One-Pot Cannizzaro Cascade Synthesis of ortho-Fused Cycloocta-2,5-dien-1-ones from 2-Bromo(hetero)aryl Aldehydes.

An intramolecular Cannizzaro-type hydride transfer to an in situ prepared allene enables the synthesis of ortho-fused 4-substituted cycloocta-2,5-dien-1-ones with unprecedented technical ease for an eight-ring carboannulation. Various derivatives could be obtained from commercially available (hetero)aryl aldehydes, trimethylsilylacetylene, and simple propargyl chlorides in good yields.

Synthesis and evaluation of atropos dihydro-5H-dibenzazepinium halide PTCs derived from α-methylbenzylamine.

A short synthetic route to diastereoisomeric atropos dihydro-5H-dibenz[c,e]azepinium salts via reaction of a single enantiomer of (R)-α-methylbenzylamine with a racemic atropos biphenol derivative is described. Compounds prepared via this approach are used to provide strong evidence that structurally related tropos dihydro-5H-dibenz[c,e]azepinium salts preferentially react via a single conformation in PTC reactions involving glycine imine enolates.

Regioselectivity of the Claisen rearrangement in meta-allyloxy aryl ketones: an experimental and computational study, and application in the synthesis of (R)-(-)-pestalotheol D.

A study of the regioselectivity of the Claisen rearrangement of meta-allyloxy aryl ketones showed that the electron-withdrawing carbonyl group has a major influence and strongly directs rearrangement to the more hindered ortho position. However, when the ketone is part of a ring structure, its electronic effect can be negated by conversion into its triisopropylsilyl enol ether, which dramatically reverses the regiochemistry of the Claisen rearrangement. DFT calculations suggest that the effect is electronic although there is also a steric effect of the bulky silyl group. This strategy for influencing the regiochemical outcome of the Claisen rearrangement was then employed in a short synthesis of the furo[2,3-g]chromene, (-)-pestalotheol D, that confirms the absolute stereochemistry of the natural product.

Biomimetic synthesis and structural reassignment of the tridachiahydropyrones.

The biomimetic synthesis and structural reassignment of tridachiahydropyrone, tridachiahydropyrone B and tridachiahydropyrone C, isolated from mollusks of the order Sacoglossa, using a sequence of photochemical transformations from a common polyene precursor are described. These complex natural products may act as sunscreens for the producing organism, thus offering protection from harmful UV radiation and oxidative damage.

Stereocontrolled synthesis of lepadiformine A.

In this paper we present results of a study into whether the tricyclic core of the lepadiformines A-C can be accessed via intramolecular hetero-Diels-Alder cycloaddition. We are able to demonstrate that such a process is possible and that the reaction proceeds in an endo-selective fashion, providing the correct relative stereochemistry for this family of natural products. By employing this approach we have been able to develop a short (7 step) synthesis of (+/-)-lepadiformine A, starting from commercially-available trans-2-nonenal.

Asymmetric epoxidation via phase-transfer catalysis: direct conversion of allylic alcohols into alpha,beta-epoxyketones.

Studies into the use of a chiral phase-transfer catalyst in conjunction with sodium hypochlorite to effect the enantio-selective formation of alpha,beta-epoxyketones from allylic alcohols are described.

Computational screening of combinatorial catalyst libraries.

A catalyst design methodology, utilizing combinatorial synthesis in parallel with chemometric analysis, is presented, which considers the 3D steric and electrostatic properties of substituents about a constant core structure.

Diastereo- and enantioselective synthesis of alpha,beta-epoxyketones using aqueous NaOCl in conjunction with dihydrocinchonidine derived phase-transfer catalysis at room temperature. Scope and limitations.

In this paper we present studies into the scope and limitations of asymmetric PTC epoxidation of enones and the oxidation-epoxidation of allylic alcohols using aqueous NaOCl in conjunction with a dihydrocinchonidine derived quaternary ammonium salt catalyst.

Exploring phase-transfer catalysis with molecular dynamics and 3D/4D quantitative structure-selectivity relationships.

Quantitative Structure-Selectivity Relationships (QSSR) are developed for a library of 40 phase-transfer asymmetric catalysts, based around quaternary ammonium salts, using Comparative Molecular Field Analysis (CoMFA) and closely related variants. Due to the flexibility of these catalysts, we use molecular dynamics (MD) with an implicit Generalized Born solvent model to explore their conformational space. Comparison with crystal data indicates that relevant conformations are obtained and that, furthermore, the correct biphenyl twist conformation is predicted, as illustrated by the superiority of the resulting model (leave-one-out q(2) = 0.78) compared to a random choice of low-energy conformations for each catalyst (average q(2) = 0.22). We extend this model by incorporating the MD trajectory directly into a 4D QSSR and by Boltzmann-weighting the contribution of selected minimized conformations, which we refer to as '3.5D' QSSR. The latter method improves on the predictive ability of the 3D QSSR (leave-one-out q(2) = 0.83), as confirmed by repeated training/test splits.

Asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis utilizing chiral quaternary ammonium salts: asymmetric alkylation of glycine imines.

O-Alkyl N-anthracenylmethyl derivatives of Cinchona alkaloids can function as enantioselective phase-transfer catalysts. By employing these catalysts in the asymmetric alkylation of glycine imines, one can generate a range of alpha-amino acid derivatives with high levels of enantiomeric excess. It is also possible to generate the catalysts in situ from commercially available chiral amines, which offers the opportunity to evaluate libraries of related structures. This latter approach has been successfully applied to a series of biphenyl quaternary ammonium salts resulting in the development of a new highly selective catalyst and opening up the potential of further expanding the range of alpha-amino acid derivatives that can be prepared.