Palladium-catalyzed selective anti-Markovnikov oxidation of allylic esters.
The palladium(II)-catalyzed oxidation of alkenes to carbonyl compounds, usually referred to as the Wacker or Wacker– Tsuji reaction, is arguably one of the best-known reactions catalyzed by palladium. It is an important catalytic process industrially, for the production of ethanal, and synthetically, for the conversion of olefins to ketones. The oxidation of terminal alkenes typically proceeds with selective formation of methylketones. The anti-Markovnikov (AM) Wacker oxidation of terminal olefins to aldehydes remains, however, a major challenge. Under certain conditions, AM selectivity is obtained with styrenes, Michael-type acceptor alkenes and certain olefins, such as 2-vinyl-furanosides, bearing a directing functional group. Indeed, high aldehyde selectivity in the catalytic oxidation of phthalimide-protected allylic amines was reported by our group to yield a key intermediate in the preparation of b-amino acids. On the other hand, Sigman and co-workers have reported the regioselective oxidation of protected allylic amines controlled by various palladium catalysts to yield the corresponding methyl ketones. In 1986, Pd-catalyzed aldehyde selective oxidation of styrene with O2 and CuCl in tBuOH at 30 8C was reported by Feringa. Later, Wenzel reported good selectivity (6:1) for aldehyde formation from allyl acetate (56% combined yield of aldehyde and ketone), in tBuOHwith PdCl2/CH3CN/CuCl/ NaCl at 50 8C. More recently, the aldehyde-selective oxidation of styrenes was reported by Grubbs and co-workers using the catalyst [PdCl2(CH3CN)2], p-benzoquinone as oxidant, and tBuOH as solvent at 85 8C. However, a more general anti-Markovnikov alkene oxidation of non-aryl alkenes under mild conditions remains a challenge, despite the tremendous value in extending this reaction to other substrate classes, in particular allylic alcohols and esters. b-Hydroxy aldehydes are usually prepared by the crossaldol reaction between aldehydes or an aldehyde and a ketone. The direct catalytic formation of an aldehyde by selective attack at the terminal carbon of an a-olefin would be a highly valuable alternative. However, the selective antiMarkovnikov oxidation of allylic alcohols into b-hydroxy aldehydes has proven to be very difficult owing to formation of the ketone products and competing olefin isomerization. Herein, we demonstrate the aldehyde-selective catalytic oxidation of ester-protected allylic alcohols with as low as 0.5 mol% of [PdCl2(PhCN)2] and p-benzoquinone (BQ) as oxidant in tBuOH under ambient conditions. Importantly, the same anti-Markovnikov oxidation products were obtained selectively from both branched and linear allylic esters (Scheme 1), owing to rapid isomerization between allylic esters under the reaction conditions (see below).
Copper catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of chiral allylic esters.
The complex derived from Taniaphos ligand 4 and CuBr*Me2S catalyzes the asymmetric addition of Grignard reagents to 3-bromopropenyl esters 1 to provide allylic esters 2 in high yields and high chemio-, regio-, and enantioselectivities. The work demonstrates that allylic asymmetric alkylation (AAA) can be done on substrates bearing a heteroatom at the gamma-position. The method is a practical route to chiral, nonracemic allylic alcohols. The use of functionalized substrates 1 or Grignard reagents leads to more complex products 2, which can be further manipulated as demonstrated in conversion to (S)-5-ethyl-2(5H)-furanone 6 and (S)-benzoic acid-cyclopent-2-enyl ester 7.
Collagen dynamics in articular cartilage under osmotic pressure
Cartilage is a complex biological tissue consisting of collagen, proteoglycans and water. The structure and molecular mobility of the collagen component of cartilage were studied by 13C solid‐state NMR spectroscopy as a function of hydration. The hydration level of cartilage was adjusted between fully hydrated (∼80 wt% H2O) and highly dehydrated (∼30 wt% H2O) using the osmotic stress technique. Thus, the conditions of mechanical load could be simulated and the response of the tissue macromolecules to mechanical stress is reported. From the NMR measurements, the following results were obtained. (i) Measurements of motionally averaged dipolar 1H–13C couplings were carried out to study the segmental mobility in cartilage collagen at full hydration. Backbone segments undergo fast motions with amplitudes of ∼35° whereas the collagen side‐chains are somewhat more mobile with amplitudes between 40 and 50°. In spite of the high water content of cartilage, collagen remains essentially rigid. (ii) No chemical shift changes were observed in 13C cross‐polarization magic angle spinning spectra of cartilage tissue at varying hydration indicating that the collagen structure was not altered by application of high osmotic stress. (iii) The 1H–13C dipolar coupling values detected for collagen signals respond to dehydration. The dipolar coupling values gradually increase upon cartilage dehydration, reaching rigid limit values at ∼30 wt% H2O. This indicates that collagen is essentially dehydrated in cartilage tissue under very high mechanical load, which provides insights into the elastic properties of cartilage collagen, although the mechanical pressures applied here exceed the physiological limit. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.