Efficient Synthesis of Epoxides from Vicinal Diols Via Cyclic Sulfates

Reaction of cyclic sulfates of vic-diols with sodium hydroxide in THF-MeOH produced the corresponding epoxides in excellent isolated yields at room temperature. Cyclic sulfates of trans-diols gave cis-epoxides, and cyclic sulfates of cis-diols afforded trans-epoxides exclusively. Various cyclic sulfates of vic-diols can be converted into the epoxides under the conditions.     

A New Synthesis of Benzylidene Acetals

Aryl-halo-diazirines react under basic conditions with 1,3-cis-, 1,2-cisand 1,2-trans-diols to give acetals. Yields are high. Diastereoselectivities depend upon the diol and upon the reaction conditions. Thus, reaction of the 1,3-cis-diol 1 (Scheme 1) with 2 gave 3 as a single diastereoisomer. The 1,2-cis-diols 4 and 7 led to the endo- and exo-acetals 5 / 6 (93:7) and 8 / 9 (ca.10:1), respectively, The 1,2-trans-diols 10 , 16 , and 19 reacted with 2 to afford 11 / 12 (90:10), 17 / 18 (1:1), and 20 / 21 (6:1), respectively. Reaction of the (4-nitrophenyl)diazirine 13 with 10 at higher temperatures yielded 14 / 15 (6:4). The uracil moiety, the acetamido group, and the enol-ether moiety are compatible with the reaction conditions. The diastereoselectivity is rationalized on the basis of a reaction sequence involving alkoxy-halogen exchange, which is regioselective or not, thermolysis of the ensuing alkoxydiazirine(s), protonation of the alkoxycarbene to form an (E)-configurated oxycarbenium ion, and attack of the neighboring oxy or hydroxy group, which is only possible for a limited range of conformers.     

Enantiomerically Pure Cyclic trans-1,2-Diols,Diamines, and Amino Alcohols by Intramolecular Pinacol Coupling of Planar Chiral Mono-Cr(CO)3 Complexes of Biaryls

Without any formation of stereoisomers , the intramolecular pinacol cyclization of 1 —planar chiral mono-Cr(CO)₃ complexes of 1,1′-biphenyls with carbonyl functionalities at the 2- and 2′-positions—with samarium diiodide gives cyclic trans-1,2-diols 2 . Upon exposure to sunlight, the chromium-complexed diols 2 produce optically pure chromium-free trans-diols 3 . Similarly, the corresponding enantiomerically pure trans-1,2-diamines and amino alcohols are obtained from the planar chiral chromium complexes of biphenyls with diimino or keto-imino functionalities. R¹=H, OMe; R²=H, Me; R³=H, Me.     

Synthesis,separation, and resolution of cis- and trans-3-ethylproline

The synthesis, separation, and optical resolution of cis- and trans-3-ethylproline are described. Two different approaches were employed: (1) The Michael addition reaction of 2-pentenal with diethyl-N-carbobenzyloxyaminomalonate gave the intermediate 3-ethyl-5-hydroxy-N-benzyloxypyrrolidine. Hydrogenolysis of this intermediate followed by acid hydrolysis gave a mixture of cis- and trans-3-ethylproline. Separation of the isomers was accomplished by selective saponification of N-(p-toluenesulfonyl)-cis- and trans-3-ethylproline methyl esters using 0.25N methanolic sodium hydroxide. (2) The Michael condensation of diethyl acetamidomalonate with 2-pentenoic acid ethyl ether produced the intermediate 5,5-bis(ethoxycarbonyl)-4-ethylpyrrolidine. Partial saponification followed by decarboxylation afforded a mixture of cis- and trans-isomers of ethyl-3-ethylpyroglutamate. The diastereoisomers were separated using low temperature fractional crystallization. Reduction of these isomers and tosylation in situ afforded the corresponding N-(p-toluenesulfonyl)-cis- and trans-3-ethylprolinols. Chromic acid oxidation gave N-(p-toluenesulfonyl)-cis- and trans-3-ethylproline. Reaction of these tosylates with 30% hydrogen bromide in acetic acid gave cis- and trans-3-ethylproline. Both optically active isomers of D(+)-and L(-)-trans-3-ethylproline were successfully resolved using (+)-dibenzoyl-D -tartaric acid and (-)-dibenzoyl-L -tartaric acid as resolving agents. The absolute configurations of the optically active isomers were determined by circular dichroism spectroscopy.     

Synthesis of Cis- and Trans-1-methylcyclohexane-1,4-diols and Their 4-Hemisuccinate Esters

Stereoselective syntheses of the previously uncharacterized cis- and trans-1-methylcyclohexane-1,4-diols and their conversion to 4-hemisuccinate esters are described.     

A Facile Route to Olefins from Vic-Diols Via Cyclic Sulfates with Triphenylphosphine and Iodine

Treatment of cyclic sulfates of vic-diois with triphenylphosphine and iodine offers the corresponding olefins in high yields at room temperature. Both cyclic sulfates of d,l-hydrobenzoin and meso-hydrobenzoin give trans-stilbene.     

Stability of boronic esters - Structural effects on the relative rates of transesterification of 2-(phenyl)-1,3,2-dioxaborolane

Relative rates of reaction of the achiral cyclic phenylboronic ester 2-(phenyl)-1,3,2-dioxaborolane with a wide variety of structurally modified diols, have been studied to understand the factors influencing the relative stabilities of boronic esters. It is found that the alkyl substituents on the α-carbons of diols slow down the transesterification, but produce thermodynamically more stable boronic ester. Six-membered boronic esters are thermodynamically more stable than their corresponding five-membered analogs. Amongst cyclic 1,2-diols, cis-1,2-cyclopentanediol displaces ethylene glycol instantaneously whereas trans-1,2-cyclopentanediol is totally unreactive, which suggests that the cis-stereochemistry of the 1,2-diol is a prerequisite for transesterification. Among the 1,5-diols, diethanolamine displaces ethylene glycol quite rapidly forming a more stable bicyclic chelate in which nitrogen is attached to boron by a coordinating bond (as evident by ¹¹B NMR spectroscopy). The oxygen atom of di(ethylene glycol) and the sulfur atom of 2,2′-thiodiethanol do not assist in displacing the ethylene glycol from their boronic esters.     

Synthesis and reactions of heterocyclic methyl 2-propenoates and 2,3-epoxypropanoates with nucleophiles

Reaction of 2-(3-,4-)pyridinecarboxaldehydes 5 with carbomethoxymethylene triphenylphosphorane afforded predominantly E-methyl-3-(pyridinyl)-2-propenoates 7. Oxidation of 7a-c with m-chloroperbenzoic acid gave methyl E-3-(1-oxidopyridinyl)-2-propenoates 8a-c in high yield. The Darzen's reaction of 5a-c with methyl bromoacetate yielded a mixture of stereoisomers cis- 9a-c and methyl trans-3-(pyridinyl)-2,3-epoxy-propanoates 10a-c in a ratio of 2:1. Oxidation of cis- 9a-c and trans- 10a-c afforded the corresponding cis- 11a-c and methyl trans-3-(1-oxidopyridinyl)-2,3-epoxypropanoates 12a-c in good yield. The reaction of 11a and 12a with cyclic amines as piperidine gave the respective threo- 13 and methyl erythro-2-(1-piperidino)-3-hydroxy-3-(1-oxido-2-pyridino)propanoate 14. The sodium borohydride reduction of the N-alkoxylcarbonyl pyridinium salts of 9c and 10c afforded the corresponding N-alkoxycarbonyl-1,2-dihydropyridyl derivatives 15 and 16. A number of selected compounds ( 7a-c , 9a-c , 10a , 10c , 11a-c and 12a , 12c ) were found to be inactive in the P388 Lymphocytic screen. Compounds 9-12 did not react with the model nucleophile ethanethiol in phosphate buffer at 37°.     

Attempted polymerization of substituted pipecolic acid NCA's: Dimerization and mechanism

Racemic and optically active N-carboxyanhydrides (NCA)s of 2-methyl- and cis-6-methylpipecolic acid, when subjected to polymerization conditions in solution or in bulk whether with “weak” or “strong” base initiators, resisted polymerization under all conditions tried. Instead, the NCA of 2-methylpipecolic acid gave the corresponding cyclic dipeptide and the NCA of cis-6-methylpipecolic acid formed the cyclic dipeptide derived from trans-6-methylpipecolic acid. The mechanism of dimerization of these NCA's was investigated. Evidence was provided for the proposed mechanism in which the active moiety is not a carbamate ion but an amino group. Methyl 2-methylpipecolate underwent an intermolecular S_N2-type reaction upon heating, yielding equimolar quantities of methyl N-methyl-2-methylpipecolate and 2-methylpipecolic acid.     

Synthesis of homochiral spiro [4.4]nonane-l,6-diols

Homochiral cis, cis-; cis,trans and trans,trans-spiro[4,4]-nonane-1,6-diols were prepared via diastereoselective reduction of enantiomerically pure spiro[4.4]nonane-l,6-dione (1) with the corresponding reducing agents: lithium n-butyldiisobutylaluminium hydride for cis,cis-diol (2) with 88% yield; BH₃·THF for cis, trans-diol (8) with 91% yield; LiAlH₄ for trans,trans-diol (4) with 15% yield.     

Saturated heterocycles, 248. Synthesis of 2,4-dioxo and 4-oxo-2-thioxo derivatives of octahydrocyclopenta[d]pyrimidines

Unsubstituted and 1-benzyl-substituted cis-cyclopenta[d]pyrirnidine-2,4-diones and cis-2-thioxo-cyclopenta[d]pyrimidin-4-ones 9a,b and 10a,b were prepared from the corresponding cis-2-amino-1-cyclopentanecarboxylates 3 and 5 with potassium cyanate and thiocyanate. It was found that the cis derivatives 7a-h readily underwent ring closure, resulting in 3-substituted cis-2,4-cyclopenta[d]pyrimidinediones and cis-2-thioxocyclopenta[d]pyrimidin-4-ones 11a-d and 12a-d , whereas the trans counterparts 8a-d failed to cyclize, but gave hydrolysed amino acid derivatives 13a,b and 14 . This difference in the reactivities of the cis and trans isomers is a further example of the difficulty of preparing cyclopentane trans-fused six-membered 1,3-heterocycles by ring closure.     

SYNTHESIS AND CONFIGURATIONAL STUDIES OF ARYL CYCLOPROPYL SULFONES

Abstract

The cycloaddition of arylthiocarbenes to styrene gave stereospecifically cis?1-(arylthio)-2-phenylcyclopropanes, which were subsequently oxidized to the corresponding sulfones. The cyclopropanation of α,β-unsaturated sulfones with dimethylsulfonium methylide yielded stereoselectively trans?1-(arylsulfonyl)-2-arylcyclopropanes. The configurational assignments of these compounds have been arrived at on the basis of IR and PMR spectral data. Chemical shifts for ring protons and other substituents reveal that all the substituents tend to cause protons cis to them to appear at higher fields than those trans to them. This has been used as a criterion to distinguish between cis and trans aryl cyclopropyl sulfones.     

Application of the temperature dependence of vicinal spin-spin coupling constants to the investigation of the configuration of substituents in saturated 5-membered rings

Temperature dependence of cis- and trans-vicinal spin-spin coupling constants of substituted cyclic 5-membered compounds is discussed. The temperature dependence of trans-vicinal coupling constants is shown to be essentially stronger than that of cis-vicinal coupling constants if the energies of the conformers corresponding to potential energy curve minima are different. The temperature dependence of 33 vicinal spin-spin coupling constants has been studied for di- and trisubstituted thiophanes with a known configuration of substituents. Experimentally determined changes of trans-vicinal coupling constants with temperature are markedly larger than those for cis-vicinal coupling constants, whose values, in most cases, are practically temperature independent. Differences in the temperature dependence of cis and trans-vicinal spin-spin coupling constants can be applied for the determination of the configuration of substituents in saturated 5-membered rings.     

Reaction of chlorosulfonyl isocyanate with aziridines

The reaction of chlorosulfonyl isocyanate (CSI) with 1,2,3-triphenylaziridine (1) and some cis- and trans-1-cyclohexyl-2-aroyl-3-phenylaziridines, 4-7 and 19-22 has been described. The cis-isomers of aziridines, 4-7 , undergo a smooth reaction with CSI to give the corresponding cis-isomers of 2-chlorosulfonylimino-1,3-oxazolidines, 8-11 , in good yields (65-67%). While the trans-isomers, 19-22 , gave unusual products 23-26 which have been assigned a bicyclic structure, based on their physical and spectral (ir, pmr, ms) data. Plausible mechanisms have been postulated to explain the transformations.     

Synthesis and reactions of heterocyclic 2,3-epoxypropionitriles with pyrrolidine

The Darzen's reaction of 2-(3-)pyridinecarboxaldehydes 5 with chloroacetonitrile yielded a mixture of stereoisomers cis- 6 and trans-3-(pyridinyl)-2,3-epoxypropionitriles 7 in a ratio of approximately 1:1. Oxidation of cis- 6 and trans- 7 afforded the corresponding cis- 8 and trans-3-(1-oxidopyridinyl)-2,3-epoxypropionitriles 9 in good yield. The reaction of 8a and 9a with pyrrolidine at 25° gave the respective threo- 10 and erthyro-2-(1-pyrrolidino)-3-hydroxy-3-(1-oxido-2-pyridinyl)propionitrile ( 11 ). A number of selected compounds ( 7-9a-b ) were found to be inactive in the P388 Lymphocyctic screen.     

Photooxygenation and photodimerization of 4-methoxystyrene in NaY. The role of co-adsorbed water and alkene–oxygen charge-transfer complex

On adsorption into NaY, 36% of 4-methoxystyrene (1) was consumed to yield its cis- and trans- chain dimers 2. Irradiation of the NaY sample under vacuum gave cyclic dimers 3, probably through the excimer of 1, and also caused trans-to-cis one-way isomerization of 2. When the NaY sample was irradiated under dry oxygen, 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (4) was given as the major product through photoinduced electron-transfer reaction on excitation of the contact charge-transfer complexes between the guest molecules and O₂. The effects of sodium ion and co-adsorbed water on the photodimerization and photooxygenation is also discussed.     

Synthesis of Aristotelia-Type Alkaloids. Part III. (3R,4R)- and (3R,4S)-1-p-menthene-3,8-diol and the corresponding racemates: Preparation and assignment of configuration

A 1:1 mixture of the racemic trans- and cis-1-p-menthene-3,8-diols ((±)- 3 and (±)- 4 , resp.) was readily prepared in 3 steps starting from 3-methyl-2-cyclohexen-1-one. The relative configuration of the diols, purified via the corresponding cyclocarbonates, was assigned by ¹H-NMR spectroscopy and found to be at variance with tentative claims in the literature. Optically active samples of 3 and 4 were prepared by resolution of the racemates with (R)-1-phenylethylamine. The absolute configuration of the resulting diols was determined by chemical correlation with standards of known absolute configuration.     

1,2-Adducts of 5-Allyl-2,3,5-trichloro-4,4-dimethoxy-2-cyclopentenone with Ethyl Acetate Lithium Salt and Their Reactions with Iodine

The condensation of 5-allyl-2,3,5-trichloro-4,4-dimethoxy-2-cyclopentenone with ethyl acetate lithium salt generated in situ in THF at -78°C gave adducts at the carbonyl group, the corresponding cis- and trans-chlorohydrins. The steric structure of the products was determined by involving them into reaction with iodine. From the trans-adduct the expected bicyclic compound was obtained, while the cis-chlorohydrin underwent anomalous deacetalization to iodomethoxycyclopentenone. Spectral parameters of the adducts were discussed. Unusual diastereotopicity was observed for the remote methylene groups in the ester moiety.     

Nucleophilic Substitution at Tetracoordinate Phosphorus. Stereochemical Course and Mechanisms of Nucleophilic Displacement Reactions at Phosphorus in Diastereomeric cis- and trans-2-Halogeno-4-methyl-1,3,2-dioxaphosphorinan-2-thiones: Experimental and DFT Studies

Geometrical cis- and trans- isomers of 2-chloro-, 2-bromo- and 2-fluoro-4-methyl-1,3,2-dioxaphosphorinan-2-thiones were obtained in a diastereoselective way by (a) sulfurization of corresponding cyclic P^III-halogenides, (b) reaction of cyclic phosphorothioic acids with phosphorus pentachloride and (c) halogen–halogen exchange at P^IV-halogenide. Their conformation and configuration at the C₄-ring carbon and phosphorus stereocentres were studied by NMR (¹H, ³¹P) methods, X-ray analysis and density functional (DFT) calculations. The stereochemistry of displacement reactions (alkaline hydrolysis, methanolysis, aminolysis) at phosphorus and its mechanism were shown to depend on the nature of halogen. Cyclic cis- and trans-isomers of chlorides and bromides react with nucleophiles (HO⁻, CH₃O⁻, Me₂NH) with inversion of configuration at phosphorus. DFT calculations provided evidence that alkaline hydrolysis of cyclic thiophosphoryl chlorides proceeds according to the S_N2-P mechanism with a single transition state according to the potential energy surface (PES) observed. The alkaline hydrolysis reaction of cis- and trans-fluorides afforded the same mixture of the corresponding cyclic thiophosphoric acids with the thermodynamically more stable major product. Similar DFT calculations revealed that substitution at phosphorus in fluorides proceeds stepwise according to the A–E mechanism with formation of a pentacoordinate intermediate since a PES with two transition states was observed.     

Stereoselective H2O eliminations in 3- and 4-arcylcyclohexanols under electron impact

The elimination of H20 from the molecular ions of trans-4- and trans-3-arylcyclohexanois takes place to a greater extent than in the corresponding cis isomers. The remarkable differences in abundance taken together with substituent effects and the results of deuterium labelling, show that configuration is retained in the molecular ions which undergo the elimination, and that this process is a cis-1,4 and cis-1,3 elimination in the trans-4- and trans-3- arylcyclohexanois, respectively. Possible mechanisms for the elimination in the cis isomers are discussed.