Stereospecific construction of three contiguous quaternary carbon atoms. Synthesis of (±)-3-methoxythaps-8-ene

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/S0040-4039(02)00381-7

Synthesis of (±)-3-methoxythapsene via stereospecific construction of three contiguous quaternary carbon atoms, employing a combination of a Claisen rearrangement and an intramolecular diazoketone cyclopropanation as key reactions, is described.

Full text of DOI:10.1016/S0040-4039(02)00381-7

TETRAHEDRON
LETTERS
Pergamon
Tetrahedron Letters 43 (2002) 2765–2768
Stereospecific construction of three contiguous quaternary carbon
atoms. Synthesis of ( )-3-methoxythaps-8-ene
A. Srikrishna* and D. B. Ramachary
Department of Organic Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India
Received 3 January 2002; revised 11 February 2002; accepted 21 February 2002
Abstract—Synthesis of ( )-3-methoxythapsene via stereospecific construction of three contiguous quaternary carbon atoms,
employing a combination of a Claisen rearrangement and an intramolecular diazoketone cyclopropanation as key reactions, is
described. © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
The presence of multiple quaternary carbon atoms is a
common feature in a variety of natural products, par-
ticularly terpenoids. Even though several methods have
been reported for the construction of a quaternary
center, the presence of two or more quaternary carbon
atoms in a contiguous manner provides challenging
synthetic targets. In 1984, Rasmussen and co-workers
reported1 the isolation of the sesquiterpene 1a from the
ethanolic extract of the roots of the Mediterranean
umbelliferous plant, Thapsia villosa L. Simultaneously,
Grande and co-workers reported2 the isolation of the
corresponding senicioate ester 1b from the benzene
extract of the roots of Thapsia villosa var minor, along
with five other hemiacetalic 1c–f, 2, and four non-
1,2,2,6,8,9-hexamethylbicyclo[4.3.0]nonane (6) contain-
ing the three contiguous quaternary carbon atoms
which are present in these sesquiterpenes. In 1990,
Christensen and co-workers reported3 the isolation of
three more thapsanes, two nonacetalic 3b,c and one
hemiacetalic 1g, from T. villosa var minor. The presence
of an interesting carbon framework containing three
contiguous quaternary carbon atoms make the thap-
sanes challenging synthetic targets. In continuation of
our interest in the synthesis of racemic and optically
active thapsanes,4 we have developed an approach to
thapsanes containing an oxygen functionality at the C-3
position starting from Hagemann’s ester 7, which is the
subject of this communication.
R"
OSen
X
SenO
O
R'
Ang =
Sen =
O
O
Y
OR
O
R
O
OH
O
3a X=OSen;Y=OAc
b X=H;Y=OH
c X=H;Y=OFer
a R=R'=H;R"=OAng;
b R=R'=H;R"=OSen;
c R=R'=H;R"=OCoum;
d R=R'=H;R"=OFer;
e R=OAng;R'=R"=H;
f R'=OSen;R=R"=H;
g R=R'=R"=H;
4a R=H
1
O
2
b R=Ac
O
12
Coum =
OAng
13
6
15
O
OH
7
1
OAc
CHO
OMe
3
Fer =
9
11
14
10
6
OH
5
Retrosynthetic analysis (Scheme 1) identified the
bicyclic ketone 8, which could be obtained from the
tricyclic ketone 9, as the ideal precursor for thapsanes
containing an oxygen functionality at the C-3 position.
It was contemplated that Claisen rearrangement of the
allyl alcohol 10 followed by intramolecular cyclopropa-
nation of the resultant g,d-unsaturated acid 11 could
acetalic 3a, 4a,b, 5 minor components, having the same
carbon framework. The trivial name ‘thapsane’ was
suggested for the bicyclic carbon framework cis-
* Corresponding author. Fax: 91-80-3600683; 3600529; e-mail:
ask@orgchem.iisc.ernet.in
0040-4039/02/$ - see front matter © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
PII: S0040-4039(02)00381-7

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A. Srikrishna, D. B. Ramachary / Tetrahedron Letters 43 (2002) 2765–2768
sodium dienolate of Hagemann’s ester with methyl
iodide at −100°C furnished regioselectively the g,g-
dimethyl Hagemann’s ester5 12 containing the first qua-
ternary carbon atom. Ketalisation of the keto-ester 12
with ethanediol and p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TSA)
followed by regioselective reduction of the resultant
ketal-ester 13 with lithium aluminum hydride (LAH) in
ether at −70°C furnished the allyl alcohol 10. Johnson’s
orthoester Claisen rearrangement6 of the allyl alcohol
10 with triethyl orthoacetate and propionic acid in a
sealed tube at 180°C created the second quaternary
carbon atom to furnish the ketal-ester 14, which on
ester hydrolysis and careful acidification generated the
ketal-acid 11 (Scheme 3).
Scheme 1.
generate the tricyclic ketone 9. Furthermore, Hage-
mann’s ester 7 was considered as a suitable starting
material for the preparation of the allyl alcohol 10.
Initially, the synthesis of the ketal-acid 11 was investi-
gated (Schemes 2 and 3). Thus, dialkylation of the
For the creation of the third quaternary carbon atom,
attention was focused on the conversion of the ketal-
acid 11 into the corresponding diazoketone. However,
reaction of the ketal-acid 11 with oxalyl chloride in
benzene, both in the presence as well as in the absence
COOEt
COOEt
a
X
b
O
d
e
O
O
O
O
O
O
COOH
COOEt
7
12
13 X=COOEt
10 X=CH2OH
14
16
c
f
O
O
O
O
h
g
i
X
O
O
MeO
Y
N2
20
19a X=OH; Y=H
19b X=H; Y=OH
(19a:19b 19 : 1 )
18
17
j
k
n
m
O
X
MeO
MeO
MeO
MeO
23 X=O
24 X=H,OH
22
25
26
l
Scheme 2. Reagents and conditions: (a) i. NaH, THF, rt, 0.75 h, ii. MeI, −100°C, 1.5 h; rt, 7 h; 64%; (b) (CH2OH)2, p-TSA, C6H6,
reflux (Dean–Stark), 5 h, 89%; (c) LAH, Et2O, −70°C, 2 h, 90%; (d) MeC(OEt)3, EtCOOH, sealed tube, 180°C, 7 days; 84%; (e)
5% NaOH in MeOH–H2O (1:1), reflux, 7 h; 3N HCl, THF, 1 h; 97%; (f) i. (COCl)2, C6H6, rt, 2 h, ii. CH2N2, Et2O, rt, 2 h, 97%;
(g) Cu, CuSO4, c-C6H12, W-lamp, reflux, 5 h, 74%; (h) NaBH4, MeOH, 0°C, 10 min, 100%; (i) NaH, THF, DMF, TBAI, MeI,
0°C–rt, 24 h, 94%; (j) LDA, THF, HMPA, MeI, 0°C–rt, 10 h, 87%; (k) Li, liquid NH3, THF, 15 min, 81%; (l) PCC, CH2Cl2, rt,
3 h, 94%; (m) Ph3P+CH3I−, K+ tAmO−, C6H6, rt, 9 h, 84%; (n) p-TSA, CH2Cl2, rt, 6 h, 76%.
a
81%
b
65%
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
COCl
COOEt
COOH
O
O
14
11
15
Scheme 3. (a) 5% NaOH in MeOH–H2O (1:1), reflux, 7 h; (b) (COCl)2, C6H6, DMF, rt, 1 h.

A. Srikrishna, D. B. Ramachary / Tetrahedron Letters 43 (2002) 2765–2768
2767
of triethylamine, furnished only the bicyclic ketoketal†7
15, mp 61°C, in 65% yield, contrary to the expected
acid chloride. To overcome this problem, the ketal
moiety in 11 was hydrolysed to furnish the keto-acid
16, which was converted into diazoketone 17 via the
corresponding acid chloride. Stereospecific intramolecu-
lar cyclopropanation8 of the diazoketone 17 with a
mixture of copper powder and anhydrous copper sul-
phate in refluxing cyclohexane furnished the tricyclic
dione 18,† mp 198–200°C, in 74% yield. After accom-
plishing the synthesis of the tricyclic dione 18 contain-
ing three contiguous quaternary carbon atoms,
differentiation of the two ketones in 18 was addressed
and for this purpose the preferred reduction of cyclo-
hexanones when compared to cyclopentanones was
exploited.9 Thus, regio- and stereoselective reduction of
the dione 18 with one equivalent of sodium borohy-
dride in methanol furnished a 19:1 mixture of the
hydroxy-ketones 19a and 19b in quantitative yield, via
preferred approach of the hydride from the less hin-
dered equatorial side,10 and which were separated by
column chromatography on silica gel. Etherification of
the hydroxy-ketone 19a with sodium hydride and
methyl iodide in the presence of a catalytic amount of
tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI) in dimethylfor-
mamide (DMF) and THF furnished the methoxy-
ketone† 20 in 94% yield, which on reaction with lithium
in liquid ammonia11 furnished the bicyclic ketone 21
(Scheme 4). The equatorial stereochemistry of the
methoxy group in 21 was assigned on the basis of the
coupling constants (11.0 and 3.3 Hz) of the axial proton
attached to the methoxy bearing carbon, thus confirm-
ing the stereostructures of hydroxy-ketones 19a and
19b.
Next attention was turned towards the conversion of
the methoxyketone 21 into thapsane, which requires the
introduction of one carbon each at the C-8 and C-9
positions. To overcome the regiochemical problem, the
methyl group was introduced prior to the cleavage of
the cyclopropane ring. Thus, alkylation of the tricyclic
ketone 20 with LDA and methyl iodide in THF and
HMPA furnished the methylated ketone 22, mp 80–
82°C, in 87% yield, in a highly stereoselective manner,12
which on regioselective cyclopropane ring cleavage11
with lithium in liquid ammonia and THF furnished a
2:1 mixture of the bicyclic ketone 23, mp 62°C, and the
alcohol 24, mp 93°C, in 81% yield, which were sepa-
rated by column chromatography on silica gel. PCC
oxidation transformed the alcohol 24 into the ketone
23.12 Finally, reaction of the ketone 23 with methylene-
triphenylphosphorane in benzene at room temperature
furnished 3-methoxythaps-8(11)-ene† 25 in 84% yield,
which on isomerisation with a catalytic amount of
MeO
Li-liq. NH3
O
MeO
73%
MeO
O
O
20
21
Scheme 4.
† All the compounds exhibited spectral data consistent with the structures. Selected spectral data for the ketoketal 15: IR (thin film): wmax 1728,
1646, 878 cm−1 1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3+CCl4): l 4.91 (1H, br s), 4.87 (1H, br s), 4.10–3.75 (4 H, m), 2.77 (1H, d, J 16.5 Hz), 2.55 (1H,
.
d, J 19.0 Hz), 2.47 (1H, m), 2.43 (1H, m of d, J 16.5 Hz), 1.85 (1H, d, J 19.0 Hz), 1.05 (3H, s), 0.96 (3H, s), 0.94 (3H, s). 13C NMR (75 MHz,
CDCl3+CCl4): l 210.1 (C), 148.1 (C), 110.8 (C), 108.0 (CH2), 64.9 (CH2), 64.4 (CH2), 54.2 (CH), 46.9 (CH2), 45.0 (C), 43.5 (C), 28.4 (CH2), 21.6
(CH3), 19.9 (CH3), 17.2 (CH3). For the dione 18: mp: 198–200°C. IR (thin film): wmax 1728, 1706 cm−1 1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3): l 2.88
.
(1H, dt, J 14.0 and 7.5 Hz), 2.47 (1H, dt, J 14.4 and 5.7 Hz), 2.26 (1H, ddd, J 13.5, 5.7 and 2.0 Hz), 2.11 (1H, d, J 18.0 Hz), 2.08 (1H, dd, J
7.8 and 2.4 Hz), 1.87 (1H, dd, J 18.0 and 1.0 Hz), 1.62 (1H, ddd, J 13.5, 7.8 and 1.5 Hz), 1.19 (3H, s), 1.09 (1H, dd, J 5.1 and 3.0 Hz), 1.07
(3H, s), 0.98 (3H, s), 1.00–0.90 (1H, m). 13C NMR (75 MHz, CDCl3+CCl4): l 213.0 (C), 211.2 (C), 51.8 (C), 46.9 (C), 43.0 (CH2), 37.0 (CH),
35.5 (2 C, C and CH2), 28.5 (CH2), 23.2 (CH3), 20.1 (CH3), 19.0 (CH3), 16.7 (CH2). For the methoxyketone 20: IR (neat): wmax 1726 cm−1 1H
.
NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3+CCl4): l 3.30 (3H, s), 2.94 (1H, br s), 2.31 (1H, dt, J 14.0 and 5.1 Hz), 2.02 (1H, d, J 18.0 Hz), 1.90–1.70 (4 H, m),
1.64 (1H, d, J 18.0 Hz), 1.27 (3H, s), 1.04 (1H, dd, J 5.0 and 2.7 Hz), 0.96 (3H, s), 0.87 (3H, s), 0.95–0.75 (1H, m). 13C NMR (75 MHz,
CDCl3+CCl4): l 213.7 (C), 86.8 (CH), 57.5 (CH3), 45.4 (CH2), 42.7 (C), 40.8 (C), 37.0 (C), 36.97 (CH), 24.9 (CH3), 22.9 (CH2), 22.5 (CH3), 21.6
(CH2), 21.2 (CH3), 17.7 (CH2). For the tricyclic ketone 22: IR (thin film): wmax 1723 cm−1 1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3+CCl4): l 3.31 (3H, s),
.
2.96 (1H, br s), 2.32 (1H, dt, J 14.0 and 5.7 Hz), 2.12 (1H, q, J 8.0 Hz), 1.84 (1H, br d, J 9 Hz), 1.85–1.65 (3H, m), 1.21 (3H, s), 1.02 (3H, d,
J 8.0 Hz), 0.92 (3H, s), 0.90–0.80 (1H, m), 0.85 (3H, s), 0.74 (1H, dd, J 9.0 and 5.4 Hz). 13C NMR (75 MHz, CDCl3+CCl4): l 216.9 (C), 87.2
(CH), 57.6 (CH3), 47.3 (CH), 44.5 (C), 41.9 (C), 37.1 (C), 36.9 (CH), 24.8 (CH3), 23.4 (CH2), 22.3 (CH3), 21.5 (CH2), 17.4 (CH2), 17.3 (CH3),
16.5 (CH3). For the bicyclic ketone 23: IR (thin film): wmax 1737 cm−1 1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3+CCl4): l 3.34 (3H, s), 3.05 (1H, m of d,
.
J 8 Hz), 2.56 (1H, q, J 7.2 Hz), 2.22 (1H, d, J 18.3 Hz), 1.90 (1H, dd, J 18.3 and 1.5 Hz), 1.85–1.75 (1H, m), 1.55–1.40 (3H, m), 1.22 (3H, s),
1.10 (3H, d, J 7.2 Hz), 0.98 (3H, s), 0.94 (3H, s), 0.91 (3H, s). 13C NMR (75 MHz, CDCl3+CCl4): l 219.8 (C), 84.4 (CH), 57.6 (CH3), 53.4 (CH2),
49.7 (C), 49.0 (CH), 41.8 (C), 39.8 (C), 35.6 (CH2), 24.9 (CH3), 23.0 (CH3), 22.6 (CH2), 18.0 (CH3), 13.8 (CH3), 13.4 (CH3). For
3-methoxythaps-8(11)-ene 25: IR (neat): wmax 1650, 880 cm−1 1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3+CCl4): l 4.82 (1H, m), 4.77 (1H, m), 3.33 (3H, s),
.
3.04 (1H, dd, J 11.4 and 4.0 Hz), 2.82–2.70 (1H, m), 2.38 (1H, qd, J 16.0 and 2.7 Hz), 1.84 (1H, d, J 16.0 Hz), 1.80–1.60 (1H, m), 1.60–1.15
(3H, m), 1.08 (3H, d, J 6.6 Hz), 1.06 (3H, s), 0.96 (3H, s), 0.86 (3H, s), 0.79 (3H, s). 13C NMR (75 MHz, CDCl3+CCl4): l 156.3 (C), 106.3 (CH2),
84.8 (CH), 57.6 (CH3), 51.0 (C), 49.1 (CH2), 42.6 (C), 42.58 (CH), 41.7 (C), 34.6 (CH2), 24.7 (CH3), 23.1 (CH3), 22.8 (CH2), 18.4 (CH3), 17.7
1
(CH3), 13.4 (CH3). For 3-methoxythaps-8-ene 26: H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3+CCl4): l 3.25 (3H, s), 2.81 (1H, dd, J 6.0 and 3.0 Hz), 2.18 (1H,
d, J 15.3 Hz), 1.70–1.50 (3H, m), 1.55 (3H, s), 1.54 (3H, s), 1.40–1.20 (2 H, m), 0.94 (3H, s), 0.90 (3H, s), 0.86 (3H, s), 0.77 (3H, s). 13C NMR
(75 MHz, CDCl3+CCl4): l 137.2 (C), 129.8 (C), 86.5 (CH), 57.0 (CH3), 55.6 (C), 51.4 (CH2), 43.2 (C), 41.8 (C), 30.0 (CH2), 29.0 (CH3), 26.6
(CH3), 24.5 (CH3), 20.9 (CH2), 17.1 (CH3), 14.5 (CH3), 13.6 (CH3).

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A. Srikrishna, D. B. Ramachary / Tetrahedron Letters 43 (2002) 2765–2768
p-TSA furnished 3-methoxythaps-8-ene† 26 in 76% yield.
Synthesis of 25 and 26 constitutes the first total synthesis
ofthapsenescontaining anoxygen functionality attheC-3
position.
5. White, J. D.; Sung, W. L. J. Org. Chem. 1974, 39, 2323.
6. Johnson, W. S.; Werthemann, L.; Bartlett, W. R.; Brock-
som, T. J.; Li, T.-t.; Faulkner, D. J.; Petersen, M. R. J.
Am. Chem. Soc. 1970, 92, 741.
7. Formation of the ketoketal 15 from the acid 11 can be
explained via the acid chloride i as depicted below.
Intramolecular O-acylation of the ketal oxygen followed
by elimination of a proton transforms the acid chloride i
into the enol-lactone ii, which undergoes cyclisation and
bond reorganization to generate the ketoketal 15.
In conclusion, we have accomplished the synthesis of
( )-3-methoxythaps-8-ene. A Claisen rearrangement and
an intramolecular cyclopropanation reaction were
employed for the stereospecific construction of the three
contiguous quaternary carbon atoms.
H
O
O
O
11
15
O
O
_
O
+
O
COCl
O
O
O
+
O
i
ii
Acknowledgements
8. (a) Stork, G.; Ficini, J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1961, 83,
4678; (b) Burke, S. D.; Grieco, P. A. Org. React. 1979,
26, 361; (c) Mander, L. N. Synlett 1991, 134; (d)
Padwa, A.; Krumpe, K. E. Tetrahedron 1992, 48, 5385.
9. Ward, D. E.; Rhee, C. K. Can. J. Chem. 1989, 67,
1206.
We thank the Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research, New Delhi for the award of a research
fellowship to D.B.R.
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structure, whereas stereochemistry of the secondary
methyl group in 23 was assigned on the basis of
thermodynamic considerations. The methyl group in 23
did not isomerise under equilibrating conditions indicat-
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