Meyers Oxazoline Method

Chiral oxazolines developed by Albert I. Meyers and coworkers have been employed as activating groups and/or chiral auxiliaries in nucleophilic addition and substitution reactions that lead to the asymmetric construction of carbon-carbon bonds. For example, metalation of chiral oxazoline 1 followed by alkylation and hydrolysis affords enantioenriched carboxylic acid 2. Enantioenriched dihydronaphthalenes are produced via addition of alkyllithium reagents to 1-naphthyloxazoline 3 followed by alkylation of the resulting anion with an alkyl halide to give 4, which is subjected to reductive cleavage of the oxazoline moiety to yield aldehyde 5. Chiral oxazolines have also found numerous applications as ligands in asymmetric catalysis these applications have been recently reviewed, and are not discussed in this chapter.  

The first synthesis and use of a chiral oxazoline was reported by Meyers in 1974. The chiral oxazoline 1 was prepared in two steps by condensation of (-i-)-l-phenyl-2-amino-1,3-propanediol (6) with the ethyl imidate of propionitrile followed by 0-methylation of the resulting alcohol 7 with NaH/Mel. Meyers demonstrated chiral oxazoline 1 could be 

The first use of chiral oxazolines as activating groups for nucleophilic additions to arenes was described by Meyers in 1984. Reaction of naphthyloxazoline 3 with phenyllithium followed by alkylation of the resulting anion with iodomethane afforded dihydronaphthalene 10 in 99% yield as an 83 17 mixture of separable diastereomers. Reductive cleavage of 10 by sequential treatment with methyl fluorosulfonate, NaBKi, and aqueous oxalic acid afforded the corresponding enantiopure aldehyde 11 in 88% yield. 

The mechanism of the asymmetric alkylation of chiral oxazolines is believed to occur through initial metalation of the oxazoline to afford a rapidly interconverting mixture of 12 and 13 with the methoxy group forming a chelate with the lithium cation. Alkylation of the lithiooxazoline occurs on the less hindered face of the oxazoline 13 (opposite the bulky phenyl substituent) to provide 14 the alkylation may proceed via complexation of the halide to the lithium cation. The fact that decreased enantioselectivity is observed with chiral oxazoline derivatives bearing substituents smaller than the phenyl group of 3 is consistent with this hypothesis. Intermediate 13 is believed to react faster than 12 because the approach of the electrophile is impeded by the alkyl group in 12. 

Acidic hydrolysis of 14 occurs via protonation of the nitrogen followed by attack of water on the resulting cationic intermediate. Proton transfer followed by ring-opening affords cation 15, which is trapped by a second equivalent of water. Another proton transfer followed by loss of the amino group affords protonated carboxylic acid 16, which loses to provide the carboxylic acid product. 

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Wolfe, J. P. Meyers Oxazoline Method In Name Reactions in Heterocycl. Chemistry, Li, J. J. Corey, E. J., Eds. Wiley Sons Hoboken, NJ, 2005, 237—248. (Review). 

ProMem 26.16 Using the Meyers oxazoline method, outline all steps in the synthesis of (a) /i-butync acid from acetic acid (b) isobutyric acid from acetic acid (c) isobutyric acid from propionic acid (d) /3-phenylpropionic acid from acetic acid. 

This synthetic application of 4,5-dihydrooxazoles is known as the Meyers oxazoline method [76]. 

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