Stereoselective hydrogen availability

Olefins are hydrogenated very easily, unless highly hindered, over a variety of catalysts. With active catalysts, the reaction is apt to be diffusion limited, since hydrogen can be consumed faster than it can be supplied to the catalyst surface. Most problems connected with olefin hydrogenation involve some aspect of regio- or stereoselectivity. Often the course of reduction is influenced greatly by the catalyst, by reaction variables, and by hydrogen availability at the catalyst surface. 

Coupling of these two readily available precursors leads to bis-enone 413 elaborated to 414 by chemo- and stereoselective hydrogenation of the more strained, bicyclic alkene with PhSiH3 in the presence of catal)dic Mo(CO)6, and K-selectride diastereoselective reduction (O Scheme 81). 

The high degree of stereoselectivity associated with most syntheses and reactions of oxiranes accounts for the enormous utility of these systems in steroid syntheses. Individual selectivity at various positions in the steroid nucleus necessitates the discussion of a collection of uniquely specific reactions used in the synthesis of steroidal epoxides. The most convenient and generally applicable methods involve the peracid, the alkaline hydrogen peroxide and the halohydrin reactions. Several additional but more limited techniques are also available. 

Crystalline, diastereomerieally pure syn-aIdols are also available from chiral A-acylsultams. lhe outcome of the induction can be controlled by appropriate choice of the counterion in the cnolate boron enolates lead, almost exclusively, to one adduct 27 (d.r. >97 3, major adduct/ sum of all other diastereomers) whereas mediation of the addition by lithium or tin leads to the predominant formation of adducts 28. Unfortunately, the latter reaction is plagued by lower induced stereoselectivity (d.r. 66 34 to 88 12, defined as above). In both cases, however, diastereomerieally pure adducts are available by recrystallizing the crude adducts. Esters can be liberated by treatment of the adducts with lithium hydroxide/hydrogen peroxide, whereby the chiral auxiliary reagent can be recovered106. 

When we first contemplated thermochemical products available from Glu, a search of the literature revealed no studies expressly directed at hydrogenation to a specific product. Indeed, the major role that Glu plays in hydrogenation reactions is to act as an enantioselectivity enhancer (17,18). Glu (or a number of other optically active amino acids) is added to solutions containing Raney nickel, supported nickel, palladium, or ruthenium catalysts and forms stereoselective complexes on the catalyst surface, leading to enantioselective hydrogenation of keto-groups to optically active alcohols. Under the reaction conditions used, no hydrogenation of Glu takes place. 

This interpretation was also supported by the spectra of the corresponding N-methyl-leucine derivative in which the H-donor of the selectand was substituted by a methyl group and therefore not available for hydrogen bonding. Both complexes showed a similar spectral behavior as the weak 5-complex of DNB-Leu The C=0 stretch was always shifted from 1725 (uncomplexed autoassociated selector) to 1739 cm (indicative for disrupted H-bonds) in the 5-complex and R-complex as well. These FT-IR data may be regarded as an unequivocal proof for the existence of a stereoselective H-bond between the NH of DNB-Leu and the selector s carbonyl group (Figures 1.10 and 1.11). 

The commercially available CLEA particles of hydroxynitrile lyases (HNLs) from cassava and almond were used to produce both enantiomers. The use of dichloromethane, free hydrogen cyanide, and low temperatures was important for improving the cyanohydrin stereoselectivity and suppressing the background reaction. The aggregate particles were easily separated from the reaction by filtration followed by washing, and up to ten times reuse was demonstrated. 

A new stereoselective synthesis of 1,2,3-trisubstituted cyclopentanes based on the Wag-ner-Meerwein rearrangement of a 7-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptyl 2-cation starts with the Diels-Alder product of maleic anhydride and a furan (78TL2165, 79TL1691). The cycloadduct was hydrogenated and subjected to methanolysis. The half acid ester (47) was then electrolyzed at 0 °C to generate a cationic intermediate via the abnormal Kolbe reaction (Hofer-Moest reaction). Work-up under the usual conditions provided the 2-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane (48) in 83% yield. Treatment of this compound in turn with perchloric acid effected hydrolysis of the ketal with formation of the trisubstituted cyclopentane (49) in nearly quantitative yield (Scheme 11). Cyclopentanes available from this route constitute useful... 

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