tert-Butyl 2-en-7-ynoate 6 was
treated with
(η2-propene)Ti(O-i-Pr)2
(3), generated in
situ from
Ti(O-i-Pr)4 or Ti(O-i-Pr)3Cl and
i-PrMgCl, in ether at −50 to −20 °C to afford the
product 8 in good yield. The presence
of the intermediate titanabicycle 7 was verified by
bis-deuterolysis with excess D2O. When the
titanabicycle 7 was
treated with 1.1 equiv of i-PrOD and then worked up as
usual, the monodeuterated product 10 was obtained
with
high site selectivity and stereoselectivity. Other electrophiles
such as aldehydes and ketones also reacted with the
titanabicycle in a highly stereoselective manner to give cyclopentanes
having a stereo-defined side chain. On the
contrary, treatment of the corresponding ethyl ester, ethyl
8-(trimethylsilyl)-(E)-2-octen-7-ynoate (28),
with 3 under
the same conditions followed by the addition of 1.1 equiv of
s-BuOH afforded
2-(trimethylsilyl)-1-bicyclo[3.3.0]octen-3-one (32) in 80% yield. Quenching the same
reaction mixture with i-PrOD, EtCHO, and
Et2CO in place of
s-BuOH gave 4-deuterio (with exclusive deuterium
incorporation), 4-(1-hydroxypropyl), and
4-(1-ethyl-1-hydroxypropyl) derivatives of the above bicyclic ketone (34,
35, and 36) in good yields. These
electrophiles were always
introduced from the convex face of the bicyclic skeleton. The
stereochemistry of the cyclization could be controlled
by an allylic substituent such as
(tert-butyl)dimethylsiloxy or butyl group to a high
degree yet with a reversal
diastereoselection to give 45 or 47. The
reaction of ethyl 7-octen-2-ynoate (56) and 3 at
−50 to 0 °C took place in
a quite different way to afford
1-[(ethoxycarbonyl)methyl]bicyclo[3.1.0]hexane
(64) in 74% yield after hydrolysis.
If the simple hydrolysis is replaced by deuterolysis or the action
of diethyl ketone,
1-[(ethoxycarbonyl)dideuteriomethyl]
(with 99% deuterium incorporation), or
1-[(ethoxycarbonyl)(3-pentylidene)methyl] derivative of the
above product
(65 or 66) was obtained in good yields. A
7-en-2-ynoate having an internal Z-double bond such as
80 afforded a
single stereoisomer 82 with the substituent at the
endo position of the bicyclic skeleton, suggesting that
the
stereochemical integrity of the Z-double bond of the
starting material was retained in the product. An alkyl
substituent
at the allylic position of the substrates like 74 and
76 nicely controlled the stereochemistry of the cyclization
to
afford single products 75 and 77 with the
substituent being placed in the exo orientation of the
bicyclic structure.
This high diastereoselectivity was successfully applied to an
enantioselective synthesis of d-sabinene from an
optically
active enynoate via nearly complete chirality transfer.