Ketone epoxy

The rt,/3-unsaturated linear carbonyl compound 39 is obtained by the decomposition of the cyclic hydroperoxide 38 with PdCl2,[35]. The a, 0-epoxy ketone 40 is isomerized to the /3-diketone 41 with Pd(0) catalyst[36]. The 1,4-epiperoxide 42 is converted into the /3-hydroxy ketone 43 and other products[37]. 

The a, /3-epoxy ketone 119 and esters are hydrogenolyzed with triethylam-monium formate or H2 chemoselectively to aldols[116]. 

Cleavage of epoxy ketones to an acetylene and a cait>onyl compound via suHonylhydrazone. 

Conversion of a-haloketones to olefins using hydrazine (via enedlitnides C-C-N NH). Also reduction of o,3-epoxy ketones to allyl alcohols. 

The cleavage-ehmination of a,i -epoxy ketones (section XIII is similar other examples are given in ref. 126, 127, 128, and 369,... 

Borohydrides reduce a-substituted ketones to the corresponding a-substituted alcohols, and such products can be further reduced to olefins (see section VIII). Other reagents serve, through participation of the carbonyl group, to remove the substituent while leaving the ketone intact. The zinc or chromous ion reduction of a-halo ketones is an example of this second type, which is not normally useful for double bond introduction. However, when the derivative being reduced is an a,jS-epoxy ketone, the primary product is a -hydroxy ketone which readily dehydrates to the a,jS-unsaturated ketone. Since... 

Hydriodic acid at low concentration in acetic acid will also effect the reduction of a,j5-epoxy ketones to a,jS-unsaturated ketones ... 

Wohf-Kishner reductions of a,jS-epoxy ketones give allylic alcohols, thus providing a means of reversing the arrangement in a,jS-unsaturated ketones or allylic alcohols. The reaction as first described by Wharton proceeds very readily (at room temperature in some instances) and the addition of strong base is unnecessary for example, the reduction of the epoxy ketone 143. 

The opening of epoxides with neighboring keto groups, accompanied by vinylogous jS-elimination, has already been mentioned (section V). This is an extension of the jS-elimination reactions which occur when a,p- or jS,y-epoxy ketones are opened with acid or base. a,jS-Epoxy ketones give a-substituted a,jS-unsaturated ketones [(162), for example], and j5,y-epoxy ketones give y-substituted a,jS-unsaturated ketones [(163), for example] ... 

Double bonds in a,/3-unsaturated keto steroids can be selectively oxidized with alkaline hydrogen peroxide to yield epoxy ketones. In contrast to the electrophilic addition mechanism of peracids, the mechanism of alkaline epoxidation involves nucleophilic attack of hydroperoxide ion on the con-... 

The effect of an a-substituted oxirane group on the optical rotatory dispersion of steroidal ketones should be interpreted with caution an inverted octant rule for a-epoxy ketones has been proposed/although recent data indicate that the normal octant rule may still be valid. 

A decisive solvent effect is also observed with other a,/ -epoxy ketones. Specifically, 3jS-hydroxy-16a,17a-epoxypregn-5-en-20-one and its acetate do not react with thiocyanic acid in ether or chloroform. However, the corresponding thiocyanatohydrins are formed by heating an acetic acid solution of the epoxide and potassium thiocyanate. As expected, the ring opening reaction is subject to steric hindrance. For example, 3j6-acetoxy-14f ,15f5-epoxy-5) -card-20(22)-enoIide is inert to thiocyanic acid in chloroform, whereas the 14a,15a-epoxide reacts readily under these conditions.Reactions of 14a,15a-epoxides in the cardenolide series yields isothiocyanatohydrins, e.g., (135), in addition to the normal thiocyanatohydrin, e.g., (134). 

The transformations are not sensitive to the presence of oxygen or changes in the solvent (isopropanol, ethanol, dioxane, benzene, 1,3-pentadiene). Results from studies with aliphatic and monocyclic epoxy ketones ... 

The initially formed ]5-dicarbonyl compounds are subject to further photo-transformations. One example is provided in the case of epoxy ketone (88), where the resulting /5-diketone (89) undergoes partly a-cleavage and acyl-alkyl... 

Irradiations of the unsaturated epoxy ketone (92) in the presence of tri- -butylstannane at 2537 A (in dioxane) or >3100 A (in dioxane or benzene) produce qualitatively similar mixtures containing products (71), (101),... 

Photochemical Wolff rearrangement of 2-diazo-3-ketones, though not widely used as a source of A-norsteroids, is discussed in section V in connection with the mechanism of the important photochemical synthesis of D-norsteroids. Photochemical rearrangement of epoxy ketones is a source of A-nosteroids these rearrangements are discussed in chapter 13. Other photochemical routes to A-norsteroids are known." " ... 

Rearrangement of a,/B-epoxy ketones to ftdicarbonyl isomers, 307 Reductive alkylation, 97 Reductive cleavage of halo ethers, 264 Reductive degradation of 19-substitutional steroids, 277, 278 Reformatsky reaction, 139 Removal of the C-10 substituent in steroids. 272... 

Darzens reaction can be used to efficiently complete the stereoselective synthesis of a"-substituted epoxy ketones. As an example, Enders and Hett reported a technique for the asymmetric synthesis of a"-silylated a,P-epoxy ketones. Thus, optically active a -silyl a-bromoketone 38 was treated with LDA followed by the addition of benzaldehyde to give a"-silyl epoxyketone 40 in 66% yield with good... 

In a separate report, the Darzens reaction was recently used by Barluenga, Concellon, and coworkers for the preparation of enantiopure a"-amino a,P-epoxy ketones. Accordingly, the Z enolate of a"-amino a-bromo ketone 41 was generated with KHMDS at -100°C. Benzaldehyde was added, and trans epoxyketone 42 was isolated in 87% yield and >95% de. ... 

Treatment of an or.jS-unsaturated ketone with basic aqueous hydrogen peroxide yields an epoxy ketone. The reaction is specific to unsatnrated ketones isolated alkene double bonds do not react. Propose a mechanism. 

Now that the allylic oxidation problem has been solved adequately, the next task includes the introduction of the epoxide at C-l and C-2. When a solution of 31 and pyridinium para-tolu-enesulfonate in chlorobenzene is heated to 135°C, the anomeric methoxy group at C-l 1 is eliminated to give intermediate 9 in 80% yield. After some careful experimentation, it was found that epoxy ketone 7 forms smoothly when enone 9 is treated with triphenyl-methyl hydroperoxide and benzyltrimethylammonium isopropoxide (see Scheme 4). In this reaction, the bulky oxidant adds across the more accessible convex face of the carbon framework defined by rings A, E, and F, and leads to the formation of 7 as the only stereoisomer in a yield of 72%. 

Through a short sequence of functional group manipulations, compound 6 could be elaborated from allylic alcohol 7, the projected product of a Wharton fragmentation4 of epoxy ketone 8 (vide infra). In turn, compound 8 could be derived from enone 9. In the synthetic direction, a Michael addition5 of hydroperoxide anion to enone 9 would be expected to take place from the less hindered side of the molecule. Epoxy ketone 8 would fhen form upon collapse of the intermediate enolate with concomitant expulsion of hydroxide ion (see arrows, Scheme 2). 

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