Methyl groups conformational effects

In the absence of steric factors e.g. 5 ), the attack is antiparallel (A) (to the adjacent axial bond) and gives the axially substituted chair form (12). In the presence of steric hindrance to attack in the preferred fashion, approach is parallel (P), from the opposite side, and the true kinetic product is the axially substituted boat form (13). This normally undergoes an immediate conformational flip to the equatorial chair form (14) which is isolated as the kinetic product. The effect of such factors is exemplified in the behavior of 3-ketones. Thus, kinetically controlled bromination of 5a-cholestan-3-one (enol acetate) yields the 2a-epimer, (15), which is also the stable form. The presence of a 5a-substituent counteracts the steric effect of the 10-methyl group and results in the formation of the unstable 2l5-(axial)halo ketone... 

The molecules most profitably studied in connection with purely steric isotope effects have been isotopically substituted biphenyl derivatives. Mislow et al. (1964) reported the first more or less clearcut example of this kind in the isotope effect in the configurational inversion of optically active 9,10-dihydro-4,5-dimethylphenanthrene (7), for which an isotopic rate ratio ( d/ h) of 1-17 at 295-2°K in benzene solution was determined. The detailed conformation of the transition state is not certain in this case, as it involves the mutual passage of two methyl groups, and thus it is difficult to compare the experimental results with... 

The steric parameters for the estimation of reactant state effects were chosen to be the conformational free energy differences for cyclohexane axial-equatorial equilibria (A-values) (8). In order to establish the methyl group as the standard size group, modified A-values (A ) for the various groups were used, by simply subtracting the A value for the methyl group (1.70) from the A values of the various substituents ... 

The enamines derived from cyclohexanones are of particular interest. The pyrrolidine enamine is most frequently used for synthetic applications. The enamine mixture formed from pyrrolidine and 2-methylcyclohexanone is predominantly isomer 17.106 A steric effect is responsible for this preference. Conjugation between the nitrogen atom and the tt orbitals of the double bond favors coplanarity of the bonds that are darkened in the structures. In isomer 17 the methyl group adopts a quasi-axial conformation to avoid steric interaction with the amine substituents.107 A serious nonbonded repulsion (A1,3 strain) in 18 destabilizes this isomer. 

Entry 6 involves a titanium enolate of an ethyl ketone. The aldehyde has no nearby stereocenters. Systems with this substitution pattern have been shown to lead to a 2,2 syn relationship between the methyl groups flanking the ketone, and in this case, the (3-siloxy substituent has little effect on the stereoselectivity. The configuration (Z) and conformation of the enolate determines the 2,3-vyn stereochemistry.113... 

The Harmata group also found that certain ort/w-bromocinnamates underwent a Michael addition during the course of the Buchwald-Hartwig reaction. This one-pot process produced the same products as the two step process and with the same, complete stereoselectivity. For example, this was first observed with bromocinnamate 107, where the reaction with (7 )-77b afforded a 53% yield of sulfoximine 108 as well as a 36% yield of benzothiazine 95 under standard coupling conditions (Scheme 27). The cyclization was attributed to a buttressing effect of the ortho-methoxy in bromocinnamate 107. This presumably favored a conformation that placed the methyl group of its sulfoximine functionality near the p-carbon of the a,P-unsaturated ester, thus favoring cyclization. 

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