Titanium Tetraisopropoxide asymmetric epoxidation reactions

One of the most useful organic reactions discovered in the last several decades is the titanium-catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation of primary aUyUc alcohols developed by Professor Barry Sharpless, then at Stanford University. The reagent consists of tert-butyl hydroperoxide, titanium tetraisopropoxide [Ti(0-iPr)J, and diethyl tartrate. Recall from Section 3.4B that tartaric add has two chiral centers and exists as three stereoisomers a pair of enantiomers and a meso compound. The form of tartaric add used in the Sharpless epoxidation is either pure (+)-diethyl tartrate or its enantiomer, (-)-diethyl tartrate. The fert-butyl hydroperoxide is the oxidizing agent and must be present in molar... 

Transition metal-catalyzed epoxidations, by peracids or peroxides, are complex and diverse in their reaction mechanisms (Section 5.05.4.2.2) (77MI50300). However, most advantageous conversions are possible using metal complexes. The use of t-butyl hydroperoxide with titanium tetraisopropoxide in the presence of tartrates gave asymmetric epoxides of 90-95% optical purity (80JA5974). 

In light of the previous discussions, it would be instructive to compare the behavior of enantiomerically pure allylic alcohol 12 in epoxidation reactions without and with the asymmetric titanium-tartrate catalyst (see Scheme 2). When 12 is exposed to the combined action of titanium tetraisopropoxide and tert-butyl hydroperoxide in the absence of the enantiomerically pure tartrate ligand, a 2.3 1 mixture of a- and /(-epoxy alcohol diastereoisomers is produced in favor of a-13. This ratio reflects the inherent diasteieo-facial preference of 12 (substrate-control) for a-attack. In a different experiment, it was found that SAE of achiral allylic alcohol 15 with the (+)-diethyl tartrate [(+)-DET] ligand produces a 99 1 mixture of /(- and a-epoxy alcohol enantiomers in favor of / -16 (98% ee). 

Allylic alcohols can be converted to epoxy-alcohols with tert-butylhydroperoxide on molecular sieves, or with peroxy acids. Epoxidation of allylic alcohols can also be done with high enantioselectivity. In the Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation,allylic alcohols are converted to optically active epoxides in better than 90% ee, by treatment with r-BuOOH, titanium tetraisopropoxide and optically active diethyl tartrate. The Ti(OCHMe2)4 and diethyl tartrate can be present in catalytic amounts (15-lOmol %) if molecular sieves are present. Polymer-supported catalysts have also been reported. Since both (-t-) and ( —) diethyl tartrate are readily available, and the reaction is stereospecific, either enantiomer of the product can be prepared. The method has been successful for a wide range of primary allylic alcohols, where the double bond is mono-, di-, tri-, and tetrasubstituted. This procedure, in which an optically active catalyst is used to induce asymmetry, has proved to be one of the most important methods of asymmetric synthesis, and has been used to prepare a large number of optically active natural products and other compounds. The mechanism of the Sharpless epoxidation is believed to involve attack on the substrate by a compound formed from the titanium alkoxide and the diethyl tartrate to produce a complex that also contains the substrate and the r-BuOOH. ... 

The epoxidation of allylic alcohols can also be effected by /-butyl hydroperoxide and titanium tetraisopropoxide. When enantiomerically pure tartrate ligands are included, the reaction is highly enantioselective. This reaction is called the Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation.55 Either the (+) or (—) tartrate ester can be used, so either enantiomer of the desired product can be obtained. 

Although it was also Henbest who reported as early as 1965 the first asymmetric epoxidation by using a chiral peracid, without doubt, one of the methods of enantioselective synthesis most frequently used in the past few years has been the "asymmetric epoxidation" reported in 1980 by K.B. Sharpless [3] which meets almost all the requirements for being an "ideal" reaction. That is to say, complete stereofacial selectivities are achieved under catalytic conditions and working at the multigram scale. The method, which is summarised in Fig. 10.1, involves the titanium (IV)-catalysed epoxidation of allylic alcohols in the presence of tartaric esters as chiral ligands. The reagents for this asyimnetric epoxidation of primary allylic alcohols are L-(+)- or D-(-)-diethyl (DET) or diisopropyl (DIPT) tartrate,27 titanium tetraisopropoxide and water free solutions of fert-butyl hydroperoxide. The natural and unnatural diethyl tartrates, as well as titanium tetraisopropoxide are commercially available, and the required water-free solution of tert-bnty hydroperoxide is easily prepared from the commercially available isooctane solutions. 

The known allylic alcohol 9 derived from protected dimethyl tartrate is exposed to Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation conditions with (-)-diethyl D-tartrate. The reaction yields exclusively the anti epoxide 10 in 77 % yield. In contrast to the above mentioned epoxidation of the ribose derived allylic alcohol, in this case epoxidation of 9 with MCPBA at 0 °C resulted in a 65 35 mixture of syn/anti diastereomers. The Sharpless epoxidation of primary and secondary allylic alcohols discovered in 1980 is a powerful reagent-controlled reaction.12 The use of titanium(IV) tetraisopropoxide as catalyst, tert-butylhydro-peroxide as oxidant, and an enantiopure dialkyl tartrate as chiral auxiliary accomplishes the epoxidation of allylic alcohols with excellent stereoselectivity. If the reaction is kept absolutely dry, catalytic amounts of the dialkyl tartrate(titanium)(IV) complex are sufficient. 

Hie first of Sharpless s reactions is an oxidation of alkenes by asymmetric epoxidation. You met vanadium as a transition-metal catalyst for epoxidation with r-butyl hydroperoxide in Chapter 33, and this new reaction makes use of titanium, as titanium tetraisopropoxide, Ti(OiPr)4, to do the same thing. Sharpless surmised that, by adding a chiral ligand to the titanium catalyst, he might be able to make the reaction asymmetric. The ligand that works best is diethyl tartrate, and the reaction shown below is just one of many that demonstrate that this is a remarkably good reaction. 

Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation ° is an enantioselective epoxidation of an allylic alcohol with ferf-butyl hydroperoxide (f-BuOOH), titanium tetraisopropoxide [Ti(0-fPr)4] and (-b)- or (—)-diethyl tartrate [(-b)- or (—)-DET] to produce optically active epoxide from achiral allylic alcohol. The reaction is diastereoselective for a-substituted allylic alcohols. Formation of chiral epoxides is an important step in the synthesis of natural products because epoxides can be easily converted into diols and ethers. 

The first practical asymmetric epoxidation of primary and secondary allylic alcohols was realized by Sharpless and Katsuki in 1980. They discovered that the use of titanium(IV) tetraisopropoxide, tert-butylhydroperoxide (TBHP), and an enantiopure chiral auxiliary (such as diethyl tartrate (6)) accomplishes the epoxidation of allylic alcohols with excellent stereoselectivity ee > 90 %) to give chiral 2,3-epoxy alcohols, which represent valuable building blocks. In acknowledgement of the discovery and of his outstanding contributions to the development of this reaction. Sharpless was awarded one half of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2001. ... 

Tartaric acid is the least expensive chiral starting material with twofold symmetry available from natural sources. The Sharpless Ti tartrate asymmetric epoxidation catalyst consists of titanium(IV) tetraisopropoxide (Ti(OiPr)4) in combination with a chiral tartrate diester to induce asymmetry in the reaction of allylic alcohols. It is used with an alkyl hydroperoxide such as TBHP in the presence of 3A or 4A molecular sieves (to remove water) for the epoxidation of allylic alcohols [75]. It was the first effective asymmetric epoxidation catalyst reported. 

Asymmetric oxidation of alkenes is a useful reaction in organic synthesis. Sharpless and coworkers made an outstanding contribution in this field. The first practical method of asymmetric epoxidation of ally lie alcohols was reported by Sharpless in 1980. The epoxidation agent was tert-butylhydroperoxide, and the asymmetric catalyst was composed of diethyl tartrate (DET) D-(—) or L-(+) and titanium tetraisopropoxide. 

Sharpless epoxidation of allyl alcohols (Sharpless, 1985, 1988 Pfenninger, 1986 Rossiter, 1985 Woodard et al., 1991 Finn and Sharpless, 1991 Corey, I990a,b), an example of which is included in Table 9.6, is perhaps the most recent and one of the most remarkable applications of asymmetric catalysis. The reaction is normally performed at low temperatures (-30 to 0°C) in methylene chloride with a titanium complex consisting of a chiral component [diethyl tartrate (DET) or diisopropyl tartrate (DIPT)] and a titanium salt (titanium tetraisopropoxide) as the catalyst. The beauty of the synthesis is that both enantiomers of the tartrate are available so that either form of the product can be prepared in more than 90% ee. 

The Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation of allylic alcohols (one of the reactions that helped K. Barry Sharpless earn his part of the 2001 Nobel Prize) offers a good example of an enantioselective technique that can be used to create either enantiomer of an epoxide product. This reaction uses a diester of tartaric acid, such as diethyl tartrate (DET) or diisopropyl tartrate (DIPT), as the source of chirality. The dialkyl tartrate coordinates with the titanium tetraisopropoxide [Ti(Oi-Pr)4] catalyst and t-butyl hydroperoxide (r-BuOOH) to make a chiral oxidizing agent. Since both enantiomers of tartaric acid are commercially available, and each enantiomer will direct the reaction to a different prochiral face of the alkene, both enantiomers of an epoxide can be synthesized. 

---