Nucleophilic Ring Opening of Epoxides

These reactions are usually performed in water or alcohols as solvents, and the alkoxide ion intermediate is rapidly transformed to an alcohol by proton transfer. 

The other involves acid catalysis. Here the nucleophile is often a molecule of the solvent. 

Acid-catalyzed ring opening of epoxides is discussed in Section 16.13. 

There is an important difference in the regiochemistry of ring-opening reactions of epoxides depending on the reaction conditions. Unsymmetrically substituted epoxides tend to react with anionic nucleophiles at the less hindered carbon of the ring. Under conditions of acid catalysis, however, the more highly substituted carbon is attacked. 

Nucleophiles attack here when reaction is catalyzed by acids. 

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We saw an example of nucleophilic ring opening of epoxides in Section 15 4 where the reaction of Grignard reagents with ethylene oxide was described as a synthetic route to primary alcohols... 

Nucleophilic ring opening of epoxides has many of the features of an 8 2 reac tion Inversion of configuration is observed at the carbon at which substitution occurs... 

As we ve just seen nucleophilic ring opening of ethylene oxide yields 2 substituted derivatives of ethanol Those reactions involved nucleophilic attack on the carbon of the ring under neutral or basic conditions Other nucleophilic ring openings of epoxides like wise give 2 substituted derivatives of ethanol but either involve an acid as a reactant or occur under conditions of acid catalysis... 

Nucleophilic ring opening of epoxides by ammonia (Section 16 12) The strained ring of an epoxide is opened on nucleo philic attack by ammonia and amines to give 3 ammo alcohols Azide ion also re acts with epoxides the products are p azido alcohols... 

Scheme 12.15 gives some examples of both acid-catalyzed and nucleophilic ring openings of epoxides. Entries 1 and 2 are cases in which epoxidation and solvolysis are carried out without isolation of the epoxide. Both cases also illustrate the preference for anti stereochemistry. The regioselectivity in Entry 3 is indicative of dominant bond cleavage in the TS. The reaction in Entry 4 was studied in a number of solvents. The product results from net syn addition as a result of phenonium ion participation. The ds-epoxide also gives mainly the syn product, presumably via isomerization to the... 

Nucleophilic Ring-Opening of Epoxides by Alkylzirconocene Chlorides... 

Metal oxides were also chirally modified and few of them showed a significant or at least useful e.s. Thus, while Al203/alkaloid [80] showed no enantiodifferentiation, Zn, Cu, and Cd tartrate salts were quite selective for a carbene addition (45% e.e.) [81] and for the nucleophilic ring opening of epoxides (up to 85% e.e.) [82], Recently, it was claimed that /(-zeolite, partially enriched in the chiral polymorph A, catalyzed the ring opening of an epoxide with low but significant e.s. (5% e.e.) [83], All these catalysts are notyet practically important but rather demonstrate that amorphous metal oxides can be modified successfully. 

Scheme 12.14 gives some examples of both acid-catalyzed and nucleophilic ring openings of epoxides. 

To circumvent elimination reactions, fluorides have been introduced by nucleophilic ring opening of epoxides.15 The regioselective opening of aldosyl epoxides proceeds ira r-diaxially.16 Epoxides can also be opened with chloride, bromide and iodide ions. The chemistry of epoxides is discussed in detail in Section 3.6. 

In addition to being highly efficient catalysts for the preparation of asymmetric oxiranes (see Section 1.04.2.6.1), chiral metal-salen complexes can mediate the enantioselective nucleophilic ring opening of epoxides Jacobsen reviewed this area in 2000 <2000ACR421>. 

Ring openings of epoxides with various nucleophiles are catalyzed by acid or base and are accompanied by configurational inversion on the substituted carbon (23). Posner found that y-alumina facilitated nucleophilic ring openings of epoxides with amines, alcohols, and carboxylates to give P-functionalized alcohols stereospecihcally (trans) in good yields under mild reaction conditions (24). This catalytic behavior of alumina was assumed to be due to the cooperative function of acidic and basic sites on alumina. 

Nucleophilic ring opening of epoxides with heteroatom nucleophiles is another valuable method for the synthesis of many heteroatom-modified carbohydrate derivatives. The cyclic nature of epoxides renders the competing elimination process stereoelectronically unfavorable. Analogous to the above-discussed Sn2 nucleophilic mechanism, nucleophiles can open epoxide rings, and give rise to Walden inversion at the attacked carbon, furnishing a-hydroxy derivatives as illustrated in O Scheme 10. 

Hansen, K. B., Leighton, J. L., Jacobsen, E. N. On the Mechanism of Asymmetric Nucleophilic Ring-Opening of Epoxides Catalyzed by (Salen)Crlll Complexes. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1996,118,10924-10925. 

Thermal degradation led to the oxo compounds including [(N02)N0)][Ti0(F3CS03)4], Tilv triflate complexes efFiciently catalyze a variety of reactions including the conversion of acetophenones to 1,3,5-triarylbenzenes,658 the nucleophilic ring opening of epoxides,659 Diels—Alder reactions,660 selective Claisen and Dieckmann ester condensations,661 esterification reactions,662 Fries rearrangements,663 homoaldol reactions,664 sequential cationic and anionic polymerizations,641 and the stereoselective synthesis of m-arabinofuranosides.606... 

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