Synthesis of enantiomerically pure carbohydrate-derived annulated cyclopentadienes and ferrocenes

The cyclopentadienes 3a/b/c, 8b/c, 12a/b/d, and 16a/b/d were prepared as mixtures of regioisomers from the D-mannitol-derivatives 1, 6, 10, and 14 and transformed into the ferrocenes 17, 18, and 19 (73%; 35:17:45), 23, 24, and 25 (70%; 6:42:52), 26 (31%), and 27 (27%), respectively. Deprotection of 17-19 with HCl/MeOH gave the H2O-soluble ferrocenes 20-22; chloromercuration and iodination of 17 via 29 led to the C-2-symmetric diiodoferrocene 30. The mono(chloromercurio) derivative 28, obtained as a by-product, was also transformed into 29. The structure of the ferrocenes 18 and 19, and of the bis(chloromercurio)ferrocene 29 has been established by X-ray analysis. The starting cyclopentadienes 3 were obtained in 50% yield from 1 by dialkylation of CpNa, followed by thermolysis of the spiro-annulated 2 Similarly, dimesylate 6 (Oem 4) gave the spiro-annulated diene 7 and the annulated dienes 8 in about equal amounts; thermolysis transformed 7 into 8 (62%). The dienes 12 were prepared in 15% yield from the ditriflate 10 via 11, the dimesylate 9 proving insufficiently reactive, and the dienes 16 (49%) from 14 via 15.