Sigmatropic rearrangements stereoselectivity

In contrast to the few examples17-19 for the stereoselective sigmatropic rearrangements of acyclic allylic selenoxides, many examples9 16 20-29 have been reported for cycloalkenyl se-lenides. Table 8 shows examples demonstrating the pronounced selectivity for the anticipated suprafacial course of the rearrangement of cycloalkenyl selenoxides. 

The complete retention of optical activity in the starting sulfinates recovered at any stage of the reaction, and the high stereoselectivity of the rearrangement are further evidence for the concertedness of the [2,3]sigmatropic rearrangement, in complete agreement with the results presented in equation 15. 

The data presented demonstrate that allylic sulfoxides can provide an easy and highly stereoselective route to allylic alcohols taking advantage of the facility of the allylic sulfoxide-sulfenate [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement. This is of considerable synthetic utility, since a number of stereoselective and useful transformations of allylic alcohols and their derivatives have become available in recent years107-109. 

In addition to the synthetic applications related to the stereoselective or stereospecific syntheses of various systems, especially natural products, described in the previous subsection, a number of general synthetic uses of the reversible [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of allylic sulfoxides are presented below. Several investigators110-113 have employed the allylic sulfenate-to-sulfoxide equilibrium in combination with the syn elimination of the latter as a method for the synthesis of conjugated dienes. For example, Reich and coworkers110,111 have reported a detailed study on the conversion of allylic alcohols to 1,3-dienes by sequential sulfenate sulfoxide rearrangement and syn elimination of the sulfoxide. This method of mild and efficient 1,4-dehydration of allylic alcohols has also been shown to proceed with overall cis stereochemistry in cyclic systems, as illustrated by equation 25. The reaction of trans-46 proceeds almost instantaneously at room temperature, while that of the cis-alcohol is much slower. This method has been subsequently applied for the synthesis of several natural products, such as the stereoselective transformation of the allylic alcohol 48 into the sex pheromone of the Red Bollworm Moth (49)112 and the conversion of isocodeine (50) into 6-demethoxythebaine (51)113. 

Well known carbanionic sigmatropic rearrangements, applied to mixed P and S compounds, regio- and/or stereoselectively lead to new (a-sulfanylalkyl) or P-sulfanylaryl) phosphonates, phosphine oxides, or phosphorodiamidates. In these difunctional compounds, chirality can be either introduced on the phosphorus, on the a-carbon, or on the sulfur atom. 

In addition to the synthetic applications related to the stereoselective or stereospecific syntheses of various systems, especially natural products, described in the previous subsection, a number of general synthetic uses of the reversible [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of allylic sulfoxides are presented below. Several investigators 3 jj... 

Chapter 6 looks at concerted pericyclic reactions, including the Diels-Alder reaction, 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition, [3,3]- and [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangements, and thermal elimination reactions. The carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions are emphasized and the stereoselectivity of the reactions is discussed in detail. 

Neier and coworkers have used a domino Diels-Alder/Ireland-Claisen process for the synthesis of (rac)-juvabione 4-46 and (rac)-epijuvabione [15]. Since neither the Diels-Alder reaction of the acetal 4-44 and methyl acrylate nor the sigmatropic rearrangement seemed to be stereoselective, these authors obtained the cyclohexene derivative 4-45 as a mixture of three diastereomers (Scheme 4.9). 

Alternative, also stereoselective, routes to allenic steroids take advantage of cationic cyclization reactions [108] or [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangements [109]. For example, the allenic Michael acceptor 112 was prepared with 57% chemical yield by reaction of mestranol (111) with diethyl chlorophosphite and was found to inhibit the sterol biosynthesis of the pathogen responsible for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), the most abundant AIDS-related disease (Scheme 18.36) [110]. 

This stereoselectivity can be explained by a cyclic transition state for the sigmatropic rearrangement step. The observed stereochemistry results if the alkyl substituent adopts a... 

This type of stereoselective reaction, in which a chiral unit is created and another destroyed, has been termed self-immolative by Mislow39 and an asymmetric transfer process by Pracejus40. Both terms are in use. but the latter is gaining ground in the mutated form of "chirality transfer 41, which is most often applied to sigmatropic rearrangement reactions such as the following37 ... 

Stereoselective Claisen-type [3,3] sigmatropic rearrangements of propynyl vinyl ethers, which are intermediates in the reaction of propynyl alcohols with aldehydes or ortho esters leading to a-allenic aldehydes or esters, have been reported15,16. 

The [2,3] sigmatropic rearrangement of propynyl sulfenates, sulfinates, phosphites and of alkoxypropynyl compounds also constitutes an efficient and stereoselective route to allenes of high enantiomeric purity. 

Stereoselective oxonium ylide reaction, in particular the asymmetric catalysis, has been a problem of considerable challenge in this field. Since the first report by McKervey and co-workers in the asymmetric induction in metal carbene-mediated ylide formation/[2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement in 1992, there have been efforts being directed... 

The [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of (E)-(218a), a derivative of the chiral cyclic a-amino acid (S)-proline, produced the aminonitrile (219) in a stereoselective manner. Saponification of (219) yielded (+)-2-methyl-2-phenyl-3-butenal (220) with an enantiomeric excess of 90%219>. In replacing the benzyloxymethyl moiety in (218a) by a methyl group, the optical purity of the chiral aldehyde (220) obtained in the corresponding reaction sequence decreases considerably 219). 

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