Improved method for the synthesis of beta-carbonyl silyl-1,3-dithianes by the double conjugate addition of 1,3-dithiol to propargylic carbonyl compounds

Base-mediated double conjugate addition of 1,3-propane dithiol to various silylated propargylic aldehydes and ketones allows for an efficient and scalable synthesis of beta-carbonyl silyl-1,3-dithianes.

Photo- and radiation-chemical formation and electrophilic and electron transfer reactivities of enolether radical cations in aqueous solution

In aqueous solution, enolether radical cations (EE.+) were generated by photoionization (lambda < or = 222 nm) or by electron transfer to radiation-chemically produced oxidizing radicals. Like other radical cations, the EE.+ exhibit electrophilic reactivity with respect to nucleophiles such as water or phosphate as well as electron transfer reactivity, for example, towards one-electron reductants such as phenols, amines, vitamins C and E, and guanine nucleosides. The reactivity of these electron donors with the radical cation of cis-1,2-dimethoxyethene.+ (DME.+) can be described by the Marcus equation with the reorganization energy lambda = 16.5 kcalmol(-1). By equilibrating DME.+ with the redox standard 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene, the reduction potential of DME.+ is determined to be 1.08 +/- 0.02 V/NHE. The oxidizing power of the radical cation of 2,3-dihydrofuran, which can be considered a model for the enolether formed on strand breakage of DNA, is estimated to be in the range 1.27-1.44 V/NHE.

Highly Enantioselective Intermolecular Cu(I)-Catalyzed Cyclopropanation of Cyclic Enol Ethers. Asymmetric Total Synthesis of (+)-Quebrachamine

A set of cyclic enol ethers derived from 2,3-dihydrofuran 35 and 3,4-dihydropyran 8 with a varying substitution pattern at the olefinic system were synthesized. Evans's ligand 5 with Cu(I)OTf was found to be an effective catalyst in the cyclopropanation reaction between cyclic enol ethers 14, 19, 28-31, and 33 and ethyl diazoacetate 6 to give diastereoselectivities up to exo/endo = 95:5 and enantioselectivities higher than 95% in nearly all cases. Because of the selective building of a quarternary carbon center and good yields in the formation of bicyclic structures 34c-h, the reaction was used as a key step in the asymmetric synthesis of (+)-quebrachamine 7, an indole alkaloid of the Aspidosperma family. After acid-induced ring opening of bicyclic compound 34f to lactone 40 followed by LiAlH(4) reduction to the masked aldehyde 41, a reaction with tryptamine gave intermediate 42. This alcohol was efficiently converted into the indole alkaloid (+)-quebrachamine 7 in an overall yield of 37% starting from the chiral synthon 34f. Moreover it revealed the absolute configuration of the quarternary center of the cyclopropanation product 34f to be S.

Total Synthesis of (+/-)-Leporin A

An efficient synthesis of (+/-)-leporin A (1) has been developed using a tandem Knoevenagel condensation-inverse electron demand intramolecular hetero Diels-Alder reaction to construct the key tricyclic intermediate 3 from pyridone 5 and dienal 6 in one pot in 35% yield. Hydroxylation (71%) of 3 and methylation (77%) of the resulting hydroxypyridone 2 completed the first total synthesis of (+/-)-leporin A (1).