Proline catalyzed enantioselective retro-aldol reaction

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Date
2015-05-14Author
Cheng, Muxi
Type
ThesisDegree Level
MastersMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
In the Ward Group, stereoselective aldol reactions of thiopyran derived templates play an important role in polypropionate natural product syntheses. Central to this approach is the diastereo- and enantioselective synthesis of all possible aldol adducts 3 arising from tetrahydro-4H-thiopyran-4-one (1) and 1,4-dioxa-8-thiaspiro[4.5] decane-6- carboxaldehyde (2). There are four possible diastereomers of 3 indicated by the relative configurations at positions 3 and 1’ (syn or anti) and positions 1’ and 6’ (syn or anti).
Up to date, the asymmetric aldol reaction of 1 with 2 catalyzed by L-proline or its tetrazole analogue 12 provides efficient access to 3,1’-anti-1’,6’-syn-3 (3-AS) without need for chromatography (>40 g scale; 75% yield, >98% ee) and 3,1’-syn-1’,6’-syn-3(3-SS) (via isomerization of 3-AS; >75% yield, 2 cycles); however, the preparation of enantiopure 3,1’-anti-1’,6’-anti-3 (3-AA) and 3,1’-anti-1’,6’-syn-3 (3-SA) still requires the use of enantiopure aldehyde 2 in a diastereoselective synthesis. Without a simple and scalable route, access to enantioenriched iterative aldol adducts and polypropionate natural products that are based on 3-AA and 3-SA skeletons are hindered. It was observed that conducting the asymmetric aldol synthesis of 3-AS on large scale gave enantioenriched 3-AA as a very minor product. This observation triggered the hypothesis of using L-proline to resolve racemic 3-AA via a retro-aldol reaction.In this thesis, the development, optimization, and application of an unprecedented L-proline catalyzed enantioselective retro-aldol reaction is described. Interesting mechanistic insights were uncovered. An unexpected isomerization process between 3-AA and 3-SA occurs in parallel with the retro-aldol process. The method was demonstrated to be a robust, flexible, and readily scalable process to access highly enantioenriched 3-AA (ee > 95%) and 3-SA (ee > 95%). To the best of our knowledge, this reaction represents the only reported enantioselective retro-aldol reaction catalyzed by L-proline.
Degree
Master of Science (M.Sc.)Department
ChemistryProgram
ChemistrySupervisor
Ward, Dale E.Committee
Gravel, Michel; Scott, Robert W.Copyright Date
December 2013Subject
L-proline
enantioselective
retro-aldol
asymmetric catalysis
polypropionate
aldol