Constructing 24(23→22)-abeo-Cholestane from Tigogenin in a 20(22→23)-abeo-Way via a PhI(OAc)2-mediated Favorskii Rearrangement

Transforming tigogenin, a steroidal sapogenin, to a 24(23→22)-abeo-cholestane, which is an unusual structural feature shared by the aglycons of saundersiosides and candicanoside A, is described. The spiroketal of tigogenin was unfolded and the resulting C22-ketone was subjected to Favorskii rearrangement mediated by PhI(OAc)₂/KOH/MeOH to squeeze out the C22 from the side chain, thus reaching the 24(23→22)-abeo-cholestane structure.

Oxyallyl exposed: an open-shell singlet with picosecond lifetimes in solution but persistent in crystals of a cyclobutanedione precursor

Photoinduced decarbonylation of 2,4-bis(spirocyclohexyl)-1,3-cyclobutanedione 1 in the crystalline solid state resulted in formation of a deep blue transient with λ(max) = 550 nm and a half-life of 42 min at 298 K, identified as kinetically stabilized oxyallyl. Support for an open-shell singlet species was obtained by spectroscopic analysis and (4/4) CASSCF calculations with the 6-31+G(d) basis set and multireference MP2 corrections. The electronic spectrum of the singlet biradical, confirmed by femtosecond pump-probe studies in solution, was matched by coupled cluster calculations with single and double corrections.

In situ preparation of cyclopropanones with the bicyclo[3.1.0]hexan-6-one skeleton (substituted examples of the Loftfield intermediate). Confirmation of a very facile intramolecular alkyl cyclopropanone – dienol rearrangement

Four substituted bicyclo[3.1.0]hexan-6-ones (cyclopropanones) were prepared in situ, starting from the corresponding 2,6-dibromocyclohexanone and reductively removing the bromine atoms with the organometallic salt PPN+Cr(CO)4NO− The reaction is essentially instantaneous at −78 or−100 °C, and can be conveniently carried out in an NMR tube for easy characterization of the products by low-temperature 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy. The1,5-di-tert-butyl and 1-tert-butyl analogs were thermally stable to ca. 0 °C, but the 1-tert-butyl-5-methyl and 1-tert-butyl-5-ethyl derivatives were extremely labile, rearranging at ca. −80 °C into a cross-conjugated enol, where the methyl (or ethyl) substituent was converted into an exomethylene group. These enols were also characterized as in situ species using 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, and by allowing the enol → α,β-unsaturated ketone rearrangement to take place at about 25 °C. The mechanism of the enol formation was investigated using a 1 -tert-butyl-5-CD3 analog, and the kH/kD ratio for enol formation was determined to be 6 ± 2. From this, the rate-determining step in the enol formation was postulated as a C-H → H-O transfer of a hydrogen atom in a cyclohexyl oxyallyl intermediate. The 1,5-di-tert-butylbicyclohexanone shows dynamic 1H NMR line broadening, the origin of which is also proposed to involve a cyclohexyl oxyallyl intermediate. Key words: cyclopropanone, oxyallyl, bicyclo[3.1.0]hexan-6-one, dienol, sigmatropic rearrangement.