Epoxidations scope

Ketone 8 epoxidizes a wide range of olefins in good yields. The steric hindrance and electronegativity of the substitnents (X) at positions 3 and 3 greatly affect the epoxidation reactivity and enantioselectivity. In general, pnra-snbstituted trans-stilbenes are very effective snbstrates for the epoxidation using ketone 8 (Table 1, entries 1-8, 16-18). The enantioselectivity for the epoxidation increases as the size of the substituents increases. However, the size of the mefn-substituents had little effect on enantioselectivity. Later, Seki and coworkers extended the epoxidation scope to cinnamates using ketone 8 (Table 1, entry 26) [35, 36]. 

Aldehydes react with alkenylborates to give 1,3-diols upon oxidation of the intermediate (300). Alkynylborates ate transformed by epoxides into homoallyhc alcohols and alkenylborates into 1,4-diols (300,301). Carbon dioxide reacts with alkenylborates to yield catboxyhc acids (302). The scope of these transformations is further extended by the use of functionalized electrophiles and borates, often reacting with high stereoselectivity. For example, in the... 

With electron-deficient aromatic substrates (Entries 4 and 5), high yields and selectivities were observed, but enantioselectivities were variable and solvent-de-pendent (compare Entry 6 with 7 and see Section 1.2.1.3 for further discussion). With a,P-unsaturated tosylhydrazone salts, selectivities and yields were lower. The scope of this process has been extensively mapped out, enabling the optimum disconnection for epoxidation to be chosen [10]. 

Aziridination remains less well developed than epoxidation. Nevertheless, high selectivity in inline aziridination has been achieved through the use of chiral sulfi-nimines as auxiliaries. Highly successful catalytic asymmetric aziridination reactions employing either sulfur ylides or diazo esters and chiral Lewis acids have been developed, although their scope and potential applications in synthesis have yet to be established. 

To extend the scope of asymmetric transannular C-H insertions, more highly functionalized medium-sized cyclic epoxides have been investigated. A triad of cydooctene oxides 34, 36, and 38, possessing protected diol units, gave the expected alcohols 35, 37, and 39 (Scheme 5.10) [17, 18] an asymmetric synthesis of (-)-xialenon A has been achieved starting from alcohol 39 [19]. In comparison,... 

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... 

Cytochrome P450 enzymes have been the subject of a number of recent reviews in which their mechanism and scope of action are covered in much detail [1, 6, 10, 11]. The reader is referred to these articles for a more thorough account of the mechanism and reactivity of cytochrome P450 enzymes, while we present a few representative examples of cytochrome P450-catalyzed epoxidation below. The enzymes we chose are all involved in the biosynthesis of polyketide natural products. Polyketides are a large, structurally diverse family of compounds and have provided a wealth of therapeutically useful drugs and drug leads. 

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). 

Taken together, the broad scope of these reactions and the easy access to the starting materials from the corresponding epoxides makes aziridinium ions ideal click intermediates. 

The complex Pd-(-)-sparteine was also used as catalyst in an important reaction. Two groups have simultaneously and independently reported a closely related aerobic oxidative kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols. The oxidation of secondary alcohols is one of the most common and well-studied reactions in chemistry. Although excellent catalytic enantioselective methods exist for a variety of oxidation processes, such as epoxidation, dihydroxy-lation, and aziridination, there are relatively few catalytic enantioselective examples of alcohol oxidation. The two research teams were interested in the metal-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes and ketones and became involved in extending the scopes of these oxidations to asymmetric catalysis. 

The wide scope of the application of conduritol epoxides for the active-site-directed inhibition is seen from the data given in Table XI. Only a few... 

The scope of reactions involving hydrogen peroxide and PTC is large, and some idea of the versatility can be found from Table 4.2. A relatively new combined oxidation/phase transfer catalyst for alkene epoxidation is based on MeRe03 in conjunction with 4-substituted pyridines (e.g. 4-methoxy pyridine), the resulting complex accomplishing both catalytic roles. 

Other reactions not described here are formal [3 -i- 2] cycloadditions of a,p-unsaturated acyl-fluorides with allylsilanes [116], or the desymmetrization of meso epoxides [117]. For many of the reactions shown above, the planar chiral Fe-sandwich complexes are the first catalysts allowing for broad substrate scope in combination with high enantioselectivities and yields. Clearly, these milestones in asymmetric Lewis-base catalysis are stimulating the still ongoing design of improved catalysts. 

By 1990, most of the catalytic reactions of TS-1 had been discovered. The wide scope of these reactions is shown in Fig. 6.1.35 Conversions include olefins and diolefins to epoxides,6,7 12 16 19 21 24 34 36 38 13 aromatic compounds to phenols,7,9 19 25 27 36 ketones to oximes,11 20 34 46 primary alcohols to aldehydes and then to acids, secondary alcohols to ketones,34-36 42 47-30 and alkanes to secondary and tertiary alcohols and ketones.6 34 43 31 52... 

The scope of metal-mediated asymmetric epoxidation of allylic alcohols was remarkably enhanced by a new titanium system introduced by Katsuki and Sharpless epoxidation of allylic alcohols using a titanium(IV) isopropoxide, dialkyl tartrate (DAT), and TBHP (TBHP = tert-butyl-hydroperoxide) proceeds with high enantioselectivity and good chemical yield, regardless of... 

Besides ruthenium porphyrins (vide supra), several other ruthenium complexes were used as catalysts for asymmetric epoxidation and showed unique features 114,115 though enantioselectivity is moderate, some reactions are stereospecific and treats-olefins are better substrates for the epoxidation than are m-olcfins (Scheme 20).115 Epoxidation of conjugated olefins with the Ru (salen) (37) as catalyst was also found to proceed stereospecifically, with high enantioselectivity under photo-irradiation, irrespective of the olefmic substitution pattern (Scheme 21).116-118 Complex (37) itself is coordinatively saturated and catalytically inactive, but photo-irradiation promotes the dissociation of the apical nitrosyl ligand and makes the complex catalytically active. The wide scope of this epoxidation has been attributed to the unique structure of (37). Its salen ligand adopts a deeply folded and distorted conformation that allows the approach of an olefin of any substitution pattern to the intermediary oxo-Ru species.118 2,6-Dichloropyridine IV-oxide (DCPO) and tetramethylpyrazine /V. V -dioxide68 (TMPO) are oxidants of choice for this epoxidation. 

The introduction of various metal-catalyzed reactions, however, remarkably expanded the scope of the epoxidation of Q,.3-unsaturatcd ketones. Enders et al. have reported that a combination of diethylzinc and A-methyl-pseudoephedrine epoxidizes various o,. j-unsaturatcd ketones, under an oxygen atmosphere, with good to high enantioselectivity (Scheme 23).126 In this reaction, diethylzinc first reacts with the chiral alcohol, and the resulting ethylzinc alkoxide is converted by oxygen to an ethylperoxo-zinc species that epoxidizes the a,/3-unsaturated ketones enantioselectively. Although a stoichiometric chiral auxiliary is needed for this reaction, it can be recovered in almost quantitative yield. 

The scope and direction of these biological investigations have been largely determined by the development of methods for the synthesis of the PAH metabolites. The diol epoxides are not isolable as products of metabolism due to their exceptional chemical reactivity. 

The wide scope application of this transformation arises not only from the utility of epoxide compounds but also from the subsequent regiocontrolled and stereocontrolled nucleophilic substitution (ring-opening) reactions of the derived epoxy alcohol. These, through further functionalization, allow access to an impressive array of target molecules in enantiomerically pure form. 

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