Stereoisomerism chirality

Daniels, J., Nestmann, E., and Kerr, A. (1997). Development of stereoisomeric (chiral) drugs A brief review of the scientific and regulatory considerations. Drug Information J. 639-646. 

Molecules are not easy to handle in silico because of constitutional isomerism, meso-merism, tautomerism, stereoisomerism, chirality and other phenomena. This means, roughly speaking, that molecules are not easily described unambiguously. Precise models are required, since computers can obey orders very well, but cannot read our minds. It is not sufficient to describe a molecule with the molecular formula or a Ust of covalent bonds between the atoms alone. Even the constitutional isomers are not always sufficient, as stereochemistry is sometimes needed when it comes to the consideration of pharmaceutical properties. 

In both encodings, stereoisomerism is discussed with an example of chirality and cisjtrans isomerism. 

Clearly, the next step is the handling of a molecule as a real object with a spatial extension in 3D space. Quite often this is also a mandatory step, because in most cases the 3D structure of a molecule is closely related to a large variety of physical, chemical, and biological properties. In addition, the fundamental importance of an unambiguous definition of stereochemistry becomes obvious, if the 3D structure of a molecule needs to be derived from its chemical graph. The moleofles of stereoisomeric compounds differ in their spatial features and often exhibit quite different properties. Therefore, stereochemical information should always be taken into ac-count if chiral atom centers are present in a chemical structure. 

A key intermediate, 163, which possesses all but one chiral center of (+ )-brefeldin, has been prepared by the enantiocontrolled cycloaddition of the chiral fi,/3-unsaturated ester 162 to 154[107], Synthesis of phyllocladane skeleton 165 has been carried out by the Pd-catalyzed cycloaddition of the unsaturated diester 164 and cobalt-catalyzed cycloaddition of alkynes as key reactions[108]. Intramolecular cycloaddition to the vinylsulfone in 166 proceeds smoothly to give a mixture of the trans and cis isomers in a ratio of 2.4 1[109], Diastereocontrolled cycloaddition of the hindered vinylsulfone 167 affords a single stereoisomeric adduct, 168, which is used for the synthesis of the spirocarbocyclic ring of ginkgolide[l 10],... 

The situation is the same when the two chirality centers are present m a ring There are four stereoisomeric 1 bromo 2 chlorocyclopropanes a pair of enantiomers m which the halogens are trans and a pair m which they are cis The cis compounds are diaste reomers of the trans... 

Only three not four stereoisomeric 2 3 butanediols are possible These three are shown m Eigure 7 10 The (2R 3R) and (2S 3S) forms are enantiomers of each other and have equal and opposite optical rotations A third combination of chirality centers (2R 3S) however gives an achiral structure that is superimposable on its (2S 3R) minor image Because it is achiral this third stereoisomer is optically inactive We call achiral mole cules that have chnahty centers meso forms The meso form m Eigure 7 10 is known as meso 2 3 butanediol... 

Because there are four chirality centers and no possibility of meso forms there are 2" or 16 stereoisomeric hexoses All 16 are known having been isolated either as natural products or as the products of chemical synthesis... 

Eleven chirality centers may seem like a lot but it is nowhere close to a world record It is a modest number when compared with the more than 100 chirality centers typ ical for most small proteins and the thousands of chirality centers present m nucleic acids A molecule that contains both chirality centers and double bonds has additional opportunities for stereoisomerism For example the configuration of the chirality center m 3 penten 2 ol may be either R or S and the double bond may be either E or Z There fore 3 penten 2 ol has four stereoisomers even though it has only one chirality center... 

Once we grasp the idea of stereoisomerism m molecules with two or more chirality cen ters we can explore further details of addition reactions of alkenes... 

Recall from Section 7 13 that a stereospecific reaction is one in which each stereoiso mer of a particular starting material yields a different stereoisomeric form of the reaction product In the ex amples shown the product from Diels-Alder cycloaddi tion of 1 3 butadiene to as cinnamic acid is a stereo isomer of the product from trans cinnamic acid Each product although chiral is formed as a racemic mixture... 

Glyceraldehyde can be considered to be the simplest chiral carbohydrate It is an aldotriose and because it contains one chirality center exists in two stereoisomeric forms the D and l enantiomers Moving up the scale m complexity next come the aldotetroses Examining their structures illustrates the application of the Fischer system to compounds that contain more than one chirality center... 

The steric bulk of the three iodine atoms in the 2,4,6-triiodoben2ene system and the amide nature of the 1,3,5-substituents yield rotational isomers of the 5-A/-acyl-substituted 2,4,6-triiodoisophthalamides. Rotational motion in the bonds connecting the side chains and the aromatic ring is restricted. These compounds also exhibit stereoisomerism when chiral carbon atoms are present on side chains. (R,5)-3-Amino-l,2-propanediol is incorporated in the synthesis of iohexol (11) and ioversol (12) and an (3)-2-hydroxypropanoyl group is used in the synthesis of iopamidol (10). Consequendy, the resulting products contain a mixture of stereoisomers, ie, meso-isomers, or an optical isomer. 

Preparation of enantiomerically enriched materials by use of chiral catalysts is also based on differences in transition-state energies. While the reactant is part of a complex or intermediate containing a chiral catalyst, it is in a chiral environment. The intermediates and complexes containing each enantiomeric reactant and a homochiral catalyst are diastereomeric and differ in energy. This energy difference can then control selection between the stereoisomeric products of the reaction. If the reaction creates a new stereogenic center in the reactant molecule, there can be a preference for formation of one enantiomer over the other. 

The two stereoisomeric furanose forms of D-erythrose ae naned a-D-erythro-furanose and p-D-erythrofuranose. The prefixes a and p describe the relative configuration of the anorneric cabon. The configuration of the anorneric cabon is cornpaed with that of the highest numbered chirality center in the molecule—the one that determines whether the cabohydrate is d or l. Chemists use a simplified, informal version of the lUPAC rules for assigning a and p that holds for ca bohydrates up to and including hexoses. 

By treatment of a racemic mixture of an aldehyde or ketone that contains a chiral center—e.g. 2-phenylpropanal 9—with an achiral Grignard reagent, four stereoisomeric products can be obtained the diastereomers 10 and 11 and the respective enantiomer of each. 

Figure 3.7 shows some early examples of this type of analysis (39), illustrating the GC determination of the stereoisomeric composition of lactones in (a) a fruit drink (where the ratio is racemic, and the lactone is added artificially) and (b) a yoghurt, where the non-racemic ratio indicates no adulteration. Technically, this separation was enabled on a short 10 m slightly polar primary column coupled to a chiral selective cyclodextrin secondary column. Both columns were independently temperature controlled and the transfer cut performed by using a Deans switch, with a backflush of the primary column following the heart-cut. 

V. Karl, J. Gutser, A. Dietrich, B. Maas and A. Mosandl, Stereoisomeric flavour compounds. EXVIII. 2-, 3- and 4-alkyl-branched acids. Part 2 chirospeciflc analysis and sensoT y evaluation , Chirality 6 427 - 434 (1994). 

Aldotetroses are four-carbon sugars with two chirality centers and an aldehyde carbonyl group. Thus, there are 22 = 4 possible stereoisomeric aldotetroses, or two d,l pairs of enantiomers named erythrose and threose. 

The ending caine stems from cocaine, the first clinically employed local anaesthetic. Procaine and tetracaine are ester-linked substances, the others are amides. Amide bonded local anaesthetics usually contain two i s in their name, ester-bonded only one. In the structure drawings, the lipophilic portion of the molecule is depicted at the left, the amine at the right. The asterisk marks the chiral centre of the stereoisomeric drugs. Lipid solubility is given as the logarithm of the water octanol partition coefficient, log(P). 

The synthesis of chiral dialkyl sulphoxides of high optical purity from dia-stereoisomeric alkanesulphinates has a serious limitation because the sulphinates are not... 

Durst and coworkers were the first to report the condensation of chiral a-sulphinyl carbanions with carbonyl compounds477. They found that metallation of ( + )-(S)-benzyl methyl sulphoxide 397 followed by quenching with acetone gives a mixture of dia-stereoisomeric /i-hydroxy sulphoxides 398 in a 15 1 ratio (equation 233). The synthesis of optically active oxiranes was based on this reaction (equation 234). In this context, it is interesting to point out that condensation of benzyl phenyl sulphoxide with benzaldehyde gave a mixture of four / -sulphinyl alcohols (40% overall yield), the ratio of which after immediate work-up was 41 19 8 32478. 

Mixtures of stereoisomeric 3-(2,2-dichloroethenyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropane carboxylic acids (the acid moieties of permethrin insecticide), CDI, and chiral amines have been investigated by capillary gas chromatography. The diastereomeric amides could be identified by GC/MS-spectrometry [413... 

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