Intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction solanapyrone

Another important application of the iminium catalysis concept has been the development of enantioselective Type I [15, 30] and Type II [15] intramolecular Diels-Alder reactions (IMDA). (For experimental details see Chapter 14.18.3). For these transformations, both catalysts 1 and 3 proved to be highly efficient, as demonstrated by both the short and effective preparation of the marine methabo-lite solanapyrone D via Type I IMDA (Scheme 3.4, top) and the development of an early example of an enantioselective, catalytic Type II IMDA reaction (Scheme 3.4, bottom) [35]. Importantly, cycloadducts incorporating ether and quaternary carbon functionalities could be efficiently produced. 

In order to confirm the structures of solanapyrones, chemical synthesis of these phytotoxins were attempted based on biogenetic consideration [55], The retro synthesis envisaged intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction of the achiral polyketide triene (a), a key intermediate, which is further divided into a pyrone moiety (b) and a diene moiety (c). The moieties a and b were prepared from dehydroacetic acid and hexadienyl acetate, respectively. Aldol condensation of the aldehyde (72) with the dithioacetal (73) gave a dienol, which was further converted to a triene (74). The intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction of 74 in toluene at 170-190 °C for 1 hr in a sealed tube yielded a mixture of the adducts (75) and (76) in a ratio of 1 2. This product ratio depends on the solvents, i.e. in water (1 7), and should be useful in differentiating between artificial and enzymatic reactions in biosynthetic studies. Removal of the thioacetal groups in 75 and 76 yielded solanapyrone A (67) and D (70) in a ratio of 3 5. Though solanapyrone D (70) had not been isolated from the natural resources at this stage, the structure and stereochemistry were confirmed by H NMR spectrum. 

Certain cyclic moieties present within some polyketide structures are considered to occur via an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction. Such a process has been proposed for several metabolites, of which nargenicin A and the solanapyrones A and D are the most thoroughly investigated. 

In 2005, MacMillan reported an enantioselective organocatalytic intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction (IMDA) of a,p-unsaturated aldehyde and diene, as well as the application in the asymmetric synthesis of solanapyrone D (6), Scheme 3.1 [5]. Later, Danishefsky and Christmann individually reported the total synthesis of UCS1025A (9) by coupling reaction with MacMillan aldehyde (8) [6]. The malim-ide analogue 10 of the telomerase inhibitor UCS1025A (9) was also prepared by Christmann et al. by modified MacMillan s conditions (10 mol% catalyst loading in nitromethane, affording 74% yield and >99% ee after a sequence of recrystallization and oxidation). Scheme 3.2 [7]. 

Scheme 54 Intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction in the total synthesis of solanapyrone D (235)...

Wilson RM, Jen WS, MacMillan DWC (2005) Enantioselective Organocatalytic Intramolecular Diels-Alder Reactions. The Asymmetric Synthesis of Solanapyrone D. J Am Chem Soc 127 11616... 

The influence of solvents [64] and comparisons with catalysts of the diarylpro-linol series [65] were reported. For theoretical calculations on stereocontrol see Reference [66]. In addition, imidazolidin-4-one catalyzed cycloadditions have been used in several total syntheses of natural products. Intramolecular Diels-Alder reactions (IMDA) were reported as key steps in the synthesis of bicyclo-undecenes [67], amaminols [68], solanapyrones [69], telomerase inhibitor UCS1025A [70], englerin A [71], (-)-nor-platencin [72], and muironolide A [73]. In addition, asymmetric [3-1-2]-cycloadditions of azomethines were accomphshed in the presence of chiral imidazoUdinones [74]. Intermolecular cycloadditions of dihydropyridine 53 and acrolein catalyzed by imidazolidin-4-ones were reported. The chiral azabicyclo-octenol 54 was isolated as the important key intermediate in the total synthesis of lycopodium alkaloids [75] (e.g., ludduline) and oseltamivir (Scheme 4.19) [76]. 

Wilson, R.M., Jen, W.S., and MacMillan, D.W.C. (2005) Enantio-selective organocatalytic intramolecular Diels-Alder reactions. The asymmetric synthesis of solanapyrone D. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 127, 11616-11617. 

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