Robinson annulation with proline

As already discussed for aldol and Robinson annulation reactions, proline is also a catalyst for enantioselective Mannich reactions. Proline effectively catalyzes the reactions of aldehydes such as 3-methylbutanal and hexanal with /V-arylimines of ethyl glyoxalate.196 These reactions show 2,3-syn selectivity, although the products with small alkyl groups tend to isomerize to the anti isomer. 

Inspired by the proline-catalyzed Robinson annulation pioneered by Wiechert, Hajos, Parrish and coworkers [39], they were able to construct cyclohexanones of type 2-107 with up to four stereogenic centers with excellent enantio- and di-astereoselectivity from unsaturated ketones 2-104 and acyclic (l-ketoesters 2-105 in the presence of 10 mol% phenylalanine-derived imidazohdine catalyst 2-106. The final products can easily be converted into useful cyclohexanediols, as well as y- and e-lactones. 

Comparison with the Hajos-Parrish asymmetric version of the Robinson annulation [81] (Scheme 7.25(a)) shows the following distinct differences between the two methods. Firstly, the cycloalkenone in the Cu(OTf)2/ligand 18-catalyzed procedure is the Michael acceptor, whereas the cycloalkanone is the Michael donor in the proline-mediated annulation. Secondly, the asymmetric induction occurs in the 1,4-addition step in the new method, in contrast to the asymmetric aldol-cyclization in the Hajos-Parrish procedure. 

Around 1970, chemists at Schering (Ulrich Eder, Gerhard Sauer, Rudolf Wiechert) and concurrently at Hoffmann-La Roche (Zoltan Hajos, David Parrish) had found an improved Michael addition of 2-ethylcyclopentane-l,3-di-one [61] to methyl vinyl ketone. If water is used in place of methanol, and catalytic amounts of potassium hydroxide are present, then the yield is increased from 54 to 81%. [62, 63] The higher homologues can be synthesised in an analogous manner as well. [64] Robinson annulation, in presence of 30 mole% proline, leads in good yield to a bicydic hydroxy-ketone. After dehydration, crystallisation and reduction with sodium borohydride, the enantiomerically pure bicydic ketone is obtained, which is required for Coreys synthesis. 

Although asymmetric organocatalysis is now considered as a powerful tool for the synthesis of chiral compounds this research held experimented its own revolution. It was restricted after the seventies only to the nse of simple a-amino acids as catalyst for the Robinson annulations and above all with the application of proline to the enantioselective intermolecular aldol reaction. 

Developed in the early 1970s, this reaction, also called the Hajos-Parrish reaction or Hajos-Parrish-Ender-Sauer-Wiechert reaction, is one of the earliest processes for the stereoselective synthesis of Wieland-Miescher ketone, an important building block for steroids and terpenoid synthesis. This reaction is a proline mediated asymmetric variation to the Robinson annulation. Hajos and Parrish of Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. in 1971 and 1974 published an asymmetric aldol cyclization of triketones such as that of structure 39, which affords optically active annulation products in the presence of catalytic amounts of (S)-proline (Z-proline). One of the early examples is the synthesis of 41 from the triketone 39 (a product of the Michael addition of MVK to the corresponding 2-methylcyclopentane-l,3-dione), the reaction is performed in two steps first by ring formation in the presence of 3 mol % of (iS)-proline in DMF to afford the ketol 40 in 100% yield after crystallization with 93% ee and then by reaction with toluenesulfonic acid to give the dehydrated adduct 41. The formation of the Wieland-Miescher Ketone 44 follows the same synthetic route, starting from the tri-ketone 42 to give the end product in 75% optical purity and 99.8% of optical yield. 

The Hajos and Wiechert research groups looked at a number of other potential proline based catalysts for their intramolecular Robinson annulation. (. -(-)-Hygrinic acid, Af-methylproline 13, was examined, but only the racemic intermediate ketol product 2 was obtained. In a similar manner, the proline methyl ester 14 also produced the racemic ketol intermediate. No reaction was observed with the piperidine analog 15. The homo-proline analog 16 gave the enantiomeric product. An explanation for this change in selectivity has not been provided yet. Please note that the use of (i )-proline provides the enantiomeric product. 

In 2007, Ramachary et al. reported an asymmetric Knoevenagel/hydrogenation/Robinson annulation sequence to obtain Wieland-Miescher ketone 189 [88] (Scheme 2.62). The reaction of 5 equiv of aldehyde 9 with the 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds 186 (with CH acid) and Hantzsch ester 187 under proline catalysis furnished the expected cyclo-hexane-1,3-dione B in good yields. Once the solvent was removed by vacuum pump, the crude reaction mixture was diluted with DMF and treated with methyl vinyl ketone 188 in the presence of (S)-proline (1) furnishing the expected... 

As shown in the scheme above, cyclohexene scaffolds are easily produced in MBFTs with the aid of the three-component approach. Hong and coworkers, however, managed the generation of the very similar cyclohexadiene scaffold by using only one starting material [15]. The asymmetric dimerization reaction is facilitated by proline in another enamine/iminium approach, but now in repeat (Scheme 14.7). This enantioselective Robinson annulation approach provides the opportunity to explore a new route to (-l-)-palitantin, an antiprotozoal and antifungal agent [16]. 

The product in entry 1 of Scheme 2.6 is commonly known as the Wieland-Miescher ketone, and it is a useful starting material for the preparation of steroids and terpenes. The Robinson annulation to prepare this ketone can be carried out enantioselectively by using the amino acid L-proline to form an enamine intermediate. The 5-enantiomer of the product is obtained with high enantiomeric excess. This compound and the corresponding compound obtained from cyclopentane-1,3-dione are key intermediates in the enantioselective synthesis of steroids. ... 

The Robinson annulation is also convenient for forming six-membered rings. As an example of this reaction, condensation of methyl vinyl ketone with the enolate derivative of a cyclohexanone results in the formation of a conjugated 2-decalone as in Equation 8.32, in which the reaction is catalyzed by 5-proline [45]. 

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