Stereoselective reactions asymmetric reduction

Rogic, M. M., Ramachandran, P. V., Zinnen, H., Brown, L. D., Zheng, M. The origins of stereoselectivity in asymmetric reductions with boranes based on (+)-a-pinene. II. The geometries of competing transition-states and the nature of the reaction. A semiempirical study. 

The stannepins which encompass the 2,2 -positions of 1,1 -binaphthyl are interesting because, in their enantiomeric forms, they can bring about stereoselective reactions. Scheme 14 shows the synthesis of the methyltin hydride, which has been used in asymmetric reduction,172 and of the dimethyltin compound, which, via lithiation, can act as the precursor for further derivatives such as the silepins.327... 

The utilization of a-amino acids and their derived 6-araino alcohols in asymmetric synthesis has been extensive. A number of procedures have been reported for the reduction of a variety of amino acid derivatives however, the direct reduction of a-am1no acids with borane has proven to be exceptionally convenient for laboratory-scale reactions. These reductions characteristically proceed in high yield with no perceptible racemization. The resulting p-amino alcohols can, in turn, be transformed into oxazolidinones, which have proven to be versatile chiral auxiliaries. Besides the highly diastereoselective aldol addition reactions, enolates of N-acyl oxazolidinones have been used in conjunction with asymmetric alkylations, halogenations, hydroxylations, acylations, and azide transfer processes, all of which proceed with excellent levels of stereoselectivity. 

Asymmetric reduction of 25-24-oxosteroids. Reduction of the unsaturated 24-oxosteroid 2 with LiAlH, and the (R)-( + )-isomer of Noyori s reagent (1) gives a mixture of the two diols 3 and 4 in the ratio 95 5. The stereoselectivity is reversed by use of (SM )-l. This reaction was used to prepare optically pure (24R)- and (24S)-24-hydroxycholcstcrol and the epimeric pairs of 24,25-dihydroxycholesterol and 25,26-dihydroxycholcsterol.2... 

The product is the racemic [(R)/(S)] alcohol since the free energies of the two diastereoisomeric transition states, resulting from hydride attack on the si-face of the ketone as shown (order of priorities O > R1 > R2, p. 16) or the re-face, are identical. The use of an aluminium alkoxide, derived from an optically pure secondary alcohol, to effect a stereoselective reaction (albeit in low ee%) was one of the first instances of an asymmetric reduction.48 Here (S)-( + )-butan-2-ol, in the form of the aluminium alkoxide, with 6-methylheptan-2-one was shown to give rise to two diastereoisomeric transition states [(5), (R,S) and (6), (S,S)] which lead to an excess of (S)-6-methylheptan-2-ol [derived from transition state (6)], as expected from a consideration of the relative steric interactions. Transition state (5) has a less favourable Me—Me and Et—Hex interaction and hence a higher free energy of activation it therefore represents the less favourable reaction pathway (see p. 15). 

OXAZOLIDINECARBOXYLATE has previously been described in Volume 70 of Organic Sytheses. An alternative procedure for the preparation of this compound is presented in this volume along with its use in a dia-stereoselective addition reaction with 2-TRIMETHYLSILYLTH1AZOLE to provide a compound bearing a 2-amino-1,3-diol substructure that appears in a variety of natural products. The conversion of abundantly available isosorbide into OSO ISOPROPYLIDENE-l ti-DIANHYDRO-d-GLUCITOL provides a potentially useful carbohydrate-deri ved material for the use in complex tetrahydrofuran synthesis. Finally, asymmetric reduction of an a,j9-unsaturated acylstannane with (R)-BINAL provides access to (S,E)-l-(METHOXYMETHOXY)-l-TRIBUTYLSTANNYL-2-BUTENE, an a-alkoxy allylstannane that has been used in enantioselective vicinal diol synthesis amongst other transformations. 

CCCs may obtain chiral compounds by classical resolution, kinetic resolution using chemical or enzymatic metlrods, biocatalysis (enzyme systems, whole cells, or cell isolates), fermentation (from growing whole microorganisms), and stereoselective chemistry (e.g., asymmetric reduction, low-temperature reactions, use of chiral auxiliaries). CCCs may also be CCEs by capitalizing on a key raw material position and going downstream. Along with companies manufacturing chiral molecules primarily for other purposes, such as amino acid producers, these will be the key sources for the asymmetric center. 

The catalytic, enantioselective aldol addition reaction generates products that can serve as versatile precursors to useful building blocks for asymmetric synthesis (Eq. 26). For example, treatment of cinnamaldehyde adduct 177 with LiAl(HNBn)4178 afforded the crystalline amide 179 (73%). Heating in -BuOH converted 177 to ester 180 (81%). Heating in alkaline methanol yielded (79%) the crystalline lactone 181. The synthetic utility of adducts 179 and 180 is enhanced by the stereoselective reaction methods that have been developed for their reduction to the corresponding syn and anti 3,5-diols [103,104]. 

The book comprises 8 chapters. The first provides background, introduces the topic of asymmetric synthesis, outlines principles of transition state theory as applied to stereoselective reactions, and includes the glossary. The second chapter details methods for analysis of mixtures of stereoisomers, including an important section on sample preparation. Then follow four chapters on carbon-carbon bond forming reactions, organized by reaction type and presented in order of increasing mechanistic complexity Chapter 3 is about enolate alkylations. Chapter 4 nucleophilic additions to carbonyls. Chapter 5 is on aldol and Michael additions (2 new stereocenters), while Chapter 6 covers rearrangements and cycloadditions. The last two chapters cover reductions and oxidations. 

The synthesis of three fragments 278, 282, and 285 for the C21-C42 bottom segment is summarized in Scheme 41. The Eschenmoser-Claisen rearrangement of amido acetal of 276, which was prepared via 2-bromocyclohexenone by Corey s asymmetric reduction, afforded amide 277. Functional group manipulation including chain elongation provided Evans-type amide 278. The Evans aldol reaction of boron enolate of 279 with aldehyde 280 stereoselectively afforded 281, which was converted into aldehyde 282 through a sequence of seven steps... 

The encouraging result of the trans-epoxy acylates with the chiral spiro compounds was appUed to the optically active system (Scheme 15). Asymmetric reduction of the enone 31 by Corey s method [72] afforded the allyl alcohol (-)-34 (90% ee). Epoxidation of (-)-34 by the stereoselective Sharpless epoxidation [73] afforded the cts-epoxy alcohol, cfs-(-)-35, as the sole product. The Mitsunobu reaction [74] of czs-(-)-35 with benzoic acid gave the trans-epoxy benzoate, trans- -)-36, (90% ee) in 89% yield. Treatment of trans-(-)-36 with BF3-Et20 afforded the optically active spiro compound (+)-37 in 89% yield with retention of the optical purity (90% ee). This means that the rearrangement occurs stereospecifically. The optically pure epoxy camphanate (-)-38 could be obtained after one recrystallization of the crude (-)-38 (90% de), which was obtained by the Mitsimobu reaction of cfs-(-)-35 with D-camphanic acid. The optically pure spiro compoimd (+)-39 (100% de) was obtained from the optically pure (-)-38 in 89% yield. 

Asymmetric reduction of ketones. This chiral surfactant catalyzes the reduction of ketones by NaBH in H20-l,2-dichloroethane. More interestingly, the reaction is stereoselective ( + )-alcohols are formed in excess, the optical yield depending on the concentration of the catalyst. L-N-Methyl-N-hexadecylephedrinium bromide was also used, but optical yields of alcohols were lower with this reagent. Presumably the alkylephedrinium tetrahydroborate is formed in the aqueous phase and passes into the organic phase, where reduction occurs with stereoselectivity. ... 

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