Sulfur ylides synthesis

La Porta, E. Piarulli, U. Cardullo, F. Paio, A. Provera, S. Seneci, P. Gennari. C. Cyclative cleavage via solid phase supported stabilized sulfur ylides Synthesis of macrocyclic lactones. Tetrahedron Lett. 2002. 43. 761-766. 

Kumaran G, Kulkami GH. Effect of the a-alkyl substituent of conjugated nitroolefins on the formation of cyclic nitronic esters vs. nitrocyclopropanes in their reaction with sulfur ylides. Synthesis 1995 1545-1548. 

A versatile oxirane synthesis via (64) is the sulfur ylide approach (B-75MI50504, cf. 76TL457), which in effect inserts a CR2 group into a carbonyl group (Scheme 71). Older, less generally useful versions of this insertion utilize diazomethane or dibromomethane-butyllithium. 

Ring expansion of activated aziridines (43) with sulfur ylides also provides a synthesis of azetidines (75JOC2990, 58BSF345, 81CC417). The highly reactive sulfonium methylide (44 R = R = H) undergoes further reaction with the azetidines (46), but the reaction is satisfactory for substituted methylides. The less reactive sulfoxonium methylide (45 R = R = H)... 

In addition, NaOMe, and NaNH2, have also been employed. Applieation of phase-transfer conditions with tetra-n-butylammonium iodide showed marked improvement for the epoxide formation. Furthermore, many complex substituted sulfur ylides have been synthesized and utilized. For instance, stabilized ylide 20 was prepared and treated with a-D-a/lo-pyranoside 19 to furnish a-D-cyclopropanyl-pyranoside 21. Other examples of substituted sulfur ylides include 22-25, among which aminosulfoxonium ylide 25, sometimes known as Johnson s ylide, belongs to another category. The aminosulfoxonium ylides possess the configurational stability and thermal stability not enjoyed by the sulfonium and sulfoxonium ylides, thereby are more suitable for asymmetric synthesis. 

Reagent-controlled asymmetric cyclopropanation is relatively more difficult using sulfur ylides, although it has been done. It is more often accomplished using chiral aminosulfoxonium ylides. Finally, more complex sulfur ylides (e.g. 64) may result in more elaborate cyclopropane synthesis, as exemplified by the transformation 65 66 ... 

Aziridination remains less well developed than epoxidation. Nevertheless, high selectivity in inline aziridination has been achieved through the use of chiral sulfi-nimines as auxiliaries. Highly successful catalytic asymmetric aziridination reactions employing either sulfur ylides or diazo esters and chiral Lewis acids have been developed, although their scope and potential applications in synthesis have yet to be established. 

It is well known that aziridination with allylic ylides is difficult, due to the low reactivity of imines - relative to carbonyl compounds - towards ylide attack, although imines do react with highly reactive sulfur ylides such as Me2S+-CH2-. Dai and coworkers found aziridination with allylic ylides to be possible when the activated imines 22 were treated with allylic sulfonium salts 23 under phase-transfer conditions (Scheme 2.8) [15]. Although the stereoselectivities of the reaction were low, this was the first example of efficient preparation of vinylaziridines by an ylide route. Similar results were obtained with use of arsonium or telluronium salts [16]. The stereoselectivity of aziridination was improved by use of imines activated by a phosphinoyl group [17]. The same group also reported a catalytic sulfonium ylide-mediated aziridination to produce (2-phenylvinyl)aziridines, by treatment of arylsulfonylimines with cinnamyl bromide in the presence of solid K2C03 and catalytic dimethyl sulfide in MeCN [18]. Recently, the synthesis of 3-alkyl-2-vinyl-aziridines by extension of Dai s work was reported [19]. 

The reaction between an aldehyde and a carbon nucleophile, such as a sulfur ylide, constitutes an alternative approach to the synthesis of epoxides. Since alkenes, which are the normal epoxidation substrates, are often formed from aldehydes, this approach can be highly efficient. On the other hand, the synthesis of appropriate carbon nucleophiles usually requires additional steps. 

Diazomalonic esters serve as intermediates for the synthesis of a wide variety of compounds including cyclopropanes, cyclo-propenes, cycloheptatrienes, sulfur ylides, lactones, and substituted malonates. ... 

Sulfur ylides have several applications as reagents in synthesis.282 Dimethylsul-fonium methylide and dimethylsulfoxonium methylide are particularly useful.283 These sulfur ylides are prepared by deprotonation of the corresponding sulfonium salts, both of which are commercially available. 

Sulfur ylides are a classic reagent for the conversion of carbonyl compounds to epoxides. Chiral camphor-derived sulfur ylides have been used in the enantioselective synthesis of epoxy-amides <06JA2105>. Reaction of sulfonium salt 12 with an aldehyde and base provides the epoxide 13 in generally excellent yields. While the yield of the reaction was quite good across a variety of R groups, the enantioselectivity was variable. For example benzaldehyde provides 13 (R = Ph) in 97% ee while isobutyraldehyde provides 13 (R = i-Pr) with only 10% ee. These epoxy amides could be converted to a number of epoxide-opened... 

Several reviews on the synthesis of aziridines have been published in the previous year. These publications include a review on the silver catalyzed addition of nitrenes (among other intermediates such as carbene) across a double bond <06EJOC4313> a review on sulfur ylide addition to imines to form aziridines <06SL181> a review on nitrogen addition across double bonds <06ACR194> a general review on functionalization of a,p-unsaturated esters with some discussion of aziridination <06TA1465>... 

The intramolecular addition of sulfur ylides to imines (e.g. 72) has proven to be an excellent route to fused-ring aziridines (e.g. 73) <06AG(I)7066>. The addition of a sulfonamide to a vinylsulfonium salt leads to the formation of the sulfur ylide 72. The ylide then undergoes an intramolecular addition to form the product fused-ring aziridine 73. This method has also been used for the synthesis of fused-ring epoxides. 

There is also another approach to the use of sulfur ylides in the synthesis of cyclic nitronates (5) (see Eq. 2 Ref. 61). Salts (14) as Michael substrates add... 

An alternative to the synthesis of epoxides is the reaction of sulfur ylide with aldehydes and ketones.107 This is a carbon-carbon bond formation reaction and may offer a method complementary to the oxidative processes described thus far. The formation of sulfur ylide involves a chiral sulfide and a carbene or carbenoid, and the general reaction procedure for epoxidation of aldehydes may involve the application of a sulfide, an aldehyde, or a carbene precursor as well as a copper salt. This reaction may also be considered as a thiol acetal-mediated carbene addition to carbonyl groups in the aldehyde. 

The utility of sulfur ylides in organic synthesis demands methods for the efficient preparation of the precursor sulfonium salts.2 Among the... 

A very convenient asymmetric synthesis of cyclopropane or epoxide systems developed by Johnson (184) is based on the use of chiral sulfur ylides as the agents that induce optical activity. Generally, this method consists of the asymmetric addition of a chiral sulfur ylide to the C=C or C=0 bond and subsequent cyclization of the addition product to form a chiral cyclopropane or epoxide system together with chiral sulfinamide. A wide range of chiral... 

The reaction of (trialkylsilyl)vinylketenes with nucleophilic carbenoid reagents, such as sulfur ylides and diazo compounds, has been used for synthesis of substituted cyclopentenones by stereoselective 4 + 1-annulation (Scheme 12). The strategy relies on the remarkable ability of silyl substituents to stabilize ketenes and suppress their tendency to undergo dimerization and 2 - - 2-cycloaddition. 

Closely related with the synthesis of ylides from carbenes is the use of ylides as carbene transfer reagents (CTR), that is processes in which the ylide is cleaved homolytically, liberating the nucleophile and the carbene, which could remain both coordinated to the metal or not (Scheme 10). Diphosphirane (34) can be obtained from the diphosphene by reaction with sulfur ylide Me2S(0)=CH2, which behave as a carrier of the CH2 unit [95]. Recent work of Milstein et al. shows that sulfur ylides decompose in the presence of Rh derivatives with vacant coordination sites affording Rh(l)-carbene complexes [96, 97]. Complexes (35-37) can be obtained from... 

As well as the Bingel reaction and its modifications some more reactions that involve the addition-elimination mechanism have been discovered. 1,2-Methano-[60]fullerenes are obtainable in good yields by reaction with phosphorus- [44] or sulfur-ylides [45,46] or by fluorine-ion-mediated reaction with silylated nucleophiles [47]. The reaction with ylides requires stabilized sulfur or phosphorus ylides (Scheme 3.9). As well as representing a new route to l,2-methano[60]fullerenes, the synthesis of methanofullerenes with a formyl group at the bridgehead-carbon is possible. This formyl-group can be easily transformed into imines with various aromatic amines. 

Sulfur ylides are among the most interesting carbon nucleophiles and their synthetic importance has been recently reviewed.One especially interesting use of these ylides is their application to the synthesis of cyclopropane derivatives using unsaturated oxazolones. For example, stabilized sulfur yhdes react with unsaturated oxazolones 629 via a Michael reaction to give oxazolone spirocyclopropanes 630 as shown in Scheme 7.202 and Table 7.46 (Fig. 7.57), whereas the less stabilized sulfur ylides give ring-opened products 631 as the major compounds (Scheme 7.202). ... 

The enantiomeric synthesis of rranj-3,4-disubstituted tetrahydrothiophenes using a sulfur ylide cycloaddition has been reported <990L1667>. The sulfur ylide derived from the action of cesium fluoride on sulfide 111 underwent an asymmetric cycloaddition with chiral a,p-unsaturated camphorsultam amide 112 giving tetrahydrothiophene 113 (80% de). The configuration was confirmed by cleavage of the chiral auxiliary followed by reductive desulfurization with Raney-Ni which gave known carboxylic acid 114. 

A flexible entry into 2,4-disubstituted furan derivatives through condensation of the sulfur ylide derived from 20 with aldehydes, Pd-catalyzed opening of the vinyl oxirane thus formed, and a final oxidative cyclization of the furan ring was reported. Its utility was exemplified by the first total synthesis of the marine natural product ircinin-4 (21) <99SL29>. 

Intramolecular sulfur ylide formation and subsequent [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement has been utilized in construction of ring systems, as demonstrated by the total synthesis of (+)-/3-elemenone 118 and (+)-eleman-8/ , 12-olide 117 (Scheme a-diazo (3-kcto esters 113 as the starting material, the core structure is formed... 

Chiral cyclopropanes. Carrie el al.b l have developed a highly enantioselective synthesis of cyclopropanes from the aldehyde 2, in which the butadiene group is protected as the iron tricarhonyl complex. The complex (2) is resolved by the method of Kelly and Van Rheenan (5, 289-290), and the two optical isomers arc then converted separately into a cyclopropanealdehyde (5a and 5b) as formulated. A sulfur ylide such as (CH3)2S=CHCOOCH3 can be used in place of diazomethane for cyclopropanation. Optical yields are > 90%,... 

Chiral compounds (Continued) epoxy alcohols, 141 formulas, xiii xvii hydroxystannanes, 318 liquid crystals, 350 molecular lattics, 347 natural, 1 NMR spectra, 282 olefins, 173 oxetanones, 326 phenols, 287 see also Binaphthol phenylbutenes, 172 protonating agents, 324 sulfoxides, 159 sulfur ylides, 328 synthesis, I... 

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