Yusuke Iwama

Biomimetic Total Synthesis of (+)‐Gelsemine

Challenging: (+)-gelsemine was synthesized from (R,R)-aziridine 1 in 25 steps with approximately 1 % overall yield. A multistep, one-pot enol-oxonium cyclization cascade was used to construct, simultaneously, the E ring, F ring, C3 stereocenter, and C7 quaternary stereocenter. This synthesis using the enol-oxonium cyclization reaction as a key step to make the cage structure has demonstrated the proposed biosynthetic pathway of the gelsemine family.

Regioselective Synthesis of Heterocycles Containing Nitrogen Neighboring an Aromatic Ring by Reductive Ring Expansion Using Diisobutylaluminum Hydride and Studies on the Reaction Mechanism

A systematic investigation of the reductive ring-expansion reaction of cyclic ketoximes fused to aromatic rings with diisobutylaluminum hydride (DIBALH) is described. This reaction regioselectively afforded a variety of five- to eight-membered bicyclic heterocycles or tricyclic heterocycles containing nitrogen neighboring an aromatic ring, including indoline, 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexahydrobenz[b]azocine, 3,4-dihydro-2H-benzo[b][1,4]oxazine, 2,3,4,5-tetrahydrobenzo[b][1,4]thiazepine, 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexahydroazepino[3,2-b]indole, 2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-benzothieno[2,3-b]azepine, 2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-benzothieno[3,2-b]azepine, 5,6-dihydrophenanthridine, and 5,6,11,12-tetrahydrodibenz[b, f]azocine. The reaction mechanism leading to the rearrangement was investigated on the basis of the restricted Becke three-parameter plus Lee-Yang-Parr (B3LYP) density functional theory (DFT) with the 6-31G (d) basis set. It was found that the reaction proceeds through a three-centered transition state via a stepwise mechanism because the potential energy curve along the intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC) had two maxima (saddle points; TS1 and TS2) and the partial phenonium cation intermediate C. In addition to cyclic ketoximes fused to aromatic rings, the reactions of various cyclic and acyclic ketoximes were examined to investigate preference of migrating group. It was found that the more electron-rich group migrated preferentially to give the corresponding secondary amines.

Concise Total Synthesis of (−)-Mersicarpine

A concise total synthesis of (-)-mersicarpine from a known cyclohexanone was accomplished. The azepinoindole core was constructed by a DIBAL-H-mediated reductive ring-expansion reaction of oxime.

REGIOSPECIFIC SYNTHESIS OF UNSUBSTITUTED BASIC SKELETONS OF HETEROCYCLES CONTAINING NITROGEN NEIGHBORING AN AROMATIC RING BY THE REDUCTIVE RING EXPANSION REACTION USING DIISOBUTYLALUMINUM HYDRIDE

A systematic investigation of reductive ring expansion reaction of oximes with diisobutylaluminum hydride (DIBAH) was performed. The reaction regiospecifically provided a variety of unsubstituted bicyclic heterocycles 3a-3g or tricyclic heterocycles 3h, 3j-31 that contained nitrogen attached to an aromatic ring.

Ring-Expansion Reaction of Oximes with Aluminum Reductants

The ring-expansion reactions of heterocyclic ketoximes and carbocyclic ketoximes with several reductants such as AlHCl2, AlH3 (alane), LiAlH4, LiAlH(OtBu)3, and (MeOCH2CH2O)2AlH2Na (Red-Al) were examined. Among reductants, AlHCl2 (LiAlH4:AlCl3 = 1:3) in cyclopentyl methyl ether (CPME) has been found to be a suitable reagent for the reaction, and the rearranged cyclic secondary amines were obtained in good to excellent yields.