Development of a Stereoselective Method for the Synthesis of β-Lactones

Abstract

<p> β-Lactones are present in a number of biologically interesting natural products. They also have inherent reactivity due to their strained ring system and act as important synthetic intermediates. In this current work, we focus on the development of an efficient stereoselective route for the synthesis of β-lactones. A Tandem Evans-type Aldol Lactonization (TEAL) method was developed and various di- and tri-substituted β-lactones were successfully synthesized in a one pot process, using the lithium enolates of N-acetyl- (2-8) and N-propionyl- (2-20) thiazolidine-2-thione and a variety of ketones with moderate to good yields. Substitution of these N-acyl thiazolidine-2-thiones with chiral N-acetyl and N-propionyl thiazolidine-2-thiones (2-41 and 2-42 respectively) produced β-lactones with good enantioselectivity (up to 83% e.e.) and also showed an improvement of diastereoselectivity indicating the potential of the developed method. </p>