Concise syntheses of the abyssinones and discovery of new inhibitors of prostate cancer and MMP-2 expression.

Hydrogen-bonding catalysis is an emerging field that facilitates rapid access to medicinally relevant enantioenriched small molecules. Here, we report the first asymmetric total syntheses of four members of the abyssinone class of natural products (I, II, III, and IV 4´-OMe) via quinine- or quinidine-derived thiourea-catalyzed intramolecular conjugate additions of β-keto ester alkylidenes. This concise strategy includes a tandem deprotection/decarboxylation final step that delivers all four natural products and their corresponding antipodes.

Solution structures of lithium enolates of cyclopentanone, cyclohexanone, acetophenones, and benzyl ketones. Triple ions and higher lithiate complexes.

Multinuclear NMR spectroscopic studies at low temperature (-110 to -150 degrees C) revealed that lithium p-fluorophenolate and the lithium enolates of cyclohexanone, cyclopentanone and 4-fluoroacetophenone have tetrameric structures in THF/Et(2)O and THF/Et(2)O-HMPA by study of the effects of the addition of HMPA. The Z and E isomers of the lithium enolate of 1,3-bis-(4-fluorophenyl)-2-propanone (5F-Li) show divergent behavior. The Z isomer is completely dimeric in pure diethyl ether, and mostly dimeric in 3:2 THF/ether, where monomer could be detected in small amounts.

Studies on the reactive species in fluoride-mediated carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions: carbanion formation by desilylation with fluoride and enolates.

The reactive species in fluoride-mediated carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions was investigated. The regio- and diastereoselectivities of silanes reacting with cyclohexenone in the presence of a catalytic amount of fluoride was compared to the reactivity of analogous solvent-separated lithium ion pairs. Closely analogous behavior was observed, showing that carbanions and not siliconate complexes are the reactive species in the fluoride-catalyzed reactions.

Reaction of metalated nitriles with enones.

[reaction: see text] There have been a number of reports of the kinetic conjugate (1,4) addition of metalated arylacetonitriles to enones. Several proposals have been made to explain this behavior based on nucleophile structure or aggregation state or on the HSAB properties of the reactants. A reexamination of these studies showed that in each case the 1,4 adducts resulted from equilibration of the kinetically formed 1,2 adducts to the more stable 1,4 adducts.