Key transformation

Disconnection Using Tactical Sets of Functional Group-Keyed Transforms.62... 

The category of 2-Gp-keyed transforms which disconnect C-C bonds is among the most important of all transform types. These transforms, especially in their stereoselective versions, are workhorses of retrosynthetic planning as their names alone attest aldol, Michael, Claisen,... 

Retrosynthetic analysis can often be enhanced by strategies built around tactical combinations of PG-keyed transforms which together produce molecular simplification in a coordinated (but subtle) way. The concept of tactical combinations of transforms and a few examples of such combinations have been described in Section 2.10. The use of FG-keyed tactical combinations may be illustrated by a selection of specific applications. 

Methoxatin, now known as coenzyme PQQ, was originally obtained from methylotrophic bacteria but is now known to be a mammalian cofactor, for example, for lysyl oxidase and dopamine p-hydroxylase. The first synthesis of this rare compound was accomplished by the route outlined below. In the retrosynthetic analysis both of the heterocyclic rings were disconnected using directly keyed transforms. 

Lemiere and coworkers synthesized the antipicomavirus agent 3-0-Methylquercetin (76). A key transformation was the conversion of acetophenone 61a to 3-methoxyflavone 79. In the event, 61a and 3,4-dibenzyloxybenzoic anhydride (77) were allowed to react at 160 C in the presence of sodium carboxylate 78 to deliver the penultimate intermediate in 78% yield. Debenzylation of 79 in the presence of Pearlman s catalyst delivered the natural product in 99% yield. 

A key transformation in Corey s prostaglandin synthesis is a Diels-Alder reaction between a 5-(alkoxymethyl)-l,3-cyclopenta-diene and a ketene equivalent such as 2-chloroacrylonitrile (16). As we have already witnessed in Scheme 3, it is possible to bring about a smooth [4+2] cycloaddition reaction between 5-substituted cyclopentadiene 15 and 2-chloroacrylonitrile (16) to give racemic 14 as a mixture of epimeric chloronitriles. Under these conditions, the diastereomeric chloronitriles are both produced in racemic form because one enantiotopic face of dienophile 16 will participate in a Diels-Alder reaction with the same facility as the other enantiotopic face. In subsequent work, Corey s group demonstrated that racemic hydroxy acid 11, derived in three steps from racemic 14 (see Scheme 3), could be resolved in a classical fashion with (+)-ephe-... 

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 ... 

In summary, we have described a novel and efficient synthesis of thienobenzazepine derivatives in which the key transformation includes a telescoped process involving a selective intro reduction followed by palladium-mediated intramolecular amidation. The process developed is quite amenable for preparative scale (multi-gram) and presents significant advantage to those reported previously with respect to overall yield (e.g., 50% vs. 17% overall yield), total number of synthetic transformations (4 vs. 9), and reagents and/or conditions that are suitable for large-scale synthesis. 

The etherification between alcohol 10 and imidate 67 was one of the key transformations in the successful preparation of compound 1. The use of HBF4 as the catalyst for the etherification was crucial for obtaining high levels of diastereose-lectivity and relatively high conversion to the desired product 18. The fact that sec-sec ethers have rarely, if ever, been obtained with high levels of diastereocontrol in Sn2 fashion under typical SN1 reaction conditions prompted us to investigate the complex mechanistic details of this exceptional reaction. 

Fiandanese and coworkers [103] described a new approach for the synthesis of the butenolides xerulin (6/1-207) and dihydroxerulin (6/1-208), which are of interest as potent noncytotoxic inhibitors of the biosynthesis of cholesterol (Scheme 6/1.53). The key transformation is a Pd°-catalyzed Sonogashira/addition process of 6/1-204 or 6/1-206 with (Z)-3-iodo-2-propenoic acid 6/1-205, which is followed by the formation of a lactone to give 6/1-207 and 6/1-208, respectively. 

Boger and his research group [10] have also developed a very efficient and flexible synthesis of lukianol A as depicted in Scheme 3. The key transformation for the formation of the tetrasubstituted pyrrole precursor (15) involves formation of a symmetrically substituted diazine (14) by a Diels-... 

Metal-catalyzed cross-couplings are key transformations for carbon-carbon bond formation. The applicability of continuous-flow systems to this important reaction type has been shown by a Heck reaction carried out in a stainless steel microreactor system (Snyder et al. 2005). A solution of phenyliodide 5 and ethyl acrylate 6 was passed through a solid-phase cartridge reactor loaded with 10% palladium on charcoal (Scheme 2). The process was conducted with a residence time of 30 min at 130°C, giving the desired ethyl cinnamate 7 in 95% isolated yield. The batch process resulted in 100% conversion after 30 min at 140°C using a preconditioned catalyst. 

Kuwajima s Synthesis of ( )-Taxusin. Two key transformations are involved in Kuwajima s synthesis30 (1) construction of the tricyclic taxane skeleton via cyclization of the eight-membered B ring between C-9 and C-10 and (2) subsequent installation of the C-19 methyl group onto the ring system. 

The key transformation in the synthesis of carbanucleosides, reported by Horvath, was based on the Ferrier-II rearrangement and led to the important derivative ara-cyclohexenyl-A (Fig. 19).32... 

FG s may key transforms which stereoselectively remove stereocenters, break topologically strategic bonds or join proximate atoms to form rings. 

---