Stereoselective intramolecular reductive alkylation

To form the stereocenter at C-3 a direct reduction-alkynylation sequence was applied, that provided the diastereomeric homopropargylic alcohols 83 in a ratio of syn anti=76l2A, The major isomer syn-S3 was isolated in 55% yield. The key step of the synthesis was an intramolecular imidotitanium-al-kyne [2+2] cycloaddition/acyl cyanide condensation. With this sequence the pyrrolidine ring was formed and all the carbon atoms of the alkyl side chain were established in acrylonitrile 84. The reduction of the imine double bond proceeded stereoselectively and the nitrile group was removed reductively en route to the target compound. 

Additionally, 1,2-dihydroxyethylene dipeptide analogues without the C-terminal carboxylic acid have been used to obtain aspartyl proteases inhibitors.[641 These efforts include stereoselective alkylation of imines, one-pot reductive amination of epoxy ketones, ring opening of epoxides with sodium azide, diastereoselective dihydroxylation of allylic amines, and enzymatic resolution and stereocontrolled intramolecular amidation. 

The synthesis of 207 is based on an intramolecular aminolysis of the (3-lactam ring in 206. This latter compound was prepared by stereoselective alkylation of 203 with l-bromo-3-butene and subsequent oxidative cleavage of the double bond to give the carboxylic acid 204, which next was coupled with 205. The resulting peptide product 206 rapidly cyclized to a ten-membered ring compound, on reductive deprotection of the hydrazine group, and then coupled with /V-carbo-benzoxytyrosine to give 207. 

These two milestone syntheses were soon followed by others, and activity in this field continued to be driven by interest in the biologically active esters of cephalotaxine. In 1986, Hanaoka et al. (27) reported the stereoselective synthesis of ( )-cephalotaxine and its analog, as shown in Scheme 4. The amide acid 52, prepared by condensation of ethyl prolinate with 3,4-dimethoxyphenylacetyl chloride, followed by hydrolysis of the ethyl ester, was cyclized to the pyrrolobenzazepine 53 by treatment with polyphos-phoric acid, followed by selective O-alkylation with 2,3-dichloropropene (54) in the presence of sodium hydride. The resulting enol ether 55 underwent Claisen rearrangement on heating to provide C-allylated compound 56, whose reduction with sodium borohydride yielded the alcohol, which on treatment with 90% sulfuric acid underwent cationic cyclization to give the tetracyclic ketone 57. Presumably, this sequence represents the intramolecular version of the Wichterle reaction. On treatment with boron tribromide, ketone 57 afforded the free catechol, which was reacted with dibromometh-ane and potassium fluoride to give methylenedioxy derivative 58, suited for the final transformations to cephalotaxine. Oxidation of ketone 58... 

---