Darzens reaction rate enhancement using aqueous media leading to a high level of kinetically controlled diastereoselective synthesis of steroidal epoxyketones

An Overview of Saturated Cyclic Ethers: Biological Profiles and Synthetic Strategies

Saturated oxygen heterocycles are widely found in a broad array of natural products and other biologically active molecules. In medicinal chemistry, small and medium rings are also important synthetic intermediates since they can undergo ring-opening and -expansion reactions. These applications have driven numerous studies on the synthesis of oxygen-containing heterocycles and considerable effort has been devoted toward the development of methods for the construction of saturated oxygen heterocycles. This paper provides an overview of the biological roles and synthetic strategies of saturated cyclic ethers, covering some of the most studied and newly discovered related natural products in recent years. This paper also reports several promising and newly developed synthetic methods, emphasizing 3-7 membered rings.

TEMPO-Catalyzed Direct Conversion of Primary Alcohols to α-Chloroacetals with TCCA Both as an Oxidant and a Chlorination Reagent

Multistep reactions are often required for the transformation of alcohols to α-chloroacetals via the unstable intermediates aldehydes or α-halo aldehydes. Herein, we report a simplified procedure for practical synthesis of α-chloroacetals using 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl as a catalyst and trichloroisocyanuric acid both as an oxidant and a chlorination reagent. The reaction is one-pot, solvent-free and high-yielding. In addition, the α-chloroacetals have been transformed to enol ethers through the elimination reaction in the presence of sodium.

Kinetics and Mechanism of Oxirane Formation by Darzens Condensation of Ketones: Quantification of the Electrophilicities of Ketones

The kinetics of epoxide formation by Darzens condensation of aliphatic ketones 1 with arylsulfonyl-substituted chloromethyl anions 2 (ArSO₂CHCl^-) have been determined photometrically in DMSO solution at 20 °C. The reactions proceed via nucleophilic attack of the carbanions at the carbonyl group to give intermediate halohydrin anions 4, which subsequently cyclize with formation of the oxiranes 3. Protonation of the reaction mixture obtained in THF solution at low temperature allowed the intermediates to be trapped and the corresponding halohydrins 4-H to be isolated. Crossover experiments, i.e., deprotonation of the halohydrins 4-H in the presence of a trapping reagent for the regenerated arylsulfonyl-substituted chloromethyl anions 2, provided the relative rates of backward ( k_-CC) and ring closure ( k_rc) reactions of the intermediates. Combination of the kinetic data ( k₂^exptl) with the splitting ratio ( k_-CC/ k_rc) gave the second-order rate constants k_CC for the attack of the carbanions 2 at the ketones 1. These k_CC values and the previously reported reactivity parameters N and s_N for the arylsulfonyl-substituted chloromethyl anions 2 allowed us to use the linear free energy relationship log k₂(20 °C) = s_N( N + E) for deriving the electrophilicity parameters E of the ketones 1 and thus predict potential nucleophilic reaction partners. Density functional theory calculations of the intrinsic reaction pathways showed that the reactions of the ketones 1 with the chloromethyl anions 2 yield two rotational isomers of the intermediate halohydrin anions 4, only one of which can cyclize while the other undergoes retroaddition because the barrier for rotation is higher than that for reversal to the reactants 1 and 2. The electrophilicity parameters E correlate moderately with the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energies of the carbonyl groups, very poorly with Parr's electrophilicity indices, and best with the methyl anion affinities calculated for DMSO solution.

A highly enantioselective asymmetric Darzens reaction catalysed by proline based efficient organocatalysts for the synthesis of di- and tri-substituted epoxides

A new class of easily available and readily tunable proline based chiral organocatalysts was found to efficiently catalyse an unprecedented highly enantioselective asymmetric Darzens reaction of α-chloroketones and substituted α-chloroketones with various aldehydes, which directly produces optically active di- and tri-substituted chiral epoxides with higher product yields (up to 97%) and excellent ee's (up to 99%) under mild reaction conditions.

Androsterone-based gels enable diastereospecific reductions and diastereoselective epoxidations of gelators

A quantitative, diastereospecific and conventionally unachievable reduction of the carbonyl group was achieved in the gels of seven gelators.

Oxidative coupling of 1-(2-methyl-4-phenylquinolin-3-yl)ethanone with ethanol and unexpected deacetylative synthesis of 3-hydroxy quinoline

An efficient one pot method for the synthesis of anti-α,β-epoxy ketones from 1-(2-methyl-4-phenylquinolin-3-yl)ethanone and ethanol has been developed by a modified Darzen reaction. The reaction occurs under oxidative conditions via a cascade sequence of bromination, aldol condensation followed by substitution. The reaction in the presence of NBS and a base however, in the absence of an oxidant, led to the formation of the corresponding 3-hydroxylated product via an unusual rearrangement.

Na@SiO2-Mediated Addition of Organohalides to Carbonyl Compounds for the Formation of Alcohols and Epoxides

Alcohols and epoxides were generated by the addition of organohalides to carbonyl compounds in the presence of sodium metal impregnated with silica gel (Na@SiO₂) in THF at 25 °C through a radical pathway. Under the same conditions, Schiff bases were also successfully converted to the corresponding amines. Furthermore, the reaction of aldehydes with α-haloesters or 4-(chloromethyl)-coumarin with the aid of Na@SiO₂ generated trans epoxides. An unprecedented mechanism is proposed for their formation. The advantages associated with these new reactions include: (1) products are obtained in good-to-excellent yields, (2) reactions are completed at room temperatures in a short period of time (<2.0 h), (3) it is unnecessary to perform the reactions under anhydrous conditions, and (4) the entire process requires only simple manipulations.

Total Synthesis of (-)-L-755,807: Establishment of Relative and Absolute Configurations

The first total synthesis of (-)-L-755,807 and its three stereoisomers was achieved by our Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction for stereoselective formation of trisubstituted olefins, highly diastereoselective Darzens condensation to construct the epoxy-γ-lactam ring, and late-stage coupling of the ring and side-chain segments for efficient convergent synthesis. This synthesis shows that the originally proposed structure of natural (-)-L-755,807 was incorrect and establishes its relative and absolute configurations.

High-yielding aqueous synthesis of chloroacetophenones and aroyl chlorohydrins

Two new reactions for preparing chloroacetophenones and aroyl chlorohydrins promoted by sulfonyl chloride and mediated by water are reported.

Stereospecific, High-Yielding, and Green Synthesis of β-Glycosyl Esters

A new method of synthesizing β-glycosyl esters stereospecifically has been developed by treating O-benzyl-protected glycosyl chlorides with Cs2CO3, tetrabutylammomium bromide (TBAB), a carboxylic acid, water, and granular polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) at 80 °C under mechanical agitation. D-Glucosyl, D-xylosyl, and D-galactosyl chlorides and 20 carboxylic acids were used to demonstrate the scope of the reaction. Control experiments showed that the water and granular PTFE had indispensable roles. Water-soluble TBAB has been found to be as efficient as N-methyl-N,N,N-trioctyloctan-1-ammonium chloride (Aliquat 336) in the reactions. After scaling up to 5-12 g, all of the products were obtained quantitatively via simple filtration and no organic solvents or chromatography was needed for the entire process.

Practical aqueous reactions leading to skeletally diverse carbohydrate-derived ketones

The reactions starting from aldosyl hemiacetals and methyl ketones catalyzed by cheap catalysts and mediated by water producing four types of ketones are reported.

A green synthesis of highly substituted 1,5-diketones

The advantages of the aqueous reactions over the conventional ones were demonstrated in the synthesis of highly substituted 1,5-diketones.