Diastereoselective addition of diethyl difluoromethylphosphonate to enantiopure sulfinimines: synthesis of α,α-difluoro-β-aminophosphonates, phosphonic acids, and phosphonamidic acids

Addition of diethyl lithiodifluoromethylphosphonate to enantiomerically pure aromatic, heteroaromatic, and aliphatic aldehyde-derived sulfinimines afforded N-sulfinyl α,α-difluoro-β-aminophosphonates with generally good enantioselectivity and in high yield. The reaction with acetophenone-derived sulfinimine resulted in the formation of the addition product with high diastereoselectivity and in only moderate yield. A two-step deprotection involving treatment of diastereomerically pure N-sulfinyl α,α-difluoro-β-aminophosphonates with trifluoroacetic acid in EtOH followed by refluxing with 10 N HCl provided enantiopure α,α-difluoro-β-aminophosphonates and α,α-difluoro-β-aminophosphonic acids. The N-Cbz derivative of (R)-2-amino-1,1-difluoro-2-phenylethylphosphonate was a convenient starting point for the preparation of corresponding difluorophosphonate monoester, difluorophosphonic acid, and difluorophosphonamidic acid. At 21 °C difluorophosphonamidic acid was stable in aqueous solution at pH above 5.     

The fate of the tert-butylsulfinyl auxiliary after acid-promoted cleavage—a method for recycling t-BuSONH2

Ellman’s chiral auxiliary is converted into tert-butylsulfinyl chloride on sulfinamide deprotection with HCl and can be recovered in high yield upon treatment with ammonia. The enantiopure auxiliary can be obtained by trapping the sulfinyl chloride with a chiral alcohol followed by treatment of the resulting sulfinate ester with LiNH₂.     

Stereoselective addition of Grignard reagents to sulfinimines derived from tartrate diol (threitol): Generation of chiral building blocks for the collective total synthesis of lentiginosine,conhydrine and methyldihydropalustramate

A systematic investigation of the addition of Grignard reagents to sulfinimines derived from tartaric acid diol was undertaken. It was observed that the chirality of the inherent tartrate moiety influences the diastereoselectivity of the resultant sulfinamides formed in the reaction. The formed products serve as excellent building blocks for the synthesis of natural products. This has been demonstrated in the collective total synthesis of lentiginosine, (+)-α-conhydrine and methyldihydropalustramate.     

Efficient enantiospecific synthesis of ent-conduramine F-1

An efficient enantiospecific total synthesis of ent-conduramine F-1 (aminocyclohexenetriol) was accomplished starting from the bis-Weinreb amide of tartaric acid. Key reactions in the synthesis include the desymmetrization of tartaric acid amide with vinylmagnesium bromide and installation of the required amine using Ellman sulfinimine. Ring closing metathesis was used to synthesize the required alkene in the cyclohexene.     

Acyclic and cyclic aminophosphonic acids: asymmetric syntheses mediated by chiral sulfinyl auxiliary

Aminophosphonic acids have become increasingly important in different fields of chemistry, medicine and agriculture. This account outlines the results obtained in the author’s laboratory on the asymmetric synthesis of acyclic and cyclic aminophosphonic acids mediated by chiral sulfinyl auxiliary. A key reaction in the synthesis of enantiopure α- and β-aminoalkanephosphonic acids involving a highly diastereoselective addition of phosphite anions or α-phosphonate carbanions to enantiopure sulfinimines is discussed. The asymmetric cyclopropanation of enantiopure α-phosphorylvinyl sulfoxides with sulfur ylides is presented as a platform for developing a new approach to optically active β-aminocyclopropanephosphonic acids. It is exemplified by the total synthesis of enantiopure β-amino-γ-phenylcyclopropanephosphonic acid - a constrained analogue of the GABA_B antagonist phaclofen.     

Asymmetric synthesis of α,α-difluoro-β-amino phosphonic acids using sulfinimines

Addition of diethyl lithiodifluoromethylphosphonate to enantiopure sulfinimines afforded the corresponding N-sulfinyl α,α-difluoro-β-amino phosphonates with good diastereoselectivity. A two-step deprotection involving treatment of diastereomerically pure N-sulfinyl α,α-difluoro-β-amino phosphonates with trifluoroacetic acid in EtOH followed by refluxing with 10 N HCl afforded enantiopure α,α-difluoro-β-amino phosphonic acids.     

Asymmetric synthesis of α-amino aldehydes from sulfinimine (N-sulfinyl imine)-derived α-amino 1,3-dithianes. Formal synthesis of (−)-2,3-trans-3,4-cis-dihydroxyproline

Hydrolysis of sulfinimine-derived N-sulfinyl α-amino 1,3-dithianes with aqueous 1,3-dibromo-5,5-dimethylhydantoin affords the corresponding N-tosyl α-amino aldehydes in good yield and high enantiomeric purity. These aldehydes can be reduced to amino alcohols and undergo the Wittig reaction to give allylic amines without epimerization. The utility of this methodology is illustrated in a formal synthesis of (−)-2,3-trans-3,4-cis-dihydroxyproline.     

Synthetic studies on thiostrepton family of peptide antibiotics: synthesis of the pentapeptide segment containing dihydroxyisoleucine, thiazoline and dehydroamino acid

The dihydroxyisoleucine-, thiazoline- and dehydroamino acid-containing pentapeptide of the thiostrepton family of peptide antibiotics was synthesized, which featured the β-lactone opening by phenylselenylation, the vinylzinc addition to the chiral sulfinimine, the Wipf oxazoline-thiazoline conversion method and the oxidative syn-elimination of the phenylseleno group.     

The use of two optically active N-sulfinyl α-imino esters in the stereoselective aza-Diels-Alder reaction

Diastereoselective aza-Diels-Alder (aza-DA) reactions of ethyl (S)-N-(tert-butanesulfinyl)iminoacetate (2a) and ethyl (S)-N-(p-toluenesulfinyl)iminoacetate (2b) with different dienes including activated, non-activated, cyclic, and acyclic dienes in the presence of Lewis acids are described. Reactions with 2a were found to be more selective. Reactions of unactivated dienes (acyclic and cyclic) with stoichiometric amounts of TMSOTf as Lewis acid afforded the aza-DA adducts in modest yields and in diastereoselectivities up to 99%. A strong preference for Re-approach was observed for 2a. Cyclic dienes gave the exo adducts as major products. For the aza-DA reaction with activated Danishefsky type dienes poor diastereoselectivities were observed. In these cases, the best results were obtained using stoichiometric amounts of BF₃·Et₂O as Lewis acid (up to 69% de, 76% yield). The absolute configurations of six of the addition products were established by chemical correlation with known compounds. Acidic cleavage of the sulfinyl group occurred without racemization to optically active non-proteinogenic α-amino acid ethyl esters.