Verbenone

One method of synthesis of taxol analogues starts with a-pinene (8), the readily available and inexpensive monoterpene derived from the processing of turpentine from the pine tree (200). The a-pinene is oxidized to verbenone, which is then alkylated and converted to taxol analogues in a multistep process. 

It is convenient to here mention the hydrocarbon verbenene, C,gH,4, on account of its relationship with pinene. It results from the action of acetic anhydride on verbenol, thei alcohol corresponding with the ketone, verbenone. So produced it is laevo-rotatory. The dextro-rotatory and racemic varieties are also known. The sesquiterpenes have the following characters when regenerated from their respective dibromides —... 

Verbenone results from the auto-oxidation of turpentine oil, d-... 

The constitution of verbenone has been established by its reduction to the corresponding saturated secondary alcohol, dihydroverbenol, and into the corresponding saturated ketone, or dihydroverbenone. 

Dextro-dihydroverbenol melts at 58° C. and boils at 218° C. it yields an acetic ester, the odour of which recalls that of bornyl acetate. Dextro-dihydroverbenone is produced by the oxidation of the above alcohol by means of chromic acid, or by the reduction of verbenone by means of hydrogen in presence of colloidal palladium. It boils at 222° C. (Djj 0-9685 [a]o + 52-1 9° 1-47535 molecular refraction 44 45) and gives... 

When submitted to oxidation by a 2 per cent, solution of permanganate, pinononic acid, CgHj Og, melting at 128° to 129° C., the semi-carbazone of which melts at 204° C. Lastly the constitution of verbenone, as expressed by the above formula, is further confirmed by the fact that the bicyclic system is convertible into a monocyclic system by boiling with 25 per cent, sulphuric acid, with the formation of acetone and 3-methylcyclohexene-(2)-one-(l). This cyclohexenone has been characterised by its semi-carbazone (melting-point 198° C.) and by its conversion into y-acetobutyric acid (melting-point 36° C). The oily liquid, which did not react with sulphite, was submitted to benzoylation after dilution with pyridine. It thus gave rise to a benzoate from which was... 

The use of chiral C2-symmetric trifluoromethanesulfonamides derived from (i )-1,1 -binaphthyl-2,2 -diamine in similar reactions to those described above has led to the formation of the expected alcohols with enantioselectivities of 43-54% ees. Better enantioselectivities were observed by Paquette et al, resulting from the use of chiral C2-symmetric VERDI (verbenone dimers) disulfonamides derived from the dimerisation of (+ )-verbenone. Stereoselectivity levels ranging from 72 to 98% ee were observed, depending on the structural characteristics of the aldehyde (Scheme 3.45). ... 

The activity of the FePeCli6-S/tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) catalytic system was studied under mild reaction conditions for the synthesis of three a,p-unsaturated ketones 2-cyclohexen-l-one, carvone and veibenone by allylic oxidation of cyclohexene, hmonene, and a-pinene, respectively. Substrate conversions were higher than 80% and ketone yields decreased in the following order cyclohexen-1-one (47%), verbenone (22%), and carvone (12%). The large amount of oxidized sites of monoterpenes, especially limonene, may be the reason for the lower ketone yield obtained with this substrate. Additional tests snggested that molecular oxygen can act as co-oxidant and alcohol oxidation is an intermediate step in ketone formation. 

In the synthetic procedure, verbenone 118, the air oxidation product of pinene, is first treated with t-BuOK. followed by the addition of prenyl bromide to give a C-ll alkylated product. Selective ozonolysis of the more electron-rich double bond provides the aldehyde 119 with 85% yield. The A ring of taxane is then created through photorearrangement of the aldehyde 119, yielding the chrysanthenone derivative 120 (85% yield, over 94% ee). 

The mixture of alcohols is placed in a 1000-mL round-bottomed flask, dissolved in 300 mL of ether, and cooled to 0°C. To this solution is added via an addition funnel over a 30-min period a mixture of sodium dichromate dihydrate (27.5 g, 0.092 mol), 100 mL of water, and 10.2 mL of coned sulfuric acid. The mixture is stirred at 0°C for 1 hr, warmed to room temperature where stirring is maintained overnight, diluted with 200 mL of water, and poured into a separatory funnel. The layers are separated and the aqueous phase is extracted with ether (3 x 200 mL). The combined organic layers are washed with saturated sodium bicarbonate solution (200 mL) and brine (200 mL), dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated by rotary evaporation to give 16.8-17.8 g (61-65%) of verbenone (Note 7). Final purification is achieved by distillation of the oil through a 5-in Vigreux column at reduced pressure (dry ice-acetone cooled receiver) 13.1 g (47%), bp 108-110°C (5 mm) (Note 8). 

VERBENONE from (+)-a-pinene, and for preparing (S)-2-METHYLPROLINE from (S)-proline complete this group. 

The verbenone is clear on distillation but yellows slightly on exposure to air. This does not affect its quality. Radial chromatography (4-mm plate, 10% ethyl acetate/hexane) of a 1-g sample yielded 900 mg of pure verbenone, [a]o 222.0° (EtOH, c2.00). Column chromatography (200 g of silica, 10% ethyl acetate hexane)... 

The reaction sequence Is based on the readiness with which a-pinene undergoes oxidation predominantly to the tertiary acetate with Pb(OAc)4.3 4 Dichromate oxidation of the derived alcohol proceeds by way of a second allylic rearrangement to give verbenone without affecting the neighboring stereogenic centers. 

The catalysts Co-CMS5 and C0-CMS6 have also been tested for the air oxidation of a-pinene. In both the cases air oxidation commences quickly with the formation of a-pinene oxide, verbenol and verbenone as the main products along with other rearranged products as observed in the reactions described above. A conversion of 50.6% and 48.0% are observed for Co-CMSS and C0-CMS6 respectively after 24h (Table 6). 

The MIL-supported POM eatalysts were eharaeterized by elemental analysis, XRD, N2 adsorption, and FT-IR-speetroseopy, whieh indieated the preservation of both MIL and POM structures after immobilization. The eomposite M-POM/MIL-101 materials demonstrated fairly good catalytie performanee in a-pinene allylie oxidation (81-84 % verbenol/verbenone seleetivity at 15-25 % substrate eonversion) and earyophyllene epoxidation (100 % selectivity at 88 % conversion) with green oxidants - H2O2 (Ti-POM) and O2 (Co-POM) [126]. 

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