Stereospecificity hydrogenations

Treatment of the olefin 49 with Zeise s dimer leads to the chloroplatination complex 50 [26], The addition adduct 50 is hydrogenated stereospecifically to the trans-disubstituted chlorocyclohexane 51. The insertion of carbon monoxide into 50, in the presence of methanol, yields the ester 52 stereoselectively. 

Any method of making such bicyclic compounds will automatically form this stereochemistry. An important method of stereochemical control that we have not used so far in this chapter is catalytic hydrogenation of alkenes, which adds a molecule of hydrogen stereospecifically cis. If the reaction also makes a fused ring system, it may show stereoselectivity too. Here is an example with 5/5 fused rings. 

With alkynes hydrocarbonylative coupling leads to unsaturated ketones with exclusive cis addition of hydrogen and the acyl group. Thus, rhodium carbonyl catalyzed carbonylation of acetylenes and ethene with carbon monoxide and hydrogen stereospecifically leads to a./l-un-saturated ethyl ketones by cross hydrocarbonylation4- 5, e.g., diphenylacetylene with ethene in the presence of Rh4(CO)l3 gives ( )-1.2-diphenyl-l-penten-3-one in 91 % yield5. 

Two stereochemical aspects—stereospecificity and stereoselectivity—attend catalytic hydrogenation. Stereospecificity will be considered more fully in the next chapter, but we can apply one of its principles—that the stereochemical outcome of a particular reaction depends on the stereochemistry of the reactants—to catalytic hydrogenation. According to Mechanism 6.1, even though the two hydrogen atoms are not transferred from the catalyst surface to the double bond simultaneously, both do add to the same face of the double bond. This is called syn addition and is one of several terms applied to stereospecificity. Its counterpart—anti addition—signifies addition to opposite faces of a double bond. 

Why are biolo c hydrogenations stereospecific Can you suggest catalysts for stereospecific hydrogenation ... 

This deficiency has been eliminated (see Scheme 4) by the previous reduction of the 17 0X0 group to form the 17/3 -hydroxy compound, the A -bond of which hydrogenates stereospecifically to form the 14q -derivative (426). Reduction of the A -bond of the latter led to the methyl ether of 6-azaestradiol with an undetermined configuration at and C9 according to NMR data, the 8j3,9q -configuration (429) is the most likely. 

Alkenes in (alkene)dicarbonyl(T -cyclopentadienyl)iron(l+) cations react with carbon nucleophiles to form new C —C bonds (M. Rosenblum, 1974 A.J. Pearson, 1987). Tricarbon-yi(ri -cycIohexadienyI)iron(l-h) cations, prepared from the T] -l,3-cyclohexadiene complexes by hydride abstraction with tritylium cations, react similarly to give 5-substituted 1,3-cyclo-hexadienes, and neutral tricarbonyl(n -l,3-cyciohexadiene)iron complexes can be coupled with olefins by hydrogen transfer at > 140°C. These reactions proceed regio- and stereospecifically in the successive cyanide addition and spirocyclization at an optically pure N-allyl-N-phenyl-1,3-cyclohexadiene-l-carboxamide iron complex (A.J. Pearson, 1989). 

Electron-deficient alkenes add stereospecifically to 4-hydroxy-THISs with formation of endo-cycloadducts. Only with methylvinyl-ketone considerable amounts of the exo isomer are produced (Scheme 8) (16). The adducts (6) may extrude hydrogen sulfide on heating with methoxide producing 2-pyridones. The base is unnecessary with fumaronitrile adducts. The alternative elimination of isocyanate Or sulfur may be controlled using 7 as the dipolarenOphile. The cycloaddition produces two products, 8a (R = H, R = COOMe) and 8b (R = COOMe, R =H) (Scheme 9) (17). Pyrolysis of 8b leads to extrusion of furan and isocyanate to give a thiophene. The alternative S-elimi-nation can be effected by oxidation of the adduct and subsequent pyrolysis. 

Catalysts. Iodine and its compounds ate very active catalysts for many reactions (133). The principal use is in the production of synthetic mbber via Ziegler-Natta catalysts systems. Also, iodine and certain iodides, eg, titanium tetraiodide [7720-83-4], are employed for producing stereospecific polymers, such as polybutadiene mbber (134) about 75% of the iodine consumed in catalysts is assumed to be used for polybutadiene and polyisoprene polymeri2a tion (66) (see RUBBER CHEMICALS). Hydrogen iodide is used as a catalyst in the manufacture of acetic acid from methanol (66). A 99% yield as acetic acid has been reported. In the heat stabiH2ation of nylon suitable for tire cordage, iodine is used in a system involving copper acetate or borate, and potassium iodide (66) (see Tire cords). 

Iron Sulfur Compounds. Many molecular compounds (18—20) are known in which iron is tetrahedraHy coordinated by a combination of thiolate and sulfide donors. Of the 10 or more stmcturaHy characterized classes of Fe—S compounds, the four shown in Figure 1 are known to occur in proteins. The mononuclear iron site REPLACE occurs in the one-iron bacterial electron-transfer protein mbredoxin. The [2Fe—2S] (10) and [4Fe—4S] (12) cubane stmctures are found in the 2-, 4-, and 8-iron ferredoxins, which are also electron-transfer proteins. The [3Fe—4S] voided cubane stmcture (11) has been found in some ferredoxins and in the inactive form of aconitase, the enzyme which catalyzes the stereospecific hydration—rehydration of citrate to isocitrate in the Krebs cycle. In addition, enzymes are known that contain either other types of iron sulfur clusters or iron sulfur clusters that include other metals. Examples include nitrogenase, which reduces N2 to NH at a MoFe Sg homocitrate cluster carbon monoxide dehydrogenase, which assembles acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) at a FeNiS site and hydrogenases, which catalyze the reversible reduction of protons to hydrogen gas. 

Ak2o has been iastmmental ia developiag a new process for the stereospecific synthesis of 1,4-cyclohexane diisocyanate [7517-76-2] (21). This process, based on the conversion of poly(ethylene terephthalate) [25038-59-9] circumvents the elaborate fractional crystallisation procedures required for the existing -phenylenediamine [108-45-2] approaches. The synthesis starts with poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) (32) or phthaUc acid, which is converted to the dimethyl ester and hydrogenated to yield the cyclohexane-based diester (33). Subsequent reaction of the ester with ammonia provides the desired bisamide (34). The synthesis of the amide is the key... 

Ozonation ofAlkenes. The most common ozone reaction involves the cleavage of olefinic carbon—carbon double bonds. Electrophilic attack by ozone on carbon—carbon double bonds is concerted and stereospecific (54). The modified three-step Criegee mechanism involves a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of ozone to an olefinic double bond via a transitory TT-complex (3) to form an initial unstable ozonide, a 1,2,3-trioxolane or molozonide (4), where R is hydrogen or alkyl. The molozonide rearranges via a 1,3-cycloreversion to a carbonyl fragment (5) and a peroxidic dipolar ion or zwitterion (6). 

Diazo compounds react with alkenes to afford A -pyrazolines, which in turn izomerize to A -pyrazolines if there is a hydrogen atom a to the N=N bond (Scheme 54). In those cases where two possible ways of isomerization exist, the more acidic hydrogen migrates preferentially. The alkene configuration is conserved on the A -pyrazoline (stereospecificity) but the regioselectivity depends on the substituents of both the alkene and the diazo compound. 

We have previously seen (Scheme 2.9, enby 6), that the dehydrohalogenation of alkyl halides is a stereospecific reaction involving an anti orientation of the proton and the halide leaving group in the transition state. The elimination reaction is also moderately stereoselective (Scheme 2.10, enby 1) in the sense that the more stable of the two alkene isomers is formed preferentially. Both isomers are formed by anti elimination processes, but these processes involve stereochemically distinct hydrogens. Base-catalyzed elimination of 2-iodobutane affords three times as much -2-butene as Z-2-butene. 

Catalytic hydrogenation has been utilized extensively in steroid research, and the method has been found to be of great value for the selective and stereospecific reduction of various functional groups. A number of empirical correlations concerning selectivity and product stereochemistry compiled for steroid hydrogenations has been listed in a previous review. ... 

Since the stereochemical course of a catalytic hydrogenation is dependent on several factors, " an understanding of the mechanism of the reaction can help in the selection of optimal reaction conditions more reliably than mere copying of a published recipe . In the first section the factors which can influence the product stereochemistry will be discussed from a mechanistic viewpoint. In subsequent sections the hydrogenation of various functional groups in the steroid ring system will be considered. In these sections both mechanistic and empirical correlations will be utilized with the primary emphasis being placed on selective and stereospecific reactions. 

---