Methylation reactions, pentacyclic

When a cold (-78 °C) solution of the lithium enolate derived from amide 6 is treated successively with a,/ -unsaturated ester 7 and homogeranyl iodide 8, intermediate 9 is produced in 87% yield (see Scheme 2). All of the carbon atoms that will constitute the complex pentacyclic framework of 1 are introduced in this one-pot operation. After some careful experimentation, a three-step reaction sequence was found to be necessary to accomplish the conversion of both the amide and methyl ester functions to aldehyde groups. Thus, a complete reduction of the methyl ester with diisobutylalu-minum hydride (Dibal-H) furnishes hydroxy amide 10 which is then hydrolyzed with potassium hydroxide in aqueous ethanol. After acidification of the saponification mixture, a 1 1 mixture of diastereomeric 5-lactones 11 is obtained in quantitative yield. Under the harsh conditions required to achieve the hydrolysis of the amide in 10, the stereogenic center bearing the benzyloxypropyl side chain epimerized. Nevertheless, this seemingly unfortunate circumstance is ultimately of no consequence because this carbon will eventually become part of the planar azadiene. 

Some simple biphenols equipped with methyl groups, e.g., 3,3, 5,5 -tetramethyl-2,2 -biphenol 38, have attracted attention as important components of highly potent ligand systems [75-86]. Remarkably, the sustainable synthesis of such biphenols is rather challenging despite their simple scaffolds. In particular, methyl-substituted phenols are prone to side reactions. This is especially the case when 2,4-dimethyl-phenol (37) is oxidatively treated. Upon anodic conversion 37 is preferably transformed into polycyclic architectures [87]. Direct electrolysis in basic media provided only traces of the desired biphenol 38 and the dominating components of the product mixture consisted of Pu in meter s ketone 39 and the consecutive pentacyclic spiro derivative 40 [88]. For an efficient electrochemical access to 3,3, 5,5 -tetramethyl-2,2,-biphenol (38) we developed a boron-based template strategy [89, 90]. This methods requires a multi-step protocol but can be conducted on a multi-kilogram scale (Scheme 17). 

At an early date it was already recognized that the ketone (IX) derived from an oxidation of the C-18 carbinol function of methyl reserpate could be of considerable utility for further transformation of the reserpine pentacyclic ring system, but early attempts at the preparation of the desired compound by conventional oxidation, e.g., by Oppenauer s method, AAchlorosuceinimide, sodium dichromate, or chromic oxide in pyridine, were unsuccessful with both methyl reserpate and methyl 18-epireserpate. The ketone was finally obtained by heating methyl reserpate p-bromobenzene sulfonate with dimethyl sulfoxide in the presence of triethylamine (162), a method successfully used for simpler compounds (163). Subsequently, it was found that this oxidation could also be realized with other benzene sulfonate esters of methyl reserpate and 18-epireserpate. That the stereochemistry of the molecule was unaffected was proved by sodium borohydride reduction of the ketone, which gave equal amounts of methyl reserpate and its 18-epimer. This and other simple reactions of the ketone are sketched in Chart III, and additional observations will be given. 

The reductive cyclization protocol was then applied to a suitably A-protected radical precursor to allow further access to the alkaloid calothrixin B. Satisfactorily, 2-indolylacyl radicals derived from A-(methoxymethyl) selenoester 57 underwent cyclization under TTMSS-AIBN conditions with an even higher efficiency than their A-methyl counterparts. The reaction nevertheless followed a different course as, after the radical addition and quinoline rearomatization, pentacyclic phenol 58, a fully aromatic tautomeric form of ketone P, was isolated in 90% yield. The same phenol 58 was isolated although in lower yields (50-70%) using either stannane-AIBN or AIBN-irradiation protocols. 

Three successive [2+4] cycloadditions were used in the synthesis of the pentacyclic methyl ether of G-2N by Kraus and Zhao [92] and later, by a slightly modified procedure, also of the natural product G-2N (118) [93] (Scheme 31). Thermal reaction of the cyclobutanol 112 with acrylic ester gave the dihydronaphthalene 113 which was demethylated by treatment with boron tribromide and converted into the exocyclic ketene acetal 114. This unstable diene was reacted in a second cycloaddition with 2,6-dichlorobenzoquinone (115) to afford the tetracyclic chloroquinone 116. In a last Diels-Alder reaction, ring E was anella-ted by treatment of 116 with l-methoxy-l,3-bis[(trimethylsilyl)oxy]-l,3-buta-diene (117) to yield the pentacyclic natural product G-2N (118) [93]. 

There are a few tetra- and pentacyclic analogues. Benzo analogues of 245 were prepared from pyridine-2,3-dicarboxylic acid anhydride and a tetralin derivative under conditions of the Friedel-Crafts reaction (85JCR(S)338). Pentacyclic compounds 258 (R = H or Me) were prepared from the bis adduct of anthranilic (or IV-methylanthranilic) acid to 1,4-benzoquinone, followed by cyclization in concentrated sulfuric acid (55JCS4440 66CB1991). 6-Methylquinoline-5,8-dione dimerized in the presence of ethanolic N-methyl-cyclohexylamine to 259 in very low yield and the dimerization is interpreted as two base-catalyzed addition reactions and three oxidation steps (71JCS(C)1253). 

The Japp-Klingemann reaction was the key step during the first synthesis of the pentacyclic pyridoacridine marine cytotoxic alkaloid amoamine A by E. Delfoume et a P The diazonium salt was added to a vigorously stirred solution of ethyl-2-methyl-3-oxobutyrate in ethanol containing KOH, NaOAc and water. The resulting hydrazone was exposed to polyphosphoric acid to form the indole ring. 

In an attempt to convert the tetracyclic lactam 456 into vincadine (7), Ban and his collaborators (285) found that reaction of 456 with t-butyl hypochlorite, followed by potassium cyanide, did not give the expected 16-cyano derivative but instead the 7-cyano derivative 457. However, reaction of the 7-chloroindolenine derivative 458 with dimethylamine followed by methyl iodide gave the quaternary salt 459, which then gave the desired 16-cyano derivative 460 on prolonged reaction with potassium cyanide. An unexpected product, obtained in comparable yield, was the pentacyclic lactam 461, whose structure was established by X-ray crystallography (Scheme 45). 

An independent synthesis of the dienes 629 and 630, by Natsume and co-workers (364), constitutes another formal synthesis of these hexacyclic alkaloids. The tricyclic intermediate 631, previously prepared, was converted by a conventional sequence of reactions via the ketoester 632 into the pentacyclic ester 633, which was oxidized to the unsaturated ester 634. Elimination of the C-17 ether substituent then gave 629, and methylation, followed by elimination, gave 630 (Scheme 86). 

In 1987, Hill and co-workers (75) reported a clever synthesis of the pentacyclic cephalotaxine analog 246 starting from the nitrostyrene derivative 98 (Scheme 42). The Diels-Alder adduct 244, obtained by the reaction of butadiene sulfone with 98, was treated with methyl acrylate to give a single stereoisomer of the nitro ester, which was reduced with zinc in etha-nolic HCl to yield the lactam 245 and further reduced by Red-AI to the corresponding pyrrolidine. Pictet-Spengler cyclization with formaldehyde gave the pentacyclic amine 246. Alternatively, the reduced pyrrolidine obtained from 245 could be formylated, cyclized to the iminium salt by a Bischler-Napieralski protocol, and finally reduced with sodium borohy-dride to 246. Nearly identical sequences have also been reported by Bryce... 

The enaminone 119 (Z = COOEt) obtained from 18a/19a or 20 and ethyl /1-alanate on reaction with 3-indolylacetyl chloride and its /V-methyl derivative gave enamides 122 (R = H, Me), which on TiCl4-induced cyclization gave corresponding pyrrolocarbazoles 123 (R = H, Me). The base-induced transformations of these tetracycles to corresponding pentacyclic systems could not be achieved (91T4165). 

---