Nucleophilic addition epoxides

Stereoselective epoxidation can be realized through either substrate-controlled (e.g. 35 —> 36) or reagent-controlled approaches. A classic example is the epoxidation of 4-t-butylcyclohexanone. When sulfonium ylide 2 was utilized, the more reactive ylide irreversibly attacked the carbonyl from the axial direction to offer predominantly epoxide 37. When the less reactive sulfoxonium ylide 1 was used, the nucleophilic addition to the carbonyl was reversible, giving rise to the thermodynamically more stable, equatorially coupled betaine, which subsequently eliminated to deliver epoxide 38. Thus, stereoselective epoxidation was achieved from different mechanistic pathways taken by different sulfur ylides. In another case, reaction of aldehyde 38 with sulfonium ylide 2 only gave moderate stereoselectivity (41 40 = 1.5/1), whereas employment of sulfoxonium ylide 1 led to a ratio of 41 40 = 13/1. The best stereoselectivity was accomplished using aminosulfoxonium ylide 25, leading to a ratio of 41 40 = 30/1. For ketone 42, a complete reversal of stereochemistry was observed when it was treated with sulfoxonium ylide 1 and sulfonium ylide 2, respectively. ... 

Substitution of an additional nitrogen atom onto the three-carbon side chain also serves to suppress tranquilizing activity at the expense of antispasmodic activity. Reaction of phenothia zine with epichlorohydrin by means of sodium hydride gives the epoxide 121. It should be noted that, even if initial attack in this reaction is on the epoxide, the alkoxide ion that would result from this nucleophilic addition can readily displace the adjacent chlorine to give the observed product. Opening of the oxirane with dimethylamine proceeds at the terminal position to afford the amino alcohol, 122. The amino alcohol is then converted to the halide (123). A displacement reaction with dimethylamine gives aminopromazine (124). ... 

Acid-catalyzed epoxide opening takes place by protonation of the epoxide to increase its reactivity, followed by nucleophilic addition of water. This nucleophilic addition is analogous to the final step of alkene bromination, in which a cyclic bromonium ion is opened by a nucleophile (Section 7.2). That is,... 

As in nature, the fonnation of adjacent THF ring chains or fused THP ring polycyclic ethers depends on the regioselectivity (endo or exo) of the nucleophilic addition to each epoxide (Scheme 8.16). 

In Entry 5, the carbanion-stabilizing ability of the sulfonyl group enables lithiation and is then reductively removed after alkylation. The reagent in Entry 6 is prepared by dilithiation of allyl hydrosulfide using n-bulyl lithium. After nucleophilic addition and S-alkylation, a masked aldehyde is present in the form of a vinyl thioether. Entry 7 uses the epoxidation of a vinyl silane to form a 7-hydroxy aldehyde masked as a cyclic acetal. Entries 8 and 9 use nucleophilic cuprate reagents to introduce alkyl groups containing aldehydes masked as acetals. 

Barrett and coworkers have explored hetero-substituted nitroalkenes in organic synthesis. The Michael addition of nucleophiles to 1-alkoxynitroalkenes or 1-phenylthionitroalkenes followed by oxidative Nef reaction (Section 6.1) using ozone gives a-substituted esters or thiol esters, respectively.41 As an alternative to nucleophilic addition to l-(phenylthio)-nitroalkenes, Jackson and coworkers have used the reaction of nucleophiles with the corresponding epoxides (Scheme 4.4).42 Because the requisite nitroalkenes are readily prepared by the Henry reaction (Chapter 3) of aldehydes with phenylthionitromethane, this process provides a convenient tool for the conversion of aldehydes into ot-substituted esters or thiol esters. 

Darzens reaction, the reaction between a carbonyl compound and an a-halo ester in the presence of a base, consists of an initial aldol-type addition and a subsequent intramolecular Sn2 reaction, forming an epoxide as its final product. Its high stereoselectivity thus relies on the stereoselectivity of the nucleophilic addition of an a-halo ester onto the carbonyl substrate, which can be either an aldehyde or a ketone. 

Schematically, the two major types of reactions undergone by epoxides are rearrangements and addition of nucleophiles. Rearrangements can lead to toxic intermediates, precursors, or metabolites, whereas nucleophilic additions can lead to alkylation of biomacromolecules, i.e., formation of covalent adducts.

Fig. 10.4. General mechanism of nucleophilic addition to epoxides. The site of attack (i.e. C(l) vs. C(2)) depends on the steric and electronic properties of the substituents.

A general type of chemical reaction between two compounds, A and B, such that there is a net reduction in bond multiplicity (e.g., addition of a compound across a carbon-carbon double bond such that the product has lost this 77-bond). An example is the hydration of a double bond, such as that observed in the conversion of fumarate to malate by fumarase. Addition reactions can also occur with strained ring structures that, in some respects, resemble double bonds (e.g., cyclopropyl derivatives or certain epoxides). A special case of a hydro-alkenyl addition is the conversion of 2,3-oxidosqualene to dammara-dienol or in the conversion of squalene to lanosterol. Reactions in which new moieties are linked to adjacent atoms (as is the case in the hydration of fumarate) are often referred to as 1,2-addition reactions. If the atoms that contain newly linked moieties are not adjacent (as is often the case with conjugated reactants), then the reaction is often referred to as a l,n-addition reaction in which n is the numbered atom distant from 1 (e.g., 1,4-addition reaction). In general, addition reactions can take place via electrophilic addition, nucleophilic addition, free-radical addition, or via simultaneous or pericycUc addition. 

Hexafluoroacetone and hydrogen peroxide in buffered aqueous solution epoxidize alkenes and allyhc alcohols.81 82 A/yV-Dialkylpiperidin-4-one salts are also good catalysts for epoxidation.83 84 The quaternary nitrogen enhances the reactivity of the ketone toward nucleophilic addition and also makes the dioxirane intermediate more reactive. 

The isomerization of terminal epoxyalkynes into furans catalyzed by RuCl(Tp)(PPh3) (MeCN) inthe presence of Et3N as abase at 80 °C in 1,2-dichloroethaneis explained by a related intramolecular nucleophilic addition of the oxygen atom of the epoxide to the a-carbon atom of a ruthenium vinylidene intermediate, as shovm by deuteration in the 3-position of the furan (Scheme 10.10) [45]. This reaction is specific for terminal alkynes and tolerates a variety of functional groups (ether, ester, acetal, tosylamide, nitrile). 

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