Epoxides from sulfur ylides

Isolated carbonyls always give epoxides from the Corey-Chaykovsky reaction. Take the aldehyde substrate as an example. Spiro epoxide 30 was produced from the reaction of trisnorsqualene aldehyde 28 (R20 represents the polyene side-chain with 20 carbons) with substituted sulfur ylide 29, prepared in situ from cyclopropyldiphenylsulfonium tetrafluoroborate and KOH. " For the epoxidation of ketones, the Corey-Chaykovsky reaction works well for diaryl- (31), arylalkyl- (32), ... 

Stereoselective epoxidation can be realized through either substrate-controlled (e.g. 35 —> 36) or reagent-controlled approaches. A classic example is the epoxidation of 4-t-butylcyclohexanone. When sulfonium ylide 2 was utilized, the more reactive ylide irreversibly attacked the carbonyl from the axial direction to offer predominantly epoxide 37. When the less reactive sulfoxonium ylide 1 was used, the nucleophilic addition to the carbonyl was reversible, giving rise to the thermodynamically more stable, equatorially coupled betaine, which subsequently eliminated to deliver epoxide 38. Thus, stereoselective epoxidation was achieved from different mechanistic pathways taken by different sulfur ylides. In another case, reaction of aldehyde 38 with sulfonium ylide 2 only gave moderate stereoselectivity (41 40 = 1.5/1), whereas employment of sulfoxonium ylide 1 led to a ratio of 41 40 = 13/1. The best stereoselectivity was accomplished using aminosulfoxonium ylide 25, leading to a ratio of 41 40 = 30/1. For ketone 42, a complete reversal of stereochemistry was observed when it was treated with sulfoxonium ylide 1 and sulfonium ylide 2, respectively. ... 

In transforming bis-ketone 45 to keto-epoxide 46, the elevated stereoselectivity was believed to be a consequence of tbe molecular shape — tbe sulfur ylide attacked preferentially from tbe convex face of the strongly puckered molecule of 45. Moreover, the pronounced chemoselectivity was attributed to tbe increased electropbilicity of the furanone versus the pyranone carbonyl, as a result of an inductive effect generated by tbe pair of spiroacetal oxygen substituents at tbe furanone a-position. ... 

Since cbiral sulfur ylides racemize rapidly, they are generally prepared in situ from chiral sulfides and halides. The first example of asymmetric epoxidation was reported in 1989, using camphor-derived chiral sulfonium ylides with moderate yields and ee (< 41%) Since then, much effort has been made in tbe asymmetric epoxidation using sucb a strategy without a significant breakthrough. In one example, the reaction between benzaldehyde and benzyl bromide in the presence of one equivalent of camphor-derived sulfide 47 furnished epoxide 48 in high diastereoselectivity (trans cis = 96 4) with moderate enantioselectivity in the case of the trans isomer (56% ee). ... 

The reaction between an aldehyde and a carbon nucleophile, such as a sulfur ylide, constitutes an alternative approach to the synthesis of epoxides. Since alkenes, which are the normal epoxidation substrates, are often formed from aldehydes, this approach can be highly efficient. On the other hand, the synthesis of appropriate carbon nucleophiles usually requires additional steps. 

The sulfur ylide-mediated epoxidation of aldehydes has been thoroughly investigated [70, 71]. The chiral sulfur ylides reported by Aggarwal have been most broadly applicable, and a catalytic, asymmetric process yielding aromatic transepoxides has been developed [72]. In this process, the sulfur ylides are produced in situ from diazo compounds, generated in turn from tosylhydrazone salts (Scheme 9.15) [73],... 

Whereas phosphonium ylides normally react with carbonyl compounds to give alkenes, dimethylsulfonium methylide and dimethylsulfoxonium methylide yield epoxides. Instead of a four-center elimination, the adducts from the sulfur ylides undergo intramolecular displacement of the sulfur substituent by oxygen. In this reaction, the sulfur substituent serves both to promote anion formation and as the leaving group. 

The carbon fragment used in this approach can also be provided by sulfur yUdes. In this arena, Metzner and co-workers <99JCS(P1)731> developed a novel asymmetric variant employing (+)-(2/J,5/J)-2,5-dimethylthiolane (53) as the chiral auxiliary to prepare rrons-(S,S)-stilbene oxide (56). Chiral epoxides have also been prepared from aldehydes using sulfur ylides derived from the products of Baker s yeast reductions <99SL1328>. 

Dimethyloxosulfonium methylide reacts with the triketone (212) to give the fused 2-hydroxymethylenedihydropyran (213) (76H(4)1755). The reaction is thought to proceed through a zwitterion and the epoxide as indicated in Scheme 41. Intramolecular nucleophilic attack leads to the dihydropyran and the overall process may be regarded as a transfer of methylene from the sulfur ylide. 

A number of attempts have been made to use optically active sulfur ylides to transfer the chirality of sulfur to carbon in the formation of epoxides and cyclopropanes. The results were somewhat disappointing. Thus, virtually no asymmetric induction was observed with the ylide (1) [475]. With the stabilized ylides (2), e.e. values in the range 7-43% were reported [476]. Better results were obtained with sulfonium ylides derived from Eliel oxathiane [477]. Optically active diaryl epoxides could be prepared under PTC in high yields and good e.e. values. 

Ylides based upon sulfur are the most generally useful in these cyclopropane-forming reactions.133 Early work in this area was done with the simple dimethyloxysulfonium methylide (9) derived from dimethyl sulfoxide. The even simpler dimethylsulfonium methylide (10) was studied at the same time as a reagent primarily for the conversion of carbonyl compounds into epoxides.134 Somewhat later, other types of sulfur ylides were developed, among which the nitrogen-substituted derivatives such as (11) are... 

A major improvement addressing the issue of practicability and safety by avoidance of the direct use of (potentially) explosive diazo compounds was recently reported by Aggarwal and co-workers [82, 83], The direct addition of diazo compounds was replaced by use of suitable precursors which form the desired diazo compound in situ. The Aggarwal group developed this concept for the corresponding sulfur ylide type epoxidation (see Section 6.8) [82], and successfully extended it to aziridination [83]. Starting from the tosylhydrazone salt 66 the diazo compound is formed in situ under conditions (phase-transfer-catalysis at 40 °C) which were found to be compatible with the sulfur ylide type aziridination [82, 83], The concept of this improved method, for which sulfide 67 (Scheme 5.41) is the most efficient catalyst, is shown in Scheme 5.40. 

Nucleophilic addition of sulfur ylides to C=0 double bonds is an important means of synthesis of epoxides [198], Because optically active epoxides are widely applied as versatile intermediates in the preparation of, e.g., pharmaceuticals, the asymmetric design of this sulfur ylide-based reaction has attracted much interest [199, 200, 212, 213], One aspect of this asymmetric organocatalytic process which has been realized by several groups is shown in Scheme 6.87A. In the first step a chiral sulfur ylide of type 204 is formed in a nucleophilic substitution reaction starting from a halogenated alkane, a base, and a chiral sulfide of type 203 as organocata-... 

Finally, Sato and co-workers have added a twist to the known preparation of epoxides from the action of sulfur ylides on carbonyl compounds. In this version, the requisite sulfur ylides are formed by desilylation of [(trimethylsilyl)methyI]sulfonium salts (e.g., 45) in DMSO. This avoids the strongly basic conditions typically encountered in the preparation of sulfur ylides [95SYN649],... 

The first catalytic asymmetric cyclopropanation using an ylide as catalyst was reported by Aggarwal et al. in 1997 [95, 96]. Phenyl diazomethane was added slowly to a mixture containing sulfide 12, an enone and Rh2(OAc)4 (1 mol%). A sulfur ylide was generated in situ from the sulfide and phenyl diazomethane in the presence of the transition-metal catalyst (see Scheme 10.20), as in the epoxidations discussed earlier (see Section 10.2.1.3). 

In 2001, a modified procedure for sulfur ylide-catalyzed epoxidation, aziridination and cyclopropanation was introduced by Aggarwal and co-workers that utilized the generation of the diazo compounds in situ from tosyl hydrazone salts at 40 °C in the presence of a phase-transfer catalyst [46, 79]. (For experimental details see Chapter 14.12.1). Using this modified protocol, sulfide 4 was shown to be effective for epoxidation and aziridination (see Sections 10.2.1.4 and 10.3), but was not an effective cyclopropanation catalyst (see Table 10.3). Sulfide 28 was tried instead as it had been shown in achiral studies [96] that six-membered sulfides were more effective than five-membered analogues. This change gave rise to... 

Sulfur ylides, derived from benzyl bromides and an optically active alkyl sulfide, undergo base-promoted reactions with aryl aldehydes to produce optically active 1,2-diatyl epoxides.The reaction is illustrated by equation (17) and produces epoxides with optical purities in the range of 28-47% ee. The bicyclic sulfide shown in equation (17) was derived from (-t-)-camphor8ulfonic acid and produces the (RiO-enantiomer of the epoxide in excess. 

The high nucleophilicity of a-selenoalkyllithiums towards carbonyl conqiounds, even those that are the most hindered or enolizable, such as 2,2,6-trimethyl- and 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-cyclohexanone (Schemes 113 and 164), di-t-butyl ketone, pennethylcyclobutanone, peimethylcyclopenta-none (Schemes 113 and 187) °- and deoxybenzoin (Schemes 115, 116 and i65y 4 49 23 iqws the synthesis of related alkenes, epoxides and rearranged ketones which are not available from the same carbonyl compounds on reaction with phosphorus or sulfur ylides - or diazoalkanes. ... 

Several groups have investigated the use of complex sulfur ylide reagents for a key carbon-carbon bond formation step in leukotriene synthesis (equation 4). For example, tetraene (6) reacted with methyl S-oxopentanoate to give an 8S% yield of the desired epoxides as a mixture of cis and trans isomers. Significantly, only small amounts of by-products resulting from elimination or rearrangement of the sulfonium salt were observed. 

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