratory, performed by postdoctoral fellow, Edward Tarelli, who contributed voluminously with Richardson to the exploration and development of trehalose chemistry. 

Dimesityldioxirane, a crystalline derivative, has been isolated by Sander and colleagues and subjected to X-ray analysis. The microwave and X-ray data both suggest that dioxiranes have an atypically long 0—0 bond in excess of 1.5 A. Those factors that determine the stability of dioxiranes are not yet completely understood but what is known today will be addressed in this review. A series of achiral, and more recently chiral oxygen atom transfer reagents, have been adapted to very selective applications in the preparation of complex epoxides and related products of oxidation. A detailed history and survey of the rather remarkable evolution of dioxirane chemistry and their numerous synthetic applications is presented in Chapter 14 of this volume by Adam and Cong-Gui Zhao. Our objective in this part of the review is to first provide a detailed theoretical description of the electronic nature of dioxiranes and then to describe the nuances of the mechanism of oxygen atom transfer to a variety of nucleophilic substrates. 

In 1980, Katsuki and Sharpless described the first really efficient asymmetric epoxidation of allylic alcohols with very high enantioselectivities (ee 90-95%), employing a combination of Ti(OPr-/)4-diethyl tartrate (DET) as chiral catalyst and TBHP as oxidant Stoichiometric conditions were originally described for this system, however the addition of molecular sieves (which trap water traces) to the reaction allows the epoxidation to proceed under catalytic conditions. The stereochemical course of the reaction may be predicted by the empirical rule shown in equations 40 and 41. With (—)-DET, the oxidant approaches the allylic alcohol from the top side of the plane, whereas the bottom side is open for the (-l-)-DET based reagent, giving rise to the opposite optically active epoxide. Various aspects of this reaction including the mechanism, theoretical investigations and synthetic applications of the epoxy alcohol products have been reviewed and details may be found in the specific literature . 

The use of alkyl hydroperoxides in the metal-catalyzed epoxidation of alkenes is their most important synthetic application. High-valence d° metals such as Mo(VI), W(VI), V(V), and Ti(IV) are the most effective catalysts 24 245,278,279,285,286 Used as soluble complexes or as heterogenized supported catalysts, they can give epoxides in near-quantitative yields. 

Tetr 39 2323 (1983) (Recent Advances in the Preparation and Synthetic Applications of Oxiranes) 43 3309 (1987) (Synthetic Routes to Tetrahydrofuran, Tetrahydropyran, and Spiroketal Units of Polyether Antibiodcs and a Survey of Spiroketals of Other Natural Products) SO 8885 (1994) (Chemical and Biological Synthesis of Chiral Epoxides)... 

Another approach in the study of the mechanism and synthetic applications of bromination of alkenes and alkynes involves the use of crystalline bromine-amine complexes such as pyridine hydrobromide perbromide (PyHBts), pyridine dibromide (PyBn), and tetrabutylammonium tribromide (BiMNBn) which show stereochemical differences and improved selectivities for addition to alkenes and alkynes compared to Bn itself.81 The improved selectivity of bromination by PyHBn forms the basis for a synthetically useful procedure for selective monoprotection of the higher alkylated double bond in dienes by bromination (Scheme 42).80 The less-alkylated double bonds in dienes can be selectively monoprotected by tetrabromination followed by monodeprotection at the higher alkylated double bond by controlled-potential electrolysis (the reduction potential of vicinal dibromides is shifted to more anodic values with increasing alkylation Scheme 42).80 The question of which diastereotopic face in chiral allylic alcohols reacts with bromine has been probed by Midland and Halterman as part of a stereoselective synthesis of bromo epoxides (Scheme 43).82... 

The hallmark of Ti-tartrate catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation is the high degree of enantiofacial selectivity seen for a wide range of allylic alcohols. It is natural to inquire into what the mechanism of this reaction might be and what structural features of the catalyst produce these desirable results. These questions have been studied extensively, and the results have been the subject of considerable discussion [6,135,136]. For the purpose of this chapter, we review the aspects of the mechanistic-structural studies that may be helpful in devising synthetic applications of this reaction. 

The use of cyclic sulfates in synthetic applications has been limited in the past because, although cyclic sulfites are easily prepared from diols, a convenient method for oxidation of the cyclic sulfites to cyclic sulfates had not been developed. The experiments of Denmark [70] and of Lowe and co-workers [71 ] with stoichiometric ruthenium tetroxide oxidations and of Brandes and Katzenellenbogen [72a] and Gao and Sharpless [68] with catalytic ruthenium tetroxide and sodium periodate as cooxidant have led to an efficient method for this oxidation step. Examples of the conversion of several diols (67) to cyclic sulfites (68) followed by oxidation to cyclic sulfates (69) are listed in Table 6D.7. The cyclic sulfite/cyclic sulfate sequence has been applied to 1,2-, 1,3-, and 1,4-diols with equal success. Cyclic sulfates, like epoxides, are excellent electrophiles and, as a consequence of their stereoelectronic makeup, are less susceptible to the elimination reactions that usually accompany attack by nucleophiles at a secondary carbon. With the development of convenient methods for their syntheses, the reactions of cyclic sulfates have been explored, Most of the reactions have been nucleophilic displacements with opening of the cyclic sulfate ring. The variety of nucleophiles used in this way is already extensive and includes H [68], [68,73-76], F" [68,72,74], PhCOCT [68,73,74], NOJ [68], SCN [68],... 

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