Steroid stereochemistry

Catalytic hydrogenation of the 14—15 double bond from the face opposite to the C18 substituent yields (196). Compound (196) contains the natural steroid stereochemistry around the D-ring. A metal-ammonia reduction of (196) forms the most stable product (197) thermodynamically. When R is equal to methyl, this process comprises an efficient total synthesis of estradiol methyl ester. Birch reduction of the A-ring of (197) followed by acid hydrolysis of the resultant enol ether allows access into the 19-norsteroids (198) (204). 

It is convenient to divide the subject into four sections. The first two, on chemical shift reagents and on relaxation studies, deal with techniques of line assignments and other facets of steroid behavior. The third, on substituent effects, lays the background for predicting steroid 13C chemical shifts and interactions of substituents with the steroid framework. In the fourth section the use of 13C NMR to solve problems in steroid stereochemistry is discussed. All chemical shift data are reported on the delta scale. 

Regardless of the mechanistic details, it is the obvious correlation of the y-gauche effect with steric crowding which provides the bulk of the information on steroid stereochemistry. Early evidence of this was reported (51) for a series of a/b-cis steroids (i.e. 5/7). It is found that the C-19 methyl signal moves to high frequency by 11-12 ppm, compared with that of their 5cr counterparts. Very shortly thereafter the same... 

Le Bizec, B., Antignac, J-P., Bertrand, D., Qannari, E.M. and Andre, R, Multidimensional statistical analysis applied to electron ionization mass spectra to determine steroid stereochemistry. Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom., 19, 509-518 (2005). 

For the cardioactive glycosides, see Section 14. i. For further reading on the mode of action of steroids, see Smellie, 1971 for steroid stereochemistry, see Shoppee (1964), and for steroid biochemistry and pharmacology, see Briggs and Brotherton (1970). 

The reaction of vinyloxiranes with malonate proceeds regio- and stereose-lectively. The reaction has been utilized for the introduction of a 15-hydroxy group in a steroid related to oogoniol (265)(156]. The oxirane 264 is the J-form and the attack of Pd(0) takes place from the o-side by inversion. Then the nucleophile comes from the /i-side. Thus overall reaction is sT -StM2 type, in the intramolecular reaction, the stereochemical information is transmitted to the newly formed stereogenic center. Thus the formation of the six-membered ring lactone 267 from 266 proceeded with overall retention of the stereochemistry, and was employed to control the stereochemistry of C-15 in the prostaglandin 268[157]. The method has also been employed to create the butenolide... 

Cholesterol was isolated m the eighteenth century but its structure is so complex that Its correct constitution was not determined until 1932 and its stereochemistry not verified until 1955 Steroids are characterized by the tetracyclic ring system shown m Figure 26 9a As shown m Figure 26 9b cholesterol contains this tetracyclic skeleton modified to include an alcohol function at C 3 a double bond at C 5 methyl groups at C 10 and C 13 and a C Hn side chain at C 17 Isoprene units may be discerned m var lous portions of the cholesterol molecule but the overall correspondence with the iso prene rule is far from perfect Indeed cholesterol has only 27 carbon atoms three too few for It to be classed as a tnterpene... 

Other stmctural variations in both series are the stereochemistry at C3 and the degree of oxidation on the nucleus and side chains. Cardiac steroids probably exert their inotropic effects by acting as specific, noncompetitive inhibitors of — ATPases, known as sodium pumps, and thus... 

An asymmetric synthesis of estrone begins with an asymmetric Michael addition of lithium enolate (178) to the scalemic sulfoxide (179). Direct treatment of the cmde Michael adduct with y /i7-chloroperbenzoic acid to oxidize the sulfoxide to a sulfone, followed by reductive removal of the bromine affords (180, X = a and PH R = H) in over 90% yield. Similarly to the conversion of (175) to (176), base-catalyzed epimerization of (180) produces an 85% isolated yield of (181, X = /5H R = H). C8 and C14 of (181) have the same relative and absolute stereochemistry as that of the naturally occurring steroids. Methylation of (181) provides (182). A (CH2)2CuLi-induced reductive cleavage of sulfone (182) followed by stereoselective alkylation of the resultant enolate with an allyl bromide yields (183). Ozonolysis of (183) produces (184) (wherein the aldehydric oxygen is by isopropyUdene) in 68% yield. Compound (184) is the optically active form of Ziegler s intermediate (176), and is converted to (+)-estrone in 6.3% overall yield and >95% enantiomeric excess (200). 

Protonation of the a-carbanion (50), which is formed both in the reduction of enones and ketol acetates, probably first affords the neutral enol and is followed by its ketonization. Zimmerman has discussed the stereochemistry of the ketonization of enols and has shown that in eertain cases steric factors may lead to kinetically controlled formation of the thermodynamically less stable ketone isomer. Steroidal unsaturated ketones and ketol acetates that could form epimeric products at the a-carbon atom appear to yield the thermodynamically stable isomers. In most of the cases reported, however, equilibration might have occurred during isolation of the products so that definitive conclusions are not possible. 

The data available on the stereochemistry of reduction of steroidal ketones have been obtained largely in the course of synthetic work, rather than in studies devoted specifically to stereochemical problems. As discussed in an earlier section, the proportion of epimers depends on the steric environment of the ketone, the reagent, the solvent and the temperature. These factors will be discussed below. 

Catalytic hydrogenation has been utilized extensively in steroid research, and the method has been found to be of great value for the selective and stereospecific reduction of various functional groups. A number of empirical correlations concerning selectivity and product stereochemistry compiled for steroid hydrogenations has been listed in a previous review. ... 

Since the stereochemical course of a catalytic hydrogenation is dependent on several factors, " an understanding of the mechanism of the reaction can help in the selection of optimal reaction conditions more reliably than mere copying of a published recipe . In the first section the factors which can influence the product stereochemistry will be discussed from a mechanistic viewpoint. In subsequent sections the hydrogenation of various functional groups in the steroid ring system will be considered. In these sections both mechanistic and empirical correlations will be utilized with the primary emphasis being placed on selective and stereospecific reactions. 

While the foregoing concepts have been utilized to rationalize the product distribution obtained on hydrogenation of a number of monocyclic olefins, it should be noted that the effect of pressure on the stereochemistry of hydrogenation of steroidal double bonds has not been critically evaluated. 

Product stereochemistry is a function of the specific catalyst used for hydro-genation. For example, palladium generally gives more of the thermodynamically stable product than other catalysts. This effect has been attributed to an increased rate of equilibration of the steps in the hydrogenation process. Consequently, palladium should not be used to hydrogenate readily isomerizable olefins such as A - and A -steroids. ... 

Addition of hydride ion from the catalyst gives the adsorbed dianion (15). The reaction is completed and product stereochemistry determined by protonation of these species from the solution prior to or concurrent with desorption. With the heteroannular enolate, (13a), both cis and trans adsorption can occur with nearly equal facility. When an angular methyl group is present trans adsorption (14b) predominates. Protonation of the latter species from the solution gives the cis product. Since the heteroannular enolate is formed by the reaction of A" -3-keto steroids with strong base " this mechanism satisfactorily accounts for the almost exclusive formation of the isomer on hydrogenation of these steroids in basic media. The optimum concentration of hydroxide ion in this reaction is about two to three times that of the substrate. 

Hydrogenation of unsubstituted or 3/ -substituted-A -steroids (25a) over platinum gives, almost exclusively, the 5a-product (26a). With 3a-substituents (25b) the 5j5-product (24b) is formed preferentially. Hydrogenation of A" -steroids (23a or b) gives product mixtures in which the 5a/5j5 ratio is dependent on the nature and stereochemistry of the sub-... 

Replacement of halides with deuterium gas in the presence of a surface catalyst is a less useful reaction, due mainly to the poor isotopic purity of the products. This reaction has been used, however, for the insertion of a deuterium atom at C-7 in various esters of 3j -hydroxy-A -steroids, since it gives less side products resulting from double bond migration. Thus, treatment of the 7a- or 7j5-bromo derivatives (206) with deuterium gas in the presence of 5% palladium-on-calcium carbonate, or Raney nickel catalyst, followed by alkaline hydrolysis, gives the corresponding 3j3-hydroxy-7( -di derivatives (207), the isotope content of which varies from 0.64 to 1.18 atoms of deuterium per mole. The isotope composition and the stereochemistry of the deuterium have not been rigorously established. 

Disulfonate esters of vicinal diols sometimes undergo reductive elimination on treatment with sodium iodide in acetone at elevated temperature and pressure (usually l(X)-200°). This reaction derived from sugar chemistry has been used occasionally with steroids, principally in the elimination of 2,3-dihy-droxysapogenin mesylates. The stereochemistry of the substituents and ring junction is important, as illustrated in the formation of the A -olefins (133) and (134). 

The same qualitative results based on steric and electronic properties of the steroid ring system are found regardless of the structure of the peracid. Thus, although the generality of stereochemistry can be discussed with regard to all peracids, a quantitative comparison is valuable in some instances. 

---