Catalytic enantio- and diastereoselective formation of β-sultones: Ring-strained precursors for enantioenriched β-hydroxysulfonyl derivatives

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/anie.200604796

(Chemical Equation Presented) Sultones swing! Sulfenes, the highly reactive sulfonyl equivalents of ketenes, were used for the first time as substrates in asymmetric catalysis. A [2+2] cyclo-cyclocondensation reaction catalyzed by a tertiary amine enabled

Full text of DOI:10.1002/anie.200604796

Angewandte
Chemie
DOI: 10.1002/anie.200604796
b-Sultones
Catalytic Enantio- and Diastereoselective Formation of b-Sultones:
Ring-Strained Precursors for Enantioenriched b-Hydroxysulfonyl
Derivatives**
Florian M. Koch and RenØ Peters*
Ketenes are exceptionally versatile, widely used substrates in
asymmetric catalysis that allow the stereoselective formation
of various important compound
title compounds have never been prepared enantioselectively.
The reason is that most b-sultones have been reported to be
unstable at room temperature because of the occurrence of
proton shift, elimination, and rearrangement reactions. Par-
ticularly thermally unstable are most b-sultones which contain
an a-CH2 moiety. They were often found to rearrange almost
completely within several hours at room temperature to yield
mixtures of isomeric unsaturated sulfonic acids as well as g-
and d-sultones.[10] Exceptionally stable derivatives are those
with the electron-withdrawing and bulky CCl3 group at the b-
classes.[1–2] Sulfenes 1, the sulfonyl
equivalents of ketenes,[3] have not
been applied to date in asymmetric
catalysis. This may be due in part to the
fact that sulfenes are far less stable than
ketenes: simple alkyl-substituted sulfenes have never been
isolated, but their existence was spectroscopically demon-
strated by IR spectroscopy at À1968C.[4] The application of
sulfenes in asymmetric catalysis would lead to more sustain-
able, resource- and time-saving approaches towards enantio-
merically pure sulfonyl derivates.[5] As chiral sulfonyl ana-
logues of carbonyl derivatives are of increasing importance in
medicinal chemistry,[6] partly because they mimic the struc-
tural properties of the transition states leading to tetrahedral
intermediates, the development of catalytic asymmetric
methods using sulfene substrates is an important undertaking.
In this context, we became interested in b-sultones 2,
which are highly reactive sulfonyl analogues of b-lactones.[7]
In contrast to the latter compounds, b-sultones are a less-
investigated substance class despite their potentially high
value as synthetic building blocks.[8] As a result of their
inherent reactivity owing to ring strain, b-sultones are prone
to regioselective nucleophilic ring-opening reactions under
mild conditions to provide either b-substituted sulfonic acids
or b-hydroxysulfonyl derivatives.[9] The evolution of such
ring-opening strategies has so far been limited by the
availability of functionalized b-sultones, and up to now the
À
position which significantly stabilizes the otherwise labile C
O bond.
Borrmann and Wegler reported in 1966 that b-sultones are
accessible by a [2+2] cycloaddition route, which utilizes the
parent sulfene as a reactive intermediate.[11] Ten years later,
King and Harding discovered that the formation of b-sultones
is improved by the use of a large excess of a sterically non-
hindered tertiary amine such as NMe3.[12] This behavior was
attributed to the reversible formation of reactive zwitterionic
intermediates from sulfenes and tertiary amines which sub-
sequently undergo a cyclocondensation reaction with a
strongly polarized aldehyde. Consequently, as the size of the
base decreases, so the quantity of zwitterions at equilibrium
should be increased.
On the basis of these results, we assumed that it should be
possible to form b-sultones enantioselectively by the action of
a catalytic amount of an enantiopure chiral nucleophile 4
(Scheme 1). The catalyst is regenerated during the internal
[*] F. M. Koch, Prof. Dr. R. Peters
Laboratory of Organic Chemistry
ETH Zürich
Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 10
Hönggerberg HCI E 111
8093 Zürich (Switzerland)
Fax: (+41)44-633-1226
E-mail: peters@org.chem.ethz.ch
Homepage: http://www.peters.ethz.ch
Scheme 1. Proposed asymmetric formation of b-sultones catalyzed by
enantiopure nucleophiles.
[**] This work was financially supported by the Swiss National Science
Foundation (SNF; PhD fellowship to F.M.K.) and F. Hoffmann-La
Roche. We thank Paul Seiler for determining the X-ray crystal
structure, Prof. Erick M. Carreira and Prof. Peter Chen (both ETHZ)
for sharing laboratory equipment, and Prof. Dieter Seebach (ETHZ),
Dr. Martin Karpf, and Dr. Paul Spurr (both F. Hoffmann-La Roche,
Basel) for critically reading this manuscript.
esterification step for further turnover. The reactivity of a
sulfene that normally acts as an electrophile would thus be
reverted by the formation of a nucleophilic zwitterion 5. The
present workwas inspired by the tertiary amine catalyzed
enantioselective [2+2] cycloaddition of ketene and chloral,
which furnished the corresponding b-lactone in high yield and
with excellent enantioselectivity.[13]
Supporting information, including the Experimental Section, for this
article is available on the WWW under http://www.angewandte.org
or from the author.
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Communications
As a result of the stability problems, we focused on the
atoms are sp2-hybridized, the sulfur atom in 5 and presumably
also the a-carbon atom are pyramidalized in analogy to the
majority of lithiated sulfone carbanions that bear one alkyl
group at the a-position as the only substituent.[14] This implies
that the diastereomeric zwitterionic species 5a and 5a’ are
formed, whereas in the case of the ketene the cinchona
alkaloid is supposed to bind selectively trans to the enolate
residue R.[1b] The absolute configuration of the b-sultone
products 2 primarily depends on the reactive configuration of
the zwitterion. The sulfene-amine adducts 5a and 5a’ would
be expected to be diastereomeric species even if their a-
carbon atoms are planar (as expected, for example, for
aromatic residues R) owing to the existence of favored Ca–S
conformations whereby both sulfonyl oxygen atoms should be
arranged gauche to the lone pair in the a-carbon atom as a
formation of 3,4-disubstituted b-sultones that bear an elec-
tron-withdrawing group at the 4-position. Ethylsulfonylchlor-
ide (3a) and chloral (6a) were selected as model substrates.
Using quinuclidine in stoichiometric amounts as a sterically
undemanding nucleophile in dichloromethane at À158C,
racemic b-sultone 2a was isolated in almost 90% yield as a
single diastereomer [Eq. (1), A].
result of a stabilizing negative hyperconjugation (nC-s*SN
)
leading to hindered Ca–S rotation. This would be in analogy
to (n -s* C’) interactions, which are known to stabilize
À
S
C
sulfone carbanions.[15]
To enhance the reactivity of the catalytic system, the effect
of activation by Lewis acids was investigated. Initial experi-
ments in the presence of 18 mol% Sc(OTf)3 (Tf: trifluor-
omethanesulfonyl) revealed that both the yield and e.r. values
were significantly improved, with the best values being
obtained with (DHQ)2PYR (9 mol%) as enantiopure nucle-
ophile (41% yield, e.r. = 75.5:24.5; [Eq. (1), D]).[16] This
nucleophile was initially developed by Sharpless and co-
workers as a ligand for asymmetric dihydroxylations.[17] By
screening various metal triflate salts [Eq. (2)], In(OTf)3 (best
e.r. values) and Bi(OTf)3 (best yields) emerged as the most
promising co-catalysts.
The reaction still proceeded well with a catalytic amount
of the nucleophile in combination with a stoichiometric, bulky
non-nucleophilic auxiliary base for the formation of the
sulfene by dehydrochlorination of sulfonyl chloride 3 [Eq. (1),
B]. With 10 mol% of quinuclidine in the presence of
1.45 equivalents of iPr2NEt, the diastereomerically pure
target molecule 2a was obtained in 76% yield. However,
the transfer to chiral quinuclidine catalysts, namely cinchona
alkaloid derivatives, turned out to be a nontrivial task. With
10 mol% of various quinine derivatives in combination with
1,2,2,6,6-pentamethylpiperidine (PMP) as stoichiometric base
in CH2Cl2 at À158C, the product was formed in very low yield
(2–23%) and with almost no enantioselectivity (e.r.
ꢀ 55.5:44.5) [Eq. (1), C; MeQ: methylquinine; BnQ: benzyl-
quinine; TMSQ: trimethylsilylquinine ether; (DHQ)2PYR:
dihydroquinine-2,5-diphenyl-4,6-pyrimidinediyl diether].
The low enantioselectivities observed might be surprising
at first sight given the high e.r. values obtained in the
formation of b-lactones through ketene-derived zwitterionic
enolates. However, fundamental structural differences
between the anticipated reactive intermediates 5 and the
ketene-derived zwitterionic enolates 7 must be expected
(Scheme 2). Whereas in the case of 7 both enolate carbon
A final optimization of the reaction conditions (temper-
ature, amount of catalyst and co-catalyst, stoichiometry,
achiral auxiliary base) finally gave 2a in a yield of 61–78%
with excellent diastereomeric ratios and e.r. values of
83.5:16.5 to 89:11 ([Eq. (3)]; Table 1, entries 1 and 2). With
increasing bulkof the sulfonyl chloride residue R, the e.r.
values were enhanced to 90.5:9.5–99.7:0.3 ([Eq. (3)]; Table 1,
Scheme 2. Comparison of the structure of the proposed sulfene
zwitterions 5a/5a’ with the ketene-derived enolate 7.
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Table 1: Investigation of the formation of b-sultones 2 employing
different sulfonyl chlorides 3.
Table 2: Optimization of b-sultone formation with ethyl glyoxylate (6b).
Entry
M
Yield [%][a]
d.r.[b]
e.r.[c]
Entry
R
Product
M
Yield [%][a] d.r.[b]
e.r.[c]
1
2
3
4
In(OTf)3
Bi(OTf)3
Cu(OTf)2
Zn(OTf)2
Sc(OTf)3
In(OTf)3
62
52
32
23
14
7
2.5:1
2:1
3.5:1
95:5
95:5
93.5:6.5
88.5:11.5
nd
1[d,e] Me
2[d,e] Me
2a
2a
2b
2b
2c
2c
2d
2d
2e
2e
Bi 78
In 61
Bi 65
In 28
Bi 47
In 36
Bi 87
In 58
Bi 60
In 57
Bi 83
In 69
96:1 83.5:16.5
>100:1 89:11
>100:1 96:4
3
Et
>100:1
>100:1
3:1
4[d] Et
>100:1 97:3
5
5
6
Pr
Pr
>50:1 91.5:8.5
>50:1 94.5:5.5
>50:1 97.5:2.5
15:1 90.5:9.5
22:1 95.5:4.5
12:1 92:8
6[d]
97:3
[a] Yield of isolated product. [b] d.r. values were determined by 1H NMR
spectroscopy. [c] The e.r. values were determined by chiral column HPLC
(Daicel OD-H); nd: not determined. [d] Reaction was performed at
À408C.
7
8
9
10
11
12
(CH2)2Cl
(CH2)2Cl
CH2Ph
CH2Ph
MeOC6H4O(CH2)2 2 f
MeOC6H4O(CH2)2 2 f
>100:1 99.7:0.3
>100:1 99.6:0.4
1
triflate salts from the previous Lewis acid screening with
chloral (6a) were investigated with 6b, and the best results
were obtained again with In(OTf)3 and Bi(OTf)3 (Table 2,
entries 1 and 2). Both the yield and stereoselectivity were
lower than with chloral but still in a preparatively useful
range.[20]
[a] Yield of isolated product. [b] d.r. values were determined by H NMR
spectroscopy. [c] The e.r. values were determined by chiral column HPLC
(Daicel OD-H). [d] 18 mol% of M(OTf)3 was used. [e] iPr2NEt was used
instead of PMP.
entries 3–12). To obtain preparatively useful yields,
0.36 equivalents of the metal triflate salt were necessary. In
general, Bi(OTf)3 provided better yields than In(OTf)3, while
in terms of the stereoselectivity a clear-cut trend is not
obvious. Surprisingly, even the chloroethyl substituent was
well tolerated in the presence of the nucleophilic catalyst
(Table 1, entries 7–8).
From a mechanistic point of view, two scenarios might in
principal account for the product formation (Scheme 3): I the
proposed formation of a sulfene-derived zwitterionic inter-
The absolute configuration of 2b (R,R) was established by
the first X-ray crystal structure analysis of a monocyclic b-
sultone (Figure 1).[18] The ring system of the cis-configured
Scheme 3. Potential reactive intermediates for the formation of b-
sultones catalyzed by nucleophiles.
mediate 5 or II the formation of a zwitterionic chloral-amine
adduct 9, which undergoes a cyclocondensation reaction with
sulfonyl chloride 3 or the corresponding sulfene.
The formation of sulfenes under the described reaction
conditions was verified by deuteration experiments.[21] When
sulfonyl chlorides 3 were treated with base, catalyst, and
Lewis acid in the presence of MeOD, the monodeuterated
esters 10 were selectively formed [Eq. (5)]. Double deutera-
tion was not detected, thus excluding a random deprotonation
process. The deuteration level was not influenced by the
Lewis acid co-catalyst.
Figure 1. ORTEP representation of b-sultone 2b in the crystal structure
(50% probability ellipsoids, hydrogen atoms are omitted for clarity,
non-carbon atoms are labeled).
species is almost completely flat and has a C-S-O angle of
82.78.[19]
The optimized reaction conditions can also be adapted to
alternative electron-poor aldehydes as demonstrated for ethyl
glyoxylate 6b ([Eq. (4)], Table 2). The five most useful metal
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Unusual temperature characteristics were found for the
The trichloromethyl group can be partially reduced by
Bu3SnH (Scheme 5). Depending upon the reaction condi-
tions, either the di- or the monochloro derivatives 17 or 18
were selectively obtained, thus significantly enhancing the
synthetic usefulness of the chloral-derived b-sultones.[28]
model reaction with ethylsulfonyl chloride (3a) and chloral
(6a). The e.r. values reached a maximum at À258C using
In(OTf)3 and at À408C using Bi(OTf)3 as co-catalyst, and
they decreased significantly at both higher or lower temper-
atures.[22] These results might be attributed to a simultaneous
action of two competing reaction pathways
I and II
(Scheme 3). The following finding points to the mechanistic
scenario I as the major reaction pathway: the results listed in
Table 1 were obtained by addition of a solution of the sulfonyl
chloride 3 to the reaction mixture over a period of 2.5 h using
a syringe pump to maintain a low concentration of sulfene so
as to avoid sulfene dimerization and oligomerization. Stirring
was then continued for an additional 15 min before the
reaction mixture was quenched. However, if the addition time
of the sulfonyl chloride was reduced to just 5 min, the e.r.
values were significantly increased, for example, from 97:3 to
99.75:0.25 (entry 4 , Table 1), although at the expense of
diminished yields (< 15%). Under these conditions, the
concentration of the reactive sulfene intermediates was
increased thus favoring pathway I.[23]
Scheme 5. Reduction of the CCl3 group in 11b.
In conclusion, a methodology has been developed which
enables a rapid enantio- and diastereoselective access to
highly enantioenriched b-hydroxysulfonyl derivatives com-
prising two vicinal stereocenters—compounds hardly acces-
sible in a stereoselective way by alternative means. The
starting materials are inexpensive, and the catalysts are easily
recycled by acid–base workup. After this first application of
sulfenes in asymmetric catalysis, this workis expected to pave
the way to further applications on synthesizing enantiopure
sulfonyl compounds by nucleophilic catalysis, as is currently
being investigated in our laboratory.
Ring-opening reactions with alcohols, amines, or Grignard
reagents gave regioselective access to enantioenriched b-
hydroxysulfonates 11 and 12, b-hydroxysulfonamide 13, and
b-hydroxysulfones 14, thus exemplifying the synthetic value
of enantioenriched b-sultones (Scheme 4). No epimerization
Received: November 26, 2006
Published online: March 2, 2007
Keywords: alkaloids · asymmetric catalysis ·
.
homogeneous catalysis · sulfenes · sulfur
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see: C. E. Song, J. K. Lee, S. H. Lee, S. Lee, Tetrahedron:
Asymmetry 1995, 6, 1063.
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