Lewis acids benzyloxyacetaldehyde

Reactions of the same carbonyl ylide intermediate with aldehydes are even more fruitful. The Rh2(OAc)2 catalyzed reaction proceeds at room temperature in the presence of 2 mol% of the catalyst, but the diastereoselectivity is disappointingly low (endo/exo = 49 51, Scheme 11.56). However, when 10 mol% of the cocatalyst Yb(OTf)3 is added, the reaction becomes highly exo-selective (endo/ exo = 3 97) (198). Suga has extended this Lewis acid catalyzed carbonyl ylide cycloaddition reaction to catalyzed asymmetric versions. The chiral cocatalyst employed is ytterbium(III) tris(5)-1,1 -binaphthyl-2,2 -diyl phosphonate, Yb[(S) BNP]3 (10 mol%). In the reaction of methyl o-(diazoacetyl)benzoate with benzyloxyacetaldehyde in the presence of Rh2(OAc)2 (2 mol%) at room temperature with the chiral Yb catalyst, the diastereoselectivity is low (endo/exo = 57 43) and the enantiopurity of the endo-cycloadduct is 52% ee. 

An enantioselective version of the above reactions has been reported. Lewis acids such as Yb(OTf)3 can profoundly affect the stereochemical outcome of the carbonyl ylide 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions [137]. This provided an indication to effect asymmetric carbonyl ylide cycloaddition using a chiral Lewis acid. The first example of such asymmetric induction using the chiral lanthanide catalysts has been reported [138,139]. For example, the reaction of diazoacetophenone 89 with benzyloxyacetaldehyde, benzyl pyruvate and 3-acryloyl-2-oxazoHdinone in the presence of chiral 2,6-bis(oxazolinyl)pyridine ligands and scandium or ytterbium complexes furnished the corresponding cycloadducts 165-167 with high enantioselectivity (Scheme 53). 

More efficient in terms of the number of steps (six) and overall yield (41%) was a later synthesis from Boukouvalas and co-workers (Scheme 7.2) (302). Bis-silyl-protected 3-hydroxymethyl 2,4-dihydrofuran-2-one (359) was selectively deprotected/condensed with benzyloxyacetaldehyde to give the alcohol, which was protected as a pivalate ester and subjected to selective desilylation then TEMPO-mediated oxidation. The resulting aldehyde 361 was then cyclized with a Lewis acid. Elimination of pivalic acid from ester 362 gave mainly the desired ylidenebutenolide regioisomer and the natural product (348). 

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