Intermolecular oxonium ylide mediated synthesis of medium-sized oxacycles

Detailed in this account are our efforts toward efficient oxacycle syntheses. Two complementary approaches are discussed, with both employing chemoselective allyl ether activation and rearrangement as the key step. Vinyl substituted oxiranes and oxetanes provide a single step access to dihydropyrans and tetrahydrooxepines. Oxiranes proved to be poor substrates, while oxetanes were slightly better. An alternative approach using substituted allyl ethers proved successful and addressed the limitations encountered in the ring expansions.     

Ring-expansion of thioacetal ring via bicyclosulfonium ylide. Effect Of protic nucleophile on ylide intermediate

The reaction of 2-(3-diazo-2-oxopropane-1-yl)-2-methyldithiolane 9a, 2-(4-diazo-3-oxobutane-2-yl)-2-methyldithiolane 9c, and 2-(3-diazo-2-oxopropane-1-yl)-2-methyl-1,3-dithiane 9b with Rh(2)(OAc)(4) gave three-carbon ring-expansion products dithiocan-2-en-1-ones 13a, 13c and dithionan-2-en-1-one 13b, respectively. 2-(5-Diazo-4-oxopentyl)-2-methyldithiolane 9e also gave the five-carbon ring-expansion products dithionan-3-en-1-one 13e and 5-methylenedithionane-1-one 13'e. On the other hand, reaction of 2-(4-diazo-3-oxobutyl)-2-methyldithiolane 9d in the presence of AcOH gave the four-carbon ring-expansion product 16d substituted by an acetoxyl group. In addition, the reaction of 2-(3-diazo-2-oxopropyl)-2-methyl-3-oxathiolane 9f in the absence of AcOH gave 4-oxa-7-thiocan-2-en-1-one 19 via a sulfonium ylide intermediate, whereas, in the presence of AcOH, an alternative regioisomer 20 was also formed competitively with 19 via an oxonium ylide intermediate.     

Trapping of oxonium ylide with isatins: efficient and stereoselective construction of adjacent quaternary carbon centers

The 3-substituted 3-hydroxyindolin-2-ones with adjacent quaternary stereocenters were constructed in a single step via an efficient and stereoselective trapping of oxonium ylide with isatins. This reaction proceeds well in supercritical CO2 and is an example of the ability to use green approaches to efficiently construct polyfunctional molecules.     

A study of gaseous 3-membered ring oxonium and sulphonium ions

The 1-methyl-1-thionia cyclopropane 3 and 1-phenyl-1-thionia cyclopropane 4 ions are stable, with lifetimes greater than 10^?5 sec, and can be identified from their collisional activation spectra. Their metastable counterparts (lifetime window 10^?6–10^?5 sec) have undergone ring opening to the isomeric structures CH₃S⁺CHCH₃9 and C₆H₅S⁺CHCH₃11 prior to decomposition. The 1-methyl-1-oxonia cyclopropane 1 and 1-phenyl-1-oxonia cyclopropane 2 ions could not be generated: instead acyclic structures CH₃O⁺CHCH₃5 and C₆H₅O⁺CHCH₃7 were found for both metastable and long living species. Loss of a phenoxy radical from C₆H₅OCH₂CH₂OCH₃ is shown to be preceded by a reciprocal hydrogen transfer and is not due to a SN_i-type reaction.     

Ring expansion of trans-divinyl ethylene oxide by oxonium ylide [2,3] sigmatropic rearrangement

Oxonium ylide [2,3] sigmatropic rearrangement of trans-divinyl ethylene oxide is observed upon its exposure to ethyl or t-butyl diazoacetate in the presence of either Rh(II) or Cu(II) catalysts to produce cis-6-vinyl-3,6-dihydropyran-2-carboxylates.     

Use of metastable peak shapes in determining ring size in cyclic rearrangements in the mass spectrometer

A general method is described in which the mechanism of a reaction occurring in the ion source is inferred from the kinetic energy release accompanying further fragmentation of metastable product ions. In several cases the probe reaction occurred competitively by two mechanisms, and if high energy resolution is available this allows the detailed metastable peak shapes and not merely the average kinetic energy released, to be used to characterize the product ion formed in the fast (ion source) reaction. It is found that most substituted benzaldoxime O-methyl ethers undergo HCN elimination via a five-centered methoxyl transfer in the ion source, but that the p-methoxy substituted compound reacts through both a four- and a five-membered cyclic intermediate. The slow reactions of the corresponding metastable ions occur predominantly through a four-centered transition state in the p-methoxy compound and probably through both four- and five-membered intermediates for the less strongly electron donating substituents. The fraction of the excess energy of the products is higher than expected from a consideration of energy partitioning data for other systems involving activated complexes of comparable tightness.     

Hydrazulene ring systems via heteroatom-assisted [1,2]-shift of oxonium and sulfonium ylides

[reaction: see text] Cyclic mixed acetals with pendant diazoketone side chains undergo rearrangement to ether-bridged cycloheptane ring systems on treatment with Cu(hfacac)(2). Stevens [1,2]-shift of an oxonium ylide furnishes the major product (7), in some cases accompanied by minor amounts of a product (8) resulting from [1,2]-shift of a sulfonium ylide. In the subsequent sulfur-triggered cleavage of the bridging ether, the desired bicyclo[5.3.0]heptene was obtained, along with the product of novel S(N)2' attack on the resulting allylic ketal.     

A variational transition state theory description of periselectivity effects on cycloadditions of ketenes with cyclopentadiene

The reaction of cycloaddition of ketene and cyclopentadiene presents experimentally a competing mechanism where the branching ratio between the Woodward?CHoffmann allowed [4+2] and forbidden [2+2] cycloaddition product is 4.56?at ?20?°C, but because the minimum energy path misses the [2+2] product altogether, it has been claimed to lie beyond the scope of transition state theory. In this paper, a variational transition state theory study on this reaction is presented. It is found that the minimum energy path affording the [4+2] product travels through a potential energy plateau very close to the minimum energy path that describes the interconversion between both cycloaddition products, allowing the transfer between both and the direct formation of the forbidden [2+2] product, in this way acting as a means to circumvent the Woodward?CHooffmann rules. Within the domain of the competitive canonical unified statistical theory, a value for the branching ratio in very good agreement with experiment is computed.     

Three-component reaction of aryl diazoacetates, alcohols, and aldehydes (or imines): evidence of alcoholic oxonium ylide intermediates

The Rh(II)-catalyzed three-component reaction of aryl diazoacetates, alcohols and aldehydes was explored, which provided evidence of alcoholic oxonium ylide formation for O-H insertion. A new C-C bond formation reaction where alcoholic oxonium ylides were trapped by electron-deficient aryl aldehydes (or imines) was realized.     

Dynamic effects on the periselectivity, rate, isotope effects, and mechanism of cycloadditions of ketenes with cyclopentadiene

The cycloadditions of cyclopentadiene with diphenylketene and dichloroketene are studied by a combination of kinetic and product studies, kinetic isotope effects, standard theoretical calculations, and trajectory calculations. In contrast to recent reports, the reaction of cyclopentadiene with diphenylketene affords both [4 + 2] and [2 + 2] cycloadducts directly. This is surprising, since there is only one low-energy transition structure for adduct formation in mPW1K calculations, but quasiclassical trajectories started from this single transition structure afford both [4 + 2] and [2 + 2] products. The dichloroketene reaction is finely balanced between [4 + 2] and [2 + 2] cycloaddition modes in mPW1K calculations, as the minimum-energy path (MEP) leads to different products depending on the basis set. The MEP is misleading in predicting a single product, as trajectory studies for the dichloroketene reaction predict that both [4 + 2] and [2 + 2] products should be formed. The periselectivity does not reflect transition state orbital interactions. The (13)C isotope effects for the dichloroketene reaction are well-predicted from the mPW1K/6-31+G** transition structure. However, the isotope effects for the diphenylketene reaction are not predictable from the cycloaddition transition structure and transition state theory. The isotope effects also appear inconsistent with kinetic observations, but the trajectory studies evince that nonstatistical recrossing can reconcile the apparently contradictory observations. B3LYP calculations predict a shallow intermediate on the energy surface, but trajectory studies suggest that the differing B3LYP and mPW1K surfaces do not result in qualitatively differing mechanisms. Overall, an understanding of the products, rates, selectivities, isotope effects, and mechanism in these reactions requires the explicit consideration of dynamic trajectories.     

Enantioselective trapping of oxonium ylide intermediates by N-benzhydryl-α-imino ester:Synthesis of β-tetrasubstituted α-amino acids

A synergistic rhodium(Ⅱ)/phosphoric acid catalyzed three component reaction of 3-diazooxindoles,alcohols and N-benzhydryl-α-imino ester is developed for the efficient construction of chiral β-alkoxy C~β-tetrasubstituted α-amino acid derivatives in good yields and with excellent diastereoselectivities and high enantioselectivities.The synthetic application of the resulting products was illustrated by reducing with Pd/C under H_2 atmosphere followed reacting with CSCl_2 at room temperature to rapid afford 3-spirocyclic oxindole in a good yield with a chirality retainment.The three-component reaction is proposed to proceed through an electrophilic trapping of the oxonium ylides by N-benzhydryl-α-imino ester.     

Effect of ring size on photoreactivity of medium and large ring esters.

Photochemical studies on 7,8,12,14,16 and 20 membered cyclic esters have been carried out in benzene and methanol. Decar☐ylation and solvolysis ascribable to β- and α-scission respectively are observed in case of seven and eight membered cyclic esters. Larger rings do not undergo these photoreactions thus demonstrating effect of ring size on photoreactivity.     

Stereoselective synthesis of c3-c12 dihydropyran portion of antitumor laulimalide using copper-catalyzed oxonium ylide formation-[2,3] shift

Copper-catalyzed oxonium ylide formation-[2,3] shift of (5S,7R)-5-allyloxy-1-diazo-8-(p-methoxybenzyloxy)-7-methyl-2-octanone (3) proceeded in tetrahydrofuran-dichloromethane (4 : 1) under reflux with an excellent stereoselectivity (97 : 3) to give (2R,6S)-2-allyl-6-[(2R)-3-(p-methoxybenzyloxy)-2-methylpropyl]-3-dihydropyranone (2) as a major isomer in 82% yield. The resultant pyranone (2) was converted to the key intermediate (1) of the Mulzer's laulimalide synthesis and its derivatives (14, 15).     

Photochemistry of 1-isopropylcycloalkyl aryl ketones: ring size effects, medium effects, and asymmetric induction

[reaction: see text] The n = 0, 1, and 2 ketones shown above undergo Yang photocyclization in solution, but only the n = 1 analogues react this way in the solid state. Based on X-ray crystallography, these differences in reactivity are attributed to an unusually large distance for 1,4-hydroxybiradical cyclization in the solid state for the n = 0 and 2 ring systems, which leads to predominant reverse hydrogen transfer (rht). Enantiomeric excesses of up to 99% can be achieved in the case of the n = 1 system through the use of the solid-state ionic chiral auxiliary method of asymmetric synthesis.     

Alkynyliodonium salts in organic synthesis. Dihydrofuran formation via a formal stevens shift of a carbon substituent within a disubstituted-carbon oxonium ylide

The addition of p-toluenesulfinate to the silyl, 1-furanyl, and 1-pyranyl ethers of 1-hydroxybut-3-ynyl(phenyl)iodonium triflate triggers a sequence of reactions that ultimately delivers 2-substituted 3-p-toluenesulfonyldihydrofuran products in variable yields. A putative 1,2-group shift within an unsaturated oxonium ylide (Stevens rearrangement) accounts for the oxygen-to-carbon transfer of the ether substituent. Deuterium labeling studies clarify the mechanistic course of this shift by providing evidence consistent with intramolecular substituent transfer and by identifying the primary source of the proton that intercepts the ylide in the major yield-limiting process.