MCPBA meta-chloro

The epoxide 6 is naturally electrophilic, but where does the epoxide come from By far the most important method of epoxide synthesis is the treatment of alkenes 19 with peroxy acids RCO3H 21. Alkenes are naturally nucleophilic 2 they react with bromine to give dibromides 20 and with electrophilic peroxyacids 21 to give epoxides. Again, these reactions convert nucleophilic alkenes into electrophilic derivatives. A very popular reagent for epoxidation is mCPBA (meta-chloro-perbenzoic acid) 21 R = 3-chlorophenyl but many other compounds are used. 

Scheme 13. The seleno linkage in 56 and a 1,2-seleno-migration (56—>57) provided access to 2-deoxy-saccharides such as 60 and orthoesters such as 61 (mCPBA, meta-chloro perbenzoic acid DAST, diethylamonium sulfur trifluoride).

The molybdenum-mediated arylamine cyclization was also applied to the total synthesis of pyrano[3,2-a]carbazole alkaloids (Scheme 26). Reaction of the 5-aminochromene 71 with the complex salt 62 affords the complex 72, which on oxidative cyclization provides girinimbine 73, a key compound for the transformation into further pyrano[3,2-a] carbazole alkaloids. Oxidation of 73 with DDQ leads to murrayacine 74, while epoxidation of 73 using meta-chloro-perbenzoic acid (MCPBA) followed by hydrolysis provides dihydroxygirinim-bine75 [113]. 

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