Robin Giles

The rearrangement of (2′S,4′R,5′S)-2-(2′,5′-dimethyl-1′,3′-dioxolan-4′-yl)-4,5,7-trimethoxynaphthalen-1-yl 4″-methylbenzenesulfonate with titanium(IV) chloride affords (1R,3S,4R)-10-chloro-6,7,9-trimethoxy-1,3-dimethyl-3,4-dihydro-4-hydroxynaphtho[1,2-c]pyran in good yield. This transformation is characterized by two unusual aromatic substitution reactions in that, in one, tosyloxy is lost and, in the other, aromatic chlorination occurs with titanium(IV) chloride as the source of chlorine.

The generality of the high-yielding, stereoselective cyclization of 2-allyl-3-(1?-hydroxyethyl)-1,4-dimethoxynaphthalene 1 to afford trans-3,4-dihydro-5,10-dimethoxy-1,3-dimethylnaphtho[2,3-c]pyran 2 is investigated by replacing each of the methoxy groups in the substrate by an ethyl substituent and subjecting these to cyclization reaction conditions identical to those originally reported. For shorter reaction times with potassium tert-butoxide in dimethylformamide under nitrogen, the derived 1-ethyl-, 4-ethyl-, and 1,4-diethylnaphthalenes all cyclize to the trans-1,3-dimethyl compounds, whereas longer times yield increasing proportions of the corresponding cis-isomers. Under air, the epimeric C4 alcohols rel-(1R,3R,4S)-3,4-dihydro-5-ethyl-4-hydroxy-10-methoxy-1,3-dimethylnaphtho[2, 3-c]pyran 50 and its rel-(1R,3R,4R) isomer 51 are also isolated from 2-allyl-1-ethyl-3-(1?-hydroxyethyl)-4-methoxynaphthalene 11. The half-chair conformation of pyran 50 is inverted relative to that of its C4 epimer 51.

The first syntheses are described of the four enantiopure naphthopyranquinones (1R,3R,4S)- and (1R,3R,4R)-3,4-dihydro-4,7,9-trihydroxy-1, 3-dimethylnaphtho[2,3-c]pyranquinone (quinone A 1 and quinone A' 2) and their two C-3 epimers, the (1R,3S,4S)- and (1R,3S,4R)-diastereoisomers 5 and 6, using enantiopure lactate as the source of asymmetry. Key factors in these syntheses are the maintenance of stereochemical integrity throughout the sequences and intramolecular diastereoselective cyclisations of the titanium phenolates of phenolic lactaldehydes. For these cyclisations the differing degree of diastereoselectivity is explained as are the stereochemistries of the product 2-benzopyran-4,5-diols.

Stereoselective isomerization of rel-(2R,4S,5R)-4-(2′-chloro-3′-methoxyphenyl)-2,5-dimethyl-1, 3-dioxolane 5 with titanium(IV) chloride afforded solely rel-(1R,3R,4S)-5-chloro-4-hydroxy-6-methoxy-1,3-dimethyl-2-benzopyran 17 in high yield in which the conformation adopted by the dihydropyran ring minimized peri-interactions through stereochemistries that were axial for the C-3 methyl, pseudoaxial for the C-4 hydroxy and pseudoequatorial for the C-1 methyl groups. Similar isomerization of the individual rel-(2S,4R,5R)- and rel-(2R,4R,5R)-diastereoisomeric dioxolanes 6 and 7 gave solely the corresponding rel-(1S,3R,4R)-2-benzopyran 25 in which the orientations of the substituents at C-3, C-4 and C-1 were equatorial, pseudoaxial and pseudoequatorial respectively. These observations differed significantly from those previously made for the related isomerizations of the corresponding 4-(2′-chloro-5′-methoxyphenyl)-2,5-dimethyl-1,3-dioxolanes.

The enantiopure (1S,3S,4R)-, (1R,3S,4S)- and (1S,3S,4S)-3,4-dihydro-1,3-dimethyl-4-hydroxy-2-benzopyrans 16, 25 and 26 are prepared in two related reaction sequences, each in eight steps and good overall yield. The starting materials are 4-methoxyphenol 6 and (2S,1′R and 2S,1′S)-1′ ethoxyethoxypropanal 9, the latter providing the source of asymmetry from the chiral pool. The three key reactions involved in each sequence are either highly or completely diastereoselective.

Benzynes were generated selectively through loss of ortho-bromotosylate from 1,2-dibromo-3- tosylates. Thus when treated with bu tyl lithium in the presence of furan rel -(2 R ,4 S ,5 R )-4-(2',3'- dibromo-5'-methoxy-4'-toluene- p -sulfonyloxyphenyl)-2,5-d imethyl-1,3-dioxolane 21 was converted in two steps into rel -(2 R ,4 S ,5 R )-4-(1'-bromo-4'-methoxynaphthalen-2'-yl)-2,5- dimethyl-1,3-dioxolane 8 in good yield. Attempted stereoselective isomerization of dioxolane 8 with titanium(IV) chloride at low temperature led to the recovery, almost exclusively, of starting material. The debrominated analogue rel -(2 R ,4 S ,5 R )-4-(1'-methoxynaphthalen-3'-yl)-2,5- dimethyl-1,3-dioxolane 31 , on the other hand, isomerized readily to give rel -(1 R ,3 R ,4 S )- and rel - (1 S ,3 R ,4 S )-3,4-dihydro-4-hydroxy-6-met hoxy-1,3-dimethylnaphtho[1,2- c ]pyrans 32 and 34 in a ratio (~1:3) that did not vary with reaction temperature.