Retron

The target compound is searched for a rctron. A retron is the structural subunit required to be present in the target in order to apply a transform. In Figure 10,3-30 the rctron of a Michael addition is a sequence of five carbon atoms with two carbonyl functions in the 1,5-position. For a Michael addition transform to be applied, it has to be present,... 

Figure 10.3-30. The retrosynthetic point of view the transform of a Michael addition. The structure fragment with a gray background is the retron of the Michael addition transforin.

Given structure 1 as a target and the recognition that it contains the retron for the Diels-Alder transform, the application of that transform to 1 to generate synthetic precursor 2 is straightforward. The problem of synthesis of 1 is then reduced retrosynthetically to the simpler... 

Additional keying information can come from certain other structural features which are present in a retron- or partial-retron-containing substructure. These ancillary keying elements can consist of functional groups, stereocenters, rings or appendages. Consider target structure 5... 

There are many transforms which bring about essentially no change in molecular complexity, but which can be useful because they modify a TGT to allow the subsequent application of simplifying transforms. A frequent application of such transforms is to generate the retron for some other transform which can then operate to simplify structure. There are a wide variety of such non-simplifying transforms which can be summarized in terms of the structural change which they effect as follows ... 

Once a particular 6-membered ring is selected as a site for applying the Diels-Alder transform, six possible [4 + 2] disconnections can be examined, i.e. there are six possible locations of the Jt-bond of the basic Diels-Alder retron. With ring numbering as shown in 36, and... 

Estrone (54, Chart 6) contains a full retron for the o-quinonemethide-Diels-Alder transform which can be directly applied to give 55. This situation, in which the Diels-Alder transform is used early in the retrosynthetic analysis, contrasts with the case of ibogamine (above), or, for example, gibberellic acid (section 6.4), and a Diels-Alder pathway is relatively easy to find and to evaluate. As indicated in Chart 6, retrosynthetic conversion of estrone to 55 produces an intermediate which is subject to further rapid simplification. This general synthetic approach has successfully been applied to estrone and various analogs. ... 

The retron for the Claisen rearrangement transform (see above) is easily established by the application of a Wittig disconnection at each of the equivalent terminal double bonds of 57... 

When this type of transform is applied mechanistically to 85, retron generation is simple, for example by the change 85 => 86, and the sequence 86 => 90 disconnects two rings and provides an interesting synthetic pathway. Radical intermediate 88, which is disconnected at p-CC bond a to produce 89, may alternatively be disconnected at the P-CC bond b which leads to a different, but no less interesting, pathway via 91 to the acyclic precursor 92. The analysis in Chart 11 is intended to illustrate the mechanistic transform method and its utility it is not meant to be exhaustive or complete. 

Structural subgoals may be useful in the application of transform-based strategies. This is especially so with structurally complex retrons which can be mapped onto a target in only one or two ways. It is often possible in such cases quickly to derive the structure of a possible intermediate in a trial retrosynthetic sequence. For instance, with 109 as TGT the quinone-Diels-Alder transform is an obvious T-goal. The retron for that transform can readily be mapped... 

The direct goal of stereochemical strategies is the reduction of stereochemical complexity by the retrosynthetic elimination of the stereocenters in a target molecule. The greater the number and density of stereocenters in a TGT, the more influential such strategies will be. The selective removal of stereocenters depends on the availability of stereosimplifying transforms, the establishment of the required retrons (complete with defined stereocenter relationships), and the presence of a favorable spatial environment in the precursor generated by application of such a transform. The last factor, which is of crucial importance to stereoselectivity, mandates a bidirectional approach to stereosimplification which takes into account not only the TGT but also the retrosynthetic precursor, or reaction substrate. Thus both retrosynthetic and synthetic analyses are considered in the discussion which follows. 

Enantioselective processes involving chiral catalysts or reagents can provide sufficient spatial bias and transition state organization to obviate the need for control by substrate stereochemistry. Since such reactions do not require substrate spatial control, the corresponding transforms are easier to apply antithetically. The stereochemical information in the retron is used to determine which of the enantiomeric catalysts or reagents are appropriate and the transform is finally evaluated for chemical feasibility. Of course, such transforms are powerful because of their predictability and effectiveness in removing stereocenters from a target. 

---