[N‐(Carboxyl­ato­methyl)­aspartato(3–)](ethyl­enedi­amine)­cobalt(III) trihydrate

The mononuclear title complex, [Co(C₆H₆NO₆)(C₂H₈N₂)]·3H₂O, contains an octahedrally coordinated Co^III atom. The N‐(carboxy­methyl)­aspartate moiety is coordinated as a tetradentate ligand, providing an OONO‐donor set and forming two trans five‐membered chelate rings and one six‐membered chelate ring. A seven‐membered chelate ring is also formed, which consists of part of the six‐membered chelate ring and part of one of the five‐membered chelate rings. The crystal structure of the complex is stabilized by hydrogen bonds with three water mol­ecules.     

Enantioselective Organocatalytic Four‐Atom Ring Expansion of Cyclobutanones: Synthesis of Benzazocinones

An enantioselective Michael addition– four‐atom ring expansion cascade reaction involving cyclobutanones activated by a N‐aryl secondary amide group and ortho‐amino nitrostyrenes has been developed for the preparation of functionalized eight‐membered benzolactams using bifunctional aminocatalysts. Taking advantage of the secondary amide activating group, the eight‐membered cyclic products could be further rearranged into their six‐membered isomers having a glutarimide core under base catalysis conditions without erosion of optical purity, featuring an overall ring expansion– ring contraction strategy.     

4‐(3,17‐Dioxoandrost‐4‐en‐16‐ylidenemethyl)benzonitrile

The title compound, C₂₇H₂₉NO₂, has the outer six‐membered ring in a sofa conformation, while the central rings are in chair conformations. The five‐membered ring adopts a slightly distorted 13β,14α‐half‐chair conformation. The cyano­benzyl­idene moiety has an E configuration with respect to the carbonyl group at position 17.     

Efficient and Selective Formation of Macrocyclic Disubstituted Z Alkenes by Ring‐Closing Metathesis (RCM) Reactions Catalyzed by Mo‐ or W‐Based Monoaryloxide Pyrrolide (MAP) Complexes: Applications to Total Syntheses of Epilachnene,Yuzu Lactone,Ambrettolide, Epothilone C,and Nakadomarin A

The first broadly applicable set of protocols for efficient Z‐selective formation of macrocyclic disubstituted alkenes through catalytic ring‐closing metathesis (RCM) is described. Cyclizations are performed with 1.2–7.5 mol % of a Mo‐ or W‐based monoaryloxide pyrrolide (MAP) complex at 22 °C and proceed to complete conversion typically within two hours. Utility is demonstrated by synthesis of representative macrocyclic alkenes, such as natural products yuzu lactone (13‐membered ring: 73 % Z) epilachnene (15‐membered ring: 91 % Z), ambrettolide (17‐membered ring: 91 % Z), an advanced precursor to epothilones C and A (16‐membered ring: up to 97 % Z), and nakadomarin A (15‐membered ring: up to 97 % Z). We show that catalytic Z‐selective cyclizations can be performed efficiently on gram‐scale with complex molecule starting materials and catalysts that can be handled in air. We elucidate several critical principles of the catalytic protocol: 1) The complementary nature of the Mo catalysts, which deliver high activity but can be more prone towards engendering post‐RCM stereoisomerization, versus W variants, which furnish lower activity but are less inclined to cause loss of kinetic Z selectivity. 2) Reaction time is critical to retaining kinetic Z selectivity not only with MAP species but with the widely used Mo bis(hexafluoro‐tert‐butoxide) complex as well. 3) Polycyclic structures can be accessed without significant isomerization at the existing Z alkenes within the molecule.     

Synthesis of a Six‐Membered‐Ring (2R)‐10a‐Homobornane‐10a,2‐sultam and Structural Comparison with Oppolzer's,Lang's,and King's Sultams

The new six‐membered‐ring (2R)‐10a‐homobornane‐10a,2‐sultam (−)‐ 3a was synthesized and its X‐ray structural analysis was compared with that of the novel structure of the five‐membered‐ring (2R)‐bornane‐10,2‐sultam analogues (−)‐ 1a , b as well as with that already published for the six‐membered‐ring trans‐decalin‐like sultam 4a . Based on DN** density‐function calculations and X‐ray crystallographic studies of the N‐methylated analogues (−)‐ 1e and 4b and by comparing with the conformation of the N‐fluoro derivatives (−)‐ 1c and (+)‐ 1d , the anomeric stabilization was estimated to be smaller than the 2.0–2.5 kcal/mol earlier suggested. The direction of pyramidalization is rationalized in terms of H‐bond and steric and electronic interactions and extended to the known toluenesultam derivatives 10a – c .     

3′,4′‐Bis(4‐chloro­phenyl)­spiro­[chroman‐3,5′(4′H)‐isoxazol]‐4‐one

The title compound, C₂₃H₁₅Cl₂NO₃, crystallizes with two independent mol­ecules in the asymmetric unit. The chroman­one moiety consists of a benzene ring fused with a six‐membered heterocyclic ring which adopts a sofa conformation. The five‐membered spiro­isoxazoline ring is in an envelope conformation. The p‐chloro­phenyl rings bridged by the five‐membered ring are nearly perpendicular to each other. The chromanone moiety of one mol­ecule packs into the cavity formed by the p‐chloro­phenyl rings of a second mol­ecule through the formation of C—H?π interactions. The structure is stabilized by weak C—H?O, C—H?Cl and C—H?π interactions.     

Total Synthesis of Crotophorbolone

The complex ABC‐tricyclic structure of crotophorbolone, a derivative of the tigliane diterpenoids, was assembled by coupling of simple fragments. The six‐membered C‐ring fragment, having five contiguous stereocenters, was stereoselectively constructed from (R)‐carvone. After attachment of the five‐membered A‐ring through the π‐allyl Stille coupling reaction, the α‐alkoxy bridgehead radical reaction effected the endo‐cyclization of the seven‐membered B‐ring by forming the sterically congested bond at C9 and C10 stereospecifically and stereoselectively, respectively. Finally, the functional groups on the 5/7/6‐membered ring system were manipulated by rhodium‐catalyzed C2 olefin isomerization, C13 decarboxylative oxidation, and C4 hydroxylation, thus completing the first total synthesis of crotophorbolone.     

Total Synthesis of (−)‐Lundurine A and Determination of its Absolute Configuration

A 15‐step total synthesis of (?)‐lundurine A ( 1 ) from easily accessible (S)‐pyrrolidinone 18 is reported. A Simmons‐Smith reaction allows the efficient, simultaneous assembly of the cyclopropyl C ring, the six‐membered D ring, the seven‐membered E ring, and the quaternary carbon stereocenters at C2 and C7. The absolute configuration of natural (?)‐lundurine A was deduced to be 2R,7R,20R based on the stepwise construction of the stereocenters during the total synthesis.     

Chiral discrimination in hydrogen‐bonded complexes of hydrogen peroxide with methyl hydroperoxide: Theoretical study

For the first time, the discrimination of different chiral forms of 1:1 complexes with hydrogen peroxide and methyl hydroperoxide have been investigated using density functional theory (DFT) and Møller–Plesset type 2 (MP2) methods at varied basis set levels from 6‐31+G(d,p) to 6‐31++G(2d,2p). Three pairs of chiral enantiomers were considered. The optimized geometric parameters, interaction energies, and chirodiastatic energies for various isomers at different levels are estimated. To take into account the water solvation effect, the polarized continuum model (PCM) method has been used to evaluate the ΔG_solv. The gas phase results show that the heterochiral six‐membered ring complex (structure I) and homochiral five‐membered ring complexes (structures IV and V) are preferred configurations for the three pairs of chiral enantiomers. The solvation effect on six‐membered ring complexes (structures I and II) shows nonsignificant changes in the configurations preferred, but on five‐membered ring complexes, the homo‐/heterochiral preference is found to be inverse in the polar solvent. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2006     

Novel five‐membered ring formation by oxidative photocyclization of 4‐(2‐arylvinyl)benzo[a]quinolizinium salts

Oxidative photocyclization of 4‐(2‐arylvinyl)benzo[a]quinolizinium salts ( 6 ) gave five‐ or six‐mem‐bered rings depending on the aryl substituent. The olefins 6a and 6b with a phenyl or naphthyl substituent resulted in a normal six‐membered ring formation to afford 6a‐azoniapicene and 6a‐azoniabenzo[b]picene salts ( 7 and 8 ), respectively. In contrast, the photo‐reaction of pyridyl substituted derivative 6c resulted in novel five‐membered ring formation to yield 3b‐azonia‐5‐(2‐pyridyl)acephenanthrylene salt ( 10 ).     

Asymmetric Synthesis of Spiropyrazolones by Rhodium‐Catalyzed C(sp2)−H Functionalization/Annulation Reactions

Rhodium‐catalyzed C(sp²)−H functionalization reactions of 4‐aryl‐5‐pyrazolones followed by [3+2] annulation reactions with alkynes provide rapid access to highly enantioenriched five‐membered‐ring 4‐spiro‐5‐pyrazolones. The use of a chiral SCpRh catalyst enabled the synthesis of a large range of spiropyrazolones with all‐carbon quaternary stereogenic centers in up to 99 % yield and 98 % ee from readily available substrates.     

17‐Oxo‐16‐(2‐pyridyl­methyl­ene)­androst‐5‐en‐3β‐ol monohydrate

The title compound, C₂₅H₃₁NO₂·H₂O, has the outer two six‐membered rings in chair conformations, while the central ring is in an 8β,9α‐half‐chair conformation. The five‐membered ring adopts a 13,14‐half‐chair conformation. The pyridyl­methyl­ene moiety has an E configuration with respect to the carbonyl group at position 17. The structure is stabilized by intermolecular O—H?N and O—H?O hydrogen bonds.     

Beryllepin,C6H6Be,and “Beryllium‐Inserted Benzenes,” C6H6Ben,n = 2–6: A Density Functional Computational Investigation

The seven‐membered beryllium‐containing heterocycle beryllepin, C₆H₆Be, has been examined computationally at the B3LYP/6‐311++G** density functional level of theory. Beryllepin is best described as a planar singlet heterocyclic conjugated triene with marginal aromatic character containing a C–Be–C moiety forced to be nonlinear (∠C‐Be‐C = 146.25°) by the cyclic constraints of the seven‐membered ring. The molecule can be considered to be derived from a benzene‐like system in which a neutral beryllium atom has been inserted between two adjacent carbon atoms. The 11 other possible “beryllium‐inserted benzenes,” C₆H₆Be_n, n = 2–6, have also been investigated. Only two of these heterocyclic systems, the eight‐membered 1,4‐diberyllocin and the nine‐membered 1,4,7‐triberyllonin, were found to be stable, singlet‐ground‐state systems, albeit with little aromatic character. Of the remaining nine beryllium‐inserted benzenes, with the exception of the 11‐membered ring containing five beryllium atoms and the 12‐membered ring containing six beryllium atoms, which were calculated to exist as a ground state pentet and septet, respectively, all were calculated to be ground state triplet systems.     

Stereocomplementary Routes to Hydroxylated Nitrogen Heterocycles: Total Syntheses of Casuarine,Australine, and 7‐epi‐Australine

Addition of lithiated 1‐benzyloxyallene to a D ‐arabinose‐derived cyclic nitrone occurred with perfect diastereoselectivity furnishing a bicyclic 1,2‐oxazine derivative, which is an excellent precursor for pyrrolizidine alkaloids hydroxylated at C‐7 with optional configuration at this stereogenic center. Depending on the stage of the N? O bond cleavage and ring re‐closure, 7‐hydroxypyrrolizidines with 7R or 7S configuration were obtained, as a result of completely selective addition reactions occurring complementarily at the bottom or top face of the endocyclic C? C double bond in six‐ and five‐membered B rings, respectively. Applicability of these stereodivergent routes to obtain polyhydroxy pyrrolizidine alkaloids is demonstrated by the efficient syntheses of casuarine and australine as examples of the two classes of diversely configured 7‐hydroxypyrrolizidine alkaloids. An alternative synthesis of australine and two strategies for the preparation of 7‐epi‐australine are also reported, which demonstrate that the stereoselectivity of hydride reduction of an exocyclic C? O double bond is independent of the ring size, occurring preferentially from the top face either in a six‐ or five‐membered ring.     

3β,7α,12α‐Tri­formyl­oxy‐24‐nor‐5β‐chol‐22‐ene

The title compound, alternatively called 24‐nor‐5β‐chol‐22‐ene‐3β,7α,12α‐triyl triformate, C₂₆H₃₈O₆, has a cis junction between two of the six‐membered rings. All three of the six‐membered rings have chair conformations that are slightly flattened and the five‐membered ring has a 13β,14α‐half‐chair conformation. The 3β, 7α and 12α ring substituents are axial and the 17β group is equatorial. The 3β‐formyl­oxy group is involved in one weak intermol­ecular C—H⋯O bond, which links the mol­ecules into dimers in a head‐to‐head fashion.     

Correlation of ring nitrogen substituents with carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance data in azoloazines

Carbon–13 nuclear magnetic resonance data have been acquired on 22 azoloazines. Chemical shifts have been correlated by a step–wise linear multiple regression with nitrogen substituents in both the 5- and 6-membered rings using pyrrolo[1,2-α]pyridine as the reference for chemical shift correlation. The data demonstrate that a highly correlated set of chemical shift parameters exist. Nitrogen substitution in the five–membered ring produces larger cross–ring effects than are oberved in the five–membered ring when substitution occurs in the six–membered ring. Within the six–membered ring a constant para- substituent parameter is noted. The meta- and para- parameters are more complex and fall into two groups for each parameter. Within the five–membered ring, a highly regular chemical shift pattern is observed which reflects an attenuated perturbation from nitrogen substitution in the six–membered ring.     

2,2′‐Anhydro‐1‐(3′,5′‐di‐O‐acetyl‐β‐D‐arabinofuranosyl)uracil,a cyclouridine nucleoside with a C4′‐endo furanosyl conformation

2,2′‐Anhydro‐1‐(3′,5′‐di‐O‐acetyl‐β‐D‐arabinofuranosyl)uracil, C₁₃H₁₄N₂O₇, was obtained by refluxing 2′,3′‐O‐(methoxymethylene)uridine in acetic anhydride. The structure exhibits a nearly perfect C4′‐endo (⁴E) conformation. The best four‐atom plane of the five‐membered furanose ring is O—C—C—C, involving the C atoms of the fused five‐membered oxazolidine ring, and the torsion angle is only −0.4 (2)°. The oxazolidine ring is essentially coplanar with the six‐membered uracil ring [r.m.s. deviation = 0.012 (5) Å and dihedral angle = −3.2 (3)°]. The conformation at the exocyclic C—C bond is gauche–trans which is stabilized by various C—H...π and C—O...π interactions.     

3β‐Acetoxy‐5α,6β‐di­hydroxybisnorcholanic acid 2216 lactone

In the title compound, C₂₄H₃₆O₆, the ester linkage in ring A is equatorial. The six‐membered rings A, B and C have chair conformations. The five‐membered ring D adopts a 13β,14α‐half‐chair conformation and the E ring adopts an envelope conformation. The A/B, B/C and C/D ring junctions are trans, whereas the D/E junction is cis.     

Dibothrioclinin I and II,epimers from Gerbera piloselloides (L.) Cass

Dibothrioclinin I and II, namely (+)‐(11R,12S,25R,27S)‐ and (±)‐­(11RS,12RS,25RS,27SR)‐3,3,7,17,21‐penta­methyl‐4,12,18,26‐tetraoxahepta­cyclo­[15.11.1.0^2,15.0^5,14.0^6,11.0^19,28.0^20,25]­nona­cosa‐5(14),6,8,10,19(28),20,22,24‐octaene‐13,27‐dione, respectively, are C₃₀H₂₈O₆ epimers which are derived from two bothrioclinin moieties joined so as to create an additional six‐membered ring. Structurally, the epimers differ only by inversion at one C atom of a central ring junction and the corresponding six‐membered rings have similar conformations in each mol­ecule, except for one ring adjacent to this inversion site.     

Hemsleyaconitines F and G,Two Novel C19‐Diterpenoid Alkaloids Possessing a Unique Skeleton from Aconitum hemsleyanum

Hemsleyaconitines F and G ( 1 and 2 , resp.) were isolated from the EtOH extract of Aconitum hemsleyanum. Their structures were elucidated by extensive analyses of the IR, 1D‐ and 2D‐NMR, and MS data. The two C₁₉‐diterpenoid alkaloids 1 and 2 possess a novel skeleton, featuring a five‐membered D‐ring between C(9), C(13), C(14), C(15), and C(16), which is quite different from the previously isolated six‐membered D‐ring analogs.