A Fascination with 1,2-Diacetals

1,2-Diacetals are readily prepared, rigid structural motifs that provide a wide range of opportunities for applications in natural product assembly. These uses encompass selective 1,2-diol or alpha-hydroxy acid protection, enantiotopic recognition and desymmetrization methods, chiral memory applications, and reactivity control in oligosaccharide synthesis, as well as functioning as templating components, chiral auxiliaries, and building blocks. 1,2-Diacetals are often more stable and lead to products with enhanced crystallinity compared to their five-ring acetonide counterparts. Many 1,2-diacetals have favorable NMR parameters, which facilitate structural assignment, particularly during asymmetric reaction processes.

The use of cyclic bifunctional protecting groups in oligosaccharide synthesis—an overview

A historical overview is presented on stereo-directing effects of cis- and trans-fused diol protective groups used on both donor and acceptor glycosides. Attention is focused on the use of cyclic carbonates and carbamates, diacetals and acetals and finally the special case of 1,2-O-orthoesters and 1,2-O-cyanoalkylidene functionalised residues.

Triol protection with 6-benzoyl-3,4-dihydro-(2H)-pyran

6-Benzoyl-3,4-dihydro-(2H)-pyran will protect 1,2,3-triols such as glycerol as their corresponding spiro-[5-phenyl-3,6,8-trioxabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-4,2[prime or minute]-tetrahydropyran]s and 1,2,4-triols (less efficiently) as the corresponding trioxabicyclo[3.2.2]nonanes; the hexol mannitol is converted into the corresponding bis-protected product.

Preparation of enantiopure butane-2,3-diacetals of glycolic acid and alkylation reactions leading to α-hydroxyacid and amide derivatives

The preparation of butane-2,3-diacetal protected glycolic acid and related systems is described together with highly selective alkylation reactions of (R,R) and (S,S) butanediacetal protected glycolic acid. These compounds are readily deprotected to give enantiopure alpha-hydroxyacids, alpha-hydroxyesters or alpha-hydroxyamides by suitable choice of conditions.

Chiral C(2)-symmetric ligands with 1,4-dioxane backbone derived from tartrates: syntheses and applications in asymmetric hydrogenation

Chiral 1,4-diphenylphosphines 5-7 as well as thioether 8 were synthesized from tartrates employing Ley's "BDA" and "Dispoke" methodologies as the key step. Rhodium(I) complexes with 5-7 are efficient catalysts for the asymmetric hydrogenation of beta-substituted enamides and MOM-protected beta-hydroxyl enamides, which furnished chiral amines or beta-amino alcohols with 94-->99% ee. These results indicated that the 1,4-dioxane backbone in the ligands having the general structure 2 played an important role in stabilizing metal-ligand chelate conformation. Higher enantioselectivities with ligand 2 were achieved compared with the analogous ligands having the general structure 1.