A new access to cyclopenta[c]pyridine ring system: syntheses of (−)-plectrodorine and (+)-oxerine

Total syntheses of (−)-plectrodorine [(−)-1] and (+)-oxerine [(+)-3] possessing the cyclopenta[c]pyridine ring system have been accomplished through a route starting from the chiral γ-butyrolactone 7 and exploiting the intramolecular oxazole–olefin Diels–Alder reaction. The sign of specific rotation for the synthetic (+)-3 was in disagreement with that reported for natural oxerine, leaving the absolute configuration of this monoterpene alkaloid incomplete.     

Macrolide antibiotics—VIII The absolute configuration of certain centers in neomethymycin, erythromycin and related antibiotics

Neomethymycin (I) has been transformed into “anhydrocycloneomethynolide” (V) which could be degraded via (−)--methyllevulinic acid to (−)--methylsuccinic acid, thus establishing the absolute configuration of positions 4 and 6 in the lactonic acid (XIII). This acid is a common degradation product of methymycin, neomethymycin, pikromycin and narbomycin and there is thus available a standard of absolute configuration for these macrolide antibiotics. By a different sequence of reactions, erythromycin (XXIII) has been converted into (+)--methyllevulinic acid and (+)--methylsuccinic acid. Coupled with earlier results reported in the literature, it is now possible to assign absolute configurations to positions 10 (R) and 8 (R) of erythromycin and this applies most likely also to positions 4 (R) and 2 (S). Attention is called to the biogenetic significance of these observations.     

Organoboranes for synthesis 17. Generality of hydroboration-amination for the conversion of terpenes into enantiomerically pure terpenylamines. Their utility for gas chromatographic analysis of chiral carboxylic acids

The generality of our new convenient synthesis of isopinocampheylamines by hydroboration-amination of -pinene has been established by converting representative terpenes into optically pure terpenylamines, such as (−)-cis-caran-trans-2-amine, (−)-cis-caran-trans-4-amine, (−)-longifolamine, and (+)-cis-myrtanylamine. The synthesis involves converting the terpene into the B-chloroditerpenylborane by treatment with chloroborane-methyl sulfide. This is treated with trimethylaluminum to form the B-methylditerpenylborane, and the latter is converted into the amine by treatment with hydroxylamine-O-sulfonic acid. cis-Myrtanylamine has been shown to be as effective as isopinocampheylamine for the gas chromatographic analysis of racemic carboxylic acids as their diastereomeric amides, suggesting the generality of this application of terpenylamines as chiral derivatizing agents.     

A new non-natural chiral auxiliary: design, synthesis, and resolution of 1-mesitylethylamine and its application in the asymmetric aza-Diels–Alder reaction

1-Mesitylethylamine was designed as a new non-natural chiral auxiliary. Racemic 1-mesitylethylamine could be synthesized in two steps from mesityl cyanide and could be resolved via separation of diastereomeric carbamates derived from (−)-menthyl chloroformate, followed by reduction with DIBAL and acidic hydrolysis. Imines, prepared from enantiopure 1-mesitylethylamine and aromatic aldehydes, reacted with Danishefsky’s diene in the presence of a Lewis acid to give cycloaddition products, 4-pyridone derivatives, with high diastereoselectivity.     

Enantio- and diastereoselectivities in chiral sulfur ylide promoted asymmetric aziridination reactions

Density functional theory investigation on the factors controlling enantio- and diastereoselection in asymmetric aziridination reaction by the addition of chiral bicyclic sulfur ylides to substituted aldimines is presented. High levels of enantioselection are predicted toward the formation of (2S,3S)-cis and (2R,3S)-trans aziridines by the addition of stabilized ylide (R = COMe) respectively to SO2Me and CO2Me protected aldimines. Similarly, high %ee is predicted for the formation of (2S,3R)-cis aziridines from semistabilized (R = Ph) ylide. Moderate to high levels of diastereoselectivity is noticed as well. The present study highlights that a correct prediction on extent of enantioselection requires the knowledge of the activation barriers for elementary steps beyond the initial addition step. In the case of stabilized ylides the ring-closure (or elimination of sulfur compound) is found to be crucial in controlling enantio- and diastereoselection. A cumulative effect of electronic as well as other weak interactions is identified as factors contributing to the relative energies of transition states leading to enantio- and diastereomeric products for the stabilized ylide addition to aldimines. On the contrary, steric control appears quite dominant with semistabilized ylide addition. With the smallest substituent on ylide (R = Me), high enantioselectivity is predicted for the formation of (2R,3R)-trans aziridines although the %de in this case is found to be very low.     

Synthesis and characterization of homochiral cholesteryl 1-alkenesulfinate esters

A number of ,β-unsaturated sulfinyl chlorides 1 has been separately prepared and treated with (−)-cholesterol under various conditions some of which incorporated chiral amines quinine or quinidine. Some (R_S) vinylic sulfinates could be isolated in enantiopure form following one or two recrystallizations of the resulting diastereomeric mixtures of (−)-cholesteryl 1-alkenesulfinates 2. Access to diastereomerically enriched (S_S) vinylic sulfinates (66–75% de) was achieved in three instances. Absolute stereochemical assignments were made with the assistance of the chiral solvating agent (R)-2,2,2-trifluoro-1-(9-anthryl)ethanol.     

Chiral C2-symmetric 2,3-disubstituted aziridine and 2,6-disubstituted piperidine as chiral ligands in the addition reaction of diethylzinc with arylaldehydes

Chiral C₂-symmetric 2,3-disubstituted aziridines and 2,6-disubstituted piperidines having a β-amino alcohol moiety have been successfully synthesized and their catalytic chiral induction properties have been examined in the asymmetric addition reactions of diethylzinc with arylaldehydes in hexane. When N-(2,2-diphenyl-2-hydroxyethyl)-(S,S)-2,3-bis(methoxymethyl)aziridine 11 was used as a catalytic chiral ligand, sec-alcohols having (S)-configuration formed in high yields of 86–92% but low enantiomeric excesses (ee's) of 11–13%. However, when N-(2,2-diphenyl-2-hydroxyethyl)-(R,R)-2,6-disubstituted piperidine derivatives 16 and 20 were used as the chiral ligands under the same reaction conditions, the ee's of the corresponding sec-alcohols were 20–30 and 5–6%, respectively, along with the inversion of absolute configuration. A plausible mechanism for this inversion is proposed.     

Solvent- and temperature-dependent functionalisation of enantioenriched aziridines

A highly stereo‐ and regioselective functionalisation of chiral non‐racemic aziridines is reported. By starting from a parent enantioenriched aziridine and finely tuning the reaction conditions, it is possible to address the regio‐ and stereoselectivity of the lithiation/electrophile trapping sequence, thereby allowing the preparation of highly enantioenriched functionalised aziridines. From chiral N‐alkyl trans‐2,3‐diphenylaziridines (S,S)‐ 1 a , b , two differently configured chiral aziridinyllithiums could be generated (trans‐ 1 a , b‐Li in toluene and cis‐ 1 a , b‐Li in THF), thus disclosing a solvent‐dependent reactivity that is useful for the synthesis of chiral tri‐substituted aziridines with different stereochemistry. In contrast, chiral aziridine (S,S)‐ 1 c showed a temperature‐dependent reactivity to give chiral ortho‐lithiated aziridine 1 c‐ ortho ‐Li at ?78 °C and α‐lithiated aziridine 1 c‐α‐Li at 0 °C. Both lithiated intermediates react with electrophiles to give enantioenriched ortho‐ and α‐functionalised aziridines. The reaction of all the lithiated aziridines with carbonyl compounds furnished useful chiral hydroxyalkylated derivatives, the stereochemistry of which was ascertained by X‐ray and NMR spectroscopic analysis. The usefulness of chiral non‐racemic functionalised aziridines has been demonstrated by reductive ring‐opening reactions furnishing chiral amines that bear quaternary stereogenic centres and chiral 1,2‐, 1,3‐ and 1,5‐aminoalcohols. It is remarkable that the solvent‐dependent reactivity observed with (S,S)‐ 1 a , b permits the preparation of both the enantiomers of amines ( 11 and ent‐ 11 ) and 1,2‐aminoalcohols ( 13 and ent‐ 13 ) starting from the same parent aziridine. Interestingly, for the first time, a configurationally stable chiral α‐lithiated aziridine ( 1 c‐α‐Li ) has been generated at 0 °C. In addition, ortho‐hydroxyalkylated aziridines have been easily converted into chiral aminoalkyl phthalans, which are useful building blocks in medicinal chemistry.     

Chiral imines prepared from 1-(2-aminoalkyl)aziridines as novel chiral shifts reagents for efficient recognition of acids

Optically pure, chiral imines synthesized from the corresponding aldehydes and 1-(2-aminoalkyl)aziridines in good chemical yields, have been assessed as an NMR chiral shift reagents for effective discrimination of the signals of some acids (mandelic acid and its derivatives and N-protected amino acid). The title compounds have proven to be very useful for the determination of enantiomeric purity and absolute configuration of the aforementioned acid derivatives.     

The crystal and molecular structure of (---)436-(η-C5H5)Fe(CO)(CH3CO)[Ph2PNHCH(Me)(Ph)]

The X-ray crystal structure and absolute configuration of (−)₄₃₆-(η⁵-C₅H₅)Fe(CO)(CH₃CO)[Ph₂PNHCH(Me)(Ph)] have been determined from single crystal diffraction data. The compound crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2₁ with two molecules in a unit cell of dimensions a = 10.676(4), b = 8.913(7), c = 13.275(9) Å, and β = 91.36°. The structure was solved by the Patterson method and refined to a final R value of 4.7% using 2299 independent data. The iron atom has distorted octahedral coordination, and the configuration at the iron is found to be (S) for the (−)₄₃₆ diastereoisomer. The Fe---Cp distances average 2.131 Å, with an Fe-(ring centroid)distance of 1.76 Å. The Fe-acetyl distance is virtually identical to that found in another iron/acetyl complex, but shows substantial variation from other compounds where the nature of the C(=O)R group is changed. Comparison to the Mo-alkyl/Mo-acetyl series is made, and the argument for back-donation in transition metal acyls is strengthened.

The orientation of the acetyl group is determined by a strong NHO intra-molecular hydrogen bond having an NO separation of only 2.86 ». The phosphine ligand has a very short Fe---P bond which could be in part caused by the role of the adjacent nitrogen in hydrogen bonding. The remaining ligand geometry is the same as that found in a recently reported ruthenium structure, although the absolute configurations at the chiral carbons are reversed, with the current compound being designated (S) at this site.     

Double Stereodifferentiation in the Catalytic Asymmetric Aziridination of Imines Prepared from α‐Chiral Amines

The catalytic asymmetric aziridination of imines and diazo compounds (AZ reaction) mediated by boroxinate catalysts derived from the VANOL and VAPOL ligands was investigated with chiral imines derived from five different chiral, disubstituted, methyl amines. The strongest matched and mismatched reactions with the two enantiomers of the catalyst were noted with disubstituted methyl amines that had one aromatic and one aliphatic substituent. The synthetic scope for the AZ reaction was examined in detail for α‐methylbenzyl amine for cis‐aziridines from α‐diazo esters and for trans‐aziridines from α‐diazo acetamides. Optically pure aziridines could be routinely obtained in good yields and with high diastereoselectivity and the minor diastereomer (if any) could be easily separated. The matched case for cis‐aziridines involved the (R)‐amine with the (S)‐ligand, but curiously, for trans‐aziridines the matched case involved the (R)‐amine with the (R)‐ligand for imines derived from benzaldehyde and n‐butanal, and the (R)‐amine with the (S)‐ligand for imines derived from the bulkier aliphatic aldehydes pivaldehyde and cyclohexane carboxaldehyde.     

Synthesis, stereochemistry, and circular dichroism of optically active o-substituted diphenyl sulphilimines and related compounds

Optically active o-substituted diphenyl N-substituted sulphilimines are readily synthesised by the reaction of the corresponding sulphides and t-butyl hypochlorite in the presence of l-menthol and amide anions. (−)-N-p-Tolylsulphonylsulphilimines (1, 2) obtained were converted to the corresponding (−)-N-unsubstituted sulphilimines (8, 9) by treating them with concentrated sulphuric acid. When (−)-S-o-anisyl S-phenyl N-(unsubstituted) sulphilimine (8) was treated with acylating agents or acrylonitrile, the corresponding optically active (−)-N-substituted sulphilimines were prepared with complete retention at sulphur. The absolute configuration of (−)-S-o-anisyl S-phenyl N-p-tolylsulphonylsulphilimine (1) was determined by converting it to (+)-S-o-anisyl sulphoxide (17). CD curves of (−)-o-substituted diarylsulphilimines exhibited a negative Cotton effect at around 270–285 nm, which was assigned to (S)-configuration at sulphur by comparing with the analogous sulphoxides. The substituent on the imino group of the sulphilimine gave no appreciable effect on the CD behavior and the lack of substituent effect was considered to be due to the semi-polar character of the S(IV)-N bond. Unusual effect of o-methoxy group on the CD curves was discussed in connection with solvent effect. Mechanism of this asymmetric synthesis has been investigated, and it has become apparent that the diastereomeric menthoxysulphonium chloride was an excess of (RR)-configuration was formed initially and the amide anion attacks the S atom of the salt with net inversion.     

New optically active organotin compounds for heterogeneous bimetallic catalysis

Chiral tin(IV) derivatives with two or three chiral centers adjacent to the metal (−)-Ment₂SnMe₂, (−)-Ment₂SnPh₂, (−)-Ment₃ SnCl, (−)-Ment₃SnH; (−)-Ment = (1R, 2S, 5R)-1-chloro-5-methyl-2-isopropylcyclohexane, R₂Sn[CH(Me)(n-Hex)]₂ (R = Bu or Ph) have been prepared either by the coupling of methylmagnesium chloride with tin halides or by the reaction of lithium stannates with optically active (2-octyl)tosylate. The stereospecificity of both processes was remarkably high, leading to new optically pure organotin reagents which have been fully characterized.     

Synthesis of optically active forms of sulcatol : The aggregation pheromone in the scolytid beetle, Gnathotrichus sulcatus

(S)-(+)-Sulcatol (1) and its antipode (1′) were synthesized from (R)-(−)-glutamic acid (2), and its antipode (2′), respectively. This established the absolute configurations of both enantiomers of sulcatol and afforded key materials to study the relationship between pheromone activity and chirality.     

Structural effects in the Pd-induced enantioselective deprotection–decarboxylation of β-ketoesters

Structural effects in the chiral base and the influence of some key reaction parameters (catalyst type and solvent) in the Pd-induced enantioselective decarboxylation (cascade reaction) of three different ,-disubstituted benzyl β-ketoesters were explored. The reaction intermediate after debenzylation (β-keto-carboxylic acid) was synthesized and its decarboxylation studied independently. The highest ee (up to 60%) in the cascade reaction was achieved with those substrates that contained an aromatic ring system and with chiral amino alcohols that possessed an extended aromatic ring (quinine and quinidine). Polar solvents with weak H-bond donor and acceptor properties favor enantioselection.     

A convenient stereoselective synthesis of a (−)-vertinolide precursor

A short practical method for the enantioselective synthesis of (−)-vertinolide precursor 2 is described. The readily available chiral β-alkoxy substituted acrylate 7 has been reacted with the ethyl levulinate to form the tetronic acid nucleus 8, which in three subsequent steps was converted to the known precursor 2 in high overall yield.     

An EPR/ENDOR study of the asymmetric hydrogen bond between the quinone electron acceptor and the protein backbone in Photosystem I

Hydrogen bonding to the photoaccumulated secondary acceptor radical anion A₁^√− in photosystem (PS) I has been studied using pulsed Q-band ENDOR spectroscopy. With deuterated quinone in protonated PS I particles it is demonstrated that the observed radical anion has only one hydrogen-bond hyperfine coupling (hfc) tensor with tensor components above the 2 MHz range. Below 2 MHz the protein matrix protons dominate and a second weak H-bond could not be detected. The spectral resolution of pulsed Q-band ENDOR is critically required to separate the signals of the H-bond proton from those of the primary chlorophyll acceptor, A₀^√−, which cannot be avoided to be formed to some extent in the photoaccumulation procedure. The determined H-bond hfc tensor of A₁^√− is found to be close to axial symmetry with a small isotropic component, as expected from a predominantly dipolar electron–proton spin interaction in a hydrogen-bond. The principal tensor components are A=(+)7.7, MHz A=(−)4.9 MHz, A_iso=(−)0.7 MHz. The magnitude of the dipolar tensor corresponds to an unusually short H-bond which can be estimated from the point-dipole approximation (1.5±0.1 Å). Based on previous studies with A- and B-branch specific site-directed mutants of the A₁ site of PS I and the chosen photoaccumulation protocol, the observed A₁^√− radical anion can be assigned to the Q_K–A site of the A-branch. The observed H-bond hfc tensor is compared to those determined for related quinone radical anions observed in frozen protic solution as well as in the Q_A site of type II bacterial reaction centers.     

New enzymatic and chemical approaches to enantiopure etodolac

(+)- and (−)-etodolac enantiomers were prepared both by classical resolution via crystallisation of diastereoisomeric salts with (+) and (−)--methylbenzylamine, and by suitable manipulation of derivatives (−)-3- and (+)-4, obtained by lipase-catalysed kinetic resolution of racemic 3 X-ray diffraction analysis of the 4-bromobenzoate derivative of (+)-3, obtained from enantiopure acetate (+)-4, allowed us to determine the absolute (R) configuration of (−)-etodolac.     

Synthesis and olfactory properties of (−)-(1R,2S)-Georgywood

The enantiomers of Georgywood^® were synthesized from (E)-2-methyl-6-methylene-nona-2,7-diene and methacrylaldehyde followed by oxidation of the Diels–Alder adduct and classical racemate separation of the acid with optically-active N-methylephedrine. Conversion to the final ketone and olfactory evaluation showed that the (−)-(1R,2S)-enantiomer is more powerful by a factor of >100 than its antipode. The absolute configuration was determined by conformational studies and CD-analysis.     

Asymmetric Synthesis of Homoallylic Amines and Functionalized Pyrrolidines via Direct Amino-Crotylation of In Situ Generated Imines

The asymmetric synthesis of functionalized homoallylic amines and silyl functionalized pyrrolidines through the Lewis acid promoted condensation of chiral (E)-crotylsilanes with sulfonyl imines and in situ generated N-acyl imines is described. We had anticipated that this bond construction could be used in the asymmetric synthesis of the N-terminal amino acid subunit of the nikkomycins. Aryl sulfonyl imines condense with chiral silane reagents in the presence of BF₃·OEt₂ to form homoallylic arylsulfonyl amines with useful levels of syn selectivity. For cases involving aryl N-acyl imines we have learned that the temperature controls the course of the reaction. For instance, at temperatures of −78°C or below the major product is the pyrrolidine, while at higher temperatures (−30 to −20°C) the homoallylic amine is produced. For the cases studied, the [3+2]-annulation is limited to aryl imine derivatives, as alkyl- and branched- imines failed to produce the pyrrolidine derivatives: higher reaction temperatures promote the conversion of the annulation product to the homoallylic amines. In double stereodifferentiating reactions with in situ generated imines, good levels of selectivity were achieved in the formation of secondary amines bearing syn–anti and syn–syn stereochemical triads.