Thermodynamic diastereoselectivity

The method of thermodynamic diastereoselection (through diastereoselective crystallization of equilibrating adducts see Scheme 13.99) was applied to furan derivatives bearing readily recoverable chiral auxiliaries. For instance, the acetal of (25,35 )-butane-2,3-diol and furfural is equilibrated in molten maleic anhydride with one major crystalline product [192]. In a similar way (Scheme 13.100), (5 )-camphanate of furfuryl alcohol undergoes Diels-Alder addition in molten maleic anhydride, giving one major crystalline adduct (+)-419 [193] that has been converted into doubly branched carba-hexopyranoses and derivatives [194], and into the new 2,6-dideoxy-2,6-iminoheptitol 420 (Scheme 13.100) [195]. 

Many of these organocatalyzed domino reactions are initiated by an enantioselective Michael addition followed by an acetalization. The first example of such transformation was reported by Mangion and MacMillan [26] in 2005 as a key step for the total synthesis of brasoside and littoralisone (Scheme 16.12). Using (S)-proline, the dialdehyde underwent contra-thermodynamic diastereoselective Michael/acetalization for the formation of the desired lactol in good yield. 

The synthetic problem is now reduced to cyclopentanone 16. This substance possesses two stereocenters, one of which is quaternary, and its constitution permits a productive retrosynthetic maneuver. Retrosynthetic disassembly of 16 by cleavage of the indicated bond furnishes compounds 17 and 18 as potential precursors. In the synthetic direction, a diastereoselective alkylation of the thermodynamic (more substituted) enolate derived from 18 with alkyl iodide 17 could afford intermediate 16. While trimethylsilyl enol ether 18 could arise through silylation of the enolate oxygen produced by a Michael addition of a divinyl cuprate reagent to 2-methylcyclopentenone (19), iodide 17 can be traced to the simple and readily available building blocks 7 and 20. The application of this basic plan to a synthesis of racemic estrone [( >1] is described below. 

A cursory inspection of key intermediate 8 (see Scheme 1) reveals that it possesses both vicinal and remote stereochemical relationships. To cope with the stereochemical challenge posed by this intermediate and to enhance overall efficiency, a convergent approach featuring the union of optically active intermediates 18 and 19 was adopted. Scheme 5a illustrates the synthesis of intermediate 18. Thus, oxidative cleavage of the trisubstituted olefin of (/ )-citronellic acid benzyl ester (28) with ozone, followed by oxidative workup with Jones reagent, affords a carboxylic acid which can be oxidatively decarboxylated to 29 with lead tetraacetate and copper(n) acetate. Saponification of the benzyl ester in 29 with potassium hydroxide provides an unsaturated carboxylic acid which undergoes smooth conversion to trans iodolactone 30 on treatment with iodine in acetonitrile at -15 °C (89% yield from 29).24 The diastereoselectivity of the thermodynamically controlled iodolacto-nization reaction is approximately 20 1 in favor of the more stable trans iodolactone 30. 

The sense of asymmetric induction could be tuned in two ways firstly through the chirality of the sufinyl group, and secondly through the use of dimethylox-osulfonium methylide (n = 1) or of dimethylsulfonium methylide (n = 0), which was found to provide aziridines with opposite diastereoselectivity. This was interpreted by assuming the process to be under thermodynamic control in the former... 

Addition reactions of the a-seleno lithium reagent 26 to carbonyl compounds have been undertaken 27. The a-seleno lithium reagents are configurationally labile at — 78 °C 27 28 and, therefore, the diastereoselectivity observed with 26 ( 90 10) does not significantly depend on the nature of the electrophile but rather reflects the thermodynamic ratio of the diastereomeric lithium compounds. 

These results indicate that the a-lithio sulfides are not configurationally stable at —78 C and thus, the high diastereoselectivity reflects the thermodynamic preference of 35 A over 35B3). 

Diastereoselective amino nitrile formation from the following ulose may, however, be attributed to thermodynamic control. Flash chromatography of the product provides only one ri bo-derivative28. 

The diastereoselective intramolecular Michael addition of /(-substituted cyclohexcnoncs results in an attractive route to ra-octahydro-6//-indcn-6-ones. The stereogenic center in the -/-position of the enone dictates the face selectivity, whereas the trans selectivity at Cl, C7a is the result of an 6-exo-trig cyclization. c7.v-Octahydro-5//-inden-5-ones are formed as the sole product regardless of which base is used, e.g., potassium carbonate in ethanol or sodium hydride in THF, under thermodynamically controlled conditions139 14°. An application is found in the synthesis of gibberellic acid141. 

An interesting approach to zr n.v-2,3-disubstituted cyeloalkanones is offered by auxiliary controlled intramolecular Michael additions. The diastereoselectivity depends on the chiral alcohol used193> l94. When the borneol derivative 7 was used as substrate, a single diastereomer of 8 resulted when the reaction was performed at 25 "C under thermodynamic control with a catalytic amount of sodium hydride in benzene. 

A further example concerns the frtw.s -diastereoselective 1,4-addition of the lithium azaeno-late 4 to the chiral Michael acceptor 5 under thermodynamic control 284. This method has been applied in the synthesis of emetine285- 287. 

Lubineau and coworkers [18] have shown that glyoxal 8 (Ri = R2 = H), glyoxylic acid 8 (Ri = H, R2 = OH), pyruvic acid 8 (Ri = Me, R2 = OH) and pyruvaldehyde 8 (Ri = H, R2 = Me) give Diels-Alder reactions in water with poor reactive dienes, although these dienophiles are, for the most part, in the hydrated form. Scheme 6.6 illustrates the reactions with (E)-1,3-dimethyl-butadiene. The reaction yields are generally good and the ratio of adducts 9 and 10 reflects the thermodynamic control of the reaction. In organic solvent, the reaction is kinetically controlled and the diastereoselectivity is reversed. 

Figure 10.24 Diastereoselectivity in FruA catalyzed aldol additions to 3-hydroxyaldehydes under thermodynamic control, and synthesis of L-fucose derivatives based on thermodynamic preference.

Owing to the fully reversible equilibrium nature of the aldol addition process, enzymes with low diastereoselectivity will typically lead to a thermodynamically controlled mixture of erythro/threo-isomers that are difficult to separate. The thermodynamic origin of poor threo/erythro selectivity has most recently been turned to an asset by the design of a diastereoselective dynamic kinetic resolution process by coupling of L-ThrA and a diastereoselective L-tyrosine decarboxylase (Figure 10.47)... 

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. 

Another possibility to increase the diastereoselectivity in an asymmetric synthesis can arise from different thermodynamic stabilities of the diasteieoisomeric products. If the thermodynamic stabilities of these are different enough, then, under conditions of equilibrium, a complete conversion of the less stable into the more stable can be achieved. For example, the diastereoselective hydrogenation of naphthalene derivates over Pd/C catalyst leads to a mixture of dihydronaphtalenes in which the cA-isomer predominates. The conversion of this isomer into the tram occurs by changing the properties of the reaction medium, namely by equilibration with a base. For such a purpose, NaOMe in IHF can be used [263], Generally, such an increase in stability in the six-membered rings can result from a rearrangement of the substituents from an axial to an equatorial position. 

Ma and Zhao reported a highly regio- and diastereoselective synthetic method for 2-amino-3-alken-l-ols and 4-amino-2-( )-alken-l-ols by the palladium-catalyzed reaction of 2,3-allenols, aryl iodides and amines (Scheme 16.24) [29]. Carbopalladation of PhPdl to the allene probably generates a thermodynamically more stable anti-Jt-allylpalladium species for steric reasons. Regioselectivity of the amine attack depends largely on the stereoelectronic effect on the a-substituents. 

Diastereomeric excesses of up 56% have been claimed for the preparation of a-amino-P-hydroxy acids via the aldol condensation of aldehydes with f-butyl N-(diphenylmethylene)glycinate [63]. It might be expected that there would be thermodynamic control of the C-C bond formation influenced by the steric requirements of the substituents, but the use of cinchoninium and cinchonidinium salts lead to essentially the same diastereoselectivity. The failure of both tetra-n-butylammo-nium and benzyltriethylammonium chloride to catalyse the reaction is curious. 

Extensive studies have been carried out on the metal enediolates of carboxylic acids and the influence of substrate structure on kinetic aldol diastereoselection (eq. [26]). For all but the most sterically demanding substituents (Rj = t-C4H9, mesityl, 1-adamantyl) the condensations exhibit only modest threo diastereoselection (Table 13). The reader is referred to Table 4 for the analogous thermodynamically controlled aldol data. 

The first chapter in this volume is a particularly timely one given the recent surge of activity in natural product synthesis based upon stereocontrolled Aldol Condensations. D. A. Evans, one of the principal protagonists in this effort, and his associates, J. V. Nelson and T. R. Taber, have surveyed the several modem variants of the Aldol Condensation and discuss models to rationalize the experimental results, particularly with respect to stereochemistry, in a chapter entitled Stereoselective Aldol Condensations. The authors examine Aldol diastereoselection under thermodynamic and kinetic control as well as enantioselection in Aldol Condensations involving chiral reactants. 

It is important to perform both the Birch reduction of 5 and the alkylation of enolate 6 at —78 °C. Enolate 6 obtained directly from 5 at low temperatures is considered to be a kinetic enolate . A thermodynamic enolate obtained from 6 by equilibration techniques has been shown to give an opposite sense of stereoselection on alkylation. Although a comprehensive study of this modification has not been carried out, diastereoselectivities for formation of 8 were found to be greater than 99 1 for alkylations with Mel, EtI, and PhCH2Br. Thus, it should be possible to obtain both enantiomers of a target structure by utilization of a single chiral benzamide. SE... 

Depending upon the choice of substrates, the hydrosilylation of alkenes with (TMS)3SiH can also be highly stereoselective. The reaction of (TMS)3SiH with methylmaleic anhydride, proceeded regiospecifically to the less substituted side, but also diastereoselectively to afford the thermodynamically less stable cis isomer (Reaction 5.6) [25]. Stereoselectivity increased by decreasing the reaction temperature, indicating the difference in enthalpy of activation for syn vs anti attack. 

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