Meso-epoxides

In recent years, enantioselective variants of the above transannular C-H insertions have been extensively stiidied. The enantiodetermining step involves discrimination between the enantiotopic protons of a meso-epoxide by a homochiral base, typically an organolithium in combination with a chiral diamine ligand, to generate a chiral nonracemic lithiated epoxide (e.g., 26 Scheme 5.8). Hodgson... 

In all examples of enantioselective deprotonation of meso-epoxides with organo-... 

Jacobsen subsequently reported a practical and efficient method for promoting the highly enantioselective addition of TMSN3 to meso-epoxides (Scheme 7.3) [4]. The chiral (salen)Cl-Cl catalyst 2 is available commercially and is bench-stable. Other practical advantages of the system include the mild reaction conditions, tolerance of some Lewis basic functional groups, catalyst recyclability (up to 10 times at 1 mol% with no loss in activity or enantioselectivity), and amenability to use under solvent-free conditions. Song later demonstrated that the reaction could be performed in room temperature ionic liquids, such as l-butyl-3-methylimidazo-lium salts. Extraction of the product mixture with hexane allowed catalyst recycling and product isolation without recourse to distillation (Scheme 7.4) [5]. 

Despite these significant results in azide additions, only limited success has been obtained in enantioselective addition of other sp2-hybridized nitrogen-centered nucleophiles to meso-epoxides. Bartoli et al. demonstrated that aniline was a... 

NOL-based systems for addition of (substituted) anilines to meso epoxides. Hou found that a ytterbium-BI NO L complex catalyzed desymmetrization of cyclohexene oxide in up to 80% ee [15], Shibasaki demonstrated that a praseodymium-BINOL complex could promote addition of p-anisidine to several epoxides in moderate yields with modest enantioselectivities (Scheme 7.7) [16]. 

One of the earliest useful methods for asymmetric opening of meso-epoxides with sulfur-centered nucleophiles was reported by Yamashita and Mukaiyama, who employed a heterogeneous zinc tartrate catalyst (Scheme 7.10) [20]. Epoxides other than cydohexene oxide were not investigated, and the enantioselectivity depended strongly on the identity of the thiol. 

Without question, the most significant advance in the use of sulfur-centered nucleophiles was made by Shibasaki, who discovered that 10 mol% of a novel gallium-lithium-bis(binaphthoxide) complex 5 could catalyze the addition of tert-butylthiol to various cyclic and acyclic meso-epoxides with excellent enantioselectiv-ities and in good yields (Scheme 7.11) [21], This work builds on Shibasaki s broader studies of heterobimetallic complexes, in which dual activation of both the electrophile and the nucleophile is invoked [22]. This method has been applied to an efficient asymmetric synthesis of the prostaglandin core through an oxidation/ elimination sequence (Scheme 7.12). 

Jacobsen demonstrated that the (salen)Cr system used to effect intermolecular, cooperative asymmetric azidolysis of meso-epoxides (Schemes 7.3 and 7.5) could be applied to sulfur-centered nucleophiles (Scheme 7.13). In order to overcome moderate enantioselectivity (<60% ee), a dithiol nucleophile was employed as part of a double resolution strategy in which the minor enantiomer of the monoaddition product reacts preferentially to form the meso- bis-addition product, thereby increasing the ee of the C2-symmetric bis-addition product. Enantiopure 1,2-mer-capto alcohols (>99% ee) were obtained from the meso-epoxide in ca. 50% overall yield by a burdensome (though effective) multistep sequence, [23]. 

Hou reported the use of a chiral (salen)titanium catalyst for the desymmetriza-tion of meso-epoxides with thiols (Scheme 7.14). The complex, fonned in situ... 

Subsequent to the development of the (salen)Cr-catalyzed desymmetrization of meso-epoxides with azide (Scheme 7.3), Jacobsen discovered that the analogous (salen)Co(n) complex 6 promoted the enantioselective addition of benzoic acids to meso-epoxides to afford valuable monoprotected C2-symmetric diols (Scheme 7.15) [26], Under the reaction conditions, complex 6 served as a precatalyst for the (salen) Co(iii)-OBz complex, which was fonned in situ by aerobic oxidation. While the enantioselectivity was moderate for certain substrates, the high crystallinity of the products allowed access to enantiopure materials by simple recrystallization. 

From the standpoints of both cost and atom economy, water is the ideal nucleophile for synthesis of enantioenriched C2-symmetric 1,2-diols from meso-epoxides. 

Although the enantioselective intermolecular addition of aliphatic alcohols to meso-epoxides with (salen)metal systems has not been reported, intramolecular asymmetric ring-opening of meso-epoxy alcohols has been demonstrated. By use of monomeric cobalt acetate catalyst 8, several complex cyclic and bicydic products can be accessed in highly enantioenriched form from the readily available meso-epoxy alcohols (Scheme 7.17) [32]. 

An alternative method for generating enriched 1,2-diols from meso-epoxides consists of asymmetric copolymerization with carbon dioxide. Nozaki demonstrated that a zinc complex formed in situ from diethylzinc and diphenylprolinol catalyzed the copolymerization with cyclohexene oxide in high yield. Alkaline hydrolysis of the isotactic polymer then liberated the trans diol in 94% yield and 70% ee (Scheme 7.20) [40]. Coates later found that other zinc complexes such as 12 are also effective in forming isotactic polymers [41-42]. 

Jacobsen developed a method employing (pybox)YbCl3 for TMSCN addition to meso-epoxides (Scheme 7.22) [46] with enantioselectivities as high as 92%. Unfortunately, the practical utility of this method is limited because low temperatures must be maintained for very long reaction times (up to seven days). This reaction displayed a second-order dependence on catalyst concentration and a positive nonlinear effect, suggesting a cooperative bimetallic mechanism analogous to that proposed for (salen)Cr-catalyzed ARO reactions (Scheme 7.5). 

The only notable success to date in the use of (salen)metal systems in catalysis of asymmetric cyanide addition to epoxides was achieved by Pietrusiewicz, who reported the aluminium-catalyzed desymmetrization of phospholene meso-epoxide (Scheme 7.23) in moderate ee [47]. Despite these significant efforts, a truly prac-... 

The first example of asymmetric catalytic ring-opening of epoxides with sp2-hybridized carbon-centered nucleophiles was reported by Oguni, who demonstrated that phenyllithium and a chiral Schiff base ligand undergo reaction to form a stable system that can be used to catalyze the enantioselective addition of phenyllithium to meso-epoxides (Scheme 7.24) [48]. Oguni proposed that phenyllithium... 

High enantiomeric excesses for the addition of chloride to meso-epoxides were also obtained with use of a planar-chiral pyridine N-oxide 17 developed by Fu... 

Nakajima reported the use of a chiral bipyridine N,N -dioxide 18 in the desym-metrization of acyclic meso epoxides (Figure 7.3). Although the enantioselectivity was not as high as in the method developed by Fu for meso-stilbene oxide (90% ee vs. 94% ee), it was higher for the same aliphatic epoxide (74% ee vs. 50% ee) [57]. Nakajima showed that mono-N-oxide derivatives 19 and 20 were much less effective than 18 in tenns of both yield and enantioselectivity, and accordingly proposed a unique mechanism for 18 involving a hexacoordinate silicon intermediate coordinated to both N-oxides of the catalyst. 

The principle cost determinant in typical hydrolytic or phenolic resolutions is the cobalt catalyst, despite the relatively low catalyst loadings used in most cases and the demonstrated recyclability with key substrates. From this standpoint, recently developed oligomeric (salen)Co complexes, discussed earlier in this chapter in the context of the hydrolytic desymmetrization of meso-epoxides (Scheme 7.16), offer significant advantages for kinetic resolutions of racemic terminal epoxides (Table 7.3) [29-31]. For the hydrolytic and phenolic kinetic resolutions, the oligo-... 

Chiral epoxides and their corresponding vicinal diols are very important intermediates in asymmetric synthesis [163]. Chiral nonracemic epoxides can be obtained through asymmetric epoxidation using either chemical catalysts [164] or enzymes [165-167]. Biocatalytic epoxidations require sophisticated techniques and have thus far found limited application. An alternative approach is the asymmetric hydrolysis of racemic or meso-epoxides using transition-metal catalysts [168] or biocatalysts [169-174]. Epoxide hydrolases (EHs) (EC 3.3.2.3) catalyze the conversion of epoxides to their corresponding vicinal diols. EHs are cofactor-independent enzymes that are almost ubiquitous in nature. They are usually employed as whole cells or crude... 

Figure 6.73 EH-catalyzed desymmetrization of cyclic meso-epoxides.

The analogous chromium complex was used in the asymmetric ring opening of meso epoxides with trimethylsilyl azide [15] (Scheme 4). In this case a strong dependence on the anion of the ionic hquid was observed. Anions leading to hydrophobic ionic hquids, such as PFe" and SbFe", led to high... 

Method B was also used in the preparation of occluded (salen)Cr complexes. ligands Ih and li were prepared within the pores of Cr -exchanged EMT and Y zeolites, respectively [25]. These complexes were tested as catalysts in the ring opening of meso-epoxides with trimethylsilyl azide (Scheme 4). The occluded complexes showed a dramatic decrease in catalytic... 

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