cis-Disubstituted Cyclopropanes via Asymmetric Catalytic Cyclopropenation: Synthesis of Cyclopropyl-dehydroamino Acids and of Dictyopterene C′

The cyclopropenation of diethoxypropyne ( 1 ) with methyl diazoacetate in the presence of Rh₂{(2S)-mepy}₄] (mepy=methyl 5-oxopyrrolidine-2-carboxylate) proceeds with >95% ee. The resulting cyclopropenecarboxylate 2 underwent stereoselective hydrogenation to the cis-cyclopropane 3 . Hydrolysis of the acetal function of 3 liberated the formyl cyclopropenecarboxylate 4 , which was transformed by Wittig reaction with the phosphonate 5 to afford dehydroamino acid 6 as a mixture of (Z)- and (E)-isomers in various proportions. The (Z)-isomer 6a was hydrolyzed, and the structure and the absolute configuration of the (Z)-dicarboxylic acid 7a were established by X-ray crystallography. The cis-divinylcyclopropane 11 (ee>95%), in turn, was synthesized from 4 via Wittig reaction to afford 8 , which was transformed to the aldehyde 10 and subjected to a second Wittig reaction. Thermolysis of 11 afforded (+)-dictyopterene C′ ( 12 ) in quantitative yield.