An asymmetric total synthesis of (+)-chatancin was achieved via a transannular Diels-Alder (TADA) reaction of an in situ generated macrocyclic pyranophane pseudobase. The presented route constitutes the second of two proposed biosynthetic pathways that involves a TADA reaction. It links this diterpene biogenetically to the cembranoids. A set of TADA selection rules that rationalize the formation of (+)-chatancin from a dynamic equilibrium of four 2-hydroxy-2H-pyrane bicycles and their 16 potential TADA transition states are also outlined. Beyond the TADA reaction, highlights of the synthetic work include the assembly of a chiral acyclic macrocyclization substrate from (S)-citronellol and an efficient macrocyclization via a beta-ketosulfoxyde/enone Michael addition.
The mechanism of the Gibbs reaction, a colorimetric phenol assay that applies N-chlorobenzoquinone imines 1 in an aqueous basic medium, was investigated. It is concluded that N-chloroimine radical anion 7 generated in a single electron transfer (SET) from the anion of phenol 4 to N-chloroimine 1 can produce indophenol dye 3 in three distinct routes. For more reactive reagent-substrate pairs, a route is proposed that involves a fast combination of the radical pair in the solvent cage and, consequently, the total rate of which exhibits a pH-independent second-order kinetics, as does the preceding SET itself. For less reactive reagents, a route is proposed in which the N-chloroimine radical anion 7 escapes from the solvent cage to initiate a chain reaction, evidenced by its characteristic kinetics. It has been found in the kinetic experiments that during propagation the chlorine of the chain carrier N-chloroimine radical anion 7 is substituted by the anion of 4 in a bimolecular rate-determining step. Therefore, the mechanism of the chain reaction is termed S(RN)2. In the case when the anion of 4 is less active, a competitive reaction along a third route can proceed in which the N-haloimine radical anion 7 yields benzoquinone imine 6 by the elimination of halogenide and the abstraction of an H-atom from the medium. Compound 6 is also known to give indophenol 3 with a second-order but pH-dependent rate that is considerably faster than the rate in the first route. On the basis of the different kinetic characteristics outlined above a clear distinction can be made among these three pathways. In this paper, evidence is also presented for the initiating SET. Furthermore, it is of high importance that the N-haloimine radical anion 7 can also be generated from reagent 1 using external electron donors and, independently of its origin, it can be spin trapped with 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxyl.
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