C13-Methylation of methyl pheophorbide a and stereoselective preparation of methyl (13R)-methylpyropheophorbide a

The (13²R)-methoxycarbonyl group of methyl pheophorbide a, one of the chlorophyll-a derivatives, was converted to a methyl group through methylation at the C13² position followed by removal of the methoxycarbonyl group. The methylation of the C13² carboanion gave a 4:1 mixture of methyl 13²-methyl-pheophorbide a and its 13²-epimer. The successive pyrolysis of the major methylated product afforded methyl (13²R)-methyl-pyropheophorbide a with a small amount of its (13²S)-epimer. The substitution effects at the C13² position including stereochemistry were discussed on the basis of 1D/2D NMR, UV–vis absorption, and circular dichroism spectroscopic analyses as well as molecular modeling simulation.