Regioselectivity asymmetric epoxidation

SCHEME 35.2. A regioselective asymmetric epoxidation in the final step of the total synthesis of laulimalide. 

A reiterative application of a two-carbon elongation reaction of a chiral carbonyl compound (Homer-Emmonds reaction), reduction (DIBAL) of the obtained trans unsaturated ester, asymmetric epoxidation (SAE or MCPBA) of the resulting allylic alcohol, and then C-2 regioselective addition of a cuprate (Me2CuLi) to the corresponding chiral epoxy alcohol has been utilized for the construction of the polypropionate-derived chain ]R-CH(Me)CH(OH)CH(Me)-R ], present as a partial structure in important natural products such as polyether, ansamycin, or macro-lide antibiotics [52]. A seminal application of this procedure is offered by Kishi s synthesis of the C19-C26 polyketide-type aliphatic segment of rifamycin S, starting from aldehyde 105 (Scheme 8.29) [53]. 

In connection with the synthetic work directed towards the total synthesis of polyene macrolide antibiotics -such as amphotericin B (i)- Sharpless and Masamune [1] on one hand, and Nicolaou and Uenishi on the other [2], have developed alternative methods for the enantioselective synthesis of 1,3-diols and, in general, 1, 3, 5...(2n + 1) polyols. One of these methods is based on the Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation of allylic alcohols [3] and regioselective reductive ring opening of epoxides by metal hydrides, such as Red-Al and DIBAL. The second method uses available monosaccharides from the "chiral pool" [4], such as D-glucose. 

The same reducing agents LiBHEt3 and LiAlH4 also react with epoxides in SN2-type reactions converting them into alcohols (Figure 14.35).The sterically less hindered C—O bond is attacked in asymmetric epoxides regioselectively. 

There is a strong tendency for 1 to undergo isomerization to isolaulimalide (2) even under mildly acidic conditions. Therefore it was decided to apply a Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation reaction to deoxylaulimalide 32 in the hope that the reagent control of this procedure would suffice to bring about the desired regioselectivity of... 

In conclusion, a Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation reaction may be used to achieve regioselectivity in a complex molecule containing two allylic alcohol moieties with opposite topicity. Thus, 32 could be alternatively converted into laulimalide (1) and its C-20 regioisomer simply by switching the chiral additive from +)- R,R)- to -)- S,S)-diisopropyl tartrate (DIPT). Biological tests have shown that the natural compound 1 is by far the most active one compared to other derivatives such as the C-20 regioisomer. 

The reaction of Grignard reagents with epoxides, at first glance, appears to be an effective method for a two-carbon homoligation. However, there are several competing reactions that limit the use of this method. These deleterious reactions are formation of halohydrins, rearrangements, polymerization of the epoxide, and in asymmetric epoxides, regioselectivity issues. 

Alcohols can be obtained from many other classes of compounds such as alkyl halides, amines, al-kenes, epoxides and carbonyl compounds. The addition of nucleophiles to carbonyl compounds is a versatile and convenient methc for the the preparation of alcohols. Regioselective oxirane ring opening of epoxides by nucleophiles is another important route for the synthesis of alcohols. However, stereospe-cific oxirane ring formation is prerequisite to the use of epoxides in organic synthesis. The chemistry of epoxides has been extensively studied in this decade and the development of the diastereoselective oxidations of alkenic alcohols makes epoxy alcohols with definite configurations readily available. Recently developed asymmetric epoxidation of prochiral allylic alcohols allows the enantioselective synthesis of 2,3-epoxy alcohols. 

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