Progesterone reaction

The early Escherunoser-Stork results indicated, that stereoselective cyclizations may be achieved, if monocyclic olefins with 1,5-polyene side chains are used as substrates in acid treatment. This assumption has now been justified by many syntheses of polycyclic systems. A typical example synthesis is given with the last reaction. The cyclization of a trideca-3,7-dien-11-ynyl cyclopentenol leads in 70% yield to a 17-acetyl A-norsteroid with correct stereochemistry at all ring junctions. Ozonolysis of ring A and aldol condensation gave dl-progesterone (M.B. Gravestock, 1978 see p. 279f.). 

Progesterone (81) is dehydrogenated by DDQ in dioxane, with acid catalysis. This method and the chloranil reaction (see section VI-A) provide the most direct route from A -3-ketones to -3-ketones. 

However, treatment of cortisone 3,20-bissemicarbazone with acetic anhydride and pyridine removes the 20-semicarbazone group preferentially. Selective removal of a protecting group can be also achieved by a selective reaction to give a new intermediate which can be converted into the desired product ketone. Thus progesterone 20-monoenol acetate (42) is prepared from the 3,20-bisenol acetate (40) via selective electrophilic attack of iodine at C-6 followed by reductive dehalogenation of (41). ... 

A potential advantage of the Schmidt reaction is illustrated by the conversion of progesterone to the 17j5-acetylamino derivative, without affecting the A-ring. A 35 % yield is obtained when 1 mole of sodium azide in polyphos-phoric acid is used. With excess azide the A-ring is transformed into an a,jS-unsaturated lactam ... 

More recently, permaleic acid has been recommended as a very satisfactory reagent for the Baeyer-Villiger reaction. It reacts almost as fast as trifluoroperoxyacetic acid and does not require buffering. Unfortunately, neither of these two reagents has been used extensively on 20-keto steroids a patent claims the conversion of progesterone to testosterone acetate with trifluoroperoxyacetic acid, but a later communication describes the ready reaction of 3-keto-A" -steroids with this reagent. 

The lack of oral activity of progesterone proper has already been mentioned. Even after the orally active 19-nor agents, which showed progestational activity, had been elaborated, the search continued for an orally active compound that contained the full pregnane nucleus (115). At the time such a compound would have had the economic advantage of sidestepping the then burdensome ring A aromatization reactions. 

Preparation of 11-Keto-6 -Methy progesterone 3,20-Bis-(Ethylene Ketal) A mixture of 5 g of 11-keto-6(3-methylprogesterone (Spero et al, 7. Am. them. Soc., 78, 6213 (1956)], 503 ml of benzene, 26 ml of ethylene glycol, and 0.152 g of p-toluenesulfonic acid monohydrate was stirred and heated under reflux for 22 hours while water was removed by means of a water trap. The reaction mixture was then cooled to 30°C, 0.4 ml of pyridine was added, and stirring was continued for 10 minutes. 

Johnson s classic synthesis of progesterone (1) commences with the reaction of 2-methacrolein (22) with the Grignard reagent derived from l-bromo-3-pentyne to give ally lie alcohol 20 (see Scheme 3a). It is inconsequential that 20 is produced in racemic form because treatment of 20 with triethyl orthoacetate and a catalytic amount of propionic acid at 138 °C furnishes 18 in an overall yield of 55 % through a process that sacrifices the stereogenic center created in the carbonyl addition reaction. In the presence of propionic acid, allylic alcohol 20 and triethyl orthoacetate combine to give... 

The final two stages are very straightforward. Oxidative scission of the C3-C5 double bond in 6 with ozone provides triketone 5 which, without purification, is subjected to a base-induced intramolecular aldol/dehydration reaction. The crystalline product obtained from this two-step sequence (45 % overall yield) was actually an 85 15 mixture of ( )-progesterone and a diastereomeric substance, epimeric at C-17. Two recrystallizations afforded racemic progesterone [( )-(1)] in diastereomerically pure form. 

After the initial growth, progesterone (05-5 g l"1) is added as a powder or as an acetone solution. If a powdered form is used, it is wetted with a small amount (0.01%) of Tween to facilitate its dissolution into the reaction mixture. A single addition of progesterone at a concentration of about 5g T1 enables about 86% hydroxylation to take place within about 50h. The remaining progesterone remains unaltered. 

You should have identified this reaction as an 11 a-hydroxylation. The most commonly used organism to carry out lla-hydrolylations is Rhizopus nigrum. The substrate in this case is progesterone. 

Vinyl cations no doubt will be involved in more synthetic reactions and schemes, as already demonstrated by the elegant synthesis of progesterone by Johnson and co-workers (85). 

The overwhelming number of examples dealing with domino processes are those where the different steps are from the same category, such as cationic/ cationic or transition metal/transition metal-catalyzed domino processes, which we term homo domino processes . An example of the former reaction is the synthesis of progesterone (see Scheme 0.3), and for the latter the synthesis of vitamin E (Scheme 0.7). 

Recently, Voogt et al. [91] have reported on the d5-pathway in steroid metabolism of Asterias rubens. These workers established the existence of the d5-pathway (Scheme 20), analogous to the pathway found in mammals this conclusion was based on the observation that radiolabeled cholesterol (1) was converted to pregnenolone (112), 17a-hydroxypregnenolone (141), and androstenediol (142). Labeled pregnenolone was converted additionally to progesterone (129). Androstenediol (142) was the main metabolite of de-hydroepiandrosterone (143), a reaction catalyzed by 17/i-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17/1-HSD). The metabolic conversion of androstenedione (131) to testosterone (132) is also mediated by 17/J-HSD and is related to... 

The precursor 3 served as a starting material for a series of trisubstituted thiophenes in a study towards progesterone receptor modulators, giving for example the product 4 upon reaction with an appropriate bromoketone. The fact that rather complex thiophene derivatives could be prepared in a straightforward manner compensates for the low overall yields <06JHC1391>. 

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