Y-Butyrolactone , conversion

Hydrazoic acid reaction with cyclobu-tanecarboxyhc acid, 47, 28 Hydrogenation of t butylazidoacetate to glycme ( butyl ester, 46,47 Hydrogen bromide 46, 43 reaction with y butyrolactone, 46, 43 Hydrogen fluoride anhydrous, precautions in use of, 46, 3 in preparation of mtromum tetra-fluoroborate 47, 57 reaction with benzoyl chloride, 46,4 with boron tnfluonde in conversion of p cymene to m cymene, 47, 40 in bromofluorination of 1 heptene, 46, 11... 

The conversion of vicinal azido selenides into tetrahydrofiirans by PhSeOTf in MeCN at room temperature is reported <96JOC7085>. 3-Butadienyl tetrahydrofiirans and a-butadienyl y-butyrolactones can be prepared by radical cyclization of P-bromopent-4-en-2-ynyl ethers and mixed acetals <96SL391>. The total synthesis of trilobacin was reported <96JOC7642>. 

The oxidation to methyl ketones without cleavage of the double bond was reported recently for a palladium NHC complex [108]. When the authors used the previously described catalyst 13 in THF with dioxygen for the oxidation of styrene they found that together with the phenylmethylketone a significant amount of y-butyrolactone was formed. Analysis of the mechanism led to the conclusion that THF is oxidized to a hydroperoxide species which is the real oxidant. They therefore tried tert-butylhydroperoxide (TBHP) and found immediate conversion without any induction period. Optimized conditions include 0.75 mol % of the previously described dimeric complex... 

Recently, Bode et al. were able to demonstrate that the products formed after generation of the homoenolate equivalents 67 are determined by the catalytic base [64]. Strong bases such as KOt-Bu led to carbon-carbon bond-formation (y-butyrolactones), while weaker bases such as diisopropylethylamine (DIPEA) allowed for protonation of the homoenolate and the subsequent generation of activated carboxylates. The combination of triazolium catalyst 72 and DIPEA in THF as solvent required no additional additives and enabled milder reaction conditions (60 °C), accompanied by still high conversions in the formation of saturated esters out of unsaturated aldehydes (Scheme 9.21). Aliphatic and aromatic enals 62, as well as primary alcohols, secondary alcohols and phenols, are suitable substrates. a-Substituted unsaturated aldehydes did not yield the desired products 73. 

With the exception of the diol 9, that was obtained from the corresponding aldehyde in up to 35% yield, most of the chiral diols mentioned above were isolated in yields of only 20-25%. The formation of the acyloin-type condensation products is in competition with the much more efficient reduction of the carbonyl carbon and saturation of the double bond of the unsaturated aldehydes that were used as substrates. We became interested in the mode of reduction of particular aldehydes such as 54-56 (Scheme 8) in a study of the total synthesis of natural a-tocopherol (vitamin E) (23). We expected to obtain chiral alcohols that would be useful for conversion into natural isoprenoids from the reduction of the a-double bond of the above aldehydes. Indeed, 54-56 afforded up to 75% yield of the saturated carbinols 57-59 by treatment with yeast. Whereas the ee of 57 and 58 was ca 85%-90%, that of 59 is 99%, as shown by NMR experiments on the (-)-MTPA derivative (24). The synthetic significance of carbinol 59 was based on the structural unit present in natural isoprenoids (see brackets in structural formulas). This protected synthon can be unmasked by ozonolysis, as indicated by the high yield conversion of 59 into (S)-(-) -3-methyl-y-butyrolactone 60 (Scheme 9). Product 59 is a bifunctional chiral intermediate which does not need protective manipulation in that... 

Ethyl a-(bromomethyl)acrylate has proved to be an excellent reagent for conversion of aldehydes and ketones, both acyclic and cyclic, into the corresponding a-methylene-y-butyrolactone derivatives4"9 in a Re-formatsky type reaction. The yield was excellent in the case of several spiro a-methylene-y-butyrolactones.10 Synthetic a-methylene-y-butyrolactone derivatives have been shown to possess antitumor activity.5 6,7 1112 Ethyl a-(bromomethyl)acrylate has also proven of value in the synthesis of alkylated products of enol ethers of cyclohexane-1,3-dione.13... 

Most of the metallic oxidants which have been used for the oxidation of ethers have been based on oxides of the transition metals chromium, manganese and ruthenium, the latter being of greatest synthetic importance. The first reported example of the application of ruthoiium tetroxide in the oxidation of ethers tqipeared over 30 years ago in 1958, although an indication of its reactivity towards ethers had been obt ed some years before. In a systematic study which revealed the powerful oxidizing properties of the reagent, Berkowitz and Rylander demonstrated the quantitative conversion of tetrahydrofuran and R-butyl ether into y-butyrolactone and butyl butyrate, respectively. Significantly, no overoxidation was observed. Apart f m an unsuccessful attempt to oxidize ethylene oxide, no fitter attempts were made by the authors to examine further the scope of this novel transformation. In a series of subsequent publications and a patent, Wolf and his coworkers went on to exploit the reaction in the preparation of aldosterone and relr steroids (equation 1). 

The oxidation of tetrahydrofuran, tetrahydropyran and dihydropyran produced y-butyrolactone and 5-valerolactone in fairly good yields. Linear ethers, conversely, produced exclusively the corresponding acids, presumably through the in situ hydrolysis of intermediate esters [116]. 

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