Prostaglandins stereoselective addition

Optically active cyclopentanes are useful structural units for many natural products such as steroids, terpenoids, and prostaglandins, but the development of highly enantioselective catalytic 1,4-addition reactions to 2-cyclopentenones has proved to be a challenging goal. Besides the very low stereoselectivities, a major problem with this substrate is the... 

During the last decade, a substantial number of novel (sometimes even stereoselective) strategies for the preparation of allenic prostaglandins have been devised. The approach used by Patterson involves a three-component coupling via a 1,4-addi-tion of the organocopper compound 121 to the enone 120, followed by alkylation of the enolate formed with the bromide 122 (Scheme 18.40) [121]. However, due to the notoriously low reactivity in the alkylation of the mixed copper-lithium enolate formed during the Michael addition [122], the desired product 123 was obtained with only 28% chemical yield (the alkylation was not even stereoselective, giving 123 as a 1 1 mixture of diastereomers). 

By virtue of their high stereoselectivity, nucleophilic additions to cyclobutanone derivatives have been utilized to prepare the five-membered rings of prostaglandins with complete control of stereochemistry. This chemistry has been reviewed.65 The conversion of 3-emio-(tert-butyldimethylsiloxy)tricyclo[3.2.0.02,7]heptan-6-one (30) to 7-am7-(3-terf-butyldimethylsiloxy-oct-l-enyl)-5- ,wdy-( rt-butyldimethylsiloxy)bicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-2-one (31) in 88% yield provides a good example.66... 

A variation of this route was applied to the preparation of a-methylenecyclo-pentane 179, an intermediate that was employed for the synthesis of prostaglandin PGF2o, (180) (Scheme 6.82). The acetonide-protected oxime-diol 175 [derived from propanal (174)] was treated with sodium hypochlorite without the addition of base. This led to the tricyclic adduct 176 with high stereoselectivity. One of the side chains was subsequently elaborated and the fully protected cyclopentano-isoxazo-line (177), when exposed to Raney Ni/boron trichloride, gave the 2-hydroxymethyl-cyclopentanone (178). This compound was dehydrated using mesyl chloride/ pyridine to furnish enone (179) (324). In another related synthesis of PGF2q, the p-side-chain (3-hydroxyoctenyl) was introduced prior to the cycloaddition (325). 

The conjugate addition forms a lithium enolate regiospeclfically, and that was why you met this sequence in Chapter 26. We showed you a dramatic use of the stereoselectivity there as weil, in a synthesis of a prostaglandin (p. 686). 

Sodium benzenethiolate reacted with 6,6-dimethyl-2-vinyl-5,7-dioxaspiro[2.5]octane-4,8-dione (16) to give the 1,5-addition product only. When ethyl trani-6-(l-heptenyl)-2-oxo-bicyclo[3.1.0]heptane-l-carboxylate (18, R = Et) was treated with potassium benzenethiolate it was converted stereospecifically to the corresponding trawj -cyclopentanone derivative 19 (R = Et) with a defined configuration at the a-carbon atom of the side chain. This reaction proved to be useful for the stereoselective synthesis of prostaglandins. ... 

Here is a simple example in the field of prostaglandin synthesis where 9-BBN was used on a protected optically active propargyl alcohol.12 The starting material is identical to the alkyne 78 that we reacted with Bu3SnH above and the result is the same - cis hydrometallation with the metal atom at the terminus. However that was a thermodynamically controlled stereoselective radical chain reaction while this is a kinetically controlled stereospecific electrophilic addition to give the vinyl borane -87. 

Furthermore, this regio- and stereoselective bond formation between unsaturated carbon atoms was applied to the synthesis of functionalized dienes under extremely mild conditions. Thus, even vinylic boronic esters containing an allylic acetal moiety and alkenylboronate having a chiral protected allylic alcohol were successfully accomplished with vinylic iodides under aqueous conditions in 60-90% yield [30]. In addition, an exceptionally simple and efficient synthesis of a prostaglandin (PGEj) precursor was reported by Johnson, applying a DMF/THF/ water solvent mixture with a bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene palladium catalyst [31]. It is curious that the presence of water is an absolute necessity in order to succeed in this approach (Scheme 3). 

The Prins reaction with formaldehyde is a well-known route to prostaglandins using bicyclic lactone 3 as a precursor. One synthesis of this lactone14 started this sequence with a Prins reaction. Treatment of norbomadiene with paraformaldehyde in the presence of formic acid produced a mixture of epimeric diformates in 67% yield which were transformed in several steps into lactone 3. A second synthesis starts with the unsaturated bicyclic lactone which undergoes attack by the oxonium ion both regio- and stereoselectively from the less hindered face of the double bond, trims Addition of the nucleophilic acetate generates the lactone 3 as the bisacetate derivative15. 

In an application from the area of prostaglandin synthesis, the protected 1-iodopropargyl alcohol 164 was reduced to the (Z)-iodoolefin 165, which was subsequently converted via 166 into the functionalized organocuprate reagent 167. The latter then provided the IS-cis-pro-staglandin 168 by a highly stereoselective conjugate addition to the appropriate cyclo-pentenone derivative [111] (Scheme 2-18). 

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