Stereoisomerization

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

Stereoisomerism at double bonds is indicated in SMILES by / and . The characters specify the relative direction of the connected atoms at a double bond and act as a frame. The characters frame the atoms of a double bond in a parallel or an opposite direction. It is therefore only reasonable to use them on both sides Figure 2-78). There are other valid representations of cis/trans isomers, because the characters can be written in different ways. Further details are listed in Section 2,3.3, in the Handbook or in Ref, [22]. 

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],... 

In Chapter 3 another type of isomerism called stereoisomerism, will be introduced Stereoisomers have the same constitution but differ m the arrangement of atoms m space... 

Stereoisomeric alkenes are sometimes referred to as geometric isomers... 

Cis-trans stereoisomerism m alkenes is not possible when one of the doubly bonded carbons bears two identical substituents Thus neither 1 butene nor 2 methyl propene can have stereoisomers... 

In principle cis 2 butene and trans 2 butene may be mterconverted by rotation about the C 2=C 3 double bond However unlike rotation about the C 2—C 3 single bond in butane which is quite fast mterconversion of the stereoisomeric 2 butenes does not occur under normal circumstances It is sometimes said that rotation about a carbon-carbon double bond is restricted but this is an understatement Conventional lab oratory sources of heat do not provide enough energy for rotation about the double bond m alkenes As shown m Figure 5 2 rotation about a double bond requires the p orbitals of C 2 and C 3 to be twisted from their stable parallel alignment—m effect the tt com ponent of the double bond must be broken at the transition state... 

The difference m stability between stereoisomeric alkenes is even more pronounced with larger alkyl groups on the double bond A particularly striking example compares as and trans 22 5 5 tetramethyl 3 hexene m which the heat of combustion of the cis stereoisomer is 44 kJ/mol (10 5 kcal/mol) higher than that of the trans The cis isomer IS destabilized by the large van der Waals strain between the bulky tert butyl groups on the same side of the double bond... 

In addition to being regioselective alcohol dehydrations are stereoselective A stereo selective reaction is one m which a single starting material can yield two or more stereoisomeric products but gives one of them m greater amounts than any other Alcohol dehydrations tend to produce the more stable stereoisomer of an alkene Dehydration of 3 pentanol for example yields a mixture of trans 2 pentene and cis 2 pentene m which the more stable trans stereoisomer predominates... 

Isomeric alkenes may be either constitutional isomers or stereoisomers There is a sizable barrier to rotation about a carbon-carbon double bond which corresponds to the energy required to break the rr component of the double bond Stereoisomeric alkenes are configurationally stable under normal conditions The configurations of stereoisomeric alkenes are described according to two notational systems One system adds the prefix CIS to the name of the alkene when similar substituents are on the same side of the double bond and the prefix trans when they are on opposite sides The other ranks substituents according to a system of rules based on atomic number The prefix Z is used for alkenes that have higher ranked substituents on the same side of the double bond the prefix E is used when higher ranked substituents are on opposite sides... 

Dehydration of alcohols (Sections 5 9-5 13) Dehydra tion requires an acid catalyst the order of reactivity of alcohols IS tertiary > secondary > primary Elimi nation is regioselective and proceeds in the direction that produces the most highly substituted double bond When stereoisomeric alkenes are possible the more stable one is formed in greater amounts An El (elimination unimolecular) mechanism via a carbo cation intermediate is followed with secondary and tertiary alcohols Primary alcohols react by an E2 (elimination bimolecular) mechanism Sometimes elimination is accompanied by rearrangement... 

Stereoselectivity was defined and introduced in connec tion with the formation of stereoisomeric alkenes in elimination reactions (Sec tion 5 11)... 

Fischer projections of the stereoisomeric 2 3 dihydroxybutanoic acids compounds I and II are erythro stereoisomers and III and IV are threo... 

Draw Fischer projections or make molecular models of the four stereoisomeric 3 ammo 2 butanols and label each erythro or threo as appropriate... 

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... 

Fischer projection formulas can help us identify meso forms Of the three stereoisomeric 2 3 butanediols notice that only in the meso stereoisomer does a dashed line through the center of the Fischer projection divide the molecule into two mirror image halves... 

Turning to cyclic compounds we see that there are three not four stereoisomeric 1 2 dibromocyclopropanes Of these two are enantiomeric trans 1 2 dibromocyclo propanes The cis diastereomer is a meso form it has a plane of symmetry... 

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... 

A second category of six carbon carbohydrates called 2-hexuloses has the constitution shown How many stereoisomeric 2 hexuloses are possible ... 

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... 

Bromine addition to alkenes is an example of a stereospecific reaction A stereospecific reaction is one m which stereoisomeric starting materials yield products... 

Could the fact that hydrogenation of 2 methyl(methylene)cyclo hexane gives more as 1 2 dimethylcyclohexane than trans be explained on the basis of the relative stabilities of the two stereoisomeric products ... 

The hydrogenation of 2 methyl(methylene)cyclohexane is an example of a stereo selective reaction meaning one m which stereoisomeric products are formed m unequal amounts from a single starting material (Section 5 11)... 

A common misconception is that a stereospecific reaction is simply one that is 100% stereoselective The two terms are not synonymous however A stereospecific reac tion IS one which when carried out with stereoisomeric starting materials gives a prod uct from one reactant that is a stereoisomer of the product from the other A stereo selective reaction is one m which a single starting material gives a predominance of a... 

There are two other stereoisomeric tartaric acids Write their Fis... 

The mechanism includes two single electron transfers (steps 1 and 3) and two proton transfers (steps 2 and 4) Experimental evidence indicates that step 2 is rate determining and it is believed that the observed trans stereochemistry reflects the dis tribution of the two stereoisomeric alkenyl radical intermediates formed in this step... 

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... 

Nucleophilic addition to carbonyl groups sometimes leads to a mixture of stereoisomeric products The direction of attack is often controlled by stenc factors with the nude ophile approaching the carbonyl group at its less hindered face Sodium borohydride reduction of 7 7 dimethylbicyclo[2 2 IJheptan 2 one illustrates this point... 

Compounds that contain a carbon—nitrogen double bond are capable of stereoisomerism much like that seen in alkenes The structures... 

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 task of relating carbohydrate configurations to names requires either a world class memory or an easily recalled mnemonic A mnemonic that serves us well here was pop ularized by the husband-wife team of Lours F Fieser and Mary Fieser of Harvard Uni versity m their 1956 textbook Organic Chemistry As with many mnemonics it s not clear who actually invented it and references to this particular one appeared m the chem ical education literature before publication of the Fiesers text The mnemonic has two features (1) a system for setting down all the stereoisomeric d aldohexoses m a logical order and (2) a way to assign the correct name to each one... 

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