Preparation of Enantiopure Non-Activated Aziridines and Synthesis of Biemamide B, D, and epiallo-Isomuscarine

Summary

In this study, we prepare both enantiomers of aziridine-2-carboxylate, which are used in the asymmetric synthesis of alkaloids, including biemamide B and D, and (-)-epiallo-isomuscarine.

Abstract

Nitrogen-containing heterocycle aziridines are synthetically very valuable for the preparation of azacyclic and acyclic molecules. However, it is very difficult and laborious to make aziridines in optically pure forms on a large scale to apply asymmetric synthesis of aza compounds. Fortunately, we successfully achieved both enantiomers (2R)- and (2S)-aziridine-2-carboxylates with the electron-donating α-methylbenzyl group at the ring nitrogen as non-activated aziridines. These starting aziridines have two distinct functional groups-highly reactive three-membered ring and versatile carboxylate. They are applicable in ring-opening or ring-transformation with aziridine and in functional group transformation to others from carboxylate. Both of these enantiomers were utilized in the preparation of biologically important amino acyclic and/or aza-heterocyclic compounds in an asymmetric manner. Specifically, this report describes the first expedient asymmetric synthesis of both enantiomers of 5, 6-dihydrouracil-type marine natural products biemamide B and D as potential TGF-β inhibitors. This synthesis consisted of regio- and the stereoselective ring-opening reaction of aziridine-2-carboxylate and subsequent formation of 4-aminoteterahydropyrimidine-2,4-dione. One more example in this protocol dealt a highly stereoselective Mukaiyama reaction of aziridine-2-carboxylate and silyl enol ether, following intramolecular aziridine ring-opening to provide easy and facile access to (-)-epiallo-isomuscarine.

Introduction

Small rings consisting of cyclopropanes, oxiranes, and aziridines are found in various compounds such as natural products and drugs^1,2. They are primarily used as starting materials exploiting their ring strain. Among the three-ring compounds, aziridine has been studied less extensively due to its instability and uncontrollable reactivity³. As shown in the electrostatic potential maps (Figure 1), a group attached to the aziridine ring-nitrogen, whether electron-donating or electron-attracting, makes the basicity of nitrogen different. This difference provid....

Protocol

1. Synthesis of the diastereomeric mixture of chiral aziridine (-)-mentholyl ester derivative (1)

1. Add 2,3-dibromopropane (-)-menthol ester 1a (5.0 g, 13.58 mM, 1.0 equiv) and a magnetic stirring bar into an oven-dried 250 mL two-neck round-bottom flask under nitrogen (N₂) atmosphere.
2. Add anhydrous acetonitrile (60 mL) to the reaction flask using an airtight syringe.
3. Then cool the reaction mixture at 0 °C using an ice bath and stir the reaction mixture for 5 min.
4. Add potassium carbonate (5.6 g, 40.74 mM, 3.0 equiv) into the reaction mixture at the same temperature and allow to stir for 30 min.

Results

Here, we report the synthesis of enantiopure aziridine-2-carboxylates. The diastereomeric mixture of (R)-(1R,2S,5R)-2-isopropyl-5-methylcyclohexyl1-((R)-1-phenylethyl)aziridine-2-carboxylate (2) and (S)-(1R,2S,5R)-2-isopropyl-5-methylcyclohexyl1-((R)-1-phenylethyl)aziridine-2-carboxylate (3) (4.1 g, 90%) were prepared in quantitative yield from 2,3 -dibromopropane (-)-mentholyl ester and (1R

Discussion

Aziridines as nitrogen-containing three-membered heterocycles have enormous potential for synthetic starting martials or intermediates to prepare nitrogen-rich organic molecules. Based on the group bearing at the ring nitrogen, they are classified as "activated" and "non-activated" aziridines whose chemical reactivity and selectivity are different. However, very limited methods are available to prepare this valuable aziridine in an optically active form.

The protocol in this paper describes a.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
(2R)-1-[(1R)-1-Phenylethyl]-2-aziridinecarboxylic acid (-)-menthol ester, 98%	Sigma-Aldrich	57054-0
(2S)-1-[(1R)-1-Phenylethyl]-2-aziridinecarboxylic acid (-)-menthol ester	Sigma-Aldrich	57051-6
1-(3-Dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride	TCI	424331-25 g	CAS No: 25952-53-8
1,4-Dioxane	SAMCHUN	D0654-1 kg	CAS No: 123-91-1
1-Hydroxybenzotriazole hydrate	Aldrich	219-989-7-50 g	CAS No: 123333-53-9
2,6-Lutidine	Alfa Aesar	A10478-AP, 500 mL	CAS No: 108-48-5
Acetonitrile	SAMCHUN	A0127-18  L	CAS No: 75-05-8
Acetonitrile-d3	Cambridge Isotope Laboratories,	15G-744-25 g	CAS No: 2206-26-0
Aluminum chloride hexahydrate	Aldrich	231-208-1, 500 g	CAS No : 7784-13-6
Bruker AVANCE III HD (400 MHz) spectrometer	Bruker	NA
Chloroform-d	Cambridge Isotope Laboratories,	100 g	CAS No: 865-49-6
Dichloromethane	SAMCHUN	M0822-18 L	CAS No: 75-09-2
Dimethyl sulfoxide-d6	Cambridge Isotope Laboratories,	25 g	CAS No: 2206-27-1
Ethanol	EMSURE	1009831000,1L	CAS No: 64-17-5
Ethyl acetate	SAMCHUN	E0191-18 L	CAS No: 141-78-6
High resolution mass spectra/MALDI-TOF/TOF Mass Spectrometry	AB SCIEX	4800 Plus	High resolution mass spectra
JASCO P-2000	JASCO	P-2000	For optical rotation
Lithium aluminum hydride	TCI	L0203-100 g	CAS No: 16853-85-3
L-Selectride, 1 M solution in THF	Acros	176451000, 100 mL	CAS No: 38721-52-7
Methanol	SAMCHUN	M0585-18 L	CAS No: 67-56-1
N-[(9H-Fluoren-9-ylmethoxy)carbonyl]-β-alanine	TCI	F08825G-5 g	CAS No: 35737-10-1
N-Ethyldiisopropylamine	Aldrich	230-392-0, 100 mL	CAS No: 7087-68-5
n-Hexane	SAMCHUN	H0114-18 L	CAS No: 110-54-3
Ninhydrin	Alfa Aesar	A10409-250 g	CAS No: 485-47-2
p-Anisaldehyde	aldrich	A88107-5 g	CAS No: 123-11-5
Phosphomolybdic acid hydrate	TCI	P1910-100 g	CAS No: 51429-74-4
Sodium azide	D.S.P	703301-500 g	CAS No: 26628-22-8
Sodium Hydride 60% dispersion in mineral oil	Sigma-Aldrich	452912-100 G	CAS No: 7646-69-7
Sodium hydroxide	DUKSAN	A31226-1 kg	CAS No: 1310-73-2
Sodium sulfate	SAMCHUN	S1011-1 kg	CAS No: 7757-82-6
Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC)	Merck	100390
Tert-Butyldimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate, 98%	Aldrich	274-102-0, 25 g	CAS NO: 69739-34-0
Tetrahydrofuran	SAMCHUN	T0148-18 L	CAS No: 109-99-9
Triethylethylamine	DAEJUNG	8556-4400-1 L	CAS No: 121-44-8
UV light	Korea Ace Sci	TN-4C	254 nm
Zinc chloride, anhydrous, 98+%	Alfa Aesar	A16281-22100 g	CAS No : 7646-85-7