SYNTHESIS AND REACTIONS OF ENEDIYNES AND ENYNE-ALLENES

The thermal cycloaromatization reactions of (Z)-3-hexene-1,5-diynes (enediynes) and (Z)-1,2,4-heptatrien-6-ynes (enyne-allenes) provide easy entries to a variety of carbon biradicals. Several new synthetic routes to these highly unsaturated compounds were developed by using multifunctional reagents properly substituted with combinations of boron, silicon, and tin appendages. Condensation of gamma-(trialkylsilyl)allenylboranes 1 and 2 with conjugated acetylenic and allenic aldehydes followed by the elimination step of the Peterson olefination reaction furnished enediynes and enyne-allenes with high geometric purity. Convenient procedures for the synthesis of enediynes and enyne-allenes were also developed by using alkenylboronic ester 28 and the trimethyltin-substituted alkenylboranes 34 for cross-coupling reactions. On heating, acyclic enyne-allene 22 underwent a sequence of intramolecular transformations through biradical intermediates to form 26, providing a new example of a one-step 0 --> ABCD ring construction of the tetracyclic steroidal skeleton.