Epoxide formations

Construct a molecular model of trans 2 bromocyclohexanol in its most stable conformation This conformation is ill suited to undergo epoxide formation on treatment with base Why2 What must happen in order to produce 1 2 epoxycyclohexane from trans 2 bromocyclohexanoP... 

Some cleavage takes place even if the phenoHc hydroxyl is blocked as an ether link to another phenylpropane unit and quinonemethide formation is prevented. If the a- or y-carbon hydroxyl is free, alkaH-catalyzed neighboring-group attack can take place with epoxide formation and P-aryloxide elimination. In other reactions, blocked phenoHc units are degraded if an a-carbonyl group is present. 

Epoxide formation from chlorohydrins is marked by an increase in rate with alkyl substitution (28) as shown in Figure 1. This phenomenon has been explained on the basis that steric crowding ia the chlorohydrin is somewhat reheved as the epoxide is formed, so that the greatest rehef of strain results from ring closure of the most crowded chlorohydrin (28). 

The great reactivity of the sulfurane prepared by this procedure toward active hydrogen compounds, coupled with an indefinite shelf life in the absence of moisture, makes this compound a useful reagent for dehydrations,amide cleavage reactions, epoxide formation, sulfilimine syntheses, and certain oxidations and coupling reactions. 

In general, epoxidation of steroids with trans-anti-trans ring fusions leads to exclusive formation of the a-oxirane. Steroid Reactions lists examples of exclusive a-epoxide formation from 2-, 4-, 6-, 7-, 8(9)-, 14-, 16- and 17(20)-unsaturated steroids. Further examples of a-epoxidation of steroid 1-enes, 3-enes, 8-enes, 9(ll)-enes, 8(14)-enes and 16-enes have been reported. The preferred attack by the reagent on the a-side of the steroid nucleus can be attributed to shielding of the -side of the molecules by the two angular methyl groups. 

In addition, NaOMe, and NaNH2, have also been employed. Applieation of phase-transfer conditions with tetra-n-butylammonium iodide showed marked improvement for the epoxide formation. Furthermore, many complex substituted sulfur ylides have been synthesized and utilized. For instance, stabilized ylide 20 was prepared and treated with a-D-a/lo-pyranoside 19 to furnish a-D-cyclopropanyl-pyranoside 21. Other examples of substituted sulfur ylides include 22-25, among which aminosulfoxonium ylide 25, sometimes known as Johnson s ylide, belongs to another category. The aminosulfoxonium ylides possess the configurational stability and thermal stability not enjoyed by the sulfonium and sulfoxonium ylides, thereby are more suitable for asymmetric synthesis. 

In this oxidative degradation, MTO decomposes into catalytically inert perrhenate and methanol. The decomposition reaction is accelerated at higher pH, presumably through the reaction between the more potent nucleophile H02- and MTO. The decomposition of MTO under basic conditions is rather problematic, since the selectivity for epoxide formation certainly profits from the use of nonacidic conditions. 

Scheme 10.27 Catalytic cycle of HppE. Dashed arrows indicate electron transport. In this scheme HPP binds to iron1". After a one-electron reduction, dioxygen binds and reoxidizes the iron center. The peroxide radical is capable of stereospecifically abstracting the (pro-R) hydrogen. Another one-electron reduction is required to reduce one peroxide oxygen to water. Epoxide formation is mediated by the resulting ironlv-oxo species.

In the previous sections, epoxidation was accompanied by a net oxidation of the substrate. We would like to conclude our discussion of various mechanisms of epoxide formation by presenting one example in which the substrate does not undergo a change in redox state. 

Epoxide formation may be a side reaction occurring during initiation by t-butylperoxy radicals. The mechanism proposed for this process is as follows (Scheme 3,831, 1... 

In the examples given, there is good evidence for the formation of an unstable epoxide intermediate in the production of monohydroxymetabolites. However, there is an ongoing debate about the possible operation of other mechanisms of primary oxidative attack that do not involve epoxide formation, for example, in the production of 2 OH 3,3, 4,4 -TCB (Figure 6.3). As mentioned earlier, P450s of gene family 1 (CYP 1) tend to be specific for planar substrates, including coplanar PCBs they do not appear to be involved in the metabolism of nonplanar PCBs. On the other hand. 

Other aspects of epoxide formation and degradation are worth noting, particularly on account of their biotechnological relevance. 

Bartnicki EW, CE Castro (1969) Biodehalogenation. The pathway for transhalogenation and the stereochemistry of epoxide formation from halohydrins. Biochemistry 8 4677-4680. 

Dimethylsulfonium methylide is both more reactive and less stable than dimethylsulfoxonium methylide, so it is generated and used at a lower temperature. A sharp distinction between the two ylides emerges in their reactions with a, ( -unsaturated carbonyl compounds. Dimethylsulfonium methylide yields epoxides, whereas dimethylsulfoxonium methylide reacts by conjugate addition and gives cyclopropanes (compare Entries 5 and 6 in Scheme 2.21). It appears that the reason for the difference lies in the relative rates of the two reactions available to the betaine intermediate (a) reversal to starting materials, or (b) intramolecular nucleophilic displacement.284 Presumably both reagents react most rapidly at the carbonyl group. In the case of dimethylsulfonium methylide the intramolecular displacement step is faster than the reverse of the addition, and epoxide formation takes place. 

The following is an example for a sequential one-pot epoxide formation/nucleophilic opening process using (S)-4-(benzyloxy)-l,2-butanediol, iV-(p-tohienesulfonyl)-imida-zole, and 2-lithio-l,3-dithiane ... 

Scheme 7.27. Domino ester reduction/epoxide formation/reductive epoxide-opening reaction.

The mechanism of epoxide formation (Scheme 7) has not been established but the intermediacy of nickel enolates and ensuing aldol type reactions are suspected28 (cf. Zn-mediated formation of furans from a-bromoketones29). A limitation on the synthesis is that R cannot be aryl for these cases, the products are 2,4-diarylfurans (see Section IV,B,1).30... 

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