Squalene-2,3-oxide, synthesis

Sponge sesquiterpenes H NMR, 4, 560 Squalene synthesis, 1, 469 Squalene oxide occurrence, 7, 119 Squamalone... 

The biomimetic approach to total synthesis draws inspiration from the enzyme-catalyzed conversion of squalene oxide (2) to lanosterol (3) (through polyolefinic cyclization and subsequent rearrangement), a biosynthetic precursor of cholesterol, and the related conversion of squalene oxide (2) to the plant triterpenoid dammaradienol (4) (see Scheme la).3 The dramatic productivity of these enzyme-mediated transformations is obvious in one impressive step, squalene oxide (2), a molecule harboring only a single asymmetric carbon atom, is converted into a stereochemically complex polycyclic framework in a manner that is stereospecific. In both cases, four carbocyclic rings are created at the expense of a single oxirane ring. 

Epoxides are often encountered in nature, both as intermediates in key biosynthetic pathways and as secondary metabolites. The selective epoxidation of squa-lene, resulting in 2,3-squalene oxide, for example, is the prelude to the remarkable olefin oligomerization cascade that creates the steroid nucleus [7]. Tetrahydrodiols, the ultimate products of metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, bind to the nucleic acids of mammalian cells and are implicated in carcinogenesis [8], In organic synthesis, epoxides are invaluable building blocks for introduction of diverse functionality into the hydrocarbon backbone in a 1,2-fashion. It is therefore not surprising that chemistry of epoxides has received much attention [9]. 

Polyene cyclizations are of substantial value in the synthesis of polycyclic terpene natural products. These syntheses resemble the processes by which the polycyclic compounds are assembled in nature. The most dramatic example of biosynthesis of a polycyclic skeleton from a polyene intermediate is the conversion of squalene oxide to the steroid lanosterol. In the biological reaction, an enzyme not only to induces the cationic cyclization but also holds the substrate in a conformation corresponding to stereochemistry of the polycyclic product.17 In this case, the cyclization is terminated by a series of rearrangements. 

The epoxy alcohol 47 is a squalene oxide analog that has been used to examine substrate specificity in enzymatic cyclizations by baker s yeast [85], The epoxy alcohol 48 provided an optically active intermediate used in the synthesis of 3,6-epoxyauraptene and marmine [86], and epoxy alcohol 49 served as an intermediate in the synthesis of the antibiotic virantmycin [87], In the synthesis of the three stilbene oxides 50, 51, and 52, the presence of an o-chloro group in the 2-phenyl ring resulted in a lower enantiomeric purity (70% ee) when compared with the analogs without this chlorine substituent [88a]. The very efficient (80% yield, 96% ee) formation of 52a by asymmetric epoxidation of the allylic alcohol precursor offers a synthetic entry to optically active 11 -deoxyanthracyclinones [88b], whereas epoxy alcohol 52b is one of several examples of asymmetric epoxidation used in the synthesis of brevitoxin precursors [88c]. Diastereomeric epoxy alcohols 54 and 55 are obtained in combined 90% yield (>95% ee each) from epoxidation of the racemic alcohol 53 [89], Diastereomeric epoxy alcohols, 57 and 58, also are obtained with high enantiomeric purity in the epoxidation of 56 [44]. The epoxy alcohol obtained from substrate 59 undergoes further intramolecular cyclization with stereospecific formation of the cyclic ether 60 [90]. 

The epoxy alcohol (47) is a squalene oxide analog which has been used to examine substrate specificity in enzymatic cyclizations by baker s yeast The epoxy alcohol (48) provided an optically active intermediate used in the synthesis of 3,6-epoxyauriq>tene and marmine, and epoxy alcdiol (49) served as an intermediate in the synthesis of the antibiotic virantmycin. In the synthesis of the three stilbene... 

This process resembles the cyclization of squalene oxide to lanosterol. (See the solution to problem 14-24.) In fact, pharmaceutical synthesis of steroids uses the same type of reaction called a "biomimetic cyclization". 

Cyclization Reactions of Oxirans. The search for non-enzymatic cyclizations of squalene oxide and its analogues continues with the report of the direct sterol synthesis of (128) (2%) from (127). Although the yield is low, the procedure involving treatment of (127) in CH2CI2 that contains BF3 -OEt2 and ethene carbonate at 0°C for 20 minutes affords four new rings and seven new asymmetric centres in one laboratory operation. The diepoxide... 

R. B. Bloch, K. The Cyclization of Squalene in Cholesterol Synthesis J. Am. Chem. Soc.1953, 75,2023-2024. The following (abbreviated) pathway from squalene oxide to lanosterol Is now standard In undergraduate textbooks. 

Recent syntheses of steroids apply efficient strategies in which open-chain or monocyclic educts with appropiate side-chains are stereoselectively cyclized in one step to a tri- or tetracyclic steroid precursor. These procedures mimic the biochemical synthesis scheme where acyclic, achiral squalene is first oxidized to a 2,3-epoxide containing one chiral carbon atom and then enzymatically cyclized to lanostetol with no less than seven asymmetric centres (W.S. Johnson, 1%8, 1976 E.E. van Tamden, 1968). 

Squalene is also an intermediate in the synthesis of cholesterol. StmcturaHy, chemically, and biogeneticaHy, many of the triterpenes have much in common with steroids (203). It has been verified experimentally that squalene is the precursor in the biosynthesis of all triterpenes through a series of cyclization and rearrangement reactions (203,204). Squalene is not used much in cosmetics and perfumery formulations because of its light, heat, and oxidative instabiUty however, its hydrogenated derivative, squalane, has a wide use as a fixative, a skin lubricant, and a carrier of Hpid-soluble dmgs. 

Epoxyfarnesol was first prepared by van Tamelen, Stomi, Hessler, and Schwartz 4 using essentially this procedure. It is based on the findings of van Tamelen and Curphey5 that N-bromosuccinimide in a polar solvent was a considerably more selective oxidant than others they tried. This method has been applied to produce terminally epoxidized mono-, sesqui-, di-, and triterpene systems for biosynthetic studies and bioorganic synthesis.6 It has also been applied successfully in a simple synthesis of tritium-labeled squalene [2,6,10,14,18,22-Tetracosahexaene, 2,6,10,15,19,23-hexamethyl-, (all-E)-] and squalene-2,3-oxide [Oxirane, 2,2-dimethyl-3-(3,7,12,16,20-pentamethyl-3,7,ll,-15,19-heneicosapentaenyl)-, (all-E)-],7 and in the synthesis of Cecropia juvenile hormone.8... 

R. Nadeau and R. Hanzlik, Synthesis of Labeled Squalene and Squalene-2,3-Oxide, ... 

Synthesis takes place in four stages, as shown in Figure 21-33 (D condensation of three acetate units to form a six-carbon intermediate, mevalonate (2) conversion of mevalonate to activated isoprene units (3) polymerization of six 5-carbon isoprene units to form the 30-carbon linear squalene and ( ) cyclization of squalene to form the four rings of the steroid nucleus, with a further series of changes (oxidations, removal or migration of methyl groups) to produce cholesterol. 

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