Stereoselectivity reversal

Optically active 2-allylpiperidines and -pyrrolidines arc obtained by treating hydroxylactams containing the l-[(S)-l-arylethyl]substituent as an auxiliary (see Appendix) with tin(IV) chloride and trimethyl(2-propenyl)silane46. Interestingly, the moderate diastereoselection when the aryl group is phenyl decreases when 2-chlorophenyl is used, whereas the sense of the stereoselectivity reverses for 2,6-dichlorophenyl or pentachlorophcnyl. These results are rationalized by application of molecular orbital theory and substrate conformational preferences46. 

The iridium-catalysed hydrosilylation of alkynes in the presence of 4,4, 5,5,-tetra-methylbiphosphinine (tmbp) has been explored and shown to proceed effectively to afford /S-( >vinylsilanes with high selectivity in moderate to high yields, whereas a similar hydrosilylation in the absence of tmbp produced /i-(Z)-vinyl si lanes. This stereoselectivity reversal is believed to be a function of the electron-withdrawing properties of tmbp coordinated to iridium.111... 

Cyclisations of alkyllithiums onto E unsaturated phosphoranes or r-butyl esters are less stereoselective than the corresponding cyclisations onto unactivated alkenes, presumably because the additional stabilisation allows the transition state to become looser .86 With Z enoates 177, however, trans selectivity is high because of congestion in the transition state leading to the cis isomer of 178. With an alkoxy substituent (177, R = OMe), the stereoselectivity reverses, possibly due to Li-coordination. 

Bischer, A. Iwaki, M. Zia-Amirhosseini, R Benet, L.Z. Stereoselective reversible binding properties of the glucuronide coiyugates of fenoprofen enantiomers to human serum albumin. DrugMetab.Dispos., 1995, 23, 900-903... 

Chapp TW, Glueck DS, Golen JA, Moore CE, Rheingold AL (2010) Platinum-catalyzed asymmetric alkylation of bis(isitylphosphino)ethane stereoselectivity reversal in successive formation of two P-C bonds. Organometallics 29 378-388... 

A 1,4-asymmetric reduction of a y-keto sulfoxide has its stereoselectivity reversed on addition of a lanthanide triflate. ... 

Cyanohydrins are important intermediates in the prodnetion of nseftil pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and other biologically active compounds [16,18]. Hydroxynitrile lyases (HnLs, also known as oxynitrilases) are a class of carbo-ligase enzymes that catalyze the stereoselective, reversible addition of HCN to... 

SCHEME 39.38. Mechanistic proposal for origin of stereoselectivity reversal for suUinyl imine reduction. 

The addition of large enolate synthons to cyclohexenone derivatives via Michael addition leads to equatorial substitution. If the cyclohexenone conformation is fixed, e.g. as in decalones or steroids, the addition is highly stereoselective. This is also the case with the S-addition to conjugated dienones (Y. Abe, 1956). Large substituents at C-4 of cyclic a -synthons direct incoming carbanions to the /rans-position at C-3 (A.R. Battersby, 1960). The thermodynamically most stable products are formed in these cases, because the addition of 1,3-dioxo compounds to activated double bonds is essentially reversible. 

Other Borohydrides. Potassium borohydride was formerly used in color reversal development of photographic film and was preferred over sodium borohydride because of its much lower hygroscopicity. Because other borohydrides are made from sodium borohydride, they are correspondingly more expensive. Generally their reducing properties are not sufficiently different to warrant the added cost. Zinc borohydride [17611-70-0] Zn(BH 2> however, has found many appHcations in stereoselective reductions. It is less basic than NaBH, but is not commercially available owing to poor thermal stabihty. It is usually prepared on site in an ether solvent. Zinc borohydride was initially appHed to stereoselective ketone reductions, especially in prostaglandin syntheses (36), and later to aldehydes, acid haHdes, and esters (37). 

Cycloaddition involves the combination of two molecules in such a way that a new ring is formed. The principles of conservation of orbital symmetry also apply to concerted cycloaddition reactions and to the reverse, concerted fragmentation of one molecule into two or more smaller components (cycloreversion). The most important cycloaddition reaction from the point of view of synthesis is the Diels-Alder reaction. This reaction has been the object of extensive theoretical and mechanistic study, as well as synthetic application. The Diels-Alder reaction is the addition of an alkene to a diene to form a cyclohexene. It is called a [47t + 27c]-cycloaddition reaction because four tc electrons from the diene and the two n electrons from the alkene (which is called the dienophile) are directly involved in the bonding change. For most systems, the reactivity pattern, regioselectivity, and stereoselectivity are consistent with describing the reaction as a concerted process. In particular, the reaction is a stereospecific syn (suprafacial) addition with respect to both the alkene and the diene. This stereospecificity has been demonstrated with many substituted dienes and alkenes and also holds for the simplest possible example of the reaction, that of ethylene with butadiene ... 

Stereoselective epoxidation can be realized through either substrate-controlled (e.g. 35 —> 36) or reagent-controlled approaches. A classic example is the epoxidation of 4-t-butylcyclohexanone. When sulfonium ylide 2 was utilized, the more reactive ylide irreversibly attacked the carbonyl from the axial direction to offer predominantly epoxide 37. When the less reactive sulfoxonium ylide 1 was used, the nucleophilic addition to the carbonyl was reversible, giving rise to the thermodynamically more stable, equatorially coupled betaine, which subsequently eliminated to deliver epoxide 38. Thus, stereoselective epoxidation was achieved from different mechanistic pathways taken by different sulfur ylides. In another case, reaction of aldehyde 38 with sulfonium ylide 2 only gave moderate stereoselectivity (41 40 = 1.5/1), whereas employment of sulfoxonium ylide 1 led to a ratio of 41 40 = 13/1. The best stereoselectivity was accomplished using aminosulfoxonium ylide 25, leading to a ratio of 41 40 = 30/1. For ketone 42, a complete reversal of stereochemistry was observed when it was treated with sulfoxonium ylide 1 and sulfonium ylide 2, respectively. ... 

A rather unexpected discovery was made in connection to these investigations [49]. When the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of la with 19b mediated by catalyst 20 (X=I) was performed in the absence of MS 4 A a remarkable reversal of enantioselectivity was observed as the opposite enantiomer of ench-21 was obtained (Table 6.1, entries 1 and 2). This had not been observed for enantioselective catalytic reactions before and the role of molecular sieves cannot simply be ascribed to the removal of water by the MS, since the application of MS 4 A that were presaturated with water, also induced the reversal of enantioselectivity (Table 6.1, entries 3 and 4). Recently, Desimoni et al. also found that in addition to the presence of MS in the MgX2-Ph-BOX-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar addition shown in Scheme 6.17, the counter-ion for the magnesium catalyst also strongly affect the absolute stereoselectivity of the reac-... 

The reversibility of halohydrin dehalogenase-catalyzed reactions has been used for the regioselective epoxide-opening with nonnatural nucleophiles (an example is given in Scheme 10.34) [133]. The stereoselectivity of the enzyme results in the resolution of the racemic substrate. At the same time, the regioselectivity imposed by the active site geometry yields the anti-Markovnikov product. [128]... 

The classical aldol addition, which is usually run in protic solvents, is reversible. Most modern aldol methodologies, however, rely on highly reactive preformed metal enolates, whereby proton donors are rigorously excluded. As a consequence, the majority of recent stereoselective aldol additions are performed under kinetic control. Despite this, reversibility and, as a consequence, an equilibration of yrn-aldolates to a t/-aldolates by retro-aldol addition, should not be excluded a priori. 

A somewhat tedious extension of this methodology, which guarantees good induced stereoselectivity, relies on the reversible introduction of an a-substituent which is removed after the aldol addition is performed. For this purpose, the corresponding derivative of (methyl-thio)acetic acid is converted into the boron enolate and subsequently reacted with aldehydes. The... 

Due to the reversibility of this nitroaldol reaction, the easy epimerization at the nitro-sub-stituted carbon, and the often low yields in reactions with nitro compounds other than ni-tromethane, few stereoselective additions have been reported. Highly stereoselective reactions are known for the synthesis of cyclic systems (see Section 1.3.5.6.6.). 

Preliminary experiments prove that the substitution pattern of the /V-aryl moiety of imine 1 is crucial for the stereoselectivity of this reaction. The 2-substituent on the aryl group is of special importance. Namely, introduction of a methoxy group leads to a considerable decrease of enantioselectivity compared to the corresponding 2-H derivative, probably due to disfavor-able coordination with the organolithium complex. In contrast, alkyl groups show the reverse effect along with increased bulkiness (e.g., Tabic 1, entries l-3a) but 2,6-dimethyl substitution provides lower ee values. Furthermore, the 4-substituent of the TV-aryl moiety is of minor importance for the stereoselectivity of the reaction [the Ar-phcnyl and the /V-(4-methoxyphenyl) derivatives give similar results], whereas a substituent in the 3-position results in lower stereoselectivities (e.g., Et, Cl, OCHj)41. 

The method is very useful for the synthesis of physiologically interesting a-mcthylamino acids, e.g., methyl dopa from the 3,4-dimethoxybenzyl derivative. The excellent stereoselection achieved in the process, however, is caused by the preferential crystallization of one pure diastereomerfrom the equilibrium mixture formed in the reversible Strecker reaction. Thus, the pure diastcrcomers with benzyl substituents, dissolved in chloroform or acetonitrile, give equilibrium mixtures of both diastereomers in a ratio of about 7 347. This effect has also been found for other s-methylamino nitriles of quite different structure49. If the amino nitrile (R1 = Bn) is synthesized in acetonitrile solution, the diastereomers do not crystallize while immediate hydrolysis indicates a ratio of the diastereomeric amino nitriles (S)I(R) of 86 1447. 

The reversal of the stereoselectivity is attributed to the ability of chlorotrimethylsilane to trap the initially formed cuprate-enone complex, thereby suppressing equilibration of the diastereomeric complexes. The copper-catalyzed 1,4-addition of Grignard reagents to 5-substituted 2-cyclo-hexenone also proceeded with very high trans diastereoselectivity22. 

The enolate of the 1,4-adduct, obtained after the stereoselective Michael addition step, as discussed in the previous sections, may be quenched in situ with various electrophiles. The fact that additional stereogenic centers may be formed via such tandem Michael addition/quench-ing procedures, giving products with high diastereoselectivity in many cases, extends the scope of these methods substantially. Furthermore these procedures occasionally offer the possibility of reversing the syn/anti diastereoselection. In the next sections pertinent examples of diastereoselective inter- and intramolecular quenching reactions will be discussed. 

---