Total synthesis olefin metathesis

We will focus on the development of ruthenium-based metathesis precatalysts with enhanced activity and applications to the metathesis of alkenes with nonstandard electronic properties. In the class of molybdenum complexes [7a,g,h] recent research was mainly directed to the development of homochi-ral precatalysts for enantioselective olefin metathesis. This aspect has recently been covered by Schrock and Hoveyda in a short review and will not be discussed here [8h]. In addition, several important special topics have recently been addressed by excellent reviews, e.g., the synthesis of medium-sized rings by RCM [8a], applications of olefin metathesis to carbohydrate chemistry [8b], cross metathesis [8c,d],enyne metathesis [8e,f], ring-rearrangement metathesis [8g], enantioselective metathesis [8h], and applications of metathesis in polymer chemistry (ADMET,ROMP) [8i,j]. Application of olefin metathesis to the total synthesis of complex natural products is covered in the contribution by Mulzer et al. in this volume. 

In Ghosh s enantioselective total synthesis of the cytotoxic marine macrolide (+)-amphidinolide T1 (318) [143], the C1-C10 fragment 317 was constructed by CM of subunits 315 and 316 (Scheme 62). The reaction mediated by catalyst C (5 mol%) afforded in the first cycle an inconsequential 1 1 mixture of (E/Z)-isomeric CM products 317 in 60% yield, along with the homodimers of 315 and 316. The self-coupling products were separated by chromatography and exposed to a second metathesis reaction to provide olefins 317 in additional 36% yield [144]. 

If the cycloaddition and cycloreversion steps occurred under the same conditions, an equilibrium would establish and a mixture of reactant and product olefins be obtained, which is a severe limitation to its synthetic use. In many cases, however, the two steps can very well be separated, with the cycloreversion under totally different conditions often showing pronounced regioselectivity, e.g. for thermodynamic reasons (product vs. reactant stability), and this type of olefin metathesis has been successfully applied to organic synthesis. In fact, this aspect of the synthetic application of four-membered ring compounds has recently aroused considerable attention, as it leads the way to their transformation into other useful intermediates. For example aza[18]annulene (371) could be synthesized utilizing a sequence of [2 + 2] cycloaddition and cycloreversion. (369), one of the dimers obtained from cyclooctatetraene upon heating to 100 °C, was transformed by carbethoxycarbene addition to two tetracyclic carboxylates, which subsequently lead to the isomeric azides (368) and (370). Upon direct photolysis of these, (371) was obtained in 25 and 28% yield, respectively 127). Aza[14]annulene could be synthesized in a similar fashion I28). 

RCM of dienes to cycloalkenes provides a useful method for the syntheses of carbo- and heterocycles and thus has been proved to be extremely effective in total synthesis of various natural products. Usually, however, mixtures of (E)- and (Z)-olefms result. In contrast, ring-closing alkyne metathesis provides a reliable route for synthesis of both (E)- and (Z)-macrocycloalkenes in a stereoslective manner taking advantage of stereoselective partial reduction of resulting cycloalkynes. A Lindlar reduction gives (Z)-cycloalkenes, whereas a hydroboration/ protonation sequence afford ( )-cycloalkenes (Equation (23)). Recently, Trost reported an alternative procedure for the synthesis of (E)-olefins from alkynes through hydrosilylation by a ruthenium catalyst. This procedure converts cycloalkyne 130, for example, to vinylsilane 131 and then to (E)-cycloalkene 132 in a stereoselective manner (Scheme 46)7 ... 

The total synthesis proceeds in >10 steps on solid phase and includes various transformations, including an asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction, oxidation with singlet oxygen, and olefin metathesis. This synthesis sequence is among the most advanced and demanding solid-phase syntheses developed so far for chemical genomics experiments. It demonstrates that the total synthesis of complex natural products in multi-step sequences on solid phase is feasible. 

Crimmins, M. T. Tabet, E. A. Formal total synthesis of (+)-trehazolin. Application of an asymmetric aldol-olefin metathesis approach to the synthesis of functionalized cyclopen-tenes./. Org. Chem. 2001, 66, 4012-4018. 

Apart from the development of new catalysts, the examples of application of olefin metathesis in the literature are uncountable, including total synthesis, polymer, and... 

Along with diene and diyne metathesis, ene-yne metathesis has also been employed to form macrocycles. This type of metathesis is performed with the catalysts used for olefin metathesis, and the yields are improved in the presence of ethylene, which forms the highly reactive [Ru]=CH2 species. Shair and coworkers took advantage of this reaction twice in the course of their total synthesis of longithorone A [40]. When ene-ynes 51 and 52 are treated with ruthenium complex G1 under an atmosphere of... 

For the cyclization to the 16-membered macrolactone structure of epothilones C and D (= desoxyepothilones A and B, resp. [26]), three different strategies have been used successfully so far (1) Ring-closing olefin metathesis (RCM) between C12 and Cl3. RCM is a comparably new method in total synthesis and underwent enor-... 

Application of Olefin Metathesis Toward Total Synthesis Problems 23... 

A.B. Smith and co-workers have devised an efficient strategy for the synthesis of the cylindrocyclophane family of natural products. Olefin ring-closing metathesis was used for the assembly of the [7,7]-paracyclophane skeleton. During their investigations they discovered a remarkably efficient CM dimerization process, that culminated in the total synthesis of both (-)-cylindrocyclophane A and (-)-cylindrocyclophane F. They established that the cross metathesis dimerization process selectively led to the thermodynamically most stable member of a set of structurally related isomers. Out of three commonly used ROM catalysts, Schrock s catalyst proved to be the most efficient for this transformation. 

During the total synthesis of (-)-cylindrocyclophane F, A.B. Smith et al. used the Danheiser benzannuiation to construct the advanced aromatic intermediate for an olefin metathesis dimerization reaction. The starting material triisopropylsilyloxyalkyne was synthesized from the corresponding ethyl ester using the Kowalski two-step chain homologation. ... 

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