Trimethylaluminum reaction with alcohols

Stereoselective reaction with ketones. The reaction of ketone 1 with methyl-lithium, trimethylaluminum, and lithium letramethylaluminate shows no stcrco-specificity. The reaction with mcthylmagncsium bromide gives the two possible adducts in the ratio 2.4 1. The best stereospccificity is observed with dimethylsulf-oxonium methylide, which converts 1 into 2 and 3 in a ratio about 5 1. Reduction of the epoxides with lithium triethylborohydride gives the desired tertiary alcohols. This reaction was used in a synthesis of ( ) stemodin (4).2... 

The use of a cationic aza-Cope rearrangement in concert with a Mannich cyclization has also been applied to the total synthesis of enantiomerically pure (—)-crinine (359) (205). In the event, nucleophilic opening of cyclopentenoxide with the aluminum amide that was formed on reaction of (/ )-a-methylbenzyl-amine and trimethylaluminum gave the amino alcohol 485 together with its (15,25) diastereomer. Although there was essentially no asymmetric induction in this process, the diastereomeric amino alcohols were readily separated by chromatography, and the overall procedure therefore constitutes an efficient means for the preparation of enantiomerically pure 2-amino alcohols from epoxides. When the hydrochloride salt derived from 485 was treated with paraformaldehyde and potassium cyanide, the amino nitrile 486 was formed. Subsequent Swem oxida-... 

The CIO methyl was installed using a sequence of steps, which included an asymmetric hydroboration reaction. This approach was developed by Tatsuda for the synthesis of herbimycin and later followed by Panek for macbecin. Other unsuccessful approaches to this difficult region of the molecule are outlined below. To ready the material for this event, the ester 6 was reduced to the aldehyde and trimethylaluminum was added to generate alcohol 24 (Scheme 8). Oxidation to the ketone, Wittig reaction, and TBS removal with HF provided allyl alcohol 25 in... 

Reaction of the key intermediate, ketosulfoxide 69, with ethenyhnagne-sium bromide, vinytmagnesium bromide, and trimethylaluminum in the presence of zinc bromide afforded the respective tertiary alcohols 73 in good yields (Scheme 16) however, with much lower diastereoselectivity (70-80% de) than in the case of cyanohydrin 70. 

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