Annual Report of Cosmetology vol.12, 2004
Synopsis of Original Research Paper

Practical chemical syntheses of high-grade musk andjasmine perfumes utilizing original titanium mediatedreactions
Yoo Tanabe
Department of Chemistry, School of Science and Technology, Kwansei Gakuin University

We engage in the exploitation of new practical organic reactions directed toward the process
chemistry utilizing our original reactions. Especially, we focused our attention on the TiClaisen condensation and aldol additions from a recent standpoint of the environmentallybenign organic synthesis for the valuable perfumes such as macrocyclic musks (civetone andmuscone), jasmine (furanone analogs of jasmone), and mints, and for 1β -methylcarbapenem
antibiotics (meropenem).
(1) Practical synthesis of natural macrocyclic musks, especially civetone and muscone, is one of
the most important topics in perfume chemistry. An efficient, practical, and stereocontrolled
synthesis of natural Z-civetone, a representative musk perfume, was performed utilizing a
Ti-Dieckmann (intramolecular Ti-Claisen) condensation of dimethyl Z-9-octadecanedioate
as the key step. This cyclization reaction to afford the 17-membered β -keto ester has someadvantages compared with the traditional basic Dieckmann condensation such as higher
concentration (100~300 mM), lower reaction temperature (0−5˚C), shorter reaction time (1−3h), use of environmentally benign (low toxicity and safe) reagents (TiCl4 and Et3N or Bu3N),and economical reagents and solvents.
(2) A laboratory scale synthesis was also performed utilizing intermolecular the Ti-Claisen
condensation of methyl 10-decenoate followed by an intramolecular olefin metathesis using
the Grubbs' reagent afforded the 17-membered β -keto ester. Characteristic features of thissynthesis are as follows; simplest synthesis ever reported, highest overall yields, not only astepwise but also a one-pot procedures.
(3) A formal synthesis of R-muscone was achieved utilizing the intramolecular powerful Tialdol addition of available 2,15-hexadecanedione to afford the 15-membered aldol. Salientfeatures are as follows. Aldol adduct was obtained for the first time. The reaction proceededwith a higher concentration (10-50 mM) compared with ring closing metathesis. Stereoselective dehydration of aldol adduct using Ti (Oi-R)4 afforded E-3-methylcyclopentadecenone,
which is a key precursor of the Noyori asymmetric hydrogenation using Ru-BINAP.
(4) TiCl4-Bu3N-mediated condensation of ketones with α,α-dimethoxyketones afforded trialkylsubstituted 2(5H)-furanones in a one-pot manner, wherein aldol addition and furanone
formation occurred sequentially. Its application to straightforward synthesis of (R)-mintlactone and (R)-menthofuran, two representative natural mint perfumes, was demonstrated.
Because of their interesting structure and usefulness, these compounds have been challenging synthetic targets. Our present method of (R)-mintlactone seems to be the simplest of thereported methods, because of the one-step synthesis.
(5) We developed the present protocol for the aldol-type addition using simple phenyl esters
and its application to a short step synthesis of the lactone analogs of dihydrojasmone andjasmone, which are representative perfumes with jasmine odor. The analogs were found topossess unique odor for fragrance.
(6) As a notable recent application of the present reagent (TiCl4 - Bu3N), the Merck processgroup demonstrated a multi-kilogram scale practical synthesis of the anti-MRSA carbapenem intermediate utilizing the TiCl4 - Bu3N reagent as its key step. We found that Ti-reaction
successfully applied to a couple of key reactions to construct 1β -carabapenem skeleton. In
particular, a short step synthesis of 1β -methylcarbapenem, ex. Meropenem® was performed
utilizing a new dehydration Ti-Claisen condensation.
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