EPOXIDES, OPTICALLY ACTIVE

Is either of the epoxides formed in the preceding reactions chiral Is either epoxide optically active when prepared from the alkene by this method ... 

Nucleophilic reduction by telluride ion of oxirane tosylates provides allylic alcohols, presumably via telluriranes as shown in Equation (12) and Table 7 <1997T12131>. When used in conjunction with the Sharpless-Katsuki asymmetric epoxidation, optically active transposed allylic alcohols can be made in high enantiomeric excess <1993JOC718, 1994JOC4311, 1994JOG4760>. 

Only the trans epoxide is chiral As formed in this reaction neither product is optically active... 

The optical activity of malic acid changes with dilution (8). The naturally occurring, levorotatory acid shows a most peculiar behavior in this respect a 34% solution at 20°C is optically inactive. Dilution results in increasing levo rotation, whereas more concentrated solutions show dextro rotation. The effects of dilution are explained by the postulation that an additional form, the epoxide (3), occurs in solution and that the direction of rotation of the normal (open-chain) and epoxide forms is reversed (8). Synthetic (racemic) R,.9-ma1ic acid can be resolved into the two enantiomers by crystallisation of its cinchonine salts. 

Recendy, Darzens reaction was investigated for its synthetic applicability to the condensation of substituted cyclohexanes and optically active a-chloroesters (derived from (-)-phenylmenthol). In this report, it was found that reaction between chloroester 44 and cyclohexanone 43 provided an 84% yield with 78 22 selectivity for the axial glycidic ester 45 over equatorial glycidic ester 46 both having the R configuration at the epoxide stereocenter. 

Hie same autliors also studied tlie alkylation of alkynyl epoxides for fornialion of optically active a-aUenic alcohols under kinetic resolution ctmdilions fSdieme 8.29) [54]. 

Non-functionalized alkenes 6, with an isolated carbon-carbon double bond lacking an additional coordination site, can be epoxidized with high enantiomeric excess by applying the Jacobsen-Katsuki epoxidation procedure using optically active manganese(iii) complexes ... 

The second system studied was the separation of the chiral epoxide enantiomers (la,2,7,7a-tetrahydro-3-methoxynaphth-(2,3b)-oxirane Sandoz Pharma) used as an intermediate in the enantioselective synthesis of optically active drugs. The SMB has been used to carry out this chiral separation [27, 34, 35]. The separation can be performed using microcrystalline cellulose triacetate as stationary phase with an average particle diameter greater than 45 )tm. The eluent used was pure methanol. A... 

The synthesis of key intermediate 12, in optically active form, commences with the resolution of racemic trans-2,3-epoxybutyric acid (27), a substance readily obtained by epoxidation of crotonic acid (26) (see Scheme 5). Treatment of racemic 27 with enantio-merically pure (S)-(-)-1 -a-napthylethylamine affords a 1 1 mixture of diastereomeric ammonium salts which can be resolved by recrystallization from absolute ethanol. Acidification of the resolved diastereomeric ammonium salts with methanesulfonic acid and extraction furnishes both epoxy acid enantiomers in eantiomerically pure form. Because the optical rotation and absolute configuration of one of the antipodes was known, the identity of enantiomerically pure epoxy acid, (+)-27, with the absolute configuration required for a synthesis of erythronolide B, could be confirmed. Sequential treatment of (+)-27 with ethyl chloroformate, excess sodium boro-hydride, and 2-methoxypropene with a trace of phosphorous oxychloride affords protected intermediate 28 in an overall yield of 76%. The action of ethyl chloroformate on carboxylic acid (+)-27 affords a mixed carbonic anhydride which is subsequently reduced by sodium borohydride to a primary alcohol. Protection of the primary hydroxyl group in the form of a mixed ketal is achieved easily with 2-methoxypropene and a catalytic amount of phosphorous oxychloride. 

The retrosynthetic analysis presented in Scheme 6 (for 1, 2, and 16-19) focuses on these symmetry elements, and leads to the design of a strategy that utilizes the readily available enantiomers of xylose and tartaric acid as starting materials and/or chiral auxiliaries to secure optically active materials.14 Thus by following the indicated disconnections in Scheme 6, the initially generated key intermediates 16-19 can be traced to epoxide 23 (16,19 =>23),... 

A retrosynthetic analysis of fragment 152 can be completed through cleavage of the C16-C17 bond in enone 155, the projected precursor of epoxide 152. This retrosynthetic maneuver furnishes intermediates 156 and 157 as potential building blocks. In the forward sense, acylation of a vinyl metal species derived from 156 with Weinreb amide 157 could accomplish the construction of enone 155. Iodide 153, on the other hand, can be traced retrosynthetically to the commercially available, optically active building block methyl (S)-(+)-3-hydroxy-2-methyIpropionate (154). 

The optically active iodide 153 (Scheme 43) can be conveniently prepared from commercially available methyl (S)-(+)-3-hydroxy-2-methylpropionate (154) (see Scheme 41). At this stage of the synthesis, our plan called for the conversion of 153 to a nucleophilic organometallic species, with the hope that the latter would combine with epoxide 152. As matters transpired, we found that the mixed higher order cuprate reagent derived from 153 reacts in the desired and expected way with epoxide 152, affording alcohol 180 in 88% yield this regioselective union creates the C12-C13 bond of rapamycin. 

Especially in the early steps of the synthesis of a complex molecule, there are plenty of examples in which epoxides are allowed to react with organometallic reagents. In particular, treatment of enantiomerically pure terminal epoxides with alkyl-, alkenyl-, or aryl-Grignard reagents in the presence of catalytic amounts of a copper salt, corresponding cuprates, or metal acetylides via alanate chemistry, provides a general route to optically active substituted alcohols useful as valuable building blocks in complex syntheses. 

The cyclohexyloxy(dimethyl)silyl unit in 8 serves as a hydroxy surrogate and is converted into an alcohol via the Tamao oxidation after the allylboration reaction. The allylsilane products of asymmetric allylboration reactions of the dimethylphenylsilyl reagent 7 are readily converted into optically active 2-butene-l, 4-diols via epoxidation with dimethyl dioxirane followed by acid-catalyzed Peterson elimination of the intermediate epoxysilane. Although several chiral (Z)-y-alkoxyallylboron reagents were described in Section 1.3.3.3.3.1.4., relatively few applications in double asymmetric reactions with chiral aldehydes have been reported. One notable example involves the matched double asymmetric reaction of the diisopinocampheyl [(Z)-methoxy-2-propenyl]boron reagent with a chiral x/ -dialkoxyaldehyde87. 

Optically active allylic alcohols can only be prepared from optically active sulfinyl epoxides when the created double bond is conjugated to an aromatic system. One example is described below29. 

Extensive studies of stereoselective polymerization of epoxides were carried out by Tsuruta et al.21 s. Copolymerization of a racemic mixture of propylene oxide with a diethylzinc-methanol catalyst yielded a crystalline polymer, which was resolved into optically active polymers216 217. Asymmetric selective polymerization of d-propylene oxide from a racemic mixture occurs with asymmetric catalysts such as diethyzinc- (+) bomeol218. This reaction is explained by the asymmetric adsorption of monomers onto the enantiomorphic catalyst site219. Furukawa220 compared the selectivities of asymmetric catalysts composed of diethylzinc amino acid combinations and attributed the selectivity to the bulkiness of the substituents in the amino acid. With propylene sulfide, excellent asymmetric selective polymerization was observed with a catalyst consisting of diethylzinc and a tertiary-butyl substituted a-glycol221,222. ... 

Allylic alcohols can be converted to epoxy-alcohols with tert-butylhydroperoxide on molecular sieves, or with peroxy acids. Epoxidation of allylic alcohols can also be done with high enantioselectivity. In the Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation,allylic alcohols are converted to optically active epoxides in better than 90% ee, by treatment with r-BuOOH, titanium tetraisopropoxide and optically active diethyl tartrate. The Ti(OCHMe2)4 and diethyl tartrate can be present in catalytic amounts (15-lOmol %) if molecular sieves are present. Polymer-supported catalysts have also been reported. Since both (-t-) and ( —) diethyl tartrate are readily available, and the reaction is stereospecific, either enantiomer of the product can be prepared. The method has been successful for a wide range of primary allylic alcohols, where the double bond is mono-, di-, tri-, and tetrasubstituted. This procedure, in which an optically active catalyst is used to induce asymmetry, has proved to be one of the most important methods of asymmetric synthesis, and has been used to prepare a large number of optically active natural products and other compounds. The mechanism of the Sharpless epoxidation is believed to involve attack on the substrate by a compound formed from the titanium alkoxide and the diethyl tartrate to produce a complex that also contains the substrate and the r-BuOOH. ... 

Ordinary alkenes (without an allylic OH group) have been enantioselectively epoxidized with sodium hypochlorite (commercial bleach) and an optically active manganese-complex catalyst. Variations of this oxidation use a manganese-salen complex with various oxidizing agents, in what is called the Jacobsen-Katsuki... 

Answer The required disconnection is (13a) which clearly needs optically active epoxide (15). This must be made from (14) without inverting the chiral centre so reduction of the COgEt group and conversion to a leaving group are needed. 

Table 10 Result of one-pot preparation method of optically active epoxides (67a-d) by a combination of epoxidation of cyclohexenone and enantiomer resolution in a water suspension medium... 

Epoxidation of olefins (e.g. 1-octene) to optically active epoxides... 

The enzyme catalysed epoxidation of alpha-olefins like 1-octene with oxygen to the optically active epoxide provides an interesting example of a four-phase system (de Bont et al., 1983). The hold-up of the organic phase may be 2-4 % and the presence of biosurface active agents leads to the creation of a large liquid-liquid interfacial area the liquid droplet size becomes smaller than the gas-liquid diffusion film thickness. 

The enantioselective epoxidation method developed by Sharpless and co-workers is an important asymmetric transformation known today. This method involves the epoxidation of allylic alcohols with fcrt-butyl hydroperoxide and titanium (sopropoxide in the presence of optically active pure tartarate esters, see Eqn. (25). 

This is the first example of a reaction for which the presence of a chelating ligand was observed to facilitate rather than retard metal-catalysed epoxidation (Gao et al., 1987). It was found that the use of molecular sieves greatly improves this process by removing minute amounts of water present in the reaction medium. Water was found to deactivate the catalyst. All these developments led to an improved catalytic version that allows a five-fold increased substrate concentration relative to the stoichiometric method. Sensitive water-soluble, optically active glycidols can be prepared in an efficient manner by an in situ derivatisation. This epoxidation method appears to be competitive with enzyme-catalysed processes and was applied in 1981 for the commercial production of the gypsy moth pheromone, (-1-) disparlure, used for insect control (Eqn. (25)). 

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