Swem reaction

If (CD3)2SO (deuterated DMSO) is used for the Swem reaction, the E2 mechanism predicts that the sulfide product should be (CD3)2S the retro-hetero-ene mechanism predicts that it should be (CD3)S(CHD2). Guess which product is actually found ... 

Phosphonylation of a -3-(9-isopropylidene-a -pyridoxyl chloride via a Michaelis-Becker reaction, followed by deprotection with 1 M HCl and oxidation of the resulting primary alcohol with MnOj, produces diethyl (4-fonnyl-3-hydroxy-2-methyl-5-pyridyl)methylphosphonate (Scheme 5.38), an analogue of pyridoxal 5 -phosphate whose 5-position side chain has been replaced by a phospho-nomethyl group. The alcohol oxidation step can be accomplished with a wide range of reagents, such as activated MnOj in CHCI3 at room temperature (53%), PCC in CH2CI2 (83-86%), or the Swem reaction (>95%). ... 

Thus the conditions for the Swem reaction are amenable to modifications to give optimum yields. The authors conclude that the optimum yields of the a-amino carbonyls were obtained when the steric demands of the tertiary amine were between Hunig s base and DABCO. 

An unavoidable by-product of the Swem reaction is the volatile dimethylsulphide which, on account of its unpleasant smell, is a reagent regulated by offensive odour control laws. This makes large scale chemistry problematic, especially in industry. To overcome this, several methods exist to perform the Swem oxidation under odourless conditions. For example, Node et al. outline a protocol for the Swem oxidation which uses dodecyl methyl sulfoxide in place of methyl sulfoxide,12 while Crich and co-workers have developed a fluorous Swem oxidation reaction that uses tridecafluorooctylmethyl sulfoxide 17,l3a,b This reagent can be recovered via a continuous fluorous extraction procedure and recycled by reoxidation with hydrogen peroxide. Additionally, the fluorous DMSO is crystalline, odourless and soluble in CH2CI2 to —45 °C. 

A mention should be made of the different activating agents that can be employed in oxidation reactions with DMSO. Some of these are name reactions in their own right however, they are stated here as useful alternatives to the Swem reaction. 

The Pfitzner-Moffatt oxidation utilises 1,3-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide as the DMSO activator in the presence of acid to afford oxidation of alcohols to carbonyls.2,24,25 Initial work was carried out on steroids and thymidine residues although the procedure has since been found to be applicable to a large range of alcohols. In the following example, the Pfitzner-Moffatt method was used as an alternative to the Swem reaction which had resulted in the formation of an unwanted a-chloroketone (see later).26 Other oxidation procedures were attempted (PDC, PCC, Dess-Martin periodinane) however the Pfitzner-Moffatt gave the best, albeit modest, yield. 

Nitrohydroxylated pyrrolidine and piperidine ring systems 1824 have been conveniently obtained by a one-pot procedure involving sequential Michael-Henry reaction between nitroethene and a nitrogen nucleophile 1823 suitably predisposed for the oxidative generation (Swem reaction) of an aldehyde group, which is directly trapped in the subsequent nitroaldolization step [1384]. 

D. Swem in Organic Reactions, Vol. 7, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1952, Chapter 7. 

The aldehyde function at C-85 in 25 is unmasked by oxidative hydrolysis of the thioacetal group (I2, NaHCOs) (98 % yield), and the resulting aldehyde 26 is coupled to Z-iodoolefin 10 by a NiCh/CrCH-mediated process to afford a ca. 3 2 mixture of diaste-reoisomeric allylic alcohols 27, epimeric at C-85 (90 % yield). The low stereoselectivity of this coupling reaction is, of course, inconsequential, since the next operation involves oxidation [pyridinium dichromate (PDC)] to the corresponding enone and. olefination with methylene triphenylphosphorane to furnish the desired diene system (70-75% overall yield from dithioacetal 9). Deprotection of the C-77 primary hydroxyl group by mild acid hydrolysis (PPTS, MeOH-ClHhCh), followed by Swem oxidation, then leads to the C77-C115 aldehyde 28 in excellent overall yield. 

With ring G in place, the construction of key intermediate 105 requires only a few functional group manipulations. To this end, benzylation of the free secondary hydroxyl group in 136, followed sequentially by hydroboration/oxidation and benzylation reactions, affords compound 137 in 75% overall yield. Acid-induced solvolysis of the benzylidene acetal in 137 in methanol furnishes a diol (138) the hydroxy groups of which can be easily differentiated. Although the action of 2.5 equivalents of tert-butyldimethylsilyl chloride on compound 138 produces a bis(silyl ether), it was found that the primary TBS ether can be cleaved selectively on treatment with a catalytic amount of CSA in MeOH at 0 °C. Finally, oxidation of the resulting primary alcohol using the Swem procedure furnishes key intermediate 105 (81 % yield from 138). 

For a review of reactions of H2O2 and metal ions with all kinds of organic compounds, including aromatic rings, see Sosnovsky, G. Rawlinson, D.J. in Swem Organic Peroxides, vol. 2 Wiley NY, 1970, p. 269. See also Sheldon, R.A. Kochi, J.K. Metal-Catalyzed Oxidations of Organic Compounds, Academic Press NY, 1981. 

For a review of activated Me2SO reagents and their use in this reaction, see Mancuso, A.J. Swem, D. Synthesis, 1981, 165. 

Epoxidation of olefinic double bonds by organic peracids is a well known reaction whose scope, reliability and usefulness in organic synthesis was established largely by the work of Swem [1], who was also the first to show that the reaction is stereospecific. 

Stilbenes, photocyclization of, 30, 1 StiUe reaction, 50, 1 Stobbe condensation, 6, 1 Substitution reactions using organocopper reagents, 22, 2 41, 2 Sugars, synthesis by glycosylation with sulfoxides and sulfinates, 64, 2 Sulfide reduction of nitroarenes, 20, 4 Sulfonation of aromatic hydrocarbons and aryl halides, 3, 4 Swem oxidation, 39, 3 53, 1... 

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