Periodate, osmium catalyzed oxidations

Treatment of MFA (1) with cyanogen bromide [6] opened ring G to yield the bromo derivative 3 [7]. Attempts to dehydrobrominate 3 in one step via a base-catalyzed elimination with DBU/CH3CN, KOH/MeOH, or terr-BuOK/DMSO were unsuccessful. However, the required methylene entity could be introduced by converting 3 first to a selenide, then oxidation with periodate, followed by thermolysis in benzene to provide compound 4. Hydrolysis of the cyano group with NaOH in ethylene glycol [8] produced 5 (50% yield). Osmium catalyzed oxidation of 5 in the presence of 4-methylmorpholine A-oxide (NMO) gave a diol, which was cleaved to an aldehyde upon treatment with periodate. Treatment of the aldehyde with sodium cyanoborohydride resulted in an intramolecular reductive animation to yield the desired product PHB (6). 

Periodate-osmium tetroxide oxidation (Lemieux-Johnson). - The reagent, periodate catalyzed by osmium tetroxide, operates as follows. Osmium tetroxide adds to a double bond to form an osmate ester, and this is oxidized by periodate with cleavage to carbonyl compounds and regeneration of osmium tetroxide. Discovery of the... 

The oxidative cleavage of C=C bond is a common type of reaction encountered in organic synthesis and has played a historical role in the structural elucidation of organic compounds. There are two main conventional methods to oxidatively cleave a C=C bond (1) via ozonol-ysis and (2) via oxidation with high-valent transition-metal oxidizing reagents. A more recent method developed is via the osmium oxide catalyzed periodate oxidative cleavage of alkenes. All these methods can occur under aqueous conditions. 

Furo[3,2-c][l]benzopyran-4-ones have been prepared either by acid catalyzed condensation of 4-hydroxycoumarin with a benzoin derivative (equation 11) (81IJC(B)614) or from 3-allyl-4-hydroxycoumarins on oxidation with osmium tetroxide/potassium periodate followed by cyclization of the intermediary aldehyde with PPA (equation 12) (79G109). 

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