Polonovski reaction fragmentation

In another search for an alternative to Potier s modified Polonovski reaction of catharanthine A-oxide (45), it has now been found that anhy-drovinblastine (42) can be generated directly, in 77% yield, from a reaction of catharanthine and vindoline in 0.01 N acid, promoted by ionized ferric salts, followed by reduction with sodium borohydride (Scheme 30) (Wl). Remarkably, the cation radical 106 generated by Fe(III), in accord with other simple amine oxidations by Lindsay Smith and Mead (102), resulted in isoquinuclidine fragmentation and coupling to vindoline at 0°C, without the conformational inversion observed in the modified Polonovski reaction at that temperature (see Scheme 15). Other metal oxidants or ligand-bound Fe(lll) did not promote the coupling reaction. It will be of interest to see if the overwhelming competition of C-5-C-6 bond... 

The critical dependence of the stereochemical and regiochemical course of the modified Polonovski reaction on the oxygen functionality in the catharanthine derivative has been well exemplified in recent synthetic studies. Indeed, in the reaction that ultimately provided the first synthesis of anhydrovinblastine, a minor product proved to be the result of an alternative fragmentation of the catharanthine Nb-oxide derivative in which the 5,6-bond was cleaved [->(266)] and subsequent coupling of vindoline occurred at position 6, with formation of the dimeric species (267).159 When an attempt was made to couple the N-oxide of the lactone (238) with vindoline under Polonovski conditions, this type of coupling occurred exclusively, and the products were the lactone (268) (major product)163-165, the... 

As outlined in the section on mechanism, Polonovski reactions in which intermediate iminium ions are produced by fragmentation of the (2a-carbon bond are of considerable interest in synthesis since extensive modification in structure is achieved in a single operation. However, not every iV-oxide substrate can react in this manner. In fact, for this reaction mode to become operative, the Ca-carbon bond to be broken must be both activated toward cleavage by an adjacent electron-donating center (double bond, aromatic ring or heteroatom) and be oriented antiperiplanar to the N—O bond. 

Although the precise mechanism of the coupling reaction is not thoroughly established, one can visualize the formation of (71) as arising from initial fragmentation of the C(16)—C(21) bond of (69), followed by condensation of vindoline with the more accessible a face of the iminium ion (73). The impact of the Polonovski approach in this area is emphasized by the fact that all other attempts to couple vindoline with 16,21-seco derivatives of catharanthine lead invariably to formation of the unnatural dimer. A Polonovski reaction was also a key step in the subsequent elaboration of anhydrovinblastine (71) to (68). ... 

The Polonovski reaction (see Volume 6, Chapter 4.7) — the action of an acid anhydride on an V-oxide — can give rise both to elimination or fragmentation reactions. Potier has modified the fragmentation by use of TFAA rather than AC2O and has applied this version to a useful synthesis of compounds related to antitumor alkaloids of Catharanthus roseus, e.g. vinblastine and vincristine. 

Laboratory transformations took advantage of fragmentation of dregamine (30), tabemaemontanine (31), and vobasine (32) as N4 oxide induced by treatment with trifluoroacetic anhydride (Polonovski-Potier reaction) (192) and reductive capture of the intermediate iminium ion (Scheme 1). 

In several instances reaction of an amine oxide with an acid anhydride triggers a process in which the amine oxide nitrogen is converted into a leaving group and the Co—bond is cleaved (Scheme 15). ° Interestingly, these reactions occur to the exclusion of the Polonovski pathways, i.e. elimination of the benzylic a-hydrogen or fragmentation of the phenethylamine chain. 

The two most popular reactions in this field are the Polonovsky elimination and the Polonovsky fragmentation [216]. 

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