Carbanions racemization

Enantioselectivity through an asynunetric deprotonation pathway is largely dependent on the configurational stability of the carbanion and the interaction between a substrate and a chiral base. On the other hand, when the enantioenriched product is formed in the reaction with an electrophile, even though the deprotonation gives the racemic carbanion, this pathway is termed asymmetric substitution [1], Enantioselection through an asymmetric substitution path-... 

The enantioselective reaction on a methine carbon is apparently different from that on a methylene carbon (Fig. lb). Deprotonation of a racemic methine proton always affords the racemic carbanion which gives the racemic product when the carbanion is configurationally stable. The enantioenriched product would be formed only when the reaction proceeds either through an asymmetric substitution pathway, or through kinetic resolution in deprotonation. 

In reactions in which separated ion pairs are involved, e.g., R4N+, K or Na +, and as a borderline case, Li +, the cation does not contribute to the adjustment of the reaction partners in a dense, well-ordered transition state poor selcctivities arc usually the result of these carbanionic carbonyl additions. Further, the high basicity of such carbanionic species may cause decomposition or racemization of sensitive reactions partners. 

A simple experimental test of the potential configurational stability of carbanions was recently published26 48 it is based on double stereodifferentiation3 and can be carried out with the racemates. 

An optically active sulfoxide may often be transformed into another optically active sulfoxide without racemization. This is often accomplished by formation of a new bond to the a-carbon atom, e.g. to the methyl carbon of methyl p-tolyl sulfoxide. To accomplish this, an a-metallated carbanion is first formed at low temperature after which this species may be treated with a large variety of electrophiles to give a structurally modified sulfoxide. Alternatively, nucleophilic reagents may be added to a homochiral vinylic sulfoxide. Structurally more complex compounds formed in these ways may be further modified in subsequent steps. Such transformations are the basis of many asymmetric syntheses and are discussed in the chapter by Posner and in earlier reviews7-11. 

The preparation of enantiomerically enriched a-ketosulphoxides 272 was also based on a kinetic resolution involving the reaction of the carbanion 273 derived from racemic aryl methyl sulphoxides with a deficiency of optically active carboxylic esters 274334, (equation 151). The degree of stereoselectivity in this reaction is strongly dependent on the nature of both the group R and the chiral residue R in 274. Thus, the a-ketosulphoxide formed in the reaction with menthyl esters had an optical yield of 1.3% for R = Et. In the... 

Stereochemical constraints in cyclic sulfones and sulfoxides impart increased weight to strain and conformational factors in the generation of carbanions and their stability, causing distinct differences between the behavior of cyclic and open-chain systems233, due primarily to the prevention of extensive rotation about the C —S bond, which is the major way that achiral carbanions racemize. Study of the a-H/D exchange rate fce and the racemization rate ka may provide information concerning the acidity-stereochemical relationships in optically active cyclic sulfone and sulfoxide systems. 

One commonly used procedure for studying the steric stability of the carbanion is comparison of the rate of base-catalyzed H/D exchange reaction (kel) on the chiral carbon with the rate of racemization (fcrac). By this comparison, inversion, racemization or... 

In the base-catalyzed H/D exchange of the four-membered cyclic sulfone 85, the rate of exchange is slightly higher than that of racemization and the carbanion formed was also considered to be planar101. 

This type of asymmetric conjugate addition of allylic sulfinyl carbanions to cyclopen-tenones has been applied successfully to total synthesis of some natural products. For example, enantiomerically pure (+ )-hirsutene (29) is prepared (via 28) using as a key step conjugate addition of an allylic sulfinyl carbanion to 2-methyl-2-cyclopentenone (equation 28)65, and (+ )-pentalene (31) is prepared using as a key step kinetically controlled conjugate addition of racemic crotyl sulfinyl carbanion to enantiomerically pure cyclopentenone 30 (equation 29) this kinetic resolution of the crotyl sulfoxide is followed by several chemical transformations leading to (+ )-pentalene (31)68. 

The SnI reactions do not proceed at bridgehead carbons in [2.2.1] bicyclic systems (p. 397) because planar carbocations cannot form at these carbons. However, carbanions not stabilized by resonance are probably not planar SeI reactions should readily occur with this type of substrate. This is the case. Indeed, the question of carbanion stracture is intimately tied into the problem of the stereochemistry of the SeI reaction. If a carbanion is planar, racemization should occur. If it is pyramidal and can hold its structure, the result should be retention of configuration. On the other hand, even a pyramidal carbanion will give racemization if it cannot hold its structure, that is, if there is pyramidal inversion as with amines (p. 129). Unfortunately, the only carbanions that can be studied easily are those stabilized by resonance, which makes them planar, as expected (p. 233). For simple alkyl carbanions, the main approach to determining structure has been to study the stereochemistry of SeI reactions rather than the other way around. What is found is almost always racemization. Whether this is caused by planar carbanions or by oscillating pyramidal carbanions is not known. In either case, racemization occurs whenever a carbanion is completely free or is symmetrically solvated. 

However, even planar carbanions need not give racemization. Cram found that retention and even inversion can occur in the alkoxide cleavage reaction (12-39) ... 

When C—H bond formation occurs, the result is inversion. Racemization results in polar aprotic solvents such as DMSO. In these solvents the carbanions are rela-... 

The a carbon of mandelic acid is sp hybridized. The corresponding carbons of both a-phenylglycidic acid, 49, and the carbanion intermediate 48 are neither sp hybridized nor sp hybridized, but presumably between these two extremes. It is therefore possible that the a-phenylglycidic acid is restricted to a conformation which resembles a transition state in the racemization process, a transition state which would have much of the character of the intermediate 48, and for which the enzyme would presumably have a high affinity (1). 

Racemic or optically active )8-disulphoxides can be obtained via a facile one-step procedure from arenesulphinic esters and a-sulphinyl carbanions or by oxidation of a-sulphinyl carbanions . 

The inductive and electrostatic effects, steric constraints and conjugative interactions are the major factors that determine the configurational stability of a-sulfonyl carbanions. These are thought to be pyramidal with appreciable electrostatic inhibition to racemization by way of inversion. LCAO-MO-SCF calculations have indicated the conformer 195 in which the lone pair is directed along the bisector of the OSO angle to be the most stable in acyclic sulfones. ... 

---