(-)-Epibatidine, an excellent candidate of non-opioidal anesthesia, was formally synthesized in short steps from di-(l)-menthyl (R)-allene-1,3-dicarboxylate that was facilely prepared as a single isomer by means of crystallization-induced asymmetric transformation from a diastereomer mixture of (R)- and (S)-allene-1,3-dicarboxylates. Taking advantage of the chiral synthesis, derivatives of (-)-epibatidine
Optically active allene-1,3-dicarboxylates (1a and 2a), which contain the axial asymmetry of the allene moiety, were prepared. The Diels-Alder reaction of 1a and 2a with cyclopentadiene afforded the 1:1 (1a or 2a to cyclopentadiene) endo adducts 3a and 4a through the combination of the sterically favorable approach of the diene and the dienophile owing to the axial asymmetry of the allene moiety and the effective secondary orbital interaction. The absolute configurations of 3a and 4a were determined by chemical transformation and X-ray analysis. The absolute configuration of the axial asymmetry of la was also determined to be R by X-ray analysis.
A practical improvement of crystallization-induced asymmetric transformation of allene-1,3-dicarboxylates
Enantiomerically pure allene-1,3-dicarboxylates were easily synthesized by using epimerization-crystallization of dissymmetric allene compounds, which were prepared from acetone-1,3-dicarboxylates and naturally abundant chiral alcohols, that is, (-)and (+)-menthols, borneol, and isoborneol. After scrutinizing the crystallization of several allene-1,3-dicarboxylates in the presence of triethylamine, it was found that allene-1,3-dicarboxylate carrying bornyl groups was the most easily prepared as a single isomer because of it having suitable solubility to be crystallized in hexane at 0 degrees C to room temperature. Diels-Alder reaction of the enantiomerically pure allene-1,3-dicarboxylates and cyclic dienes, such as N-Boc-pyrrole and cyclopentadiene, afforded endo-adducts having the same configurations at two newly generated stereogenic centers. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.