Synfacts 2008(3): 0242-0242  
DOI: 10.1055/s-2008-1042753
Synthesis of Heterocycles
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Synthesis of Piperidinones from β-Amino Acids by Petasis Methylenation

Contributor(s):Victor Snieckus, Jignesh J. Patel
L. V. Adriaenssens, R. C. Hartley*
University of Glasgow, UK
β-Amino Acids to Piperidinones by Petasis Methylenation and Acid-Induced Cyclization
J. Org. Chem.  2007,  72:  10287-10290  
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
21 February 2008 (online)


Significance

The authors describe a diastereoselective synthesis of 2,6-disubstituted piperidinones from substituted imines of β-amino acids via a nitrogen analogue of the Petasis-Ferrier rearrangement. Microwave-assisted Petasis methylenation followed by acid-catalyzed cyclization were the key steps in the synthesis. After methylenation, which is accelerated by microwave conditions, the precipitated titanium residue was removed by filtration and the crude residue was subjected to cyclization. The unusual combination of the polar solvent DMSO with the Lewis acid Al(i-Bu)3 for the cyclization works very well for electron-rich imines and ketone-derived imines, rather than the use of a protic acid.

Comment

New stereocontrolled syntheses of piperidines are of great interest due to the fact that they are potential drug candidates (B. E. Evans et al. J. Med. Chem. 1988, 31, 2235) and alkaloids (J. W. Dale, H. M. Garrafo, T. F. Spande Alkaloids: Chem. Biol. Perspect. 1999, 13, 2). The synthesis reported here starts from racemic β-amino acids, but a synthesis of enantiopure piperidinones from enantiopure β-amino esters may be feasible and would be of greater interest. In most cases the 2,6-syn dia­stereomer of the piperidinones was observed.