A novel approach to periplanone-b involving an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction with furan-diene and allene-dienophile

Gold-Catalyzed Cyclization of Furan-Ynes bearing a Propargyl Carbonate Group: Intramolecular Diels-Alder Reaction with In Situ Generated Allenes

Gold-catalyzed cyclization of various furan-ynes with a propargyl carbonate or ester moiety results in the formation of a series of polycyclic aromatic ring systems. The reactions can be rationalized through a tandem gold-catalyzed 3,3-rearrangement of the propargyl carboxylate moiety in furan-yne substrates to form an allenic intermediate, which is followed by an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction of furan and subsequent ring-opening of the oxa-bridged cycloadduct. It was found that the steric and electronic properties of phosphine ligands on the gold catalyst had a significant impact on the reaction outcome. In the case of 1,5-furan-yne, the cleavage of the oxa-bridge in the cycloadduct with concomitant 1,2-migration of the R(1) group occurs to furnish anthracen-1(2H)-ones bearing a quaternary carbon center. For 1,4-furan-yne, a facile aromatization of the cycloadduct takes place to give 9-oxygenated anthracene derivatives.

Chameleon Reactivity of the Allene Bond of 4-Vinylidene-2-oxazolidinone: Novel Through-Space Conjugative Nucleophilic Addition of Electron-Rich Alkenes and Hetero-Nucleophiles

The Calpha==Cbeta double bond of allene carbamates 1 serves as an electron acceptor similar to the double bond of conjugated enones by means of a through-space interaction with the N--SO2 bond; the carbamate double bond is thus subject to nucleophilic addition for a wide variety of nucleophiles, which proceeds under mild conditions by heating at 70-100 degrees C. Depending on the kind of nucleophiles, 1 displays three different reaction modes: 1) Typically enol ethers and allylsilanes promote 1,3-sulfonyl migration of 1 and undergo the inverse electron demand Diels-Alder reaction with the 1-aza-1,3-butadiene intermediates II thus formed to furnish bicyclic 2-alkoxy-5-sulfonyltetrahydropyridines 2 and 2-silylmethyl-5-sulfonyltetrahydropyridines 3, respectively, with high regio- and stereoselectivity and retention of configuration of the double bonds of these electron-rich alkenes; 2) silanes (RnSiH4-n, n=1-3) and thiols deliver the hydride and the thiolate at the Cbeta carbon and promote the 1,3-sulfonyl migration, followed by protonation of the thus-formed carbamate anion (Z)-III to provide, for example, (Z)-4 a and (Z)-4 j, respectively; 3) alcohols simply add to the Calpha==Cbeta double bond and provide (E)-6. Usually, the reaction with alcohols is accompanied by the second pathway, giving rise to, for example, (Z)-4 b in addition to (E)-6 b. Phenol engages in the third pathway and provides (E)-6 g exclusively. Heteroaromatics, such as furans and benzofurans follow the first pathway, however, in a different regioselectivity from enol ethers and allylsilanes, delivering the oxygen atom at the 3-position of 5-sulfonyltetrahydropyridines (2 g and 2 h). Indoles, on the other hand, show a dichotomy, equally enjoying the first and the third pathways and provide mixtures of (E)-7 and (E)-8, respectively.

A Dipolar Cycloaddition Approach Toward the Kopsifoline Alkaloid Framework

Using a metal-catalyzed domino reaction as the key step, the heterocyclic skeleton of the kopsifoline alkaloid family was constructed by a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of a carbonyl ylide dipole derived from a Rh(II)-catalyzed reaction of a diazo ketoester across the indole pi-bond. Ring opening of the resulting 1,3-dipolar cycloadduct followed by a reductive dehydroxylation step resulted in the formation of a critical silyl enol ether necessary for the final F-ring closure of the kopsifoline skeleton.

Tandem Diels-Alder/fragmentation approach to the synthesis of eleutherobin

[reaction: see text] A synthesis of 28, the carbon framework of the eleutherobin aglycone, is reported in a 15-step sequence from readily available starting materials. The tandem Diels-Alder reaction of 6 and 7 to produce 18, in which three new rings and six new stereocenters are formed, is a key step in the reaction sequence.

Stereochemistry of intramolecular Diels–Alder furan (IMDAF) reactions of furyl-substituted chiral ethanolamides

This paper describes the stereoselective outcome of the intramolecular Diels-Alder furan (IMDAF) reaction of substituted (2S,3S)-ethanolamides 9-13, which were synthesised from a furyl substituted cyanohydrin. The latter was obtained from 2-furaldehyde with high enantioselectivity by an oxynitrilase catalysed addition of hydrogen cyanide. The stereochemistry of the IMDAF products was shown to be dependent on the size of the ethanolamide substituents R. Small substituents (H, Me, CN) gave exclusively exo-cycloaddition, whereas more bulky ones (Ph, Et) gave both evo- and endo-addition, the larger phenyl substituent giving a high endo-exo-ratio.

Synthesis of (E,E)-Germacrane Sesquiterpene Alcohols via Enolate-Assisted 1,4-Fragmentation

An efficient method has been developed for the synthesis of (E,E)-germacrane sesquiterpene alcohols. The key step in these syntheses involves the enolate-assisted 1,4-fragmentation of properly functionalized perhydro-1-naphthalenecarboxaldehydes with 1 equiv of sodium tert-amylate as base, to give the corresponding (E,E)-germacrane aldehydes. These aldehydes are not very stable, and in situ reduction of the aldehyde function with Red-Al is required to obtain high yields of the desired germacrane alcohols. This procedure has led to the successful synthesis of 15-hydroxygermacrene B (4) and 15-hydroxyhedycaryol (35) from the mesylates 6 and 33, respectively. When KHMDS is used instead of sodium tert-amylate in the fragmentation reaction of 6, isomerization of the initially formed C(4)-C(5) E double bond cannot be avoided and results, after in situ reduction with Red-Al, in the formation of the (E,Z)-germacrane alcohol 24. The 15-hydroxy-(E,E)-germacranes are excellent starting materials for the selective synthesis of the corresponding 4,5-epoxides, which in turn can perfectly well be used in studies on the biomimetic formation of guaiane sesquiterpenes.