WACKER-TSUJI Olefin Oxidation

WACKER -TSUJI Olefin oxidation Oxidation ol olefins to ketones by Pd (II) catalyst. 

Jiro Tsuji carried out many mechanistic and synthetic studies on the initial Wacker oxidation process.7-" It is now known as the Wacker-Tsuji oxidation for the oxidation of terminal olefin 1 to the corresponding methyl ketone 2 with oxygen in the presence of a catalytic amount of palladium and one equivalent of copper salt.12-" Nowadays, the Wacker-Tsuji oxidation is a standard methodology for transforming the terminal olefin to the corresponding methyl ketone.17 The reaction is so widely used that Tsuji declared that a terminal olefin could be viewed as a masked methyl ketone."... 

In Leighton s total synthesis of dolabelide D, the Wacker-Tsuji oxidation diene 70 was achieved chemoselectively to produce methyl ketone 71.54 55 Furthermore, addition of (-)-sparteine as a ligand prevented olefin isomerization and led to selective formation of methyl ketone 71 from the terminal olefin in good yield.56... 

In 1979, Tsuji s group [51] reported an alternative approach to macrolactonization. Inspired by their previous success in the preparation of recifeiolide and 9-decanolide, the authors envisioned that the dimethyl ether of zearalenone (6) could be obtained via olefination using the co-iodoalkyl phenylthioacetate 7 (Scheme 7.2). The Michael addition of diethyl malonate (11) to 10 followed by decarboxylation afforded an ethyl ester, which was reduced to alcohol and converted into the tosylate 12. Wacker-Tsuji oxidation of the terminal olefin was then followed by reduction of the ketone and conversion of the tosylate into iodide to provide 9. This was... 

Wacker-Tsuji oxidation of olefins (eq 23) and Pd-mediated homocoupling of aryl boronic acids (eq 24) were completed on the interior of PDMS thimbles. In each of these reactions, the catalyst was PdCl2 and a polar protic solvent was used on the interior of the thimbles. The products were fiuxed to the exterior of the thimbles by the addition of CH2CI2 or hexanes to the exterior. Isolated yields were 56-93%. 

For internal olefins, the Wacker oxidation is sometimes surprisingly regioselective. By using aqueous dioxane or THF, oxidation of P,y-unsaturated esters can be achieved selectively to generate y-keto-esters (Eq. 3.18).86 Under appropriate conditions, Wacker oxidation can be used very efficiently in transforming an olefin to a carbonyl compound. Thus, olefins become masked ketones. An example is its application in the synthesis of (+)-19-nortestosterone (3.11) carried out by Tsuji (Scheme 3.5).87... 

Tsuji has completed three syntheses of zearalenone (119), all by quite similar routes. The first, shown in Scheme 1.28, began with acetate 59b, the minor product from the telomerization of butadiene in acetic acid. Cleavage to the alcohol and gas-phase dehydrogenation led to enone 141. Chain extension to 142 was accomplished in 70% yield by way of Michael addition of diethyl malonate to enone 141. Decarboalkoxylation and protection of the ketone then gave 143 (63%). Conversion of the ester to the primary tosylate 144 was achieved by conventional methods in 62% yield. A Wacker oxidation of the terminal olefin followed by reduction and exchange of the tosylate for an iodide then provided the aliphatic segment 145 in 64% yield. 

The Pd(Quinox)Cl2, (Quinox = 2-(2-quinolyl)-4,5-dihydrooxazole) catalysed Wacker-type oxidation of olefins bearing homoallylic alcohols by TBHP led to the corresponding /3-hydroxy ketones in good yields. Since the oxidation was catalyst controlled, it was significantly faster than the substrate-controlled Tsuji-Wacker oxidation. The bis- and fra-homoallylic alcohols were oxidized to cyclic peroxyketals, presumably via nucleophilic attack of the methyl ketone. Kinetics of the Wacker-type oxidation of olefins by TBHP in the presence of Quinox (ligand), and (54) as the catalyst reveal first-order dependence on ligand and olefin, and rate saturation in TBHP, as expected of the proposed mechanism (Scheme 9)... 

The applications of palladium in organic syntheses are numerous,this metal possibly being the most important one in the field. Numerous reactions are known oxidations of the Wacker type, C-C coupling by transmetallation and/or insertion of CO or olefin (see following section). A category of reactions that is also very common concerns the catalytic use of palladium to carry out the substitution of a nucleofuge (typically acetate) in allylic position by a carbanion or any other nucleophile. This is the Tsuji-Trost allylic substitution ... 

One such example is shown in Scheme 9, where intermediate 20 was swiftiy taken to 37 in a one-pot deprotection-tosylation-intramolecular y-alkylation mechanism utilizing tosyl fluoride. The resulting terminal olefin, when subject to Tsuji-Wacker oxidation conditions, furnished methyl ketone 38, which when exposed to strongly basic conditions triggered the Robinson annulation sequence, providing us with a cyclopentenone annulated analog 39. 

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