TY - JOUR A1 - Krüger, Tobias A1 - Kelling, Alexandra A1 - Schilde, Uwe A1 - Linker, Torsten T1 - Simple Synthesis of gamma-Spirolactams by Birch Reduction of Benzoic Acids JF - European journal of organic chemistry N2 - A convenient synthesis of gamma-spirolactams in only two steps was developed. Birch reduction of benzoic acids and immediate alkylation with chloroacetonitrile afforded cyclohexadienes in high yields. The products could be isolated by crystallization on a large scale in analytically pure form. Subsequent hydrogenation with platinum(IV) oxide as the catalyst reduced the nitrile functionality and the double bonds in the same step with excellent stereoselectivity. The relative configurations were determined unequivocally by X-ray analyses. Direct cyclization of the intermediary formed amino acids afforded the desired gamma-spirolactams in excellent overall yields. The procedure is characterized by few steps, cheap reagents, and can be performed on a large scale, interesting for industrial processes. KW - Diastereoselectivity KW - Hydrogenation KW - Lactams KW - Reduction KW - Synthetic methods Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ejoc.201601650 SN - 1434-193X SN - 1099-0690 IS - 6 SP - 1074 EP - 1077 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wessig, Pablo A1 - Matthes, Annika A1 - Schilde, Uwe A1 - Kelling, Alexandra T1 - Asymmetric synthesis of (1,5)Naphthalenophanes by Dehydro-Diels-Alder reaction JF - European journal of organic chemistry N2 - An asymmetric variant of the dehydro-Diels-Alder (DDA) reaction has been developed and applied in the atropselective synthesis of various (1,5)naphthalenophanes. Whereas the suitability of the photochemically induced DDA (PDDA) was limited, the thermally induced DDA provided the desired product, depending on the chiral auxiliary used and the length of the linker, with nearly perfect stereoselectivity. Furthermore, the mechanism of the DDA was investigated by means of DFT calculations, and a stepwise mechanism involving 1,4-biradicals was suggested. KW - Synthetic methods KW - Macrocycles KW - Cyclophanes KW - Atropisomerism KW - Chiral auxiliaries KW - Density functional calculations Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ejoc.201201594 SN - 1434-193X IS - 11 SP - 2123 EP - 2129 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER -