A-METHYLENE ALDEHYDES AND KETONES

This sequence transforms acyclic ketones and aldehydes into a-methylene ketones and a-methyl-a,)5-unsaturated ketones and aldehydes It has been illustrated by the synthesis of eucarvone, ( )-nuciferal and ( )-manicone This ring-opening of chlorosiloxycyc-lopropanes with ClSiMea elimination appears to be a practical route to Z or a,)5-ethylenic aldehydes and ketones depending on the stereochemistry of the reactants. For example, conversion in MeOH-NEta at 20°C of the 2-chloro-2-methyl-3-pentyl-l-trimethylsiloxycyclopropanes (derived from the addition of the chloromethylcarbene to the E and Z silyl enol ethers of n-heptanal) leads either to or Z 2-methyl-oct-2-enal (equation 65). ... 

The nucleophilic reactivity of dithiocarbamate anions has been the subject of a variety of papers, describing the reactions of alkali-metal dithiocarbamate salts with the common organic solvents methylene chloride, chloroform, and acetonitrile, with alkyl halides, a-halogeno-ketones and -aldehydes, chloroacetates, chloro-substituted j-triazines, phthaloyl chloride, oxalyl chloride, and with AW-dimethyl-5 S -dimethyldithiocarbamidium perchlorate. The nucleophilic addition reaction of dialkylammonium NN-dialkyldithiocarbamates with olefins, yielding alkyl dithiocarbamates, has also been described. ... 

It is quite impossible to ignore Legal s reaction when we deal with the use of Fe + and Fe " " in organic analysis. Legal s reaction is characteristic of a-methylene ketones or aldehydes. It involves nitroprusside ion as reagent. The reaction is carried out in alkaline medium, sodium hydroxide, ammoniac solution, ethylenedi-amine, piperidine, piperazine, sodium tetraborate, and sodium carbonate or hydrogen carbonate. 

Another important synthetic method for the reduction of ketones and aldehydes to the corresponding methylene compounds is the Woljf-Kishner reduction. This reaction is carried out under basic conditions, and therefore can be applied for the reduction of acid-sensitive substrates it can thus be regarded as a complementary method. The experimental procedure for the Clemmensen reduction is simpler however for starting materials of high molecular weight the Wolff-Kishner reduction is more successful. 

Finally, Nikishin and coworkers have reported that the mediated oxidations of doubly activated methylene compounds can be used to synthesize cyclopropane derivatives (Scheme 17) [30]. Reactions using dimethyl malonate, ethyl cyanoacetate, and malononitrile were studied. Metal halides were used as mediators. When the activated methylene compound was oxidized in the absence of a carbonyl compound, three of the substrate molecules were coupled together to form the hexasubstituted product. Interestingly, when the ethyl cyanoacetate substrate was used the product was formed in a stereoselective fashion (18b). In an analogous reaction, oxidation of the activated methylene compounds in the presence of ketones and aldehydes led to the formation of cyclopropane products that had incorporated the ketone or aldehyde (20). In the case of 19a, the reactions typically led to a mixture of stereoisomers. 

Methylenecyclohexane oxide has been prepared by the oxidation of methylenecyclohexane with benzonitrile-hydrogen peroxide or with peracetic acid by treatment of 1-chlorocyclo-hexylmethanol with aqueous potassium hydroxide and by the reaction of dimethylsulfonium methylide with cyclohexanone. This reaction illustrates a general method for the conversion of ketones and aldehydes into oxiranes using the methylene-transfer reagent dimethyloxosulfonium methylide. The yields of oxiranes are usually high, and the crude products, in most cases, are of sufficient purity to be used in subsequent reactions (e.g., rearrangement to aldehydes) without further purification. 

The most important synthesis within this subgroup is the Biginelli reaction, which involves reaction between a methylene ketone 715, an aldehyde 716, and either a urea 717 (Z = 0) or thiourea 717 (Z = S) to give a dihydro-2-pyrimidinone 718 (Z = 0) or dihydro-2-pyrimidinethione 718 (Z=S) <1993T6937, 2000ACR879, 20040R1>. 

Of all the methods described for the synthesis of thiazole compounds, the most efficient involves the condensation of equimolar quantities of thiourea and a-halo ketones or aldehydes to yield the corresponding 2-aminothiazoles (Scheme 167) (l888LA(249)3l). The reaction occurs more readily than that of thioamides and can be carried out in aqueous or alcoholic solution, even in a distinctly acid medium, an advantage not shared by thioamides which are often unstable in acids. The yields are usually excellent. A derived method condenses the thiourea (2 mol) with the non-halogenated methylene ketone (1 mol) in the presence of iodine (1 mol) or another oxidizing agent (chlorine, bromine, sulfuryl chloride, chlorosulfonic acid or sulfur monochloride) (Scheme 168) (45JA2242). 

The procedure described herein demonstrates a general synthetic method to form a-methylene ketones by direct methylene transfer. A number of methods have been previously described and reviewed.2 3 The advantages of direct methylene transfer for the formation of a-methylene ketones are the aprotic, nearly neutral conditions utilized. Although the reaction is not regiospecific, it is highly sensitive to steric hindrance, and transfer occurs at the less hindered site of unsymmetrical ketones. The reaction has been applied to cyclic and acyclic ketones4 and extended to the synthesis of vinyl ketones3 and a-methylenealdehydes. It is not applicable to y- or 8-lactones, or strained cyclic ketones such as norcamphor or cyclobutanone. With cyclohexanone, cyclopentanone, or aldehydes as substrates, pre-formation of the iminium intermediate... 

Nysted used a Zn reagent (Nysted reagent, 4.100) for the methylenation of ketones and aldehydes ... 

The methylenation of ketones and aldehydes by the Wittig reaction is a well-established and selective methodology. Unlike addition-elimination methods of alkene formation, the Wittig proceeds in a defined sense, producing an alkene at the original site of the carbonyl. The Wittig reaction is not considered here, but is used as the standard by which the methods discussed are measured. The topics covered in the methylenation sections include the Peterson alkenation, the Johnson sulfoximine approach, the Tebbe reaction and the Oshima-Takai titanium-dihalomethane method. 

A reaction that appears to be mechanistically similar to the Tebbe reaction was developed by Oshima in 1978. Diiodomethane or dibromomethane in the presence of zinc is treated with a Lewis acid to form, presumably, a divalent complex (72), which reacts with aldehydes and ketones to produce the corresponding methylene derivative (73 Scheme 18). This reagent complements the reactivity of the Tebbe reagent, in that the zinc methylenation is not reactive towards esters or lactones. Because it is an electrophilic reagent, it is suitable for the methylenation of enolizable ketones and aldehydes. 

Ketones and aldehydes readily undergo oxidation of methylene groups adjacent to the carbonyl in one portion, providing a-diketones and a-keto aldehydes, respectively (Scheme 15.93). 

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