Steroids polyene cyclization

Other, removable cation-stabilizing auxiliaries have been investigated for polyene cyclizations. For example, a sdyl-assisted carbocation cyclization has been used in an efficient total synthesis of lanosterol. The key step, treatment of (257) with methyl aluminum chloride in methylene chloride at —78° C, followed by acylation and chromatographic separation, affords (258) in 55% yield (two steps). When this cyclization was attempted on similar compounds that did not contain the C7P-silicon substituent, no tetracycHc products were observed. Steroid (258) is converted to lanosterol (77) in three additional chemical steps (225). 

Polyene cyclizations are of substantial value in the synthesis of polycyclic terpene natural products. These syntheses resemble the processes by which the polycyclic compounds are assembled in nature. The most dramatic example of biosynthesis of a polycyclic skeleton from a polyene intermediate is the conversion of squalene oxide to the steroid lanosterol. In the biological reaction, an enzyme not only to induces the cationic cyclization but also holds the substrate in a conformation corresponding to stereochemistry of the polycyclic product.17 In this case, the cyclization is terminated by a series of rearrangements. 

Scheme 10.1 gives some representative examples of laboratory syntheses involving polyene cyclization. The cyclization in Entry 1 is done in anhydrous formic acid and involves the formation of a symmetric tertiary allylic carbocation. The cyclization forms a six-membered ring by attack at the terminal carbon of the vinyl group. The bicyclic cation is captured as the formate ester. Entry 2 also involves initiation by a symmetric allylic cation. In this case, the triene unit cyclizes to a tricyclic ring system. Entry 3 results in the formation of the steroidal skeleton with termination by capture of the alkynyl group and formation of a ketone. The cyclization in Entry 4 is initiated by epoxide opening. 

The tetracyclic alcohol 179 is produced by the action of boron trifluoride etherate or tin(IV) chloride on the oxirane 178 (equation 85)95. A similar cyclization of the oxirane 180 yields DL-<5-amyrin (181) (equation 86)96. In the SnCLt-catalysed ring-closure of the tetraene 182 to the all-fraws-tetracycle 183 (equation 87) seven asymmetric centres are created, yet only two of sixty-four possible racemates are formed97. It has been proposed that multiple ring-closures of this kind form the basis of the biosynthesis of steroids and tetra-and pentacyclic triterpenoids, the Stork-Eschenmoser hypothesis 98,99. Such biomimetic polyene cyclizations, e.g. the formation of lanosterol from squalene (equation 88), have been reviewed69,70. 

Polyene cyclization in terpene and steroid synthesis is critically dependent on the terminator in order to generate useful functionalities for further modification of the products. Allyl- and propargylsilanes have proven their value in facilitation of the cyclization and generation of an exocyclic methylene and allene, respectively. Thus, a concise approach to albicanyl acetate [126] and the rapid construction of a tetracyclic precursor of steroids [127] are sufficient to demonstrate the concept. Again, a comparison of the substrates with a silyl group with those having a simple alkyl moiety is very enlightening. 

Another example is the cyclization of the racemic allylic alcohol 232 at -80°C which furnished the racemic tetracyclic bis-olefin 233 in 70% yield (89, 90). Ozonolysis of 233 gave the bicyclic triketone aldehyde 234 which underwent under acidic conditions a double intramolecular aldol cyclodehydration to produce racemic 16,17-dehydroprogesterone 235. This represents the first synthesis of a steroid via the now so-called "biomimetic" polyene cyclization method. 

In the simulation of enzymes attempts have been made to use steroid matrices and biomimetic reactions of polyene cyclization, comprehensively described in Ref. [10]. 

Steroid Synthesis (Chapter 2).—Notable achievements in the field of total synthesis come again from W. S. Johnson s group. A synthesis of ( )-progester-one featured acetylenic participation in a polyene cyclization. In vitro syntheses... 

Johnson et al. have investigated the use of alkynylsilanes as terminators in the synthesis of steroids and triterpenes through biomimetic polyene cyclizations. This strategy was used in the stereospecific synthesis of the tetracyclic ketone (81) using an alkynylsilane as a terminator. Thus, treatment of (80) with trifluoroacetic acid under carefully optimized reaction conditions yielded, after hydrolysis of the ortho ester, the tetracyclic ketone (81 Scheme 39). 

Three major reaction sequences or strategies dominate steroid syntheses (1) Diels-Alder reactions, (2) all kinds of aldol and Michael addition reactions, and (3) biomimetic syntheses corresponding to polyene cyclizations. We shall give a few examples of each of these approaches, starting with the polyene cyclizations (Akhrem and Titov, 1970 Anand et al., 1970 Blickenstaff et al., 1974). 

A spectacular example of cationic cyclization is the Johnson polyene cyclization, described in Section 10.8.A. Polyenes such as squalene are expected to assume a steroid-like conformation in the lowest energy form (sec. 1.5.E), based on the biogenetic preparation of cholesterol from squalene. In practice, treatment of polyenes with acid led to a very low yield of tri- or tetracyclic products, giving instead significant amounts of polymeric material. Diligent work over many years prevailed, however, and Johnson solved the many problems (as described in sec. 10.8.A) to make this reaction an excellent and efficient synthetic route to di-, tri-, and tetracyclic molecules. One of the later examples of polyene cyclization uses an allyl silane to quench the cyclization process. A Lewis acid was used to initiate the reaction via reaction with the acetal. Treatment of... 

Polyene cyclization (3, 305-307 4, 531-532 5, 696-697 6, 613-614 7, 389). Johnson et al. have noted that a terminal trimethylsilylacetylenic group influences the structure of the final steroid in biomimetic polyene cyclizations. Thus 1 is cyclized to a D-homosteroid (2) in contrast to the cyclization of 3 to 4. 

Johnson, Corey, and van Tamelen have successfully utilized the biomimetic acid-catalyzed cyclization of polyolehnic substrates for the construction of steroids and some teipenes. Based on the previous work, Ireland and co-workers designed a route to the desired tetracycle 69 utilizing polyene cyclization (Scheme 12), which, although preparatively uncompetitive with the hydrocyanation (Scheme 11), was of some interest. Based on a model study, the symmetric dibromide... 

Tandem cyclization reactions to form polycyclic structures have also been reported (Schemes 6.87 and 6.88). Some of these reactions can strongly resemble the polyene cyclizations that lead to steroids. Further ene-yne reactions can be found in Section 6.2.5. 

Other reactions described, with varying degrees of success, have been chiral epoxidation, chiral hydrogenation, chiral iodination, and chiral reduction of keto-groups. One of the last reactions is especially interesting in using a chiral phase-transfer catalyst. Finally, Johnson and his co-workers have reported in full the asymmetric induction in their steroid synthesis via polyene cyclization [e.g. (46) (47) with ca. 90 % optical purity]. ... 

Propargyltrimethylsilanes can be readily prepared from halomethyltrimethyl-silane and the 1-yne anion. They have been extensively used in organic synthesis of furanones and allenes, and like silylacetylenes, as terminator groups for biomimetic polyene cyclizations and the generation of steroids. ... 

BIOMIMETIC TOTAL SYNTHESIS OF TERPENES AND STEROIDS THROUGH POLYENE CYCLIZATION... 

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