Epoxides oxidative rearrangement

The existence of a metalated epoxide was first proposed by Cope and Tiffany, to explain the rearrangement of cyclooctatetraene oxide (8) to cydoocta-l,3,5-trien-7-one (11) on treatment with lithium diethylamide. They suggested that lithiated epoxide 9 rearranged to enolate 10, which gave ketone 11 on protic workup (Scheme 5.4) [4],... 

Numerous carbacyclic, or sulfur-containing, analogues of mono- and difluoronucleo-sides have been synthesized as potential antivirals. In the carbacyclic series, the starting compound is hydroxymethylcyclopentene oxide. Rearrangement of this oxirane creates a new unsaturation that can be oxidized further into another epoxide. An amino function can then be introduced on the 4 position and can be used to build the base (Figure 6.13). 

Unprotected 2-acylcyclobutanones 21 are only stable in solution. They are obtained from the corresponding cyclopropylidene ketones 17 if the double bond is fully substituted. If not, they must be prepared from the corresponding cyclopropylidene alcohols 18 through a sequence of epoxidation, oxidation and rearrangement.53 54... 

The oxidation of naphthalene was one of the earliest examples of an epoxide as an intermediate in aromatic hydroxylation. The epoxide can rearrange nonenzymatically to yield predominantly 1-naph-thol, interact with the enzyme epoxide hydrolase to yield the dihydrodiol, or interact with glutathione S-transferase to yield the glutathione conjugate, which is ultimately metabolized to a mer-capturic add. 

The oxidative rearrangement of chalcones is a valuable route to isoflavones which has been thoroughly investigated. Initially, the conversion was achieved in two distinct steps. Epoxidation of a 2 -benzyloxychalcone, carried out by conventional techniques, is followed by treatment with a Lewis acid, such as boron trifluoride etherate, which brings about the rearrangement. 

A number of acyl trimethyl silanes chiral at the a- or -carbon atom have been prepared in non-racemic form. Chiral a-alkoxy and a-silyloxy acyl silanes have been generated in very high yields by oxidative rearrangement of enantiomerically pure silyl epoxides, induced by dimethyl sulphoxide and silyl triflates (Scheme 32)112. 

Isomerization of epoxides to allylic alcoholsThis rearrangement has been effected with strong bases and various Lewis acids. Enantioselective rearrangement to optically active allylic alcohols can be effected with catalytic amounts of vitamin B, at 25°. Thus cyclopentene oxide rearranges to (R)-2-cyclopentene-l-ol in 65% ee. The rearrangement of the as-2-butene oxide to (R)-3-butene-2-ol in 26% ee is more typical. 

In the first approach shown in Scheme 9, ketoester 77 was alkylated successively with 4-bromobutene and 1,3-dibromopropene. After decarboxylation, 78 was converted into iV-aziridinylimine 79 in good yield. The pivotal radical cyclization reaction proceeded smoothly to produce a mixture of isomeric propellane compounds 80, which was purified after the epoxidation step. For the synthesis of modhephene, the mixture of epoxides was rearranged into the corresponding allylic alcohols 81 and then the allylic alcohols were oxidized, giving a separable mixture of unsaturated ketones 82a and 82b. The major product 82a possessed the correct stereochemistry of the methyl group of modhephene. Since 82a had already been converted into modhephene, a formal total synthesis of dZ-modhephene has thus been completed. The isomeric ratio of 80 reflects the stereoselectivity during the radical cyclization reaction. The selectivity was very close to the ratio reported by Sha in his radical cyclization reaction. ... 

An oxidative rearrangement took place during the MCPBA epoxidation of the secondary allylic alcohol auraptenol, leading to the enal shown in equation (20). This reaction has been used in an approach to casegravol and in a synthesis of amottinin. The reason why the intermediate epoxy alcohol undergoes rearrangement in this case is not known beyond the possibility that the m-chlorobenzoic acid by-product could act as an acidic catalyst. 

The oxidative rearrangement of allylic alcohols to a -unsaturated ketones or aldehydes is one of the most widely used synthetic reactions in this group, and forms part of a 1,3-carbonyl transposition sequence. Scheme 7 shows this reaction and the related conversion of the allylic alcohol to an a, -epoxy carbonyl compound. Chromate reagents induce some allylic alcohol substrates to undergo a dirMted epoxidation of the alkene without rearrangement, but this reaction is beyond the scope of the present discussion. 

Epoxide-carbaayl rearrangement. Lithium bromide effects facile rearrangement of epoxides to aldehydes and/or ketones in benzene solution. The salt is insoluble in benzene but addition of 1 mole of HMPT or tri- -bulylphosphine oxide per mole of lithium bromide affords a soluble complex which effects the epoxide rearrangement. Evidence suggests a mechanism involving the salt of the bromohydrin as an intermediate. 

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