The reactivity, as electrogenerated bases, of chiral and achiral phenazine radical-anions, including application in asymmetric deprotonation.
Radical-anions, electrochemically generated in aprotic solvent from C(2) symmetric homochiral phenazine derivatives, act as chiral electrogenerated bases (EGBs) in the desymmetrisation by selective deprotonation of a prochiral epoxide (3,4-epoxy-2,3,4,5-tetrahydrothiophene-1,1-dioxide); the anion produced is trapped by mesitoic anhydride. The phenazines may be recovered in high yield by air oxidation. Enantiomeric excesses are modest (8-34%) but this is to our knowledge the first demonstration of such stereoselective electrochemically-initiated deprotonation. The reactivity of phenazine radical-anions as EGBs has also been explored by measurements of the rates of proton transfer; the prochiral epoxide was found to have a kinetic acidity similar to that of the methyltriphenylphosphonium cation.
Alonso
A Mateo
AM
Department of Chemistry, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London, UK E1 4NS.
Horcajada
Roberto
R
Motevalli
Majid
M
Utley
James H P
JH
Wyatt
Peter B
PB