Reduction with -Alpine-hydride

Fig. 10.24. Asymmetric carbonyl group reduction with Alpine-Borane (preparation Figure 3.27 for the "parachute-like" notation of the 9-BBN part of this reagent see Figure 3.21). The hydrogen atom that is in the cis-position to the boron atom (which applies to both ft- and /T-H) and that after removal of the reducing agent leaves behind a tri- instead of a disubstituted C=C double bond (which applies to ft-, but not / -H) is transferred as a hydride equivalent. In regard to the reduction product depicted in the top row, the designation S of the configuration relates to the aryl-substituted and R to the Rtert-substituted propargylic alcohol.

There is a second effect. In the transition state in which the stronger Lewis acid complexes the carbonyl oxygen, the carbonyl group is a better electrophile. Therefore, it becomes a better hydride acceptor for Brown s chloroborane than in the hydride transfer from Alpine-Borane. Reductions with Alpine-Borane can actually be so slow that decomposition of this reagent into a-pincnc and 9-BBN takes place as a competing side reaction. The presence of this 9-BBN is problematic because it reduces the carbonyl compound competitively and of course without enantiocontrol. 

Hesse and coworkers have used this strategy for the preparation of various macrolides.173 For example, Michael addition of 2-nitrocyclodecanone methyl vinyl ketone followed by reduction with (5)-alpine-hydride gives the nitrolactone in 72% yield. Radical denitration of the nitrolactone with Bu3SnH gives (+)-(5)-tetradecan-13-olide in 44% yield (Eq... 

Trialkylborohydrides prepared from optically active alkenes may be used for asymmetric-reduction. For example, reaction of fcrt-butyllithium with Alpine-borane, prepared by hy-droboration of ( + )- or ( —)-a-pinene with 9-borabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane (see Section D.2.3.5.1.), provides Alpine-hydride. 1 his reagent reduces 1-phenylethanone in 17% ee72. A more effective reagent is NB-Enantride, prepared in a similar manner by treatment of the product from hydroboration of the benzyl ether of 2-(2-hydroxyethyl)-6,6-diinethylbicyclo[3.3.1]hept-2-ene (nopol. see Section D.2.3.5.1.) with toV-butyllithium73. 

Similar to the reduction of aldehydes, reduction of ketones with Alpine-Borane also involves two competing reaction pathways, a bimolecular -hydride elimination process (cyclic mechanism) affording optically active product [6], and a dehydroboration-reduction sequence yielding racemic product [2] (Scheme 26.1). 

This complex chiral hydride 12 reduces acetylenic ketones such as 13 with reasonable selectivity.1 The other enantiomer of 14 comes from reduction of 13 with the enantiomeric reagent derived from NOVRAD. Note that the absolute sense of the induction in the reduction of 13 is the same with 12 and with the Alpine borane from (+)-a-pinene, below. 

In a totally different approach, Noyori et al. have used binaphthol-modifled aluminum hydride reagent for enatioselective reduction of alkynyl ketones. Suitably modified boranes can be used for stereoselective reduction of ketones. Along these same lines. Midland" has developed Alpine borane (1, Scheme 21.5), which is excellent for several acetylenic ketones but has been found inefficient for hindered ot,p-acetylenic ketones. To overcome this problem, Brown et al." have introduced P-chlorodiisopinocamphenyl borane 2(-)-DIP-Cl (2, (Scheme 21.5), which reacts well with hindered ketones to provide the corresponding propargyl alcohols in 96 to 99% e.e. 

An efficient stereoselective reduction of 22-keto-23-acetylenic steroid to anti-Cram product 22-(R)-hydroxy-23-acetylenic steroid and Cram product 22-(S)- hydroxy-23-acetylenic steroid has been achieved using (R)-Alpine-Borane [(-i-)-a-pinene, 92% ee] (125 1, R-.S) and L-selectride (lithium tri-sec-butylboro-hydride) (1 11, R S), respectively [19] (Chart 26.7). (S)-Alpine-Borane (2 M in THE) prepared from (-)-a-pinene (92% ee) provides unexpectedly low 1 2.7, R S ratio due to the influence of the a-chiral center at C-20 of the steroid, and also the reduction is much slower than with (R)-Alpine-Borane. 

In summary, this chapter shows that organoboron-based asymmetric reducing agents, such as K Glucoride (1), K Xylide (2), Alpine-borane (3), Dip-Chloride (4) and oxazaborolidine-catalyzed boranes are highly effective for the reduction of a variety of a-functionalized ketones. We have established a convenient and simple procedure for the preparation of terminal 1,2-diols, a-hydroxy acetals and epoxides with very high optical purity via oxazaborolidine-catalyzed borane reduction using /V-phenylamine-borane complexes as the hydride source. 

Another approach in the search for useful chiral reducing agents has been the derivatization of borane and boron hydrides [110, 111, 114]. Some of the most successful chiral reagents based on boron are those derived from the hydroboration of a-pinene, which is conveniently available in both enantiomeric forms (Scheme 2.22). Midland reported that the hydroboration product of a-pinene with 9-BBN, a reagent that subsequently came to be known as Alpine-Borane (179), is superb in the enantioselective reduction of aiyl alkynyl ketones [124]. He showcased the use of Alpine-Borane in the context of an enantioselective synthesis of Prelog-Djerassi lactone 181... 

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