Epoxides chiral, synthesis

Sulfur ylides are a classic reagent for the conversion of carbonyl compounds to epoxides. Chiral camphor-derived sulfur ylides have been used in the enantioselective synthesis of epoxy-amides <06JA2105>. Reaction of sulfonium salt 12 with an aldehyde and base provides the epoxide 13 in generally excellent yields. While the yield of the reaction was quite good across a variety of R groups, the enantioselectivity was variable. For example benzaldehyde provides 13 (R = Ph) in 97% ee while isobutyraldehyde provides 13 (R = i-Pr) with only 10% ee. These epoxy amides could be converted to a number of epoxide-opened... 

The MABR-promoted rearrangement, when applied to optically active epoxy substrates, has been shown to proceed with rigorous transfer of the epoxide chirality. Accordingly, used in combination with the Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation of allylic alcohols,5 this rearrangement represents a new approach to the synthesis of various... 

Senanayake, C. H., Jacobsen, E. N. Chiral (Salen)Mn(III) Complexes in Asymmetric Epoxidations Practical Synthesis of Ci s - Am i n o i n d ano 1 and Its Application to Enantiopure Drug Synthesis, Process Chemistry in the Pharmaceutical Industry, Gadamasetti, K. G. Marcel Dekker New York, 1999, Chapter 18, 327. 

Like epoxides, chiral non-racemic aziridines are useful synthetic intermediates [3, 71], and a number of methodologies have been developed for their asymmetric synthesis [3, 6, 14, 72, 73]. Although several groups have developed stoichiometric methods using chiral ylides [16, 20, 22, 74, 75], catalytic asymmetric ylide azir-idinations remain relatively rare. In fact, the first catalytic aziridination with an ylide was only reported ten years ago [76]. Progress in this area is reviewed in the following section. 

Of similar nature are chiral halogenations using auxiliary groups. Typical examples are the conversion of esters to enantiomerically pure halohydrins (precursors to chiral epoxides) using camphor-10-sulfonic acid derivatives583 and the chiral synthesis of a-amino acid synthons via diastereoselective bromination of TV-acyl oxazolidone derivatives584. 

There is a trend toward chiral synthesis [132] the Englehard company is said to have piloted the electrosynthesis of chiral diols. New reactor design for the epoxidation of olefins is under development on a pilot scale [133]. Gas diffusion electrodes, developed for fuel cells and inorganic processes, are finding their first applications in organic electrosynthesis [134—136]. Another area of more than laboratory interest is bioelectrochemistry [137] (see also E. Steckhan, Chapter 27 in this volume). 

Workers at Lilly have reported the synthesis of 8,9-LTA3 (51), 8,9-LTC3 (52a), and 8,9-LTD3 (52b),leukotrienes that are reported to be produced from dihomo-y-linolenic acid in ionophore-stimulated murine mastocytoma cells. The natural stereochemistry was assumed to be (85,9/f,10,12 ,14Z) by analogy with arachidonic acid metabolism in the same cell system. The chiral synthesis was achieved (93% ee) via Sharpless epoxidation of an appropriate allylic alcohol (53) (Scheme 5.17). 

The full paper describing Mori s synthesis of lineatin (296) (Vol. 4, p. 489, Ref. 263) has been published. After converting the lactone 329 to ( )-lineatin using a [2 + 2] cycloaddition, Slessor et al. followed another route from the same lactone 329, which is readily available by the Lewis acid-catalyzed addition of ketene to mesityl oxide. The route is shown in Scheme 25. In this scheme, the mixture arising from the carbene addition is not separated because, at the stage of the epoxide formation, only the major (desired) isomer 330 was isolated, the other being thermally unstable. The exo alcohols obtained in small amounts after the borohydride reduction (step h) were not isolated. To obtain the natural isomer of lineatin [( + )-(l/ ,4S,5/ ,7R)-296] the alcohol 331 was resolved with (—)-(r)-l-(l-nephthyl)ethyl isocyanate/triethylamine. The first stereospecific chiral synthesis of (+)-lineatin (296) started from D-ribonolactone (332), and is illustrated (in somewhat abbreviated form) in Scheme 26 it proceeded in 2.7% overall yield. °... 

The absolute stereochemistry of the C-12 and C-13 oxirane moiety of laureoxolane (157), a colorless unstable bromoether obtained from extracts of Laurencia nipponica, was determined on the basis of a chiral synthesis of 156, a degradative derivative of 157. The C-5 to C-8 unit with two asymmetric centers at C-6 and C-7 of 157 corresponds to (25, 35)-l-benzyloxy-3,4-epoxy-2-butanol (142). Elongation of 142 using butyllithium and copper cyanide followed by the creation of a new epoxide provides 152. Lithium acetylide ethylenediamine complex addition to 152 and subsequent ketalization affords the acetylenic acetonide 153, which is coupled with (2i ,35)-l,2-epoxy-3-benzoyloxypentane (154) to furnish 155. Subsequent five-step transformation of 155 provides 156 [60] (Scheme 37). 

The synthesis of optically active cyclohex-2-enone oxide (55) from cyclohex-2-enone has been reported. The epoxidizing medium contained a chiral catalyst (quininium benzyl chloride) with Bu OOH and a small amount of solid NaOH in toluene. This heterogeneous mixture avoided the use of the strongly alkaline aqueous phase which may have been responsible for the failure of earlier attempts at direct, chiral synthesis of (55). Chemical yields of 60% were obtained, with an e.e. of 20 3%. 

The C14-C20 segment [83] The route adopted for the chiral synthesis of the C14-C20 segment followed their replicating lactone method [89, 90] starting from the same lactone 102 (Scheme 14). A standard five-step transformation of 102 provided the epoxide 109 on which a two-carbon extension sequence [89, 90] furnished the replicated butenolide 110. Conjugate addition of the bulky lithium m s(methylthio)methane followed by an enolate hydroxylation... 

A number of papers deal with chiral synthesis of epoxides. The pheromone of the ruby tiger moth (58) has been prepared in 10... 

In 1980, K. B. Sharpless (then at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, presently at The Scripps Research Institute) and co-workers reported a method that has since become one of the most valuable tools for chiral synthesis. The Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation is a method for converting allylic alcohols (Section 11.1) to chiral epoxy alcohols with very high enan-tioselectivity (i.e., with preference for one enantiomer rather than formation of a racemic mixture). In recognition of this and other work in asymmetric oxidation methods (see Section 8.16A), Sharpless received half of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (the other half was awarded to W. S. Knowles and R. Noyori see Section 7.14). The Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation involves treating the allylic alcohol with tert-butyl hydroperoxide, titanium(IV) tetraisopropoxide [Ti(0—/-POJ, and a specific stereoisomer of a tartrate ester. (The tartrate stereoisomer that is chosen depends on the specific enantiomer of the epoxide desired). The following is an example ... 

Oxirans.—Many examples of epoxide ring synthesis have appeared this year. Without doubt a great deal of effort has gone into the stereoselective syntheses of chiral epoxides, and many of the methods described may be useful for future natural product synthesis. 

Other reactions described, with varying degrees of success, have been chiral epoxidation, chiral hydrogenation, chiral iodination, and chiral reduction of keto-groups. One of the last reactions is especially interesting in using a chiral phase-transfer catalyst. Finally, Johnson and his co-workers have reported in full the asymmetric induction in their steroid synthesis via polyene cyclization [e.g. (46) (47) with ca. 90 % optical purity]. ... 

Henegar et al. [78] at Pfizer developed an efficient and greener synthesis of the (S, 5)-reboxetine 157, which is being evaluated for the treatment of neuropathic pain and a variety of other indications (Scheme 9.42). The reported chiral synthesis of 157 starts by SAE of cinnamyl alcohol 154 to give R, R)-epoxide 155 in 89% yield (> 98% ee). Reaction of 155 with 2-ethoxyphenol gave crystallized product 156. The overall yield of (S, 5)-reboxetine succinate increased by 9%, compared to resolution method. The catalytic asymmetric process offers use of less solvent and reduces waste generation by approximately 50%, compared to the resolution route. 

Recent syntheses of steroids apply efficient strategies in which open-chain or monocyclic educts with appropiate side-chains are stereoselectively cyclized in one step to a tri- or tetracyclic steroid precursor. These procedures mimic the biochemical synthesis scheme where acyclic, achiral squalene is first oxidized to a 2,3-epoxide containing one chiral carbon atom and then enzymatically cyclized to lanostetol with no less than seven asymmetric centres (W.S. Johnson, 1%8, 1976 E.E. van Tamden, 1968). 

Fig. 8. Use of Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation for the preparation of an intermediate in the synthesis of FK-506 (105), where represents the chiral...

The remarkable stereospecificity of TBHP-transition metal epoxidations of allylic alcohols has been exploited by Sharpless group for the synthesis of chiral oxiranes from prochiral allylic alcohols (Scheme 76) (81JA464) and for diastereoselective oxirane synthesis from chiral allylic alcohols (Scheme 77) (81JA6237). It has been suggested that this latter reaction may enable the preparation of chiral compounds of complete enantiomeric purity cf. Scheme 78) ... 

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