Stereoselective acid reagents

Vinyllithium [917-57-7] can be formed direcdy from vinyl chloride by means of a lithium [7439-93-2] dispersion containing 2 wt % sodium [7440-23-5] at 0—10°C. This compound is a reactive intermediate for the formation of vinyl alcohols from aldehydes, vinyl ketones from organic acids, vinyl sulfides from disulfides, and monosubstituted alkenes from organic halides. It can also be converted to vinylcopper [37616-22-1] or divinylcopper lithium [22903-99-7], which can then be used to introduce a vinyl group stereoselectively into a variety of a, P-unsaturated systems (26), or simply add a vinyl group to other a, P-unsaturated compounds to give y, 5-unsaturated compounds. Vinyllithium reagents can also be converted to secondary alcohols with trialkylb o r ane s. 

Addmon of cesium fluoroKysuIfate to olefins gives vicinal fluoroalky I sulfates with low regio- and stereoselectivity [162, 16J] (equations 12 and 13) Reactions of this reagent with olefins in methanol or acetic acid give vicinalfluoroalkyl methy I ethers or acetates, respectively [164, 165 166] (equation 14), with a predominance... 

Aqueous hydrofluoric acid dissolved in acetonitrile is a good catalyst for intramolecular Diels-Alder reactions [9] This reagent promotes highly stereoselective cyclizations of different triene esters (equation 8) The use of other acids, such as hydrochloric, acetic, and trifluoroacetic acid, results in complete polymerization of the starting trienes [9] (equation 8)... 

Optically inactive starting materials can give optically active products only if they are treated with an optically active reagent or if the reaction is catalyzed by an optically active substance. The best examples are found in biochemical processes. Most biochemical reactions are catalyzed by enzymes. Enzymes are chiral and enantiomerically homogeneous they provide an asymmetric environment in which chemical reaction can take place. Ordinarily, enzyme-catalyzed reactions occur with such a high level of stereoselectivity that one enantiomer of a substance is formed exclusively even when the substrate is achiral. The enzyme ftimarase, for example, catalyzes hydration of the double bond of fumaric acid to malic acid in apples and other fruits. Only the S enantiomer of malic acid is formed in this reaction. 

The intramolecular Sakurai reaction allows for the synthesis of functionalized bicyclic systems. By proper choice of the reaction conditions, especially of the Lewis acid or fluoride reagent used, high stereoselectivity can be achieved, which is an important aspect for its applicability in natural products synthesis. 

Jackson and coworkers have used a new approach to the synthesis of fi-hydtoxy-ct-amino acids using farylthio nitrooxiranes. c-Jsopropylideneglyceraldehyde is converted into the corresponding 1-arylthio-l-nitroalkene, which is a key material for stereoselective synthesis of fi,Y-dihydroxyamino acids fScheme 4.6. The key step is stereoselective nucleophilic epoxlda-donof the Tarylthio-Tnltroalkene. Sy)i and ruin epoxides are selecdvely obtained by appropriate choice of epoxidadon reagent." ... 

As described in Section 2.3.2, vinylaziridines are versatile intermediates for the stereoselective synthesis of (E)-alkene dipeptide isosteres. One of the simplest methods for the synthesis of alkene isosteres such as 242 and 243 via aziridine derivatives of type 240 and 241 (Scheme 2.59) involves the use of chiral anti- and syn-amino alcohols 238 and 239, synthesizable in turn from various chiral amino aldehydes 237. However, when a chiral N-protected amino aldehyde derived from a natural ot-amino acid is treated with an organometallic reagent such as vinylmag-nesium bromide, a mixture of anti- and syn-amino alcohols 238 and 239 is always obtained. Highly stereoselective syntheses of either anti- or syn-amino alcohols 238 or 239, and hence 2,3-trans- or 2,3-as-3-alkyl-2-vinylaziridines 240 or 241, from readily available amino aldehydes 237 had thus hitherto been difficult. Ibuka and coworkers overcame this difficulty by developing an extremely useful epimerization of vinylaziridines. Palladium(0)-catalyzed reactions of 2,3-trons-2-vinylaziri-dines 240 afforded the thermodynamically more stable 2,3-cis isomers 241 predominantly over 240 (241 240 >94 6) through 7i-allylpalladium intermediates, in accordance with ab initio calculations [29]. This epimerization allowed a highly stereoselective synthesis of (E) -alkene dipeptide isosteres 243 with the desired L,L-... 

The fact that only Grignard reagents add with high diastereoselectivity to the phenylmenthyl ester of glyoxylic acid, whereas methyllithium reacts nonstereoselectively, may be the result of a different aggregation of the reagents. This is supported by the tremendous improvement of the stereoselectivity when the addition of methyllithium is undertaken in the presence of lithium perchlorate13. 

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