Angewandte
Communications
Chemie
Scheme 3. Epimerization of peroxyacetals. The diastereomeric ratio
Scheme 6. Late-stage manipulation of the products. Reaction condi-
was determined by 1H NMR analysis. The ee value was determined by
tions: a) In(OTf)3 (2 mol%), allyltrimethylsilane (1.5 equiv), dry
CH2Cl2, RT. b) Catechol borane (3 equiv), dry toluene, 08C to RT.
c) In(OTf)3 (2 mol%), TMSCN (1.2 equiv), CH2Cl2, 08C to RT. d) In-
(OTf)3 (10 mol%), 3-ethanol indole, dry CH2Cl2, 08C to RT. e) PPh3
(2 equiv), CH2Cl2, RT. f) IBX (1.2 equiv), EtOAc/DMSO (9:1), reflux.
DMSO=dimethylsulfoxide, IBX=o-iodoxybenzoic acid, Tf =trifluoro-
methanesulfonyl, TMS=trimethylsilyl.
HPLC analysis using a chiral stationary phase.
such a phenomenon, thus leading to the corresponding
sterically stable trans isomers via the formation of an
oxocarbenium ion. However, such epimerization was sup-
pressed by using acid-free solvents (passed through a plug of
basic alumina). As shown in Scheme 3b, various cis ster-
eoisomers were converted into the corresponding trans isom-
ers with excellent d.r. values (> 15:1), without affecting the
enantioselectivity.
To explore the generality of the reaction conditions, ortho-
homoformyl chalcones (4) were examined (Scheme 4). In
general, the reactions worked equally well, but the diastereo-
selectivities remained moderate.
such chiral building blocks (Scheme 6). For instance, Lewis
acid catalyzed allylation, hydride addition, cyanation, and
À
indole addition enabled the selective conversion of a C OO
À
À
bond into either a C C bond or C H bond without loss of
enantiopurity, thus, 1,3-disubstituted isochromans (8, 10–11)
were obtained with a high level of optical purity. Notably, the
current protocol could be superior compared to our previous
report in terms of enantioselectivity for the synthesis of the 3-
substituted isochroman 9.[21,23] It is noteworthy that such
substitution of a peroxide moiety is not usual in literature.
Furthermore, the decomposition of a peroxy linkage can give
the corresponding 1-hydroxy-3-substituted isochromans (12).
Subsequently, oxidation of a hydroxy into a carbonyl func-
tionality provides the chiral isocoumarine core 13. And the
corresponding aliphatic peroxy-tetrahydrofurans 7a–c could
be a potential substrate for enantiopure g-lactones. The
absolute stereochemistry of 9 was confirmed by the correla-
tion with the literature value.[21b]
Scheme 4. Substrate scope: 1,3-Disubstituted isochromans. For reac-
tion conditions, see: Scheme 2. [a] The ee value of the major diastereo-
mer.
To explain the observed absolute stereochemical out-
come, a bifunctional mechanism similar to those previously
proposed for the squaramide/thiourea-catalyzed oxa/aza-
Michael reaction of enones[15,19–21] may be invoked
(Scheme 7). The re-face of the enone in either TS-1 or TS-2
is in perfect alignment to drive the formation of the product
with the desired stereochemistry. As shown in TS-1, the OOR
group at the b-position imposes a steric hindrance with the
bicyclic skeleton of the catalyst, thus prohibiting the inter-
action of the catalyst with the substrate. Whereas, in TS-2 the
OOR group is situated away from the bicyclic skeleton, and
thus does not hinder the catalyst–substrate association.
Next, we turned our attention to the corresponding
cyclization of substrates without a phenyl linker (Scheme 5).
5-Peroxy 2-substituted tetrahydrohydrofurans (7a–c) can be
synthesized with good yields and excellent enantioselectiv-
ities. However, moderate diastereoselectivities were
observed.
Intrigued by the recurrent existence of 1-/3-substituted
isochromans and isocoumarines in natural products and
bioactive molecules (Figure 2),[22] the versatility and potential
application of the stereoenriched exo-peroxyacetals were
illustrated for the site-selective transformations to construct
Scheme 5. Substrate scope: Aliphatic linker. For reaction conditions,
see: Scheme 2. [a] The ee value of the major diastereomer.
Scheme 7. Proposed model for enantioselectivity-determining step.
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 7723 –7727
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