Lactone generation

Lactone hydrolysis is similar to ester hydrolysis in terms of catalytic mechanisms, but differs as far as reaction kinetics and products are concerned. Whereas esters are hydrolyzed to two metabolites/products, lactones generate a hydroxy acid as the sole metabolite/product of hydrolysis. In fact, the reaction should be designated as hydration rather than hydrolysis according to the definitions given in Chapt. 1. Another characteristic of hydrolytic... 

So far, no systematic investigation of the length of the side chain in VII/116 (Scheme VII/23) has been made. There have been, however, enquieries into lactonization reactions, in which the side chain contained two [94], three [4] [83] [95] [96], and four [93] carbon atoms. In these cases, the intermediate hemiacetal ring is a five-, six-, or seven-membered ring. The yields of the lactones, generated via five- and six-membered hemiacetals, are usually high (90 % and more). If a lactonization reaction involves a seven-membered hemiacetal, the yields are distinctly lower. 

B. Synthesis of Spiro i5-Lactones Generation of Quaternary Carbon Centers... 

Mori and Shibasaki s group described the use of a special titanium-isocyanate complex for a novel one-step synthesis of isoindolinones and quinazolinones starting from o-halophenyl alkyl ketones [260]. As shown in Scheme 2.35, this reaction proceeds through the oxidative addition of the enol lactone, generated by palladium-catalyzed carbonylation of o-halophenyl alkyl ketones, to the titanium-isocyanate complex A. 

Recently, two enantioselective syntheses of (—)-alloyohimbane (82) have been reported. The synthetic route utilized by Riva s group featured an enzymatic hydrolysis as the key step (Scheme 3.8S) (135). Prochiral diester 489 was hydrolyzed with pig liver esterase to provide the hydroxyester (—)-490 in good yield and with a high enantiomeric excess. One carbon homologation of (—)-490 followed by subsequent lactonization generated the bi-cyclic lactone (—)-491. Condensation of (—)-491 with tryptamine afforded tetracyclic lactam (—)-81, an intermediate in Isobe s synthesis of (—)-alloyohimbane ((—)-82). 

CflHaOa. An unstable acid which spontaneously forms a -lactone, coumarin, when the free acid is generated from its salts. See coumaric acid. 

Cycloaddition of COj with the dimethyl-substituted methylenecyclopropane 75 proceeds smoothly above 100 °C under pressure, yielding the five-membered ring lactone 76. The regiocheraistry of this reaction is different from that of above-mentioned diphenyl-substituted methylenecyclopropanes 66 and 67[61], This allylic lactone 76 is another source of trimethylenemethane when it is treated with Pd(0) catalyst coordinated by dppe in refluxing toluene to generate 77, and its reaction with aldehydes or ketones affords the 3-methylenetetrahy-drofuran derivative 78 as expected for this intermediate. Also, the lactone 76 reacts with a, /3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. The reaction of coumarin (79) with 76 to give the chroman-2-one derivative 80 is an example[62]. 

Perfluoro-y-butyrolactone can be prepared from 1,4 diiodoperfluorobutane by reaction with turning sulfuric acid (oleum) [7S] (equation 19) The yield depends on the concentration of sulfur trioxide One of the by-products, 4-iodoperfluo-robutyryl fluoride, can be recycled to increase the overall yield of the lactone Pure sulfur trioxide generates only perfluorotetrahydrofuran, the lodo acyl fluoride, and perfluorosuccmyl fluoride... 

Although deprotonation of simple 1,3-dithiolanes at the 2 position is usually accompanied by cycloreversion to the alkene and dithiocarboxylate, this does not occur for the 2-ethoxycarbonyl compound 55. The anion of this is readily generated with LDA and undergoes conjugate addition to a,(3-unsaturated ketones, esters, and lactones to give, after deprotection, the a,8-diketoester products 56 (73TL2599). In this transformation 55 therefore acts as an equivalent of Et02C-C(0) . 

Thermal fragmentation of l,3-dioxin-4-ones or acylated Meldrum acids with generation of a-oxoketenes, hetero Diels-Alder reactions of the latter, and their transformations into lactones and lactams, among them macrocyclic 99YGK76. 

The interaction between a 4-iodopyrazole-3-carboxylic acid and copper ace-tylides having both donor and acceptor substituents at the triple bond generated six- rather than five-membered lactones, as in the aromatic series (Scheme 117). 

The proposed mechanism for the conversion of the furanone 118 to the spiro-cyclic lactones 119 and 120 involves electron transfer to the a -unsaturated methyl ester electrophore to generate an anion radical 118 which cyclizes on the /3-carbon of the furanone. The resulting radical anion 121 acquires a proton, giving rise to the neutral radical 122, which undergoes successive electron transfer and protonation to afford the lactones 119 and 120 (Scheme 38) (91T383). 

In any form of analysis it is important to determine the integrity of the system and confirm that artefacts are not produced as a by-product of the analytical procedure. This is particularly important in enantiomeric analysis, where problems such as the degradation of lactone and furanon species in transfer lines has been reported (40). As chromatography unions, injectors, splitters, etc. become more stable and greater degrees of deactivation are possible, problems of this kind will hopefully be reduced. Some species, however, such as methyl butenol generated from natural emissions, still remain a problem, undergoing dehydration to yield isoprene on some GC columns. 

An important task remaining is the stereocontrolled introduction of a methyl group at C-8. When a cold (-78 °C) solution of 14 in THF is treated successively with LDA and methyl iodide and then warmed to -45 °C, intermediate 24 admixed with minor amounts of the C-8 epimer is formed in a yield of 95 %. The action of LDA on 14 generates a lactone enolate which is alkylated on carbon in a diastereoselective fashion with methyl iodide to give 24. It is of no consequence that 24 is contaminated with small amounts of the unwanted C-8 epimer because hydrolysis of the mixture with lithium hydroxide affords, after Jones oxidation of the secondary alcohol, a single keto acid (13) in an overall yield of 80%. Apparently, the undesired diastereoisomer is epimerized to the desired one under the basic conditions of the saponification step. 

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