Stereoselectivity Thermodynamic

An interesting aspect of this reaction is the contrasting stereoselective behaviour of the dimethyisulfonium and dimethyloxosuifonium methylides in reactions with cyclic ketones (E.J. Corey, 1963 B, 1965 A C.E. Cook, 1968). The small, reactive dimethyisulfonium ylide prefers axial attack, but with the larger, less reactive oxosulfonium ylide only the thermodynamically favored equatorial addition is observed. 

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. 

In polycyclic systems the Birch reduction of C—C double bonds is also highly stereoselective, e.g. in the synthesis of the thermodynamically favored trans-fused steroidal skeletons (see p. 104 and p. 278). 

Lithium-ammonia reductions of most steroidal enones of interest create one or two new asymmetric centers. Such reductions are found to be highly stereoselective and this stereoselectivity constitutes the great utility of the reaction. For conjugated enones of the normal steroid series, the thermodynamically most stable products are formed predominantly and perhaps exclusively. Thus the following configurations are favored 5a, 8/ , 9a, and in certain cases 14a (see page 35). Starr has listed numerous examples illustrating these facts and Smith " and Barton have tabulated similar data. 

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. ... 

As described in Section 2.3.2, vinylaziridines are versatile intermediates for the stereoselective synthesis of (E)-alkene dipeptide isosteres. One of the simplest methods for the synthesis of alkene isosteres such as 242 and 243 via aziridine derivatives of type 240 and 241 (Scheme 2.59) involves the use of chiral anti- and syn-amino alcohols 238 and 239, synthesizable in turn from various chiral amino aldehydes 237. However, when a chiral N-protected amino aldehyde derived from a natural ot-amino acid is treated with an organometallic reagent such as vinylmag-nesium bromide, a mixture of anti- and syn-amino alcohols 238 and 239 is always obtained. Highly stereoselective syntheses of either anti- or syn-amino alcohols 238 or 239, and hence 2,3-trans- or 2,3-as-3-alkyl-2-vinylaziridines 240 or 241, from readily available amino aldehydes 237 had thus hitherto been difficult. Ibuka and coworkers overcame this difficulty by developing an extremely useful epimerization of vinylaziridines. Palladium(0)-catalyzed reactions of 2,3-trons-2-vinylaziri-dines 240 afforded the thermodynamically more stable 2,3-cis isomers 241 predominantly over 240 (241 240 >94 6) through 7i-allylpalladium intermediates, in accordance with ab initio calculations [29]. This epimerization allowed a highly stereoselective synthesis of (E) -alkene dipeptide isosteres 243 with the desired L,L-... 

The surprising selectivity in the formation of 4 and 5 is apparently due to thermodynamic control (rapid equilibration via the 1,3-boratropic shift). Structures 4 and 5 are also the most reactive of those that are present at equilibrium, and consequently reactions with aldehydes are very selective. The homoallylic alcohol products are useful intermediates in stereoselective syntheses of trisubstituted butadienes via acid- or base-catalyzed Peterson eliminations. 

Many authors have observed that the cis-trans ratio of the products of the metathesis reaction is equal to the thermodynamic equilibrium value. This suggests that the reaction is not highly stereoselective. However, under certain conditions the product distribution is influenced by kinetic factors. For instance, it proves to be possible to prepare from cyclopentene... 

The Pummerer reaction346 of conformationally rigid 4-aryl-substituted thiane oxides with acetic anhydride was either stereoselective or stereospecific, and the rearrangement is mainly intermolecular, while the rate-determining step appears to be the E2 1,2-elimination of acetic acid from the acetoxysulfonium intermediates formed in the initial acetylation of the sulfoxide. The thermodynamically controlled product is the axial acetoxy isomer, while the kinetically controlled product is the equatorial isomer that is preferentially formed due to the facile access of the acetate to the equatorial position347. The overall mechanism is illustrated in equation 129. 

Aldehydes up to a chain length of four nonhydrogen atoms are tolerated as acceptors. 2-Hydroxyaldehydes are relatively good acceptors, and the D-isomers are preferred over the t-isomers [180]. Reactions that lead to thermodynamically unfavorable structures may proceed with low stereoselectivity at the reaction center [181]. Recently, a single-point mutant aldolase was found 2.5 times more effective than the wild type in accepting unphosphorylated glyceraldehyde [182,183]. 

If the carbanion has even a short lifetime, 6 and 7 will assume the most favorable conformation before the attack of W. This is of course the same for both, and when W attacks, the same product will result from each. This will be one of two possible diastereomers, so the reaction will be stereoselective but since the cis and trans isomers do not give rise to different isomers, it will not be stereospecific. Unfortunately, this prediction has not been tested on open-chain alkenes. Except for Michael-type substrates, the stereochemistry of nucleophilic addition to double bonds has been studied only in cyclic systems, where only the cis isomer exists. In these cases, the reaction has been shown to be stereoselective with syn addition reported in some cases and anti addition in others." When the reaction is performed on a Michael-type substrate, C=C—Z, the hydrogen does not arrive at the carbon directly but only through a tautomeric equilibrium. The product naturally assumes the most thermodynamically stable configuration, without relation to the direction of original attack of Y. In one such case (the addition of EtOD and of Me3CSD to tra -MeCH=CHCOOEt) predominant anti addition was found there is evidence that the stereoselectivity here results from the final protonation of the enolate, and not from the initial attack. For obvious reasons, additions to triple bonds cannot be stereospecific. As with electrophilic additions, nucleophilic additions to triple bonds are usually stereoselective and anti, though syn addition and nonstereoselective addition have also been reported. 

Evans Jr. and coworkers reported a similar olefination reaction employing spirooxyphosphoranes of type 66. Upon treatment with a strong base (LiHMDS) and subsequent addition of benzaldehyde, the reaction proceeded to form anionic P(VI) intermediates (67,6 -106 to -116 ppm) that decomposed at room temperature to form the corresponding olefins and spiropentaoxyphosphoranes [ 105]. The stereoselectivity (E Z ratio) of the double bond-forming reaction depended upon the conditions evidence indicated the possibility of kinetic or thermodynamic control (Scheme 21). 

The anomeric configuration is set in the reductive lithiation step, which proceeds via a radical intermediate. Hyperconjugative stabilization favors axial disposition of the intermediate radical, which after another single electron reduction leads to a configurationally stable a-alkoxylithium intermediate. Protonation thus provides the j9-anomer. The authors were unable to determine the stereoselectivity of the alkylation step, due to difficulty with isolation. However, deuterium labeling studies pointed to the intervention of an equatorially disposed a-alkoxylithium 7 (thermodynamically favored due to the reverse anomeric effect) which undergoes alkylation with retention of configuration (Eq. 2). 

There are very few examples of asymmetric synthesis using optically pure ions as chiral-inducing agents for the control of the configuration at the metal center. Chiral anions for such an apphcation have recently been reviewed by Lacour [19]. For example, the chiral enantiomerically pure Trisphat anion was successfully used for the stereoselective synthesis of tris-diimine-Fe(ll) complex, made configurationally stable because of the presence of a tetradentate bis(l,10-phenanthroline) ligand (Fig. 9) [29]. Excellent diastereoselectivity (>20 1) was demonstrated as a consequence of the preferred homochiral association of the anion and the iron(ll) complex and evidence for a thermodynamic control of the selectivity was obtained. The two diastereoisomers can be efficiently separated by ion-pair chromatography on silica gel plates with excellent yields. 

The preparation of ketones and ester from (3-dicarbonyl enolates has largely been supplanted by procedures based on selective enolate formation. These procedures permit direct alkylation of ketone and ester enolates and avoid the hydrolysis and decarboxylation of keto ester intermediates. The development of conditions for stoichiometric formation of both kinetically and thermodynamically controlled enolates has permitted the extensive use of enolate alkylation reactions in multistep synthesis of complex molecules. One aspect of the alkylation reaction that is crucial in many cases is the stereoselectivity. The alkylation has a stereoelectronic preference for approach of the electrophile perpendicular to the plane of the enolate, because the tt electrons are involved in bond formation. A major factor in determining the stereoselectivity of ketone enolate alkylations is the difference in steric hindrance on the two faces of the enolate. The electrophile approaches from the less hindered of the two faces and the degree of stereoselectivity depends on the steric differentiation. Numerous examples of such effects have been observed.51 In ketone and ester enolates that are exocyclic to a conformationally biased cyclohexane ring there is a small preference for... 

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