Oxacyclic ethers

Muthusamy et al. (82) prepared a number of oxacyclic ether compounds from the tandem ylide formation-dipolar cycloaddition methodology. Their approach provides a synthetic tactic to compounds such as ambrosic acid, smitopsin, and linearol. Starting with either cyclopentane or cyclohexane templates, they prepared ylide sizes of five or six, which are trapped in an intermolecular cycloaddition reaction by the addition of DMAD. The products are isolated in good overall yield. In a second system, 2,5-disubstituted cyclohexenyl derivatives are utilized to generate the pendent ylide, then, A-phenylmaleimide is added in an intermolecular reaction, accessing highly substituted oxatricyclic derivatives such as 182 (Scheme 4.43). 

The conversion of a thiolactone to a cyclic ether can also be used as a key step in the synthesis of functionalized, stereochemically complex oxacycles (see 64—>66, Scheme 13). Nucleophilic addition of the indicated higher order cuprate reagent to the C-S double bond in thiolactone 64 furnishes a tetrahedral thiolate ion which undergoes smooth conversion to didehydrooxepane 65 upon treatment with 1,4-diiodobutane and the non-nucleophilic base 1,2,2,6,6-pentamethylpiperidine (pempidine).27 Regio- and diastereoselective hydroboration of 65 then gives alcohol 66 in 89 % yield after oxidative workup. Versatile vinylstannanes can also be accessed from thiolactones.28 For example, treatment of bis(thiolactone) 67 with... 

Tandem 5-exo-oxacyclizations of polyepoxides to form polycyclic ethers are well known. In Evans s synthesis of lonomycin A, diepoxide 66 underwent the desired... 

Cationic copolymerization of cyclic ethers, formals, esters and anhydrides has been thoroughly studied in recent years and sufficient information about it is now available. The propagating species involved in the cationic copolymerization of these oxacyclic monomers are believed to be the oxonium ions in most cases, but their detailed nature is dependent on monomer structure. From their copolymerization behavior, these monomers can be arranged in the following order of increasing car-bocationic character of the propagating species ... 

Based on a transformation described by Catellani and coworkers [61], the Lautens group [62] developed a three-component domino reaction catalyzed by palladium for the synthesis of benzo annulated oxacycles 6/1-114 (Scheme 6/1.30). As substrates, these authors used a m-iodoaryl iodoalkyl ether 6/1-113, an alkene substi-... 

When Wacker-type reactions are performed under a CO atmosphere, the (3-H elimination pathway can be suppressed in favor of CO insertion and subsequent nucleophilic cleavage of the acyl metal species.399 This alkoxycarbonylation process has found widespread utility, particularly in the synthesis of five- and six-membered oxacyclic natural products. For example, the THF core of tetronomycin was prepared by the Pd-catalyzed alkoxycarbonylation of 4-alkenol derivatives (Equations (117) and (118)), where stereocontrol was achieved by utilizing either the directing ability of a free hydroxyl or the conformational bias imposed by a bulky silyl ether.420 Additional examples making... 

McDonald and coworkers studied a series of tandem endo-selective and stereospecific oxacyclization of polyepoxides by reaction with Lewis acid [92-95]. Polyepoxides, such as 50, can be obtained from the epoxidation of triene 49 with ketone 26 (Scheme 8). This cascade cyclization of polyepoxides provides an efficient method to synthesize substituted polycyclic ether structures, which are present in a number of biologically active marine natural products. 

The Af,Af-diisopropylcarbamoyl group interferes with the catalyst, as seen in the transformation of the allylic ether 392a into the dihydrofuran 393a high amounts of 394 are required. The metathesis reaction to similar oxacycles 393b and 393c proceeds more... 

Boron trifluoride etherate promotes the fWt/a-selcctivc oxacyclization of polyepoxides derived from various acyclic terpenoid polyalkenes, including geraniol, farnesol, and geranylgeraniol, providing an efficient and stereoselective synthesis of substituted oxepanes and fused polyoxepanes. The oxacyclization transformations may mimic ringforming steps in the biosynthesis of trans-syn-trans-fused polycyclic ether marine natural products <2002JOC2515>. 

Oxacyclic monomers constitute the most widely investigated class of heterocyclic monomers regarding both academic and industrial interest. In particular, the coordination polymerisation of cyclic ethers such as epoxides (oxiranes) and of cyclic esters such as lactones, lactides and cyclic carbonates has been considered. 

A number of reports have appeared on the use of carbonyl-alkene additions to construct oxacyclic ring systems efficiently with high diastereoselectivity. Nakata showed that even the formation of seven-membered cyclic ethers using the transformation can be remarkably efficient and utilised the strategy to form the E ring of the polycyclic ether marine natural product yessotoxin (Scheme 5.34).64... 

A versatile approach to spiro-oxacycles is the use of cyclic a-methylene enol ethers employed by us in an efficient and short enantioselective total synthesis of the mycotoxin talaromycin B (see Sect. 7.1). Later Pale and Vogel [148] employed the same protocol for the preparation of spiroacetals 2-145 using e.g. acrolein 2-78, methyl vinyl ketone and 2-pentenal, respectively with the enol ether 2-143 (Fig. 2-39). In most cases the yields were only modest, however, reaction of 2-143 and 2-78 in benzene in the presence of the mild Lewis acid ZnCl2 gave 2-145 in 70% yield as a single adduct. 

RCM reactions are most frequently employed in the synthesis of 2,5-dihydrofurans as well as dihydropyrrole derivatives . Likewise, RCM provides the most general approach to 3,6-dihydropyrans . In a specific example, dihydropyran 127 bearing a chiral oxacyclic diene can be constructed via enyne metathesis of the chiral ether 126 (Scheme 68) <2002T5627>. The analogous tetrahydropyridine derivatives are prepared by a similar RCM procedure . 

The aluminum-mediated Petasis-Ferrier rearrangement is a stepwise [1,3]-sigmatropic process. The first step is the coordination of the Lewis-acid to the 0-atom of the enol. Coordination to the ether O-atom is reversible and nonproductive. Cleavage of the adjacent C-O-bond, assisted by the antiperiplanar lone pair of the etheral O-atom, stereospecifically gives rise to an oxocarbenium enolate species, which cyclizes to the desired oxacycle. The rate difference in the rearrangement for the five- versus six-membered series can be explained by the more facile 6-(enolendo)-endo-trig cyclization. The last step is the intramolecular equatorial hydride delivery. 

This paper is a review of studies on the ring-opening polymerization of cyclic ethers, e.g., styrene oxide, phenyl glycldyl ethers, epoxy aldehydes and derived oxacyclic monomers. Model reactions involving ring-opening processes occurring in those compounds have alsobeen discussed. 

Alkenyl and aryl radicals are also useful for expedient synthesis of oxacyclic natural products. For example, the hexahydrobenzofuran subunit 12 for avermectin synthesis was obtained from the bromopropenyl ether 11 [13] (Scheme 6). A formal synthesis of morphine (15) was reported by Parker utilizing tandem radical cyclizations initiated by the aryl radical from the bromoaryl ether 13 [14] (Scheme 7). A closely related example for the morphine skeleton synthesis also employed aryl radical cyclization [15]. 

A number of oxacyclic natural products were synthesized via carbocycle-forming radical reaction of oxacyclic intermediates. An early example is the synthesis of (-)-dihydroagarofuran (170) by Biichi [109] (Scheme 58). The bridgehead chloride 168 obtained from the corresponding hydroxy ketone was amenable to radical cycliza-tion, and the tricyclic ether 169 was duly obtained. The aplysin synthesis [110] provides another example, and (—)-karahana ether (173) was synthesized via radical cyclization of the substrate 171 [111] (Scheme 59). Lactonic natural products (-1-)-eremantholide A [112], alliacolide [113], and (-)-anastrephin [114] were prepared via a variety of carbocycle-forming radical cyclization reactions. In the total synthesis of spongian-16-one (176) [115] (Scheme 60), the butenolide moiety in the substrate 174 served as the final radical acceptor for three consecutive 6-endo-. rig cyclizations. 

Formation of oxacycles via intramolecular radical addition reactions of oxygen-centered radicals under oxidative and reductive conditions is known [116] (see also Chapter 5.2, Volume 2). However, cyclic ether formation via intramolecular displacement reaction of iodohydrins obtained by hydrogen abstraction of oxy radicals has been more widely used, as exemplified in the reports by Suarez [117]. The usefulness of this reaction was amply demonstrated by Paquette in the synthesis of (-t-)-epoxydiclymene (179) [118] (Scheme 61), in which the strained trans-... 

To demonstrate the versatility of this process and to provide a relevant model study for the synthesis of 1, we investigated an extension to medium-sized heterocycles. Thus, the diastereomeric silyl ethers 8a-b were selected to test this application by generation of the corresponding 9-membered oxacyclic dienes (Scheme 3). The preparation of 8a-b began with the reduction of pyruvic aldehyde dimethoxy acetal with NaBH4 in MeOH/THF to afford hydroxy acetal 2 (84%). Alkylation of the sodium salt of 2 with propargylic bromide afforded 3 (85%). Conversion of 3 to 5 was achieved by alkyne iodination followed by a c/s-reduction of... 

Aldehydes form O-stannyl ketyls with the BujSn radical. A /3-alkoxyacrylate unit five bonds away from the ketyl is well positioned to be involved in a radical transfer process therefore, cyclization ensues. Fused oxacycles of well-defined stereochemistry are assembled by this reaction. Heterocyclic 1,2-amino alcohols are similarly procured from dialdehyde monooxime ethers. ... 

Oxonium-ene reaction.° Lactol allylic ethers undergo this reaction under the influence of MejSiOTf. The transformation defines a new route to substituted oxacycles. 

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