Asymmetric synthesis using a new chiral β-functionalized allylboronate derived from endo-2-phenyl-exo-2,3-bornanediol: Preparation and reactions with aldehydes

(2R,3R)-1,4-Dimethoxy-1,1,4,4-tetraphenylbutane-2,3-diol: Valuable reagent in the asymmetric synthesis of organoboronates

Tartrate-derived (2R,3R)-1,4-dimethoxy-1,1,4,4-tetraphenylbutane-2,3-diol has found diverse applications in asymmetric organic synthesis. Among these, its utilization as a protecting group for boronic acids has been investigated extensively. Besides being extraordinarily stable and thus allowing a plethora of transformations, it enables access to various diastereo- and enantiomerically pure organoboron reagents and versatile intermediates in asymmetric synthesis.

Enantioselective conversion of primary alcohols to α-exo-methylene γ-butyrolactones via iridium-catalyzed C-C bond-forming transfer hydrogenation: 2-(alkoxycarbonyl)allylation

Upon exposure of acrylic ester 1 to alcohols 2a-i in the presence of a cyclometalated iridium catalyst modified by (-)-TMBTP, catalytic C-C coupling occurs, providing enantiomerically enriched 5-substituted α-exo-methylene γ-butyrolactones 3a-i. Bromination of the methylene butyrolactone products followed by zinc-mediated reductive aldehyde addition provides the disubstituted α-exo-methylene γ-butyrolactones 6a and 6b with good to excellent levels of diastereoselectivity.

Natural and synthetic α,β-unsaturated carbonyls for NF-κB inhibition

BACKGROUND

The nuclear transcription factor NF-κB has gained considerable importance due to its major involvement in inflammation and constitutive activity in malignant cells. It is induced by a variety of stimuli and controls the expression of several proteins involved in biological processes. Numerous natural products and synthesized organic molecules have been reported to inhibit NF-κB and have played an integral role in identifying implicated pathways. Prominent among them are the sesquiterpene lactones, polyphenolic enones and other α,β-unsaturated carbonyl-containing molecules, particularly α-methylene-γ-butyrolactones.

DISCUSSION

This mini-review provides an introductory overview of some of the associated pathways involving NF-κB in cancer and discusses the structures and mode of action of natural α,β-unsaturated carbonyl-containing inhibitors and their synthetic counterparts. A review of the recent methods for the synthesis of α-alkylidene-γ-butyrolactones is also provided, with the aim of arousing the interest of synthetic chemists for the design and development of novel NF-κB inhibitors.

CONCLUSIONS

Modulating damaging effects without harming the inflammatory and immune responses are crucial parameters for developing NF-κB inhibitors. Examination of novel α,β-unsaturated carbonyls and the further discovery of simple methods to prepare such molecules should lead to the identification of site-specific inhibitors.

Acidity-directed synthesis of substituted gamma-butyrolactones from aliphatic aldehydes

The strength of the Lewis or Brønsted acids controls the formation of either beta,gamma-disubstituted-alpha-methylene-gamma-butyrolactones or gamma-substituted-alpha-alkylidene-gamma-butyrolactones via the lactonization or oxonia cope rearrangement-lactonization, respectively, of the borate intermediates resulting from the crotylboration of aliphatic aldehydes with ester-containing crotylboronates, such as (E)-methyl 2-boramethyl-2-butenoates.

Triflic Acid-Catalyzed Additions of 2-Alkoxycarbonyl Allylboronates to Aldehydes. Study of Scope and Mechanistic Investigation of the Reaction Stereochemistry

The substrate scope and the effect of substrate on the observed inversion of stereoselectivity in the triflic acid-catalyzed allylboration reaction between 2-alkoxycarbonyl allylboronates and aldehydes are presented. A mechanistic investigation is described so as to confirm the involvement of a carbocation intermediate as the source of stereochemical inversion. This methodology allows a facile access to beta,gamma-disubstituted five-membered ring lactones with an exo-methylene at the alpha-position.

Brønsted Acid-Catalyzed Allylboration: Short and Stereodivergent Synthesis of All Four Eupomatilone Diastereomers with Crystallographic Assignments

This study describes a novel Brønsted acid-catalyzed allylboration method suitable for the most difficult, electronically deactivated allylboronate and aldehyde substrates. This method circumvents the use of metal ions, and rather employs a simple and cheap catalyst, triflic acid. Its usefulness as a complementary allylboration variant was demonstrated with a four-step, stereodivergent synthesis of all four diastereomers of eupomatilone-6 from a single allylboronate. A thorough proof of stereochemistry supported by as many as five X-ray crystallographic structures brings an end to the ambiguity of the original stereochemical assignments. Further to the TfOH-catalyzed allylboration, the synthetic route featured a number of remarkable observations: the surprising reactivity of 2-bromo-3,4,5-trimethoxybenzaldehyde, the subtle reagent control observed in the hydrogenation of an alpha-exo-methylene lactone intermediate, and the success of a difficult case of Suzuki biaryl coupling using Buchwald's conditions.

Lewis Acid Catalyzed Allylboration: Discovery, Optimization, and Application to the Formation of Stereogenic Quaternary Carbon Centers

A full account of the development of the first catalytic manifold for the additions of allylboronates to aldehydes is described. The thermal additions (both diastereospecific and enantioselective) of 2-carboxyester 3,3-disubstituted allylboronates 1 to both aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes give biologically and synthetically important exo-methylene butyrolactones 2 containing a beta-quaternary carbon center. Although the thermal reaction requires 14 d at room temperature to reach completion, the presence of certain metal salts allows for a 12-16 h reaction while preserving the diastereospecificity observed in the uncatalyzed process. Preliminary mechanistic studies on the origin of the catalytic effect are described as well as stereoselective transformations of lactones 2 into cyclic and acyclic stereotriads with potential usefulness as synthetic intermediates.

Lewis Acids Catalyze the Addition of Allylboronates to Aldehydes by Electrophilic Activation of the Dioxaborolane in a Closed Transition Structure

This study addressed the mechanism of the recently reported Lewis acid-catalyzed manifold for additions of allylboronates to aldehydes. A series of control experiments using various reagents and conditions, and kinetic studies by low-temperature NMR spectroscopy, were performed to investigate the origin of the activation provided by the best catalyst, Sc(OTf)3. The results obtained are strongly supportive of a mechanism involving electrophilic boron activation by coordination of the metal ion to one of the boronate oxygens in a closed bimolecular transition state.