Epoxide trisubstituted

Deoxygenation of epoxides. Trisubstituted steroidal epoxides undergo deoxygenation to the unsaturated steroids by reaction with PCQH,), and I, in CH,C1, (70-100% yield). 

CDP840 is a selective inhibitor of the PDE-IV isoenzyme and interest in the compound arises from its potential application as an antiasthmatic agent. Chemists at Merck Co. used the asymmetric epoxidation reaction to set the stereochemistry of the carbon framework and subsequently removed the newly established C-O bonds." Epoxidation of the trisubstituted olefin 51 provided the desired epoxide in 89% ee and in 58% yield. Reduction of both C-O bonds was then accomplished to provide CDP840. 

The AE reactions on 2,5,5-trisubstituted allyl alcohols have received little attention, due in part the limited utility of the product epoxides. Selective ring opening of tetrasubstituted epoxides are difficult to achieve. Epoxide 39 was prepared using stoichiometric AE conditions and were subsequently elaborated to Darvon alcohol. Epoxides 40 and 41 were both prepared in good selectivity and subsequently utilized in the preparation of (-)-cuparene and the polyfunctoinal carotenoid peridinin, respectively. Scheme 1.6.12... 

Until this work, the reactions between the benzyl sulfonium ylide and ketones to give trisubstituted epoxides had not previously been used in asymmetric sulfur ylide-mediated epoxidation. It was found that good selectivities were obtained with cyclic ketones (Entry 6), but lower diastereo- and enantioselectivities resulted with acyclic ketones (Entries 7 and 8), which still remain challenging substrates for sulfur ylide-mediated epoxidation. In addition they showed that aryl-vinyl epoxides could also be synthesized with the aid of a,P-unsaturated sulfonium salts lOa-b (Scheme 1.4). 

In the synthesis of the squalenoid glabrescol (72 originally attributed structure), containing five adjacent (all cis) THF rings, the necessary precursor of the polyepoxide cascade, the pentaepoxide 71, was achieved by epoxidation of each of the trisubstituted double bonds of the known (R)-2,3-dihydroxy-2,3-dihydrosqualene (70) by the Shi epoxidation approach (Scheme 8.18) [34]. Treatment of 71 with CSA at 0 °C and subsequent purification by column chromatography provided the pure polycyclic ether 72 by a cascade process reasonably initiated by the free secondary alcohol functionality [35a]. 

A direct application of the ring-opening reaction of an epoxide by a metal enolate amide for the synthesis of a complex molecule can be found in the synthesis of the trisubstituted cyclopentane core of brefeldin A (Scheme 8.35) [68a]. For this purpose, treatment of epoxy amide 137 with excess KH in THF gave a smooth cyclization to amide 138, which was subsequently converted into the natural product. No base/solvent combination that would effect cyclization of the corresponding aldehyde or ester could be found. 

Figure 6.70 Enantioconvergent hydrolysis of a trisubstituted epoxide using a single enzyme.

The enantioconvergent biohydrolysis of sterically demanding trisubstituted oxiranes has also been reported [189,190]. For instance, the enantioconvergent hydrolysis of a trisubstituted rac-epoxide (Figure 6.70) was a key step in the chemoenzymatic synthesis of a volatile constituent of the beer aroma [190]. 

A number of chiral ketones have been developed that are capable of enantiose-lective epoxidation via dioxirane intermediates.104 Scheme 12.13 shows the structures of some chiral ketones that have been used as catalysts for enantioselective epoxidation. The BINAP-derived ketone shown in Entry 1, as well as its halogenated derivatives, have shown good enantioselectivity toward di- and trisubstituted alkenes. 

The combination of (EtO)3SiH/CsF (or KF) provides a convenient reagent for the reduction of esters to alcohols.76,80,83 The yields are in the 70% range. Potassium tetraethoxyhydridosilicate also reduces esters in moderate yields.288 The combination of PM HS/CpiTiCE/n-BuLi reduces esters in high yields even in the presence of an epoxide and a trisubstituted olefin (Eq. 140).289 The reagent combination can reduce a methyl ester in the presence of a tert-butyl ester (Eq. 141).290... 

The preparation of 2,3,5-trisubstituted 4,5-dihydrofurans 81 with complete regio-control can be realized by an one-pot transformation involving epoxidation of 2-alkenyl-1,3-dicarbonyls by in situ generated dimethyldioxirane, and is followed by a S-exo-ieX intramolecular nucleophilic cyclization under the same basic condition <00TL10127>. 

All the reactions were carried out at 0°C, with the substrate (1 equivalent), ketone (3 equivalents), Oxone (5 equivalents), and NaHCC>3 in CH3CN aqueous EDTA for 2 hours. High enantioselectivity can generally be obtained for trans- and trisubstituted olefins. The favored spiro and planar transition states have been proposed for ketone 130-mediated rrans-stilbene epoxidation (Scheme 4-48). 

Subsequently, high chemoselectivity and enantioselectivity have been observed in the asymmetric epoxidation of a variety of conjugated enynes using fructose-derived chiral ketone as the catalyst and Oxone as the oxidant. Reported enantioselectivities range from 89% to 97%, and epoxidation occurs chemoselectively at the olefins. In contrast to certain isolated trisubstituted olefins, high enantioselectivity for trisubstituted enynes is noticeable. This may indicate that the alkyne group is beneficial for these substrates due to both electronic and steric effects. 

We will describe representative procedures for the epoxidation of a disub-stituted aromatic allylic alcohol (A), a trisubstituted aromatic allylic alcohol (B) and a disubstituted aliphatic allylic alcohol (C). 

Epoxidation using manganese salen complexes is very easy to carry out it occurs under aqueous conditions and commercial house bleach can be used as the oxidant. The results are similar to those reported in the literature Table 6.1 gives other examples of alkenes which can be epoxidized using the same procedure. This method gives good results, especially for disubstituted Z-alkenes but trisubstituted alkenes can be epoxidized as well. 

Among many other methods for epoxidation of disubstituted E-alkenes, chiral dioxiranes generated in situ from potassium peroxomonosulfate and chiral ketones have appeared to be one of the most efficient. Recently, Wang et /. 2J reported a highly enantioselective epoxidation for disubstituted E-alkenes and trisubstituted alkenes using a d- or L-fructose derived ketone as catalyst and oxone as oxidant (Figure 6.3). 

Shi s method gives good results for disubstituted /f-alkenes compared to the Jacobsen epoxidation previously described, which is more specific for disubstituted Z-alkenes. Concerning the epoxidation of trisubstituted alkenes, the epoxidation of 1-phenyl-1-cyclohexene could not be validated because of... 

Table 6.2 Epoxidation of disubstituted />alkenes and trisubstituted alkenes by ketone derived from D-fructose[2].

Further variations on the epoxyketone intermediate theme have been reported. In the first (Scheme 9A) [78], limonene oxide was prepared by Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation of commercial (S)-(-)- perillyl alcohol 65 followed by conversion of the alcohol 66 to the crystalline mesylate, recrystallization to remove stereoisomeric impurities, and reduction with LiAlH4 to give (-)-limonene oxide 59. This was converted to the key epoxyketone 60 by phase transfer catalyzed permanganate oxidation. Control of the trisubstituted alkene stereochemistry was achieved by reaction of the ketone with the anion from (4-methyl-3-pentenyl)diphenylphosphine oxide, yielding the isolable erythro adduct 67, and the trisubstituted E-alkene 52a from spontaneous elimination by the threo adduct. Treatment of the erythro adduct with NaH in DMF resulted... 

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