A Convenient Synthesis of Cholest-2-En-6-ONE

Cholest-2-on-6-one, 3, is an important synthetic intermediate in the preparation of ecdysone and related insect moulting hormones.^1–3 We report here a convenient two-step synthesis of this compound from cholesterol which combines in one step the elimination of a 36 borate ester and hydroboration-oxidation at C-6.     

Reactions at Only One of Two Equivalent Functional Groups

A common problem encountered by synthetic chemists is to carry out a reaction at just one of two similar functional groups in the substrate molecule. Examples include protection/deprotection of just one hydroxyl group in a diol, addition to only one carbonyl of a diketone, etc. The problem, as depicted below, is to find conditions which maximize formation of the monoproduct (XP) while minimizing the amounts of diproduct (P₂) and starting material (X₂).     

A Frustrated Phosphane–Borane Lewis Pair and Hydrogen: A Kinetics Study

The energy profile of a frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) dihydrogen splitting system was determined by a combined experimental kinetic and DFT study. A trimethylene‐bridged phosphane–borane FLP was converted into its endothermic H₂‐cleavage product by sequential H⁺/H^? addition. The system could be handled at low temperature, and the kinetics of the H₂ elimination were determined to give a rate constant of k_HH,exp(299 K)=(2.87±0.1)×10^?4 s^?1 in solution. The primary kinetic isotope effects were determined; for example, (k_HH/k_DD)_exp=3.19. The system was accurately analyzed by DFT calculations.