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University of Saskatchewan

Stereoselective synthesis : studies involving dipole-stabilized carbanions alpha to nitrogen

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Organolithiums are key reagents and intermediates in organic synthesis. An exciting and growing field is the use of organolithiums in enantioselective synthesis. The often complex nature of these compounds makes their implementation towards the synthesis of natural products or pharmaceutical targets a challenging yet rewarding endeavour. The ability of organolithiums to form carbon-carbon bonds in a stereoselective and predictable way is vital to their success in organic synthesis. The first chapter in this thesis summarizes the current mechanistic understanding of asymmetric carbon-carbon bond formation adjacent to nitrogen. A brief literature review is presented to illustrate the different ways in which a stereoselective lithiation/substitution reaction at carbon can occur. A review of the application of dipole-stabilized carbanions a to nitrogen used in the stereoselective synthesis of natural products is presented. The second chapter in this thesis describes a study of the use of N-Boc-3-pyrroline, and related compounds, as molecular scaffolds for the stereoselective synthesis of functionalized five-membered ring containing alkaloids. The asymmetric alkylation of N-Boc-3-pyrroline is possible for simple alkyl halides but only modest enantioselectivity can be obtained using chiral lithium amides or s-butyl lithium/(-)-sparteine as bases. More promising was the enantioselective alkylation of a protected 3-pyrroline building block 116. The assignment for the stereochemistry of the alkylated product from 116 and benzaldehyde was achieved by NMR techniques and conformational analysis. The work done on the synthesis of enantiomerically pure castanospermine analogs is also presented.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science (M.Sc.)
Level thesis:degree_level
Masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Chemistry
Grantor
University of Saskatchewan
Year dc:date.issued
2004

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Nelson, Kenneth M.
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Majewski, Marek
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Ward, Dale E.
  • Steer, Ronald P.
  • Reid, R. Stephen
  • Dimmock, Jonathan R.

Subjects

dc:subject × 3

Rights

Language dc:language.iso
en_US

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:harvest.usask.ca:10388/etd-08302004-094039

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of Saskatchewan
Base URL
harvest.usask.ca/server/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Nelson, Kenneth M.. Stereoselective synthesis : studies involving dipole-stabilized carbanions alpha to nitrogen. Masters thesis, University of Saskatchewan, 2004. https://hdl.handle.net/10388/etd-08302004-094039