Chiral 3-hydroxy esters

Alcohol oxidoreductases capable of oxidizing short chain polyols are useful biocatalysts in industrial production of chiral hydroxy esters, hydroxy adds, amino adds, and alcohols [83]. In a metagenomic study without enrichment, a total of 24 positive clones were obtained and tested for their substrate specifidty. To improve the detedion frequency, enrichment was performed using glycerol or 1,2-propanediol and further 24 positive clones were deteded in this study. 

A method for highly efficient asymmetric cyclopropanation with control of both relative and absolute stereochemistry uses vinyldiazomethanes and inexpensive a-hydroxy esters as chiral auxiliaries263. This method was also applied for stereoselective preparation of dihydroazulenes. A further improvement of this approach involves an enantioselective construction of seven-membered carbocycles (540) by incorporating an initial asymmetric cyclopropanation step into the tandem cyclopropanation-Cope rearrangement process using rhodium(II)-(5 )-N-[p-(tert-butyl)phenylsulfonyl]prolinate [RhjtS — TBSP)4] 539 as a chiral catalyst (equation 212)264. 

In conclusion, we have found a convenient and practical method for the selective reduction of C=0 bond of a wide spectrum of a-keto-)S, -unsaturated esters with Ru(p-cymene)(TsDPEN) as catalyst. The transition metal catalyzed transfer hydrogenation reaction with good selectivity and high efficiency offers possibilities to provide the optically active a-hydroxy-/l, y-unsaturated esters with chiral catalysts. Table 3.8 gives different substrates that can be reduced with Ru(p-cymene) (TsDPEN) complex in isopropyl alcohol. 

Stereosectivity is a broad term. The stereoselectivity in cyclopropanation which has been discussed in the above subsection, in fact, can also be referred to as diastereoselectivity. In this section, for convenience, the description of diastereoselectivity will be reserved for selectivity in cyclopropanation of diazo compounds or alkenes that are bound to a chiral auxiliary. Chiral diazoesters or chiral Ar-(diazoacetyl)oxazolidinone have been applied in metal catalysed cyclopropanation. However, these chiral diazo precursors and styrene yield cyclopropane products whose diastereomeric excess are less than 15% (equation 129)183,184. The use of several a-hydroxy esters as chiral auxiliaries for asymmetric inter-molecular cyclopropanation with rhodium(II)-stabilized vinylcarbenoids have been reported by Davies and coworkers. With (R)-pantolactone as the chiral auxiliary, cyclopropanation of diazoester 144 with a range of alkenes provided c yield with diastereomeric excess at levels of 90% (equation 130)1... 

Ghosh also took advantage of the C—2 hydroxyl moiety of aminoindanols as a handle in the aldol reaction. Chiral sulfonamide 41 was O-acylated to give ester 42. The titanium enolate of ester 42 was formed as a single isomer and added to a solution of aldehyde, precomplexed with titanium tetrachloride, to yield the anft -aldol product 43 in excellent diastereoselectivities.63 One additional advantage of the ester-derived chiral auxiliaries was their ease of removal under mild conditions. Thus, hydrolysis of 43 afforded a ft -a-methyl- 3-hydroxy acid 44 as a pure enantiomer and cis-1-/ -1 o I y I s u I f on a m i do- 2 - i n da n ol was recovered without loss of optical purity (Scheme 24.7).63... 

The second, effective heterogeneous enantioselective catalytic system is nickel modified with tartaric acid and sodium bromide. This system is most effective for the hydrogenation of P keto esters giving chiral P hydroxy esters, 41, with ee s as high as 95% (Eqn. 14.29). 0,72,84,85 n also been used for the enantioselective hydrogenation of p diketones (Eqn. 14.30) and methyl ketones. ... 

An alternative strategy for achieving asymmetric control may be by covalent attachment of a chiral auxiliary to the carbenoid. This strategy has so far met with rather limited success in cyclopropanation reactions (see eq. (3) for a similar palladium-catalyzed reaction). However, the use of a-hydroxy esters as chiral auxiliaries with stabilized rhodium(II) vinylcarbenoids allowed entry into both series of enantiomeric vinylcyclopropanes with predictable stereochemistry. Optical yields are fair to excellent [14] and the outcome of the reaction was rationalized on the basis of interactions between the carbonyl oxygen of the chiral auxiliary and the carbenoid carbon. The strategy led to an efficient synthesis of optically active hydroxy vitamin D3 ring A [28]. 

Reductions. An enantioselective reduction of symmetrical diacetylarenes (e.g., 2,6-diacetylpyridine) is accomplished with baker s yeast. a-Functionalized ketones such as l-methanesulfonyl-2-alkanones and P-keto esters give chiral alcohols. Significantly, baker s yeast grown under limited oxygen effects reduction to selectively furnish o-hydroxy esters, whereas on slow addition of the keto esters to ordinary yeast in the presence of gluconolactone the L-hydroxy esters are produced. 

Asymmetric hydrogenation. a-Hydroxy lactones and yacetamino-P-hydroxy esters in chiral form are created from a,y-diketo esters and 4-acetamino-3-keto-4-alkenoic esters, respectively, on hydrogenation. 

Catalytic asymmetric aldol reactions provide one of the most powerful carbon-carbon bond-forming processes affording synthetically useful chiral )ff-hydroxy ketones and esters [25]. Chiral Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions of silyl enol ethers with aldehydes (the Mukaiyama reaction) [3] are among the most convenient and promising, and several successful examples have been reported since the first chiral tin(II)-cat-alyzed reactions appeared in 1990 [26]. Some common characteristics of these cat-... 

On the synthetic side, single diastereomers of P-keto phosphine oxides have been generated from intermolecular acylation of phosphine oxides using either chiral esters or chiral phosphine oxides. In most cases, reduction of the ketone products was not affected by the presence of extra chiral centres. Addition of metallated phosphine oxides to proline-derived ketoaminals provides a new route to optically active P-hydroxy phosphine oxides. The P-hydroxy phosphine oxide 97 has been prepared by the caesium fluoride mediated reaction of silyl-substituted phosphine oxide 98 and benzaldehyde." The synthesis of two (E)-(6-hydroxy-2-hexen-l-yl)diphenylphosphine oxides (99) has been reported. The Horner-Wittig reactions of these compounds with various carbonyl compounds... 

Fadnavis, N.W. Babu, R.L. Sheelu, G. Deshpande, A. Determination of enantiomeric excess of a-hydroxy-3-phenoxybenyeneacetonitrile and its n-butyl ester by chiral high-performance hquid chromatography. J. Chromatogr. A, 2000, 893,189-193. 

Hydroxy-esters.—Some success has been achieved with asymmetric reduction of a-ketoesters to the corresponding i -hydroxy esters using chiral Hantzsch esters in the presence of mono-zinc species formed in a standard Reformatsky reaction. Although yields, both chemical and optical, are variable the method offers some synthetic utility, and is also interesting as a model of biological NAD(P)H reductions. 

A semipinacol rearrangement of symmetrically substituted six-membered cyclic P-hydroxy-a-diazo esters with chiral carboxylic acids was reported to give chiral cyclo-heptanones (Scheme 59)7" ... 

In this chapter, we review the production methods for optically active -hydroxy-carboxylic acids (esters), and chiral building blocks derived from optically active 3-hydroxy acids and their use in the synthesis of optically active bioactive compounds. 

Alkylation of aldol type educts, e.g., /3-hydroxy esters, using LDA and alkyl halides leads stereoselectively to erythro substitution. The erythro threo ratio of the products is of the order of 95 5. Allylic and benzylic bromides can also be used. The allyl groups can later be ozonolysed to gjve aldehydes, and many interesting oligofunctional products with two adjacent chiral centres become available from chiral aldol type educts (G. Prater, 1984 D. Seebach, 1984 see also M. Nakatsuka, 1990, p. 5586). 

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... 

In peptide syntheses, where partial racemization of the chiral a-carbon centers is a serious problem, the application of 1-hydroxy-1 H-benzotriazole ( HBT") and DCC has been very successful in increasing yields and decreasing racemization (W. Kdnig, 1970 G.C. Windridge, 1971 H.R. Bosshard, 1973), l-(Acyloxy)-lif-benzotriazoles or l-acyl-17f-benzo-triazole 3-oxides are formed as reactive intermediates. If carboxylic or phosphoric esters are to be formed from the acids and alcohols using DCC, 4-(pyrrolidin-l -yl)pyridine ( PPY A. Hassner, 1978 K.M. Patel, 1979) and HBT are efficient catalysts even with tert-alkyl, choles-teryl, aryl, and other unreactive alcohols as well as with highly bulky or labile acids. 

Other approaches to (36) make use of (37, R = CH ) and reaction with a tributylstannyl allene (60) or 3-siloxypentadiene (61). A chemicoen2ymatic synthesis for both thienamycia (2) and 1 -methyl analogues starts from the chiral monoester (38), derived by enzymatic hydrolysis of the dimethyl ester, and proceeding by way of the P-lactam (39, R = H or CH ) (62,63). (3)-Methyl-3-hydroxy-2-methylpropanoate [80657-57-4] (40), C H qO, has also been used as starting material for (36) (64), whereas 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of a chiral nitrone with a crotonate ester affords the oxa2ohdine (41) which again can be converted to a suitable P-lactam precursor (65). 

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