Epoxy pheromones

A chiral GC column is able to separate enantiomers of epoxy pheromones in the Type II class, but the applications are very limited as follows a custom-made column packed with a p-cyclodextrin derivative as a liquid phase for the stereochemical identification of natural 3,4- and 6,7-epoxydienes [73, 74] and a commercialized column of an a-cyclodextrin type (Chiraldex A-PH) for the 3,4-epoxydiene [71] (See Table 3). The resolution abilities of chiral HPLC columns have been examined in detail, as shown in Table 7 and Fig. 14 [75,76, 179]. The Chiralpak AD column operated under a normal-phase condition separates well two enantiomers of 9,10-epoxydienes, 6,7-epoxymonoenes and 9,10-epoxymonoenes. Another normal-phase column, the Chiralpak AS column, is suitable for the resolution of the 3,4-epoxydienes. The Chiralcel OJ-R column operated under a reversed-phase condition sufficiently accomplishes enantiomeric separation of the 6,7-epoxydienes and 6,7-epoxymonoenes. 

Brevet, J.-L. and Mori, K. (1992). Pheromone synthesis CXXXIX. Enzymatic preparation of (2S,3R )-4-acetoxy-2,3-epoxybutan- l -ol and its conversion to the epoxy pheromones of the gypsy moth and the ruby tiger moth. Synthesis, 1992, 1007-1012. 

Polyunsaturated hydrocarbons in the hemolymph biosynthetic precursors of epoxy pheromones of geometrid and arctiid moths. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol., 33,... 

In another approach, the alcohol moiety, formed by an enzymatic hydrolysis of an ester, can act as a nucleophile. In their synthesis of pityol (8-37a), a pheromone of the elm bark beetle, Faber and coworkers [17] used an enzyme-triggered reaction of the diastereomeric mixture of ( )-epoxy ester 8-35 employing an immobilized enzyme preparation (Novo SP 409) or whole lyophilized cells of Rhodococcus erythro-polis NCIMB 11540 (Scheme 8.9). As an intermediate, the enantiopure alcohol 8-36 is formed via kinetic resolution as a mixture ofdiastereomers, which leads to the diastereomeric THF derivatives pityol (8-37a) and 8-37b as a separable mixture with a... 

Posticlure [(6Z,9Z,llS,12S)-ll,12-epoxy-6,9-henicosadiene, 14] is the female sex pheromone of the tussock moth, Orgyia postica. Wakamura s first synthesis of 14 was achieved by employing Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation, and the final product was of 59% ee [38]. Mori prepared 14 of high purity as shown in Scheme 25 basing on asymmetric dihydroxylation (AD) [39]. Kumar also published an AD-based synthesis of 14 [40], which was more lengthy and less efficient than Mori s [39]. 

Mori later developed a shorter synthesis of these pheromones by employing a Weinreb amide A (Scheme 31) as the common intermediate [54]. The products 18-20, however, were less enantiomerically pure than those previously synthesized from the epoxy alcohol A of Schemes 29 and 30. 

Mori reported an improved synthesis of (3S,4P,6 ,10Z)-faranal (37), the trail pheromone of the Pharaoh s ant (Monomorium pharaonis) [84]. As summarized in Scheme 55, the key-reaction was the coupling of iododiene A with iodide E. The geometrically pure A was prepared by the zirconocene-mediated carbo-alumination reaction, and E was prepared from B by the asymmetric cleavage of its epoxy ring to give C (77% ee), which could be purified via its crystalline 3,5-dinitrobenzoate D. 

Polyunsaturated hydrocarbons and the epoxy derivatives with a longer straight chain (C17-C23) comprise a second major group [9], the Type II pheromones (A in Fig. 1). They lack a functional group at the terminal position,... 

Table 3 Stereochemistry of natural pheromones containing an epoxy ring (main components) and field attractancy of the synthetic racemate... 

Species Main pheromonal component Stereochemistry of the epoxy ring (main component) ... 

The fragmentation is stereospecifically anti as shown by complementary geometry obtained in the cleavage of the epimeric pair of epoxycyclobutanones 91 and 92 (Eq. 110). The fragmentation product 93 of cyclobutanone 91 is transformable into the dimethyl ester of the pheromone of the Monarch butterfly. Considering the availability of the starting epoxy ketones from enones, the oxasecoalkylation serves to reorient the oxidation pattern with chain extension as summarized in Eq. 111. 

Sn2 Reactions with epoxides and aziridines are also synthetically useful. An example of epoxide cleavage with an organocopper reagent with sp carbon moieties is the enantioselective synthesis of (3S, 4S)-4-methyl-3-heptanol (53), an elm bark beetle (Scolytus multistriatus) pheromone [42]. The chiral epoxy oxazolidine 51 [43], prepared from (R)-phenylglycinol, reacted with a propylmagnesium bromide-derived cuprate at —70 °C to afford the oxazolidine 52 in 74% yield (Scheme 9.12). Compound 52 was converted into the target molecular 53 by conventional procedures. 

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