α-Fluoro decalones as chiral epoxidation catalysts: fluorine effect

Abstract

Three rigid monofluorinated trans-decalones 4a, 5e, and 6e (90% ee) have been synthesized from commercially available (−)-( R)-methyl naphthalenone (90% ee). Their structures have been fully characterized (NMR, X-ray): ketones 4a and 5e are Me,F-disubstituted α to the carbonyl with the fluorine axial and equatorial, respectively, while ketone 6e is F-monosubstituted α to the carbonyl with the fluorine equatorial. The use of these ketones as chiral catalysts for the epoxidation of trans-olefins (such as stilbene, β-methylstyrene and p-methoxy cinnamate) through the formation of dioxiranes shows (i) that dioxiranes with an equatorial fluorine α to the dioxirane ring are less reactive and provide lower ee’s than dioxiranes with an axial fluorine and having the same chirality and (ii) that an axial methyl α to the dioxirane ring is significantly less efficient than a fluorine. The results corroborate Armstrong and Houk’s theoretical model and our first hypothesis to rationalize the inverted enantioselectivities observed using α-fluorinated cyclohexanones having the same chirality, i.e.: rapid ring inversion (Curtin–Hammett principle) allows the dioxirane conformation to have the fluorine axial (even if less populated than the other) to contribute significantly to the epoxidation reaction.