Cornforth-Evans Transition States in Stereocontrolled Allylborations of Epoxy Aldehydes

Allylboration reactions rank among the most reliable tools in organic synthesis. Herein, we report a general synthesis of trifunctionalized allylboronates and systematic investigations of their stereocontrolled transformations with substituted aldehyde substrates, in order to efficiently access diverse, highly substituted target substrates. A peculiar transition in stereocontrol was observed from the polar Felkin-Anh (PFA) to the Cornforth-Evans (CE) model for alkoxy- and epoxy-substituted aldehydes. CE-type transition states were uniformly identified as minima in advanced, DFT-based computational studies of allylboration reactions of epoxy aldehydes, conforming well to the experimental data, and highlighting the underestimated relevance of this model. Furthermore, a mechanism-based rationale for the substitution pattern of the epoxide was delineated that ensures high levels of stereocontrol and renders α,β-epoxy aldehydes generally applicable substrates for target synthesis.