Synthetical and Theoretical Studies about Annulenes and Bakkenolides

Author(s)

Kleber Thiago de Oliveira

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Ribeirão Preto.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (PCARP/BC)
• Defense date: 2006-08-04

Examining board members

Mauricio Gomes Constantino; Antonio Claudio Herrera Braga; Timothy Jonh Brocksom; Ivone Carvalho; Paulo Mitsuo Imamura

• Advisor: Mauricio Gomes Constantino

Abstract

In this work are described some studies of cycloaddition reactions, such as [4+2] (Diels–Alder reaction) and [6+4] cycloadditions, for the purpose of synthesizing annulenes and bakkenolides. In the first part (Part A) are presented some approaches for the synthesis of the bicyclo[6.2.1]undecane system (42), which is not only similar to systems that occur in some natural products, but also can be considered as a direct precursor of 1,4–metano[10]annulene (41) (a hypothetical structure, which has not yet been synthesized). The best results were obtained through the [6+4] cycloaddition between cyclopentadiene (43) and tropone (139), which furnished 140. This product is already very similar to the annulene 41. To perform the rupture of the carbonyl bridge, the best method that we found consists in transforming the ketone 140 in to the oxime, which was converted to the lactam 142 through a Beckmann rearrangement. This compound was tosilated and subsequently reduced with LiAlH4. The primary alcohol of 171 was easily eliminated but the NHTs group did not react under exhaustive alkylation/elimination conditions; we have obtained evidence of carbocation formation only when the alkylation was performed with oxonium salt. However, the experimental results could indicated that the hypothetical annulene 41 is not aromatic, because we not find this material in the elimination product, which contained only Me2NTs and polymers. Some theoretical calculations also confirmed that 41 should not be aromatic. In the second part of this work (Part B) are described some studies about the synthesis of the natural product (±)–bakkenolide A (184). The main step of the synthesis was a Diels–Alder reaction between diene 298 and dienophyle 299 under catalysis by NbCl5. The obtained adduct (300) is suitably functionalized and exhibit the appropriate relative stereochemistry for the synthesis of some natural products belonging to the class of eremophilanes and bakkanes, including the bakkenolides. The synthesis of 184 was realized in 8 steps, with a global yield of 13.3%. Finally, some theoretical studies, involving the transition states in cyclizations of the enolates of compounds 286 and 305, were carried out. These studies furnished the theoretical ratios between the epimers 287/288 and 306/307 in good agreement with the experimental results. (AU)