Stereochemistry enantiomeric excess

An asymmetric synthesis of estrone begins with an asymmetric Michael addition of lithium enolate (178) to the scalemic sulfoxide (179). Direct treatment of the cmde Michael adduct with y /i7-chloroperbenzoic acid to oxidize the sulfoxide to a sulfone, followed by reductive removal of the bromine affords (180, X = a and PH R = H) in over 90% yield. Similarly to the conversion of (175) to (176), base-catalyzed epimerization of (180) produces an 85% isolated yield of (181, X = /5H R = H). C8 and C14 of (181) have the same relative and absolute stereochemistry as that of the naturally occurring steroids. Methylation of (181) provides (182). A (CH2)2CuLi-induced reductive cleavage of sulfone (182) followed by stereoselective alkylation of the resultant enolate with an allyl bromide yields (183). Ozonolysis of (183) produces (184) (wherein the aldehydric oxygen is by isopropyUdene) in 68% yield. Compound (184) is the optically active form of Ziegler s intermediate (176), and is converted to (+)-estrone in 6.3% overall yield and >95% enantiomeric excess (200). 

In recent years, a great variety of primary chiral amines have been obtained in enantiomerically pure form through this methodology. A representative example is the KR of some 2-phenylcycloalkanamines that has been performed by means of aminolysis reactions catalyzed by lipases (Scheme 7.17) [34]. Kazlauskas rule has been followed in all cases. The size of the cycle and the stereochemistry of the chiral centers of the amines had a strong influence on both the enantiomeric ratio and the reaction rate of these aminolysis processes. CALB showed excellent enantioselec-tivities toward frans-2-phenylcyclohexanamine in a variety of reaction conditions ( >150), but the reaction was markedly slower and occurred with very poor enantioselectivity with the cis-isomer, whereas Candida antarctica lipase A (GALA) was the best catalyst for the acylation of cis-2-phenylcyclohexanamine ( = 34) and frans-2-phenylcyclopropanamine ( =7). Resolution of both cis- and frans-2-phenyl-cyclopentanamine was efficiently catalyzed by CALB obtaining all stereoisomers with high enantiomeric excess. 

Coleman established the hydroxypropyl stereochemistry via addition of a homochiral a-alkoxyalkyl organometallic species. This reagent was prepared in high enantiomeric excess using a Noroyi BINAL-H reduction of organostannane 33, which was transmetallated with ra-BuLi to achieve the desired organolithium reagent 35 (Scheme 7.5). Both enantiomers of 35 could be obtained via this route. 

Since the early times of stereochemistry, the phenomena related to chirality ( dis-symetrie moleculaire, as originally stated by Pasteur) have been treated or referred to as enantiomericaUy pure compounds. For a long time the measurement of specific rotations has been the only tool to evaluate the enantiomer distribution of an enantioimpure sample hence the expressions optical purity and optical antipodes. The usefulness of chiral assistance (natural products, circularly polarized light, etc.) for the preparation of optically active compounds, by either resolution or asymmetric synthesis, has been recognized by Pasteur, Le Bel, and van t Hoff. The first chiral auxiliaries selected for asymmetric synthesis were alkaloids such as quinine or some terpenes. Natural products with several asymmetric centers are usually enantiopure or close to 100% ee. With the necessity to devise new routes to enantiopure compounds, many simple or complex auxiliaries have been prepared from natural products or from resolved materials. Often the authors tried to get the highest enantiomeric excess values possible for the chiral auxiliaries before using them for asymmetric reactions. When a chiral reagent or catalyst could not be prepared enantiomericaUy pure, the enantiomeric excess (ee) of the product was assumed to be a minimum value or was corrected by the ee of the chiral auxiliary. The experimental data measured by polarimetry or spectroscopic methods are conveniently expressed by enantiomeric excess and enantiomeric... 

The stereochemistry of the resnlting epoxidation products using chiral ketones, such as ketone 26, could provide new insights about the epoxidation transition states. Studies showed that the epoxidation of trans- and trisubstituted olefins with ketone 26 mainly goes through the spiro transition state (spiro A) (Fig. 10). Planar transition state B competes with spiro A to give the opposite enantiomer [53, 54]. Hence, factors that influence the competition between spiro A and planar B will also affect the enantiomeric excess of the resulting epoxides. Spiro A can be further... 

The vibrational circular dichroism(VCD) spectroscopy can be used to elucidate the stereochemistries of chiral molecules, including the accurate estimation of enantiomeric excess and their absolute configrations[20]. Optically pure samples as well as a racemic sample(c) were used as a reference to compare the VCD spectra. Three VCD spectra are shown in Fig. 7 a spectrum of 99 % ee R(-)-1-phenyl 1,2-ethanediol(a) and that of 99 % ee S(+ )-1-phenyl l,2-ethanediol(b) obtained from Aldrich Co., and the other is that of the product obtained on the Ti-MCM-41/chiral Co(HI) salen catalyst(d). 

Recently, Yamamoto et al. have shown that the chiral acyloxyborane complex 31 is an excellent catalyst for the asymmetric Mukaiyama condensation of simple silyl enol ethers (Scheme 8B1.19 Table 8B1.11 entries 1-7) [43], The syn-aldol adducts are formed preferentially with high enantiomeric excess regardless of the stereochemistry (EI7) of the silyl enol ethers, suggesting an extended transition state (entries 4, 7). This methodology has been... 

Although structural elucidation of lignans is not a difficult task, the similarities between the structures can create problems. In particular, the determination of stereochemistry at the chiral center requires NOE/ NOESY NMR experiments and/or X-ray analyses. The enantiomeric excesses of the known lignans (+)-lariciresinol, (-)-secoisolariciresinol and (+)-taxiresinol, isolated from Japanese yew T. cuspidata roots, were determined by chiral high-performance liquid chromatographic analyses [78] except for (+)-pinoresinol (77% enantiomeric excess), they were found to be optically pure by Kawamura et al. In an earlier study, the presence of taxiresinol in Taxus species was reported by Mujumdar et al. [69] after they had isolated it from the heartwood of T. baccata, although they did not study its stereochemistry. 

RNA is a homochiral polymer. It occurs in nature only in the d configuration. We investigated how the chiral 49nt catalyst affects the stereochemistry of the reaction by analysis of the products by chiral HPLC (Figure 5.3.6). An enantiomeric excess (ee) of >95% was observed for the catalyzed reaction between anthracene-hexaethyleneglycol and N-pentylmaleimide. 

The a-hydrogen of the reactant is unstable under the basic reaction conditions applied, leading to a small degree of racemization [29]. Conservation of stereochemistry was largely achieved by microreactor operation 98.4% enantiomeric excess (ee) was found as compared to 97.9% ee at batch level (see Table 5.2). 

---