Angewandte
Communications
Chemie
makes non-covalent contacts between the chiral ligand and
a separable diastereomer derived from the minor diastereo-
mer of 5.
substrate may be beneficial to asymmetric induction. We
further speculated that a large achiral ligand may rigidify the
chiral crown arrangement of the chiral ligands. Accordingly
À
Initial attempts at C H activation using known condi-
tions[12a] (Ar-I, Pd(OAc)2, Ag2CO3, tert-BuOH, 758C) pro-
vided the arylated product in 45% yield and incomplete
conversion of starting material. Gratifyingly, we discovered
that the yield was significantly improved by running the
reaction “on water”.[26] Thus, the combination of 3,4,5-
trimethoxyiodobenzene, Pd(OAc)2, PivOH, and K2CO3 on
we designed
a
new mixed-ligand RhII-catalyst, Rh2(S-
NTTL)3(dCPA), which contains a bulky dicyclohexylpheny-
lacetate group (dCPA) as the achiral ligand. A crystal
structure of Rh2(S-NTTL)3(dCPA) revealed that the chiral
crown conformation was conserved with the bulky dCPA
ligand. As shown in Figure 2, the N-naphthalimido groups are
water gave the desired cyclobutane
7 in 69% yield
(Scheme 5). These conditions avoid the use of Ag2CO3 and
Figure 2. X-ray crystal structure of Rh2(S-NTTL)3(dCPA).[28]
oriented on the same face of the catalyst with the sterically
demanding tert-butyl groups on the opposite face blocking
reactivity on the bottom face of the catalyst. Indeed, this new
mixed-ligand complex gave 92% ee and 79% yield of the
bicyclobutane. With this optimal catalyst in hand, we used it in
the key step in a one-pot bicyclobutanation/ homoconjugate
addition sequence to assemble the core of piperarborenine B.
Hence, treatment of diazoester 3 with 0.1 mol % Rh2(S-
NTTL)3(dCPA) at À788C in toluene followed by cuprate
addition using CuBr·SMe2, PPh3, and 2-methyl-1-propenyl-
magnesium bromide in THF provided the desired trisubsti-
tuted cyclobutane 5 in 69% yield, 92% ee and 4:1 d.r. after
kinetic protonation with BHT.
In order to set the desired stereochemical relationship of
the cyclobutane ring, kinetic protonation with a bulky proton
source was required. BHT was an effective proton source
providing the desired diastereomer in 4:1 d.r..[22] An even
higher 6:1 d.r. was obtained with the sterically demanding 2,6-
di(adamantan-1-yl)-4-(tert-butyl)phenol, but unfortunately
this high selectivity was poorly reproducible upon scale up.
For this reason, BHT was chosen for large scale synthesis of
the enantiomerically enriched cyclobutane 5, which was
prepared in gram quantities.
À
Scheme 5. Directing group installation, Pd-catalyzed C H activation
and hydrolysis via lithium hydroperoxide.
also proceed considerably faster with full consumption of
starting material after 12 h (as opposed to 45% yield and
80% conversion after 36 h in tert-BuOH at 758C). Running
the reaction neat led to a slightly diminished 56% yield.
Interestingly, microwave heating at 1008C resulted in 55%
yield with incomplete conversion after only 20 minutes but
was not further investigated due to scalability limitations of
our microwave reactor.
The directing group was removed by converting to the
Boc-amide followed by hydrolysis with lithium hydroperox-
ide.[12a,27] The remaining tert-butylester monoacid was treated
with TFA to afford the diacid 8. The synthesis of piperarbor-
enine B was completed by dihydropyridinone addition to in
situ generated diacyl chloride in 75% yield (Scheme 6).
We next sought to install the amide directing group to
À
facilitate subsequent Pd-catalyzed C H activation. The
carboxylate functionality was unveiled by an ozonolysis/
Pinnick oxidation sequence. First, vinylcyclobutane 5 was
treated with O3 in the presence of 1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene,
an additive found to suppress over-oxidation of the electron-
rich 1,2-dimethoxyphenyl group. After reductive quench with
PPh3, the aldehyde intermediate was oxidized to the carbox-
ylic acid by Pinnick oxidation. The crude carboxylic acid was
used in a HATU-enabled coupling with 2-(methylthio)aniline
to install the desired directing group providing cyclobutane 6
in 66% yield, along with an additional 14% yield of
Scheme 6. Completion of piperarborenine B.
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 4983 –4987
ꢀ 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim