2.3- Epoxy alcohol

In situ" derivatization of water soluble epoxy-alcohol... 

The first practical method for asymmetric epoxidation of primary and secondary allylic alcohols was developed by K.B. Sharpless in 1980 (T. Katsuki, 1980 K.B. Sharpless, 1983 A, B, 1986 see also D. Hoppe, 1982). Tartaric esters, e.g., DET and DIPT" ( = diethyl and diisopropyl ( + )- or (— )-tartrates), are applied as chiral auxiliaries, titanium tetrakis(2-pro-panolate) as a catalyst and tert-butyl hydroperoxide (= TBHP, Bu OOH) as the oxidant. If the reaction mixture is kept absolutely dry, catalytic amounts of the dialkyl tartrate-titanium(IV) complex are suflicient, which largely facilitates work-up procedures (Y. Gao, 1987). Depending on the tartrate enantiomer used, either one of the 2,3-epoxy alcohols may be obtained with high enantioselectivity. The titanium probably binds to the diol grouping of one tartrate molecule and to the hydroxy groups of the bulky hydroperoxide and of the allylic alcohol... 

Both saturated (50) and unsaturated derivatives (51) are easily accepted by lipases and esterases. Lipase P from Amano resolves azide (52) or naphthyl (53) derivatives with good yields and excellent selectivity. PPL-catalyzed resolution of glycidyl esters (54) is of great synthetic utiUty because it provides an alternative to the Sharpless epoxidation route for the synthesis of P-blockers. The optical purity of glycidyl esters strongly depends on the stmcture of the acyl moiety the hydrolysis of propyl and butyl derivatives of epoxy alcohols results ia esters with ee > 95% (30). 

The Sharpless-Katsuki asymmetric epoxidation reaction (most commonly referred by the discovering scientists as the AE reaction) is an efficient and highly selective method for the preparation of a wide variety of chiral epoxy alcohols. The AE reaction is comprised of four key components the substrate allylic alcohol, the titanium isopropoxide precatalyst, the chiral ligand diethyl tartrate, and the terminal oxidant tert-butyl hydroperoxide. The reaction protocol is straightforward and does not require any special handling techniques. The only requirement is that the reacting olefin contains an allylic alcohol. 

In general, 2-substituted allylic alcohols are epoxidized in good enantioselectivity. Like glycidol, however, the product epoxides are susceptible to ring opening via nucleophilic attack at the C-3 position. Results of the AE reaction on 2-methyl-2-propene-l-ol followed by derivatization of the resulting epoxy alcohol are shown in Table 1.6.1. Other examples are shown below. 

The application of the AE reaction to kinetic resolution of racemic allylic alcohols has been extensively used for the preparation of enantiomerically enriched alcohols and allyl epoxides. Allylic alcohol 48 was obtained via kinetic resolution of the racemic secondary alcohol and utilized in the synthesis of rhozoxin D. Epoxy alcohol 49 was obtained via kinetic resolution of the enantioenriched secondary allylic alcohol (93% ee). The product epoxy alcohol was a key intermediate in the synthesis of (-)-mitralactonine. Allylic alcohol 50 was prepared via kinetic resolution of the secondary alcohol and the product utilized in the synthesis of (+)-manoalide. The mono-tosylated 3-butene-1,2-diol is a useful C4 building block and was obtained in 45% yield and in 95% ee via kinetic resolution of the racemic starting material. 

Sharpless and Masumune have applied the AE reaction on chiral allylic alcohols to prepare all 8 of the L-hexoses. ° AE reaction on allylic alcohol 52 provides the epoxy alcohol 53 in 92% yield and in >95% ee. Base catalyze Payne rearrangement followed by ring opening with phenyl thiolate provides diol 54. Protection of the diol is followed by oxidation of the sulfide to the sulfoxide via m-CPBA, Pummerer rearrangement to give the gm-acetoxy sulfide intermediate and finally reduction using Dibal to yield the desired aldehyde 56. Homer-Emmons olefination followed by reduction sets up the second substrate for the AE reaction. The AE reaction on optically active 57 is reagent... 

Desymmetrization of meso-bis-allylic alcohols is an effective method for the preparation of chiral functionalized intermediates from meso-substrates. Schreiber et al has shown that divinyl carbonyl 58 is epoxidized in good enantioselectivity. However, because the product epoxy alcohols 59 and 60 also contain a reactive allylic alcohol that are diastereomeric in nature, a second epoxidation would occur at different rates and thus affect the observed ee for the first AE reaction and the overall de. Indeed, the major diastereomeric product epoxide 59 resulting from the first AE is less reactive in the second epoxidation. Thus, high de is easily obtainable since the second epoxidation removes the minor diastereomer. 

The asymmetric epoxidation of an allylic alcohol 1 to yield a 2,3-epoxy alcohol 2 with high enantiomeric excess, has been developed by Sharpless and Katsuki. This enantioselective reaction is carried out in the presence of tetraisopropoxyti-tanium and an enantiomerically pure dialkyl tartrate—e.g. (-1-)- or (-)-diethyl tartrate (DET)—using tcrt-butyl hydroperoxide as the oxidizing agent. 

With this epoxidation procedure it is possible to convert the achiral starting material—i.e. the allylic alcohol—with the aim of a chiral reagent, into a chiral, non-racemic product in many cases an enantiomerically highly-enriched product is obtained. The desired enantiomer of the product epoxy alcohol can be obtained by using either the (-1-)- or (-)- enantiomer of diethyl tartrate as chiral auxiliary ... 

Titanium-IV compounds with their Lewis acid activity may catalyze an interfering rearrangement of the starting allylic alcohol or the epoxy alcohol formed. In order to avoid such side-reactions, the epoxidation is usually carried out at room temperature or below. 

The 2,3-epoxy alcohols are often obtained in high optical purity (90% enantiomeric excess or higher), and are useful intermediates for further transformations. For example by nucleophilic ring opening the epoxide unit may be converted into an alcohol, a /3-hydroxy ether or a vicinal diol. 

In light of the previous discussions, it would be instructive to compare the behavior of enantiomerically pure allylic alcohol 12 in epoxidation reactions without and with the asymmetric titanium-tartrate catalyst (see Scheme 2). When 12 is exposed to the combined action of titanium tetraisopropoxide and tert-butyl hydroperoxide in the absence of the enantiomerically pure tartrate ligand, a 2.3 1 mixture of a- and /(-epoxy alcohol diastereoisomers is produced in favor of a-13. This ratio reflects the inherent diasteieo-facial preference of 12 (substrate-control) for a-attack. In a different experiment, it was found that SAE of achiral allylic alcohol 15 with the (+)-diethyl tartrate [(+)-DET] ligand produces a 99 1 mixture of /(- and a-epoxy alcohol enantiomers in favor of / -16 (98% ee). 

It is appropriate at this juncture to address some of the more useful transformations of 2,3-epoxy alcohols.913 A 2,3-epoxy alcohol such as compound 14 possesses two obvious electrophilic sites one at C-2, and the other at C-3. But in addition, C-l of a 2,3-epoxy alcohol also has latent electrophilic reactivity. For example, exposure of 14 to aqueous sodium hydroxide solution results in the formation of triol 19 in 79% yield (see Scheme 5). In this interesting transformation, hydroxide ion induces the establishment of an equilibrium between 2,3-epoxy-l-ol 14 and the isomeric 1,2-epoxy-3-ol 18. This reversible, base-induced epoxide migration reaction is a process known as the Payne rearrangement.14... 

From a stereochemical point of view, compound 35 is rather complex, for it possesses four contiguous oxygen-bearing stereocenters. Nonetheless, compound 35 is amenable to a very productive retro-synthetic maneuver. Indeed, removal of the epoxide oxygen from 35 furnishes trans allylic alcohol 36 as a potential precursor. In the synthetic direction, SAE of 36 with the (+)-dialkyl tartrate ligand would be expected to afford epoxy alcohol 35, thus introducing two of the four contiguous stereocenters in one step. 

For an excellent review of synthetic applications of nonracemic glycidol and related 2,3-epoxy alcohols, see Hanson, R. M. Chem. Rev. 1991, 91, 437. 

The construction of key intermediate 18 can be conducted along similar lines. Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation of allylic alcohol 22 using (+)-DET furnishes epoxy alcohol 52b (Scheme 11). Subjection of the latter substance to the same six-step reaction sequence as that leading to 54a provides allylic alcohol 54b and sets the stage for a second SAE reaction. With (+)-DET as the... 

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