Photoredox-Catalyzed Stereoselective Radical Reactions to Synthesize Nucleoside Analogues with a C2'-Stereogenic All-Carbon Quaternary Center.

The design of novel nucleoside analogues bearing a C2' all-carbon quaternary center is described. The construction of this all-carbon stereogenic center involves the use of photoredox catalysis to initiate an intramolecular attack of a silyl-tethered vinyl functionality on a tertiary radical. Density functional theory calculations were performed to explore the origin of the high syn diastereoselectivity obtained through the preferred 5-exo-trig cyclization mode. The intramolecular vinyl addition also enables the preparation of the complementary configuration of the C2' all-carbon stereocenter when performed after lactonization.

Dual-face nucleoside scaffold featuring a stereogenic all-carbon quaternary center. Intramolecular silicon tethered group-transfer reaction.

The design of a novel nucleoside scaffold that exhibits an all-carbon quaternary center is reported. This allows for both α- and ß-anomers of a given 2'-deoxy-2',2'-difluoro nucleoside analog (NA) to have potential biological activity. Using an intramolecular atom-transfer reaction, an all-carbon quaternary center was obtained without the use of heavy metals and/or harsh conditions. The chemistry developed is efficient, easily scalable and leads to novel libraries of molecules.

On the origin of siphonariid polypropionates: total synthesis of caloundrin B and its isomerization to siphonarin B.

Enantioselective synthesis of the enantiomer of caloundrin B was achieved by strategic aldol coupling of an enantiopure trioxaadamantane-containing ketone with a racemic pyrone-containing aldehyde via kinetic resolution. In the presence of imidazole, ent-caloundrin B is cleanly isomerized to ent-siphonarin B confirming the proposed structure and absolute configuration for caloundrin B and establishing that it is a plausible biosynthetic product from which siphonarin B and baconipyrones A and C can originate.

Rational design of aldol reactions that proceed via kinetic resolution with switchable enantioselectivity.

The stereoselectivity of aldol reactions of chiral reactants can be factorized into to three stereocontrol elements: the diastereoface selectivities of the ketone enol(ate) and aldehyde and the relative topicity of the coupling. Application of the multiplicativity rule to these elements leads to the prediction that kinetic resolution (KR) should be possible if all three stereocontrol elements are strongly biased. As a corollary, the enantioselectivity of the kinetic resolution should be switchable by a change in the sense of selectivity of any of the stereocontrol elements. This hypothesis was tested using aldehyde and ketone reactants with high diastereoface selectivities and developing reaction conditions that strongly favor either syn or anti relative topicity. The aldehyde 2 undergoes aldol reactions with near-exclusive Felkin diastereoface selectivity, and hydroxy-protected derivatives of ketone 1 (R = MOM, Et(3)Si, or Ac) undergo aldol reactions with high diastereoface selectivity to give 3,5-trans adducts. High levels of anti and syn relative topicity were obtained with dicyclohexylboron enolates and Ti(O(i)Pr)(4)Li "ate" enolates, respectively. Using these enolates, aldol reactions of (+/-)-2 with (+/-)-1 gave two of the eight possible diastereomeric adducts (3 from a diastereoselective like combination of reactant enantiomers and 4 from a diastereoselective unlike combination) predominantly (>95% of the adducts) in ratios of 0.05-20:1; boron enolates favored the like reaction (3:4, 15-20:1) and Ti "ate" enolates favored the unlike reaction (3:4, 1:10-20). Under these conditions, the ratio of like and unlike products is a measure of the mutual kinetic enantioselection (MKE) and reflects the ratio of the rate constants for the competing like and unlike reactions. For each of the four diastereomers of 1, the reactions with the highest MKEs in favor of the like (3) or unlike products (4) were repeated using highly enantioenriched ketone. These reactions occurred with the expected KR (s = 10-20) allowing selective access to enantioenriched diastereomers of 3 or 4 from (+/-)-2. These adducts are useful for polypropionate synthesis, and this design strategy for KR should be applicable to related processes.