Oxime ethers stereoselective reductions

J. L. Chiara, J. Marco-Contelles, N. Khira, P. Gallego, C. Destabel, and M. Bemabe, Intramolecular reductive coupling of carbonyl-tethered oxime ethers promoted by samarium diiodide A powerful method for the stereoselective synthesis of aminocyclopentitols, J. Org. Chem., 60 (1995) 6010-6011. 

The in situ generated catalyst from ATBH and trimethyl borate has also been used in the stereoselective reduction of a-oxoketoxime ethers to prepare the corresponding chiral 1,2-amino alcohols. Thus the asymmetric borane reduction of buta-2,3-dione monoxime ether followed by acidic work-up and subsequent reaction with benzyloxycarbonyl chloride affords a 90% yield of 7V-(Z)-3-aminobutan-2-ol with excellent enantioselectivities (eq 5). A trityl group in the oxime ether is required for high enantioselectivity. This method has been successively applied to both cyclic and acyclic a-oxoketoxime ethers. 

Entry 9 in Table 15 illustrates another synthetically useful stereocontrolled reduction of cyclic oxime ethers (isoxazolines) to alicyclic amino alcohols using LAH. The stereoselectivity obtained is further enhanced by the incorporation of a 4a-hydroxy group which, upon reduction, affords almost entirely the erythro isomer (equation High diastereoselectivity in the reductive cleavage of isoxazolines has... 

In contrast to the oximes which were reduced to a mixture of several products, O-methyl ethers gave two main products alkyl amines and saturated aziridines. The reduction to aziridine-7-azabicyclo[4.1.Ojheptane is highly stereoselective, depending on the oxime ether configuration (Scheme 16) <93HAC73>. 

The stereoselective reduction of ex-hydroxy oxime ethers with borane allows the synthesis of civ-1,2-amino alcohols in 86% yield5. 

In the asymmetric reduction of ketones, stereodifferentiation has been explained in terms of the steric recognition of two substituents on the prochiral carbon by chirally modified reducing agents40. Enantiomeric excesses for the reduction of dialkyl ketones, therefore, are low because of the little differences in the bulkiness of the two alkyl groups40. In the reduction of ketoxime ethers, however, the prochiral carbon atom does not play a central role for the stereoselectivity, and dialkyl ketoxime ethers are reduced in the same enantiomeric excess as are aryl alkyl ketoxime ethers. Reduction of the oxime benzyl ethers of (E)- and (Z)-2-octanone with borane in THF and the chiral auxiliary (1 R,2S) 26 gave (S)- and (R)-2-aminooctane in 80 and 79% ee, respectively39. 

---