Hydroboration and diimide reduction of caryophyllene and isocaryophyllene

Abstract

The monohydroboration of caryophyllene with dicyclohexylborane followed by oxidation brought about the participation of the (E)-trisubstituted double bond in preference to the exocyclic double bond during hydroboration to the corresponding unsaturated alcohol. This alcohol gave the corresponding ketone by oxidation. Isocaryophyllene under similar conditions provided the unsaturated alcohol as the major product, wherein the participation of the exocyclic double bond took place during hydroboration. Our attempts to achieve cyclic hydroboration with caryophyllene or isocaryophyllene using thexylborane resulted in the formation of the corresponding unsaturated alcohol. We achieved partial regioselective reduction of caryophyllene and isocaryphyllene with diimide to produce the corresponding dihydroderivative.