Synfacts 2005(0): 0046-0046  
DOI: 10.1055/s-2005-869911
Metal-Catalyzed Asymmetric Synthesis and Stereoselective Reactions
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Selective 1,3-Isomerization of Allylic Alcohols via Rhenium Oxo Catalysis

Contributor(s): Hisashi Yamamoto, Matthew Boxer
C. Morrill, R. H. Grubbs*
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA
Highly Selective 1,3-Isomerization of Allylic Alcohols via Rhenium Oxo Catalysis
J. Am. Chem. Soc.  2005,  127:  2842-2843  
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
20 July 2005 (online)


Significance

A protocol featuring mild conditions, short reaction times and low catalyst loading has been developed for the 1,3-isomerization of allylic alcohols using a rhenium oxo catalyst. Enantioenriched starting materials undergo iso­merization with only a small loss of optical purity.

Comment

Allylic alcohols are an extremely common feature in natural products as well as intermediates in total synthesis. While the synthesis of these compounds has received much attention, transposition of this functionality under mild conditions with low catalyst loading has not been trivial. While this method enables the selective formation of conjugated allylic alcohols, it gives product mixtures with substrates that lack conjugation. To solve this problem, the authors have developed a method to trap the thermodynamically less stable primary allylic alcohols using N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)acetamide as an in situ silylating reagent.