Optical activity, loss

The levorotatory form of the trans AB isomer showed no inversion or appreciable optical activity loss in its reaction with en to form [Cotrien(en)]Cl3. 

The product, [a]i g = 184° (c = 0.43 mgmL S CH Clj), mp 278-279°C, shows less than a 1 % optical activity loss after storage for 3 months under nitrogen in a refrigerator. 

Partial but not complete loss of optical activity m S l reactions probably results from the carbocation not being completely free when it is attacked by the nucleophile Ionization of the alkyl halide gives a carbocation-hahde ion pair as depicted m Figure 8 8 The halide ion shields one side of the carbocation and the nucleophile captures the carbocation faster from the opposite side More product of inverted configuration is formed than product of retained configuration In spite of the observation that the products of S l reactions are only partially racemic the fact that these reactions are not stereospecific is more consistent with a carbocation intermediate than a concerted bimolecular mechanism... 

Each act of proton abstraction from the a carbon converts a chiral molecule to an achi ral enol or enolate ion The sp hybridized carbon that is the chirality center m the start mg ketone becomes sp hybridized m the enol or enolate Careful kinetic studies have established that the rate of loss of optical activity of sec butyl phenyl ketone is equal to Its rate of hydrogen-deuterium exchange its rate of brommation and its rate of lodma tion In each case the rate determining step is conversion of the starting ketone to the enol or enolate anion... 

Just as selective oxidation can be carried out on these systems, reduction also occurs with considerable selectively. Hydrogenation of binaphthol (Pd catalyst) in glacial acetic acid at room temperature for seven days affords the octahydro (bis-tetrahydro) derivative in 92% yield with no apparent loss of optical activity when the reaction is conducted on optically pure material. The binaphthol may then be converted into the bis-binaphthyl crown in the usual fashion. 

A bacterial isolate APN has been shown to convert a-aminopropionitril enantioselectively to L-alanine (94% yield, 75% e e). However, the major disadvantage of this approach, is the low stability of most aminonitriles in water (for example a-aminophenylacetonitrile in water of pH 7, degrades completely within 48 hours). The aminonitriles are always in equilibrium with the aldehyde or ketone and ammonia/HCN. Polymerisation of hydrogen cyanide gives an equilibrium shift resulting in the loss of the aminonitrile. Therefore, a low yield in amino adds is to be expected, which makes this method less attractive for the industrial synthesis of optically active amino adds. 

Tin/lithium exchange on the a-alkoxy stannanes and subsequent addition of carbon dioxide led to optically active (7-protected a-hydroxy acids 18 with retention of configuration and without any loss of stereochemical information11. 

The d5Tiamic stereochemistries of M(dtc)3 and [M(dtc)3] (M = Fe, Co, or Rh) complexes have been studied (315). The cobalt complex is non-rigid, but the mechanism of optical inversion could not be determined. The Rh complex is stereochemically rigid up to 200°. The optical inversion of (-l-)546 [Colpyr-dtcla] in chloroform has been studied, by loss of optical activity, by polarimetry (316). 

There are two possible structures for simple alkyl radicals. They might have sp bonding, in which case the structure would be planar, with the odd electron in ap orbital, or the bonding might be sp, which would make the structure pyramidal and place the odd electron in an sp orbital. The ESR spectra of CHs and other simple alkyl radicals as well as other evidence indicate that these radicals have planar structures.This is in accord with the known loss of optical activity when a free radical is generated at a chiral carbon. In addition, electronic spectra of the CH3 and CD3 radicals (generated by flash photolysis) in the gas phase have definitely established that under these conditions the radicals are planar or near planar. The IR spectra of CH3 trapped in solid argon led to a similar conclusion. " °... 

Despite the usual loss of optical activity noted above, asymmetric radicals can be prepared in some cases. For example, asymmetric nitroxide radicals are known. An anomeric effect was observed in alkoxy radical (31), where the ratio of 31a/31b was 1 1.78. ... 

Evidence for this mechanism is that optically active PhCHDCHs labeled in the ring with C and treated with GaBr3 in the presence of benzene gave ethylbenzene containing no deuterium and two deuteriums and that the rate of loss of radioactivity was about equal to the rate of loss of optical activity." The mechanism of intramolecular rearrangement is not very clear. The 1,2 shifts of this kind have been proposed " ... 

To test this hypothesis, a-naphthaldehyde, which is apparently inert toward photoreduction, was irradiated in the presence of optically active 2-octanol. If a reversible hydrogen abstraction were to occur, a loss of optical activity in the 2-octanol should result. The results showed no loss in optical activity thus the question of a reversible reaction has been answered/33 ... 

Here it is found that the rate of loss of optical activity and the rate of isomerisation are identical, and if the reaction is carried out in the presence of D20 (five moles per mole of substrate) no deuterium is incorporated into the product. The reaction is thus wholly intramolecular under these conditions—no carbanion is involved—and is believed to proceed via a bridged T.S. such as (30). With a number of substrates features of both inter- and intra-molecular pathways are observed, the relative proportions being dependent not only on the substrate, but to a considerable extent on the base and solvent employed also. 

This all suggests slow, rate-limiting breaking of the C—H bond to form the stabilised carbanion intermediate (54), followed by fast uptake of D from the solvent D20. Loss of optical activity occurs at each C—H bond breakage, as the bonds to the carbanion carbon atom will need to assume a planar configuration if stabilisation by delocalisation over the adjacent C=0 is to occur. Subsequent addition of D is then statistically equally likely to occur from either side. This slow, rate-limiting formation of a carbanion intermediate, followed by rapid electrophilic attack to complete the overall substitution, is formally similar to rate-limiting carbocation formation in the SNi pathway it is therefore referred to as the SE1 pathway. 

A systematic investigation of the free amino acids of the Leguminosae led to the isolation of a novel ninhydrin-positive compound from the leaves of Derris elliptica Benth. (Papilionidae) (93). This substance was analyzed as C6H,3N04 (microanalysis and high resolution mass spectrometry) and was shown to be an amino alcohol. The absence of a carbonyl in the 1R, the loss of 31 mass units in the mass spectrum, and a positive periodate cleavage reaction were best embodied into a dihydroxydihydroxymethylpyrrolidine structure. The relative simplicity of the NMR spectra (three peaks in the 13C spectrum four spin-system in the H spectrum) pointed out a symmetrical structure. Inasmuch as the material was optically active ([a]D 56.4, c = 7, H20), meso structures were ruled out, and the 2R, 3R, 4R, 5R relative configuration was retained (93). This structure (53) was further confirmed by an X-ray determination (94). 

The main lines of this approach were later embodied in an enantioselective synthesis of (—)-a-allokainic acid (Scheme 34) (179). The sole stereo center of die ene reaction starting material was derived from a glutamic acid derivative (132) to avoid loss of optical activity via double bond migration (see Scheme 33), the a acid function of kainic acid had to be reduced before the pyrolysis step... 

Optically active iV-unprotected-2-pyrrolidinones 194 were obtained from selenocarboxylate or allylamine via radical cyclization and subsequent one-step cleavage of the C-O and C-N bond of the inseparable mixture of the two bicyclic oxyoxazolidinones 192 and 193 with -Bu4NF. The initial radical reaction is highly stereoselective. Products were obtained with ee up to 90%. The mandelic acid 195, which served as the chiral auxiliary in this method, was recovered with no loss of optical activity (Equation 33) <2003T6291>. 

Chiral Lewis acids are also applicable in the deracemization of racemic allene dicarboxylates 289. Treatment of dimethylallene-l,3-dicarboxylate 289 with a chiral organoeuropium reagent, (+)-Eu(hfc)3, gave the corresponding optically active allene in 79% ee (Scheme 4.76) [118]. Unfortunately the chiral allene could not be isolated from the reaction mixture without loss of its optical purity. 

Not least for the syntheses of natural products, alkoxycarbonylations with formation of allenic esters, often starting from mesylates or carbonates of type 89, are of great importance [35, 137]. In the case of carbonates, the formation of the products 96 occurs by decarboxylation of 94 to give the intermediates 95 (Scheme 7.14). The mesylates 97 are preferred to the analogous carbonates for the alkoxycarbonylation of optically active propargylic compounds in order to decrease the loss of optical purity in the products 98 [15]. In addition to the simple propargylic compounds of type 89, cyclic carbonates or epoxides such as 99 can also be used [138]. The obtained products 100 contain an additional hydroxy function. 

Superimposability and Loss of Optical Activity In a situation where molecules exist as C (WjXY), that is when two of the four groups become identical, as may be observed in bromochloromethane and isopropylchloride as shown below ... 

Superimposability and loss of optical activity, and (Hi) Specific optical rotation. 

Seebach and Daum (75) investigated the properties of a chiral acyclic diol, 1,4-bis(dimethylamino)-(2S,35)- and (2K,3/ )-butane-2,3-diol (52) as a chiral auxiliary reagent for complexing with LAH. The diol is readily available from diethyl tartrate by conversion to the dimethylamide and reduction with LAH. The diol 52 could be converted to a 1 1 complex (53) with LAH (eq. [18]), which was used for the reduction of aldehydes and ketones in optical yields up to 75%. Since both enantiomers of 53 are available, dextro- or levorotatory products may be prepared. The chiral diol is readily recoverable without loss of optical activity. The (- )-52-LAH complex reduced dialkyl and aryl alkyl ketones to products enriched in the (S)-carbinol, whereas (+ )-52-LAH gives the opposite result. The highest optical yield of 75% was obtained in the reduction of 2,4,6-... 

Fig. 10.4 More examples of 3-20-KIE s. (Top, solvolysis of a t-butyl substituted adamantine. Bottom, racemization (loss of optical activity) of a dihydrophenanthrene derivative (Mislow, K., and coworkers, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 86, 1733 (1964))...

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