Scalable Total Synthesis of (-)-Berkelic Acid Using a Protecting-Group-Free Strategy

Scalable Total Synthesis of (-)-Berkelic Acid Using a Protecting-Group-Free Strategy[1]

Francisco J. Fananás, Abraham Mendoza, Tamara Arto, Baris Temelli, and Felix Rodriguez

 DOI: dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201109076

Berkelic acid is a rather old target to the synthetic community and three total syntheses have been published to date. Interestingly the material provided by synthesis produced contradictory biological results compared to earlier studies. So besides showing the power of their methodology the group planned to provide enough material for refined studies.

 Scheme 1

As can be seen from scheme 1 the group planned to construct almost the whole framework in one single step after disconnection of the side. It should be noted that the group has some experience with this kind of cascade transformations of which they can rely on. Nevertheless instead of employing palladium catalysts the group turned their attention to silver catalysis. With this cascade reaction in mind they hoped that the stereogenic methyl group would control the stereoselectivity of the whole transformation.

The three key building blocks were prepared in a straightforward manner. Starting from commercially available butynol 1 the hydroxy functionality was mesylated and replaced by diethylmalonate to give after complete reduction diol 2. Starting from ester 3 the second fragment was prepared by triflation of the least hindered hydroxy group followed by Suzuki cross coupling with the trifluoroborate of heptyne. Hydroxy-directed reaction with formaldehyde and subsequent oxidation produced ester 4. The last building block stems from dimethyl malate which was doubly alkylated in the first place. Then the a-hydroxy ester was used for a periodate cleavage followed by cyanohydrin formation which was catalyzed by PNPCl.[2]

 Scheme 2

 

Combination of the red fragment 2 and orange fragment 4 was accomplished in the presence of 5 mol% silver(II). Subsequent hydrogenation of the resulting double bond yielded 7 in good yield and diastereoselectivity favoring the desired one. Appel reaction under standard conditions was followed by cyanohydrin alkylation and unmasking of the ketone to give protected Berkelic acid 9. Small amounts of Berkelic acid can be produced in good yield by selective saponification of the more active ester. This was only done when material was needed for testing or analysis as the natural product is a short-lived compound.

 Scheme 3

 

The mechanism of the cool key step is presented below. On one hand the red fragment underwent a 5-exo-dig cyclization thus desymmetrizing the propanediol moiety to give after protodemetallation a tetrahydrofuran ring. On the other hand the carbonyl of the orange fragment underwent a 6-endo-dig cyclization. Supported by keto-enol tautomerism of the hydroxy functionality an ortho-quinone methide is formed. Michael addition of the enol ether from the red fragment onto the quinone methide was followed by acetal formation by the phenol. Hydrogenation of the newly formed double bond then gave intermediate 7.[3]

 Scheme 4

 

[1] I was pointed to the title which says “[...] protecting-group-FREE strategy”… I am not particularly sure how they got the title but I see almost two protecting groups: the TES-cyanohydrin and one of the methyl esters. Maybe the title refers to the neat cascade reaction in which no protecting groups are necessary…

[2] It is the first time I ever saw this reagent in action. It is usually used for halogenation reactions. The cited paper in this step found that in the presence of PNPCl the cyanohydrin formation is much faster which was ascribed to an activation of the carbonyl oxygen by the high oxophilicity of phosphorous.

[3] At first sight one might think of a Diels-Alder reaction. But brief examination of the stereochemistry on the newly formed pyran ring shows that only a stepwise mechanism can form this particular anti-substitution pattern.

Addendum: If you are interested in earlier studies of the group you should have a look into these two papers

Big THX to Bobby for proofreading.

Synthesis of Dragmacidin D via Direct C-H Couplings

Debashis Mandal, Atsushi D. Yamaguchi, Junichiro Yamaguchi, and Kenichiro Itami

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja209945x

I thought about writing this review a few months ago but never found the time to get it done. But here it is and I hope you enjoy this cool paper as I did. I am a big fan of “flat” chemistry and C-H activation so naturally this piece had to be reviewed. Dragmacidin D itself shows some promising activity in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease. Only one total synthesis has been published by the Stoltz group in 2002 so there is still room for improvement. Retrosynthetically the group planned to stick all parts together via C-H activation/C-C coupling reactions.

 Scheme 1

The “sticky” –positions are marked in blue. As can be seen from this picture almost all crucial bonds can be formed through C-H activation (except the iodide).

Indole 1 was carboxylated to block the 3 position of the indole which would normally undergo iodination in the presence of NIS. Removal of the carboxyl group after halogenation gave indole 3. Tosylation was accomplished under standard conditions yielding the first coupling partner 4. Thiophene boronic acid 5 was oxidized to the corresponding alcohol to furnish after TIPS protection coupling partner 6. In the presence of Pd^II and silver(I) as the re-oxidant thiophene 7 formed in good yield on a gram scale. Desilylation and reductive desulfuration with Raney-Ni was followed by global deprotection and double MOM-protection to produce ketone 8. ^[1]

 Scheme 2

Next the 3 position of the indole moiety was again functionalized. This time pyrazine N-oxide was used in the presence of Pd^II to give 9. A TFAA mediated Polonovski-Potier rearrangement gave pyrazinone 10 which was used in a Friedel-Crafts-like acylation with 6-bromoindole to furnish 11 in good yield. Bromination of the ketone was accomplished via the TMS-enolate and NBS mediated bromination yielding 12. In the presence of Boc-guanidine Dragmacidin D was formed after deprotection.

 Scheme 3

 

Short and very efficient I would say. The only drawback might be that Dragmacidin D is formed in both enantiomeric forms. I was wondering how much silver the group stores in their laboratories J.

[1] Really a nice method to introduce the side chain on the indole. The net result is the reaction of an umpoled ketone with the aromatic ring.

A Concise and Versatile Double-Cyclization Strategy for the Highly Stereoselective Synthesis and Arylative Dimerization of Aspidosperma Alkaloids

A Concise and Versatile Double-Cyclization Strategy for the Highly Stereoselective Synthesis and Arylative Dimerization of Aspidosperma Alkaloids

Jonathan William Medley and Mohammad Movassaghi

 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201200387

The aspidosperma alkaloids belong to the family of monoterpene indole alkaloids which contains more than 2000 members. I think most of you are more or less familiar with their structures. Because of their broad structural diversity this family still challenges chemists to test new methodology. The Movassaghi group recently published this paper which contains an impressive Friedel-Crafts cyclization strategy to build up the framework in a concise manner. By the way three biogenetically related group members were synthesized and some analogous compounds.

Scheme 1

 

The group planned to access all three natural products through a common precursor which can be obtained via an interrupted Bischler-Napieralski reaction. Fragment 8 was synthesized utilizing Myers asymmetric alkylation strategy.

Scheme 2

 

Pseudophenamie 1 was acylated with crotonyl chloride to give amide 2 which in turn was deprotonated and alkylated to give 3. By doing so the endo-double bond was transformed into a terminal olefin. Another alkylation introduced the ethyl group while retaining the stereochemistry at the a-position. ^[1] TES protection of the auxiliary was necessary to overcome problems in the following alkylation/ring closing step. ^[2] Coupling partner 6 was obtained through methylation and chlorination of 5 in a straightforward manner. Alkylation of 6 with 4 was achieved with KH in the presence of TBAI to give acyclic precursor 7 in high yield.

Scheme 3

 

Next the nosyl group was removed with PhSH. In one pot the TES group was cleaved which resulted in the expected N à O acyl transfer. ^[3] The ester then easily formed lactam 8 with complete recovery of the auxiliary in almost quantitative yield. Triflation of lactam 8 in the presence of the slightly basic 3-cyanopyridine produced the key diiminium ion shown. Depending on the following steps a lot of derivatives can be accessed. ^[4] Employing first borohydride reduction and hydrogenation (-)-N-methylaspidospermidine was obtained. Using a buffered aqueous solution of TFA the diiminium salt was hydrolyzed, the double bond hydrogenated, and the carbonyl functionality reduced with LAH to give (+)-N-methylquebrachamine.

Scheme 4

 

Going half the way from the diiminium ion (which means leaving the double bond in place) coupling partners 12 and 13 were obtained. Again forming the diiminium ion from 13 in the presence of 12 iminium ion 14 was generated. Reduction with Red-Al and hydrogenation then gave (+)-dideepoxytabernaebovine.

Scheme 5

 

For clarity I put the mechanism of the Friedel-Crafts chemistry below. Triflate formation is straightforward. The following spirocyclization is controlled by the quaternary stereocenter. Most likely the ethyl side chain poses greater steric repulsion and the vinyl group might exhibit some sort of attractive secondary orbital interactions. The formed indoleninium ion then underwent aza-Prins cyclization to give after HCl elimination the diiminium ion used for further modifications.

Scheme 6

 

Extremely cool chemistry. I skipped to show all the analogs the group synthesized by the way but you really should have a look in the paper. It is highly recommended.

[1] Any guesses why the stereochemistry of the vinyl group is retained in this step? Normally it should be inverted I think…

[2] It was found that during the coupling step the resulting free amine after N àO acyl transfer underwent intramolecular alkylation with the chloride to close a lactone ring.

[3] The fast N à O acyl transfer can be explained when you look at the 3D model below:

Because of the large phenyl groups the amide nitrogen has almost no chance to overlap its non-bonding s-orbital with the antibonding p*-orbital of the carbonyl group. So the normally partial double bond character of the amide bond is weakened. On the other the free alcohol oxygen is very close to the amide carbonyl so that an acyl transfer should be really fast. I can only guess why this transfer is observed, maybe you have another explanation for that?

3D-model (click on the image to get an impression of the 3D structure):

 

[4] As nucleophiles the group employed for example Grignard reagents, allyl silanes, enol esters, or electron-rich arenes.

Big big thanks to Bobby for proofreading and additional question/suggestions.