N-Allyl-N-homoallylamines were converted in one step into cyclic enamides via a ruthenium-catalyzed assisted tandem catalytic ring-closing metathesis-isomerization sequence. The sequence relies on the in situ transformation of a metathesis active Ru-carbene into an isomerization active Ru-hydride by addition of hydroxide as a chemical trigger. Glycals, 2,3-unsaturated carbohydrate derivatives with an enol ether structure, 1,2 are useful building blocks for the synthesis of glycosides and the assembly of oligosaccharide chains. 3,4 They have also been extensively used to synthesize non-carbohydrate natural products. 5 The aza analogues of glycals, sometimes referred to as imino glycals, have attracted less attention, although they are highly valuable intermediates in the synthesis of target molecules such as indolizidine alkaloids, 6 aza-C-nucleosides, 7 piperidine alkaloids, 8-10 and aza sugars (Scheme 1). 11
Scheme 1 Selected synthetic applications of imino glycalsMethods for the synthesis of imino glycals include the reduction of lactams and subsequent elimination, 12 electrochemical oxidation of piperidines, followed by elimination, 13 addition of nucleophiles to pyridinium salts and subsequent partial reduction, 6 nucleophilic ring opening of aziridines followed by cyclization (formal [3+3]-annulation), 14 and hydroformylation of homoallyl amides. 15 Ring-closing olefin metathesis (RCM), although a well-established and commonly used method for the synthesis of piperidine and pyrrolidine derivatives via RCM of allyl amines or amides, 10,16,17 has scarcely been applied to enamines or enamides. Notable examples have been published by Rutjes and co-workers, 18 who reported the synthesis of five-and six-membered cyclic enamides and by Arisawa et al.,19,20 who described the synthesis of indoles. There are two possible reasons for the reluctance of the synthetic community to use enamide-RCM reactions. Firstly, the required RCM precursors are less conveniently synthesized than allyl amides, which can be obtained by simple allylation of deprotonated amides. Secondly, precursors with electron-rich double bonds are notoriously difficult metathesis substrates that generally require less convenient reaction conditions, such as elevated temperatures, more expensive catalysts, or high dilution. A similarly reduced reactivity has also been observed for enol ethers [21][22][23] and was attributed to the formation of less active Fischer-type carbene complexes, resulting from initiation at the electron-rich double bond. 24To circumvent these obstacles in the metathesis-based synthesis of cyclic enol ethers, the group of Snapper 25 and one of us 26,27 have independently developed an assisted tandem catalytic RCM-isomerization sequence. Assisted tandem catalytic sequences 28 rely on the use of just one precatalyst (a Ru-carbene in the case of a metathesis reaction) which is converted into a catalyst for a different transformation (e.g., a Ru-hydride to mediate an isomerization). This organometallic transformation is triggered by ...