Epoxidation tetrasubstituted olefins

This model prediets that tri-substituted and tetra-substituted olefins would also be poor substrates. Thus it was not until 1994 that a study in the epoxidation of higher substituted olefins appeared. Indeed Jaeobsen revealed that tri-substituted olefins, and even tetra-substituted olefins ean be excellent substratesA new model was put forth that encompasses a skewed side-on approach of tri-substituted olefins to the Mn-oxo eomplex. The observation that certain tetrasubstituted olefins undergo epoxidation with good enantioseleetivity suggests that further studies are needed in order to fully understand the transition state geometry of the catalyst and substrate. 

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 MT0/H202/pyridine system enjoys a broad substrate scope and has become the method of choice for the epoxidation of di-, tri-, and tetrasubstituted olefins. As an added benefit, it gives high diastereoselectivities for a number of cyclic dienes (Table 12.1). 

At first, the reaction was characterized as most effective in the epoxidation of cw-disubstituted olefins.86 Later, the scope of this reaction was expanded to include the highly enantioselective synthesis of hYwiv-dis ubstitutcd8 7 and tri-substituted epoxides,88 as well as certain monosubstituted epoxides.89 The first example of nondirect asymmetric epoxidation of tetrasubstituted olefins has also appeared.90... 

Tetrasubstituted olefins are particularly difficult to epoxidize enantioselectively with (salen)Mn catalysts. Nevertheless, Jacobsen has reported moderate to high enantioselectivi-ties with certain tetrasubstituted olefins by careful selection of reaction parameters. Curiously enough, the more bulky catalysts appear to be the most effective for these substrates, as... 

These results contradict Jacobsen s earlier mechanistic theories, which would have predicted a top-on" approach for the sterically demanding tetrasubstituted olefins (Figure 1) and thus inferior results compared to the less-substituted olefins, which were assumed to approach from a skewed side-on" disposition. Furthermore, his observation that trisubstituted olefins were epoxidized in an opposite stereochemical sense compared to other olefins required invoking a stepwise mechanism, wherein the radical intermediate is steered by the pendant chiral catalyst [94JOC4378], At the current time, these results fail to coalesce into a clear unified predictive model. 

The synthesis of the tetrasubstituted dihydroquinoline portion of siomycin Di, which belongs to the thiostrepton family of peptide antibiotics, was achieved in the laboratory of K. Hashimoto. The Jacobsen epoxidation was utilized to introduce the epoxide enantioselectively at the C7-C8 position. The olefin was treated with 5 mol% of Jacobsen s manganese(lll)-salen complex (R =f-Bu) and 4% aqueous NaOCI solution in dichloromethane. To enhance the catalyst turnover, 50 mol% of 4-phenylpyridine-A/-oxide was added to the reaction mixture. The desired epoxide was obtained in 43% yield and with 91% ee. 

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