Highly regioselective and diastereoselective epoxidation of allylic amines with Oxone

Stereoselective Synthesis and Antiproliferative Activity of Steviol-Based Diterpen Aminodiols

A library of steviol-based trifunctional chiral ligands was developed from commercially available natural stevisoide and applied as chiral catalysts in the addition of diethylzinc to benzaldehyde. The key intermediate steviol methyl ester was prepared according to literature procedure. Depending on the epoxidation process, both cis- and trans-epoxyalcohols were obtained. Subsequent oxirane ring opening with primary and secondary amines afforded 3-amino-1,2-diols. The ring opening with sodium azide followed by a “click” reaction with alkynes resulted in dihydroxytriazoles. The regioselective ring closure of N-substituted aminodiols with formaldehyde was also investigated. The resulting steviol-type aminodiols were tested against a panel of human adherent cancer cell lines (A2780, SiHa, HeLa, and MDA-MB-231). It was consistently found that the N-benzyl substituent is an essential part within the molecule and the ring closure towards N-benzyl substituted oxazolidine ring system increased the antiproliferative activity to a level comparable with that of cisplatine. In addition, structure–activity relationships were examined by assessing substituent effects on the aminodiol systems.

Catalyst-controlled site-selective asymmetric epoxidation of nerylamine and geranylamine derivatives

Novel catalysts for site- and enantioselective epoxidation of nerylamine and geranylamine derivatives have been developed. Although mCPBA oxidation took place selectively at the more electron-rich double bond to give the 6,7-epoxides, these catalysts provide the 2,3-epoxides in moderate to high enantioselectivity via the oxidation of the relatively electron-deficient double bond.

Novel chiral Schiff base/Ti(iv) catalysts for the catalytic asymmetric epoxidation of N-alkenyl sulfonamides

A novel highly enantioselective Schiff base/Ti(iv) catalyst for the catalytic asymmetric epoxidation of a series of N-alkenyl sulfonamides under mild conditions was described.

Hydrogen bond directed epoxidation: diastereoselective olefinic oxidation of allylic alcohols and amines

This article compares the diastereoselective epoxidation of acyclic and cyclic allylic alcohols, with the chemo- and diastereoselective olefinic oxidation of a range of acyclic and cyclic allylic amines. The diastereoselectivity in these systems is compared and a discussion about the origin of this high diastereocontrol is also presented. The ammonium directed epoxidation methodology has been extended to more complex substrates and representative applications of this protocol in natural product synthesis are also summarised.

Regio- and Diastereoselective Synthesis of Highly Substituted, Oxygenated Piperidines from Tetrahydropyridines

Diastereoselective epoxidation and regioselective ring-opening methods were developed for the synthesis of densely substituted, oxygenated piperidines from two classes of tetrahydropyridines with distinct stereochemical displays of functionalities. A new and practical in situ prepared epoxidation reagent was developed for the diastereoselective epoxidation of one class of sterically hindered tetrahydropyridines. The novel bifunctional epoxidation reagent, 2-carboperoxy-3,4,5,6-tetrafluorobenzoic acid, was designed to incorporate highly reactive percarboxy acid and pendant carboxylic acid groups, which through hydrogen bonding to the amino group successfully overrode steric effects and directed epoxidation to occur at the more hindered face of the tetrahydropyridine. Nucleophilic ring-opening of the epoxides with water, alcohols, and HF proceeded with high regioselectivity, affording piperidinol products with adjacent tetrasubstituted carbons.

Epoxidation of trans-4-Aminocyclohex-2-en-1-ol Derivatives: Competition of Hydroxy-Directed and Ammonium-Directed Pathways

N-Substituted trans-4-aminocyclohex-2-en-1-ols undergo epoxidation upon treatment with Cl3CCO2H followed by meta-chloroperbenzoic acid (m-CPBA) via competitive pathways resulting from hydrogen-bonding delivery by both the hydroxy group and the in situ formed ammonium ion. The absence of epoxide ring-opening in these reactions renders these substrates a unique platform for analysing the effect of the two competing directing groups on the rate of the epoxidation reaction: the diastereoisomeric ratio of the epoxide products is also the ratio of the rate constants describing the competing epoxidation processes (the group with the higher directing ability dominating the stereochemical course of the reaction). Analysis of the diastereoisomeric epoxide mixtures obtained from these reactions allowed the following order of directing group ability to be defined: NHBn >> NMeBn > OH > NBn2. The large difference in rate between the secondary and tertiary amino groups is consistent with superior directing ability of the former due to the presence of two hydrogen-bond donor sites on the secondary ammonium ion and/or an increased conformational flexibility to adopt an optimum geometry. The rate of an ammonium-directed epoxidation proceeds ~10 times slower in the presence of an allylic hydroxy group than in its absence, consistent with the presence of the additional, inductively electron-withdrawing heteroatom abating the nucleophilicity of the olefin. The relative rate of the hydroxy-directed epoxidation process in the presence of a more sterically demanding ammonium substituent is greater than that in the presence of a less sterically demanding one: this effect is attributed to an increased bias for the half-chair conformer in which the bulky ammonium substituent and, hence, the hydroxy group occupy pseudo-equatorial sites, thus allowing the latter to direct the reaction more efficiently.

Ammonium-directed olefinic epoxidation: kinetic and mechanistic insights

The ammonium-directed olefinic epoxidations of a range of differentially N-substituted cyclic allylic and homoallylic amines (derived from cyclopentene, cyclohexene, and cycloheptene) have been investigated, and the reaction kinetics have been analyzed. The results of these studies suggest that both the ring size and the identity of the substituents on nitrogen are important in determining both the overall rate and the stereochemical outcome of the epoxidation reaction. In general, secondary amines or tertiary amines with nonsterically demanding substituents on nitrogen are superior to tertiary amines with sterically demanding substituents on nitrogen in their ability to promote the oxidation reaction. Furthermore, in all cases examined, the ability of the (in situ formed) ammonium substituent to direct the stereochemical course of the epoxidation reaction is either comparable or superior to that of the analogous hydroxyl substituent. Much slower rates of ring-opening of the intermediate epoxides are observed in cyclopentene-derived and cycloheptene-derived allylic amines as compared with their cyclohexene-derived allylic and homoallylic amine counterparts, allowing for isolation of these intermediates in both of the former cases.

Hf(IV)-catalyzed enantioselective epoxidation of N-alkenyl sulfonamides and N-tosyl imines

Asymmetric epoxidation of allylic and homoallylic amine derivatives catalyzed by Hf(IV)-bishydroxamic acid complexes is described. Under similar conditions, aldimine and ketimine produced oxaziridines. The sulfonyl group is demonstrated to be an effective directing group for these transformations.

Ammonium-directed dihydroxylation of 3-aminocyclohex-1-enes: development of a metal-free dihydroxylation protocol

Treatment of 3-aminocyclohex-1-enes with mCPBA in the presence of trichloroacetic acid gives the corresponding 1,2-anti-2,3-syn-1-trichloroacetoxy-2-hydroxy-3-aminocyclohexane with high levels of diastereoselectivity (90% de). This is consistent with a mechanism of oxidation involving hydrogen-bonded delivery of the oxidant by the allylic ammonium ion formed in situ, followed by highly regioselective ring-opening of the intermediate epoxide by trichloroacetic acid. The effect of conformational constraints upon the oxidation reaction is also examined.