Chemo- and Regioselective Anionic Fries Rearrangement Promoted by Lithium Amides under Aerobic Conditions in Sustainable Reaction Media

A straightforward and efficient protocol to promote the metalation/anionic Fries rearrangements of O-aryl carbamates, using for the first time a lithium amide as metalating agent under aerobic/ambient-friendly reaction conditions, is reported. This approach enables the sustainable preparation of salicylamide derivatives with high levels of chemoselectivity within ultrafast reaction times, working at room temperature in the presence of air/moisture, and using environmentally responsible cyclopentyl methyl ether as a solvent. Furthermore, the regioselective manipulation of O-2-tolyl carbamates has been accomplished using interchangeably alkyllithiums or lithium amides, with an unexpected beneficial contribution from the employment of biorenewable protic eutectic mixtures as non-innocent reaction media.     

Theoretical Investigation of the Prototropic Diad Rearrangement of Salicylphosphorous and Phthalimidophosphorous Acids

The structures and energies of the tautomeric forms of salicylphosphorous and phthalimidophosphorous acids have been calculated by the DFT method. The tautomeric forms are found to be in equilibrium. Both tautomeric forms of phthalimidophosphorous acid may have an intramolecular hydrogen bond.     

Rearrangement Reactions of Tritylcarbenes: Surprising Ring Expansion and Computational Investigation

As a rule, acetylides and sulfonyl azides do not undergo electrophilic azide transfer because 1,2,3‐triazoles are usually formed. We show now that treatment of tritylethyne with butyllithium followed by exposure to 2,4,6‐triisopropylbenzenesulfonyl azide leads to products that are easily explained through the generation of short‐lived tritylethynyl azide and its secondary product cyanotritylcarbene. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that tritylcarbenes generally do not produce triphenylethenes exclusively, as was stated in the literature. Instead, these carbenes always yielded also (diphenylmethylidene)cycloheptatrienes (heptafulvenes) as side products. This result is supported by static DFT, coupled cluster, and ab initio molecular dynamics calculations. From these investigations, the fused bicyclobutane intermediate was found to be essential for heptafulvene formation. Although the bicyclobutane is also capable of rearranging to the triphenylethene product, only the heptafulvene pathway is reasonable from the energetics. The ethene is formed straight from cyanotritylcarbene.     

Chemo- and regioselectivity in the reactions of polyfunctional pyrroles

The chemo- and regioselectivity of the reduction, oxidation and Wittig reaction of polyfunctional pyrroles, containing a variety of reactive centres was investigated. The reaction of 3,5-dichloropyrrole-2,4-dicarboxaldehydes with potassium permanganate leads to regioselective oxidation of the 2-formyl group, while the Wittig reaction with 1 equiv of a triphenylphosphorane produced the 2-alkenyl substituted pyrroles.     

Stereoselectivity of cyclopropylchlorocarbene

Cyclopropylchlorocarbene adds to $\text{cis}$-butene (25°) with a 4.6:1 preference for the $\text{syn}$Cl—$\text{anti}$-cyclopropyl mode of addition, more than twice the stereoselectivity of phenylchlorocarbene in the analogous reaction.     

Computational and Synthetic Investigation of Cationic Rearrangement in the Putative Biosynthesis of Justicane Triterpenoids

A biomimetic cationic structural rearrangement of the oleanolic acid framework is reported for the gram‐scale synthesis and structural reassignment of justicioside E aglycone. The mechanism of the putative biosynthetic rearrangement is investigated with kinetic, computational, and synthetic approaches. The precursor to rearrangement was accessed through two strategic advancements: (1) synthesis of a 1,3‐diketone via oxidation of a β‐silyl enone, and (2) diastereoselective 1,3‐diketone reduction to form a syn‐1,3‐diol using SmI₂ with PhSH as a key additive.     

Further Investigation on the Rearrangement Mechanism of Reactions of 1,5-Benzothiazepines with Ethoxycarbonylcarbene

IntroductionDuring the last decade,our group has investigateda series of cycloaddition reactions of2,3-dihydro-1,5-benzothiazepines withα-carbonyl-ketenes[1,2],nitrileoxides[3,4],nitrile imines[3,4],ketenes[5—8],andcarbenes[9—11].Normal cycloadducts ca…     

Chemo- and Magnetotaxis of Self-Propelled Light-Emitting Chemo-electronic Swimmers

Miniaturized autonomous chemo-electronic swimmers, based on the coupling of spontaneous oxidation and reduction reactions at the two poles of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), are presented as chemotactic and magnetotactic devices. In homogeneous aqueous media, random motion caused by a bubble-induced propulsion mechanism is observed. However, in an inhomogeneous environment, the self-propelled devices exhibit positive chemotactic behavior, propelling themselves along a pH or ionic strength gradient (∇pH and ∇I, respectively) in order to reach a thermodynamically higher active state. In addition, the intrinsic permanent magnetic moment of the LED allows self-orientation in the terrestrial magnetic field or following other external magnetic perturbations, which enables a directional motion control coupled with light emission. The interplay between chemotaxis and magnetotaxis allows fine-tuning of the dynamic behavior of these swimmers.     

Stereoselectivity of the cyclooctene ring-opening polymerization

The stereoselectivity of the cyclooctene ring-opening polymerization in the presence of the tungsten hexachloride–tetraisobutylalumoxane (TBAO) catalyst system has been studied. The reaction conditions have been established in which the polymer chain isomerization is reduced to a minimum. Under these conditions the stereoselectivity is determined by an individual act of the monomer molecule insertion. The dependence of stereoselectivity on monomer concentration, number of active sites, and temperature has been investigated. The results obtained suggest that the cyclooctene polymerization is selective in favor of the geometrical configuration of the starting cycloolefin (the “retention” effect) by analogy with the previously reported metathesis of acyclic olefins. Considerations which support the idea that cis and trans units are reproduced by the same type of active sites are discussed. The experimental evidence indicates that in this case the stereoselectivity is determined by the difference in kinetics of two reaction paths of the monomer molecule insertion that lead to the formation of cis and trans units.     

Chemo- and regioselectivity-tunable Pd-catalyzed allylic alkylation of imines

α-Carbanions of cyclic and acyclic imines have been successfully applied as nucleophiles in the Pd-catalyzed allylic alkylation reaction. Tuning of chemo- and regioselectivity has been realized by using t-BuOK/THF and LDA/toluene to give branched and linear products, respectively, with high regio- and diastereoselectivities. A plausible mechanism is proposed on the basis of the experimental results and DFT calculations.     

Chemo- and regioselective reductive opening of azetidinium ions

Enantiomerically pure azetidinium trifluoromethanesulfonates were opened by various hydride reagents. LiAlH₄ and NaBH₃CN reacted with a complete regioselectivity and the latter reagent also reacted in a chemoselective way, leaving unaffected an ester or a cyano moiety present in the substrate. This reaction provides 1,2-diamines, 1,2- and 1,4-amino alcohols or α-amino esters by combining proper choice of substrate and hydride reagent.     

Enantioselective Chemo- and Biocatalysis: Partners in Retrosynthesis

Recent developments of stereoselective biocatalytic and chemocatalytic methods are discussed. The review provides a guide to the use of biocatalytic methods in the area of chemical synthesis with focused attention on retrosynthetic considerations and analysis. The transformations presented are organized according to bond disconnections and attendant synthetic methods. The review is expected to lead to better understanding of the characteristics and distinctions of the two complementary approaches. It depicts for researchers in bio- and chemocatalysis a road map of challenges and opportunities for the evolution (and at times revolution) in chemical synthesis.     

Stereoselectivity in the reductive cleavage of vinylcyclopropane

Treatment of vinylcyclopropane (6) with lithium in liquid ammonia at 0° or 25° slowly effects reductive cleavage to afford a mixture of cis-2-pentene (7), trans-2-pentene (8), and 1-pentene (9). The major product is 7 and the ratio 7:8 is greater at 0° (4·25) than at 25° (3·2). Control experiments have established that the products are stable in lithium amide-liquid ammonia at 25°. In contrast, product ratios for cleavage of 6 with sodium in liquid ammonia at 0° or 25° are somewhat variable due to equilibration under the reaction conditions, and 8 is the major product at longer reaction times at 25°. It is suggested that the predominant cis-stereoselectivity is greatest in solvent-separated ion pair transition states.     

Stereoselectivity in the epoxidation of carbohydrate-based oxepines

The facial selectivity in the DMDO epoxidation of carbohydrate-based oxepines derived from glucose, galactose, and mannose has been determined by product analysis and density functional theory (DFT, B3LYP/6-31+G**//B3LYP/6-31G*) calculations. Oxepines 3 and 4, derived from d-galactose and d-mannose, largely favor alpha- over beta-epoxidation. The results reported here, along with selectivities in the DMDO-mediated epoxidation of d-xylose-based oxepine 1 and d-glucose-based oxepines 2 and 5 reported earlier, support a model in which electronic effects, guided by the stereochemistry of the oxygens on the oxepine ring, largely determine the stereoselectivity of epoxidation. Other contributing factors included conformational issues in the oxepine's transition state relative to the reactant, the asynchronicity in bond formation of the epoxide, and the overall steric bulk on the alpha- and beta-faces of the oxepine. Considered together, these factors should generally predict facial selectivity in the DMDO-epoxidation of cyclic enol ethers.     

Chemo- and diastereoselective cyclopropanation of allylic amines and carbamates

A highly chemo- and diastereoselective protocol for the cyclopropanation of tertiary allylic amines with Shi’s carbenoid [CF₃CO₂ZnCH₂I] is described. The high levels of diastereoselectivity observed in these reactions may be attributed to chelation of the nitrogen atom to the zinc reagent, which then transfers a methylene unit to the syn-face of the olefin. Furthermore, a stereodivergent protocol for the cyclopropanation of a range of allylic carbamates has been developed, which provides access to both diastereoisomers of the corresponding cyclopropanes with very high levels of diastereoselectivity: cyclopropanation with the Wittig-Furukawa reagent [Zn(CH₂I)₂] proceeds under chelation control to give the corresponding syn-product, whilst reaction with Shi’s carbenoid proceeds under steric control to give the corresponding anti-cyclopropane, in >95:5 dr in both cases.     

Stereoselectivity in the alkylation of sulfonium salts

The stereoselectivity in the alkylation of sulfonium salts is attributed to the formation of an intermediate lithio-sulfonium salt rather than a free ylid.     

Stereoselectivity and regioselectivity in the segment-coupling Prins cyclization

The scope of the segment-coupling Prins cyclization has been investigated. The method is outlined in Scheme 1 and involves esterification of a homoallylic alcohol (1), reductive acetylation to give the alpha-acetoxy ether (3), and cyclization on treatment with a Lewis acid to produce a tetrahydropyran (4). Alkene geometries dictate the product configurations, with E-alkenes leading to equatorial substituents and Z-alkenes leading to axial substituents (Table 1). Not unexpectedly, applying the method to allylic alcohols leads to fragmentation rather than a disfavored 5-endo-trig cyclization. Dienols in which one alkene is allylic and the other alkene is homoallylic cyclize efficiently and produce the tetrahydropyrans 49-54, Table 3. Dienols with two homoallylic alkenes cyclize with modest to high regioselectively, generating tetrahydropyrans 40-45, Table 2. The relative rates for cyclization decrease in the order of vinyl > Z-alkene > E-alkene > alkyne. The configurations of the products are consistent with cyclization via a chair conformation, Figure 1. The 2-oxonia Cope rearrangement may be a factor in the regioselectivity of diene cyclizations and in the erosion of stereoselectivity with Z-alkenes. This investigation establishes the stereoselectivity and regioselectivity for a number of synthetically useful segment-coupling Prins cyclizations.