Controlling the regiochemistry of radical cyclizations.

This review describes the results of our recent studies on the control of the regiochemistry of radical cyclizations. N-vinylic alpha-chloroacetamides generally cyclized in a 5-endo-trig manner to give five-membered lactams, whereas 4-exo-trig cyclization occurred when the cyclized radical intermediates were highly stabilized by an adjacent phenyl or phenylthio group to afford beta-lactams. The 5-exo or 6-exo cyclization of aryl radicals onto the alkenic bond of enamides could be shifted to the corresponding 6-endo or 7-endo mode of cyclization by a positional change of the carbonyl group of enamides. The 6-endo- and 7-endo-selective aryl radical cyclizations were applied to radical cascades for the synthesis of alkaloids such as phenanthroindolizidine, cephalotaxine skeleton, and lennoxamine. The 5-exo-trig cyclization of an alkyl radical onto the alkenyl bond of enamides could also be shifted to the 6-endo mode by a positional change of the carbonyl group of enamides. The 6-endo- selective cyclization was applied to the radical cascade to afford a cylindricine skeleton. Other examples of controlling the regiochemistry of radical cyclizations and their applications to the synthesis of natural products are also discussed. (c) 2006 The Japan Chemical Journal Forum and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.