Oxygen nucleophiles inter-intramolecular reactions

Yoshida and coworkers47 reported that they readily oxidized bromide and chloride anions into positive halogens with p-nitrobenzenesulfonyl peroxide (equation 26). They found that oxyhalogenated products were formed from the reaction of these positive halogens with olefins, and proposed epihalonium ion intermediates which, in turn, were trapped by oxygen nucleophiles inter- or intramolecularly to afford the oxyhalogenated products (equation 27). 

It is interesting to note that the oxa-analogous Michael addition was reported for the first time in 1878 by Loydl et al. [19] in their work on the synthesis of artificial malic acid, which was five years ahead of the discovery of the actual Michael reaction described first by Komnenos [20], Claisen [21], and later Michael in 1887 [22] as one of the most important methods for C—C bond formation. In continuation of the early work on the oxa-Michael addition [23], the inter- and intramolecular additions of alkoxides to enantiopure Michael acceptors has been investigated, leading to the diastereo- and enantioselective synthesis of the corresponding Michael adducts [24]. The intramolecular reaction has often been used as a key step in natural product synthesis, for example as by Nicolaou et al. in the synthesis of Brevetoxin B in 1989 [25]. The addition of oxygen nucleophiles to nitro-alkenes was described by Barrett et al. [26], Kamimura et al. [27], and Brade and Vasella [28]. 

The second set of examples involves the use of thionium ions as electrophiles in inter- and intramolecular processes to obtain a-substituted sulfides (see 24 25, Scheme 20.7T which is the most common type of Pummerer reaction. Applications of this classical Pummerer rearrangement are exemplified in the synthesis of trans-solamin, the synthesis of indolizidine alkaloids, and the synthesis of the CDE ring of erinacine E. The first exanple fScheme 20.10 uses Pummerer chemistry in the generation of a thionium ion, which reacts in an intermolecular tin-mediated ene reaction the second one fScheme 20.11 uses Pummerer chemistry to introduce a nitrogen-containing heterocycle by intramolecular addition to form the coniceine core and the third example fScheme 20.12 is an intramolecular silicon-induced Pummerer reaction with oxygenated nucleophiles applied to the synthesis of a precursor of erinacine. Details of these Pummerer-based strategies are discussed below. 

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