In Sharpless asymmetric

Figure 4.4 Dimerization effects in Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation.

Asymmetric dihydroxylation Sharpless developed a catalytic system (AD-mix- 3 or AD-mix-a) that incorporates a chiral ligand into the oxidizing mixture which can be used for the asymmetric dihydroxylation of alkenes. The chiral ligands used in Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation are quinoline alkaloids, usually dihydroquinidine (DHQD) or dihydroquinine (DHQ) linked by a variety of heterocyclic rings such as 1,4-phthalhydrazine (PHAL) or pyridazine (PYR) (see section 1.6, reference 32 of Chapter 1). 

Despite the complexity of the active catalyst, the sense of asymmetric induction in Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation reactions can be rehably predicted using the model shown in Figure 4.2. In order for the model to predict the stereochemical outcome correctly, only two points need to be remembered. The allyhc hydroxy group resides in the bottom right corner and D-(-)-diethyl tartrate (which has the (S,S)-configuration) attacks from above the plane. 

Fig. 8. Use of Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation for the preparation of an intermediate in the synthesis of FK-506 (105), where represents the chiral...

The essential features of the Masamune-Sharpless hexose synthesis strategy are outlined in a general way in Scheme 4. The strategy is based on the reiterative- application of a two-carbon extension cycle. One cycle comprises the following four key transformations (I) homologation of an aldehyde to an allylic alcohol (II) Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation of the allylic alcohol ... 

The emergence of the powerful Sharpless asymmetric epoxida-tion (SAE) reaction in the 1980s has stimulated major advances in both academic and industrial organic synthesis.14 Through the action of an enantiomerically pure titanium/tartrate complex, a myriad of achiral and chiral allylic alcohols can be epoxidized with exceptional stereoselectivities (see Chapter 19 for a more detailed discussion). Interest in the SAE as a tool for industrial organic synthesis grew substantially after Sharpless et al. discovered that the asymmetric epoxidation process can be conducted with catalytic amounts of the enantiomerically pure titanium/tartrate complex simply by adding molecular sieves to the epoxidation reaction mix-... 

Scheme 4. The Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation in the J.T. Baker Company s commercial synthesis of (7/ ,8S)-disparlure (15).

The development of Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation (SAE) of allylic alcohols in 1980 constitutes a breakthrough in asymmetric synthesis, and to date this method remains the most widely applied asymmetric epoxidation technique [34, 44]. A wide range of substrates can be used in the reaction ( ) -allylic alcohols generally give high enantioselectivity, whereas the reaction is more substrate-dependent with (Z)-allylic alcohols [34]. 

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