Regioselectivity asymmetric olefins

Asymmetric olefins, which carry more alkyl substituents at the Ce center than at the Ca center, are also hydroborated by the unhindered BH3 with considerable regioselectivity (Table 3.1). After oxidative workup, one isolates the alcohol in the a position almost exclusively. According to what has already been stated, as the more bulky reagent, 9-BBN reacts with more sensitivity to steric effects than BH3 and its secondary products. It therefore makes possible olefin hydrations with almost perfect regiocontrol. 

Fig. 3.38. Regioselective hydration of an asymmetric olefin via solvomercuration/reduction.

Fig. 3.39. Regioselective methanol addition to an asymmetric olefin via solvomercuration/ reduction.

Preparatively it is important that mineral acids, carboxylic acids, and ferf-carbenium ions can be added to olefins via carbenium ion intermediates. Because of their relatively low stability, primary carbenium ions form more slowly in the course of such reactions than the more stable secondary carbenium ions, and these form more slowly than the even more stable tertiary carbenium ions (Hammond postulate ). Therefore, mineral and carboxylic acids add to asymmetric olefins regioselectively to give Markovnikov products (see Section 3.3.3 for an explanation of this term). In addition, these electrophiles add most rapidly to those olefins from which tertiary carbenium ion intermediates can be derived. 

Current ideas about the mechanism of C=C double bond ozonolysis in solution are summarized in Schemes 1 and 2 [19, 21, 34], As a result of the decomposition of the initial reaction product, primary ozonide (PO), zwitterionic species is formed, termed as Criegee s intermediates or carbonyl oxides (hereafter referred to as Cl) (Scheme 1, reactions 2 and 2 ). Two intermediates are formed from asymmetric olefins monosubstituted Cl (MCI) and disubstituted Cl (DCI), if their syn and anti stereoisomers are not taken into account. It is known that carbonyl oxides are predominantly formed at carbon atoms with electron-donating substituents [19], Excellent correlations of the regioselectivities of MO fragmentation with electron donation by substituents (as measured by Hammett and Taft... 

It is well documented that hydrosilylation of alkyl-substituted terminal olefins catalyzed by transition metal complexes proceeds with high regioselectivity in giving linear hydrosilylation products which do not possess a stereogenic carbon center.2 It follows that the asymmetric synthesis by use of the hydrosilylation of alkyl-substituted... 

The /Tamino alcohol structural unit is a key motif in many biologically important molecules. It is difficult to imagine a more efficient means of creating this functionality than by the direct addition of the two heteroatom substituents to an olefin, especially if this transformation could also be in regioselective and/ or enantioselective fashion. Although the osmium-mediated75 or palladium-mediated76 aminohydroxylation of alkenes has been studied for 20 years, several problems still remain to be overcome in order to develop this reaction into a catalytic asymmetric process. 

In contrast to the limited success with vinyl sulfides as components of [2 + 2] cycloadditions, allenyl sulfides show wide applicability. As illustrated in Scheme 8.91, Lewis acid-catalyzed [2 + 2] cycloadditions of l-trimethylsilyl-l-methylthio-1,2-propadiene (333) with a variety of electron-deficient olefins 336 provide cycloadducts 337 with excellent regioselectivity but with moderate stereoselectivity [175c], Nara-saka and co-workers reported the first Lewis acid-catalyzed asymmetric [2 + 2] cycloaddition of C-l-substituted allenyl sulfides 319 with a,/3-unsaturated compounds 338 using a chiral TADDOL-titanium catalyst. The corresponding cycloadducts 339 were obtained with 88-98% ee, but a low level of trans/cis selectivity (Scheme 8.92) [169,175d[. 

Peroxidases have been used very frequently during the last ten years as biocatalysts in asymmetric synthesis. The transformation of a broad spectrum of substrates by these enzymes leads to valuable compounds for the asymmetric synthesis of natural products and biologically active molecules. Peroxidases catalyze regioselective hydroxylation of phenols and halogenation of olefins. Furthermore, they catalyze the epoxidation of olefins and the sulfoxidation of alkyl aryl sulfides in high enantioselectivities, as well as the asymmetric reduction of racemic hydroperoxides. The less selective oxidative coupHng of various phenols and aromatic amines by peroxidases provides a convenient access to dimeric, oligomeric and polymeric products for industrial applications. 

The observed regioselectivity of the addition of asymmetrically substituted olefins RCH=CH2 (R = Me, OH, CO2H, CN, Cl, etc.) was rationalized in terms of the magnitude of the electronic effect, calculated by using the "C NMR chemical shifts for monosubstituted benzene and polarizability."... 

The asymmetric dihydroxylation of dienes has been examined, originally with the use of NMO as the cooxidant for osmium [56a] and, more recently, with potassium ferricyanide as the cooxidant [56b], Tetraols are the main product of the reaction when NMO is used, but with K3Fe(CN)6, ene-diols are produced with excellent regioselectivity. The example of dihydroxylation of trans.trans-1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene is included in Table 6D.3 (entry 21). One double bond of this diene is hydroxylated in 84% yield with 99% ee when the amounts of K3Fe(CN)6 and K2C03 are limited to 1.5 equiv. each. Unsymmetrical dienes are also dihydroxy-lated with excellent regioselectivity. In these dienes, preference is shown for (a) a bans over a cis olefin, (b) the terminal olefin in a,p,y,8-unsaturated esters, and (c) the more highly substituted olefin [56b],... 

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