Stereogenic center formation compounds

As chemists proceeded to synthesize more complicated stmctures, they developed more satisfactory protective groups and more effective methods for the formation and cleavage of protected compounds. At first a tetrahydropyranyl acetal was prepared, by an acid-catalyzed reaction with dihydropyran, to protect a hydroxyl group. The acetal is readily cleaved by mild acid hydrolysis, but formation of this acetal introduces a new stereogenic center. Formation of the 4-methoxytetrahy-dropyranyl ketal eliminates this problem. 

With a-alkyl-substituted chiral carbonyl compounds bearing an alkoxy group in the -position, the diastereoselectivity of nucleophilic addition reactions is influenced not only by steric factors, which can be described by the models of Cram and Felkin (see Section 1.3.1.1.), but also by a possible coordination of the nucleophile counterion with the /J-oxygen atom. Thus, coordination of the metal cation with the carbonyl oxygen and the /J-alkoxy substituent leads to a chelated transition state 1 which implies attack of the nucleophile from the least hindered side, opposite to the pseudoequatorial substituent R1. Therefore, the anb-diastereomer 2 should be formed in excess. With respect to the stereogenic center in the a-position, the predominant formation of the anft-diastereomer means that anti-Cram selectivity has occurred. 

For a successful application in synthesis, several problems have to be solved regioselectivity, whether the C-C bond is formed with the 1- or 3-position in an unsymmetrical ambident anion, EjZ selectivity in the formation of the double bond, and simple diastereoselectivity, since two new stereogenic centers are created from prostereogenic compounds. Further, different types of induced stereoselectivity or enantioselectivity may be required. Allylmetals with a wide choice of substituents are accessible by various methods (Sections D. 1.3.3.3.1.-10.). 

In a chiral aldehyde or a chiral ketone, the carbonyl faces are diastereotopic. Thus, the addition of an enolate leads to the formation of at least one stereogenic center. An effective transfer of chirality from the stereogenic center to the diastereoface is highly desirable. In most cases of diastereoface selection of this type, the chiral aldehyde or ketone was used in the racemic form, especially in early investigations. However, from the point of view of an HPC synthesis, it is indispensable to use enantiomerically pure carbonyl compounds. Therefore, this section emphasizes those aldol reactions which are performed with enantiomerically pure aldehydes. 

Another attractive domino approach starts with an aldol reaction of preformed enol ethers and carbonyl compounds as the first step. Rychnovsky and coworkers have found that unsaturated enol ethers such as 2-237 react with different aldehydes 2-238 in the presence of TiBr4. The process consists of an aldol and a Prins-type reaction to give 4-bromotetrahydropyrans 2-239 in good yields, and allows the formation of two new C-C-bonds, one ring and three new stereogenic centers (Scheme 2.56) [131]. In the reaction, only two diastereomers out of eight possible isomers were formed whereby the intermediate carbocation is quenched with a bromide. 

Recently, the Cuerva group also presented a titanocene-catalyzed domino cycliza-tion of an aryl epoxypolyene such as 3-151, which led to the formation of a trans/ anti/trans-fused tricyclic compound 3-152, though in only moderate yield. Nevertheless, six stereogenic centers are formed in this domino process [64]. 3-152 could be transformed into the natural terpenoid stypoldione (3-153) (Scheme 3.40) [65]. 

Besides direct nucleophilic attack onto the acceptor group, an activated diene may also undergo 1,4- or 1,6-addition in the latter case, capture of the ambident enolate with a soft electrophile can take place at two different positions. Hence, the nucleophilic addition can result in the formation of three regioisomeric alkenes, which may in addition be formed as E/Z isomers. Moreover, depending on the nature of nucleophile and electrophile, the addition products may contain one or two stereogenic centers, and, as a further complication, basic conditions may give rise to the isomerization of the initially formed 8,y-unsaturated carbonyl compounds (and other acceptor-substituted alkenes of this type) to the thermodynamically more stable conjugated isomer (Eq. 4.1). 

The introduction of umpoled synthons 177 into aldehydes or prochiral ketones leads to the formation of a new stereogenic center. In contrast to the pendant of a-bromo-a-lithio alkenes, an efficient chiral a-lithiated vinyl ether has not been developed so far. Nevertheless, substantial diastereoselectivity is observed in the addition of lithiated vinyl ethers to several chiral carbonyl compounds, in particular cyclic ketones. In these cases, stereocontrol is exhibited by the chirality of the aldehyde or ketone in the sense of substrate-induced stereoselectivity. This is illustrated by the reaction of 1-methoxy-l-lithio ethene 56 with estrone methyl ether, which is attacked by the nucleophilic carbenoid exclusively from the a-face —the typical stereochemical outcome of the nucleophilic addition to H-ketosteroids . Representative examples of various acyclic and cyclic a-lithiated vinyl ethers, generated by deprotonation, and their reactions with electrophiles are given in Table 6. 

Relatively complex compounds with two stereogenic centers, such as enantiopure diols, can also be synthesized using biocatalysis in reaction sequences starting from readily available building blocks. This can be demonstrated by combining an enzymatic C-C bond formation and a redox reaction in a cascade of two membrane reactors (see Fig. 3.1.5) [1, 21]. 

The Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) reaction is the formation of a-methylene-/ -hydroxycarbonyl compounds X by addition of aldehydes IX to a,/ -unsaturated carbonyl compounds VIII, for example vinyl ketones, acrylonitriles or acrylic esters (Scheme 6.58) [143-148]. For the reaction to occur the presence of catalytically active nucleophiles ( Nu , Scheme 6.58) is required. It is now commonly accepted that the MBH reaction is initiated by addition of the catalytically active nucleophile to the enone/enoate VIII. The resulting enolate adds to the aldehyde IX, establishing the new stereogenic center at the aldehydic carbonyl carbon atom. Formation of the product X is completed by proton transfer from the a-position of the carbonyl moiety to the alcoholate oxygen atom with concomitant elimination of the nucleophile. Thus Nu is available for the next catalytic cycle. 

The reaction sequence depicted in Scheme 6.58 also illustrates several problems associated with the MBH reaction. Addition to aldehyde IX can be slow, and side-reactions such as base-induced polymerization of the a,//-unsaturated carbonyl compound can occur. Furthermore, generation of diastereomeric (i.e. E/Z) enolates can complicate matters if enantioselective addition to the aldehyde component is desired. In principle, formation of a stereogenic center at the aldehydic carbonyl C-atom can be steered by (i) use of a chiral a,/ -unsaturated carbonyl compound [149, 150] (ii) use of a chiral aldehyde and (iii) use of a chiral nucleophilic cata-... 

The formation of enolates or related compounds with a planar nucleophilic carbon atom by deprotonation of a center of asymmetry does not necessarily mean that the stereochemical information is lost. Examples have been reported in which the enolate remains chiral by assuming a different form of chirality (e.g. axial chirality) and the ensuing reaction with an electrophile proceeds with high enantioselectivity, despite the transient planarization of the stereogenic center (Scheme 5.72). 

Chiral templates can be considered a subclass of chiral auxiliaries. Unlike auxiliaries that have the potential for recycle, the stereogenic center of a template is destroyed during its removal. Although this usually results in the formation of simple by-products that are simple to remove, the cost of the template s stereogenic center is transferred to the product molecule. Under certain circumstances, chiral templates can provide a cost-effective route to a chiral compound (Chapter 25). Usually, the development of a template is the first step in understanding a specific transformation and the knowledge gained is used to develop an auxiliary or catalyst system. 

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