Acid catalysis carbonyl compounds

A regioselective aldol condensation described by Biichi succeeds for sterical reasons (G. Biichi, 1968). If one treats the diaidehyde given below with acid, both possible enols are probably formed in a reversible reaaion. Only compound A, however, is found as a product, since in B the interaction between the enol and ester groups which are in the same plane hinders the cyclization. BOchi used acid catalysis instead of the usual base catalysis. This is often advisable, when sterical hindrance may be important. It works, because the addition of a proton or a Lewis acid to a carbonyl oxygen acidifies the neighbouring CH-bonds. 

Zn/EtOAc or THF, reflux, 3-12 h, 40-100% yield. It is more efficient to prepare this ketal by an exchange reaction with the dimethyl or diethyl ketal than directly from the carbonyl compound. Hydrolysis can eilso be effected by acid catalysis. 

Stereoselectivity in the condensation reaction of 2-arylethylamines with carbonyl compounds to give 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives was somewhat dependent on whether acid catalysis or superacid catalysis was invoked. Particularly in the cases of 2-alkyl-N-benzylidene-2-phenethylamines, an enhanced stereoselectivity was observed with trifluorosulfonic acid (TFSA) as compared with the weaker acid, trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). Compound 43 was cyclized in the presence of TFA to give modest to good transicis product ratios. The analogous compound 44 was cyclized in the presence of TFSA to give slightly improved transicis product ratios. 

The reaction can be performed with base catalysis as well as acid catalysis. The former is more common here the enolizable carbonyl compound 1 is depro-tonated at the a-carbon by base (e.g. alkali hydroxide) to give the enolate anion 5, which is stabilized by resonance ... 

Keto-enol tautomerism of carbon) ] compounds is catalyzed by both acids and bases. Acid catalysis occurs by protonation of the carbonyl oxygen atom to give an intermediate cation that Joses H+ from its a carbon to yield a neutral enol (Figure 22.1). This proton loss from the cation intermediate is similar to what occurs during an El reaction when a carbocation loses H+ to form an alkene (Section 11.10). 

By the end of this chapter, we will have seen all the common functional groups. Of those groups, amines and carbonyl compounds are the most abundant and have the richest chemistry. In addition to the proteins and nucleic acids already mentioned, the majority of pharmaceutical agents contain amine functional groups, and many of the common coenzymes necessary for biological catalysis are amines. 

Carbonyl reactions are extremely important in chemistry and biochemistry, yet they are often given short shrift in textbooks on physical organic chemistry, partly because the subject was historically developed by the study of nucleophilic substitution at saturated carbon, and partly because carbonyl reactions are often more difhcult to study. They are generally reversible under usual conditions and involve complicated multistep mechanisms and general acid/base catalysis. In thinking about carbonyl reactions, 1 find it helpful to consider the carbonyl group as a (very) stabilized carbenium ion, with an O substituent. Then one can immediately draw on everything one has learned about carbenium ion reactivity and see that the reactivity order for carbonyl compounds ... 

Rates of addition to carbonyls (or expulsion to regenerate a carbonyl) can be estimated by appropriate forms of Marcus Theory. " These reactions are often subject to general acid/base catalysis, so that it is commonly necessary to use Multidimensional Marcus Theory (MMT) - to allow for the variable importance of different proton transfer modes. This approach treats a concerted reaction as the result of several orthogonal processes, each of which has its own reaction coordinate and its own intrinsic barrier independent of the other coordinates. If an intrinsic barrier for the simple addition process is available then this is a satisfactory procedure. Intrinsic barriers are generally insensitive to the reactivity of the species, although for very reactive carbonyl compounds one finds that the intrinsic barrier becomes variable. ... 

Both these methods require equilibrium constants for the microscopic rate determining step, and a detailed mechanism for the reaction. The approaches can be illustrated by base and acid-catalyzed carbonyl hydration. For the base-catalyzed process, the most general mechanism is written as general base catalysis by hydroxide in the case of a relatively unreactive carbonyl compound, the proton transfer is probably complete at the transition state so that the reaction is in effect a simple addition of hydroxide. By MMT this is treated as a two-dimensional reaction proton transfer and C-0 bond formation, and requires two intrinsic barriers, for proton transfer and for C-0 bond formation. By NBT this is a three-dimensional reaction proton transfer, C-0 bond formation, and geometry change at carbon, and all three are taken as having no barrier. 

Various other Lewis acids have been explored as catalysts, and the combination InCl3-(CH3)3SiCl has been found to be effective.88 The catalysis requires both components and is attributed to assistance from O-silylation of the carbonyl compound. 

In 1991, Li and Chan reported the use of indium to mediate Barbier-Grignard-type reactions in water (Eq. 8.49).108 When the allylation was mediated by indium in water, the reaction went smoothly at room temperature without any promoter, whereas the use of zinc and tin usually requires acid catalysis, heat, or sonication. The mildness of the reaction conditions makes it possible to use the indium method to allylate a methyl ketone in the presence of an acid-sensitive acetal functional group (Eq. 8.50). Furthermore, the coupling of ethyl 2-(bromomethyl)acrylate with carbonyl compounds proceeds equally well under the same reaction conditions, giving ready access to various hydroxyl acids including, for example, sialic acids. 

Hydration is found to be susceptible to both general acid and general base (p. 74) catalysis, i.e. the rate-limiting step of the reaction involves either protonation of the carbonyl compound (general acid, 14), or conversion of H20 into the more nucleophilic OH (general base, 15) ... 

The reaction can, however, be made preparative for (91) by a continuous distillation/siphoning process in a Soxhlet apparatus equilibrium is effected in hot propanone over solid Ba(OH)2 (as base catalyst), the equilibrium mixture [containing 2% (91)] is then siphoned off. This mixture is then distilled back on to the Ba(OH)2, but only propanone (b.p. 56°) will distil out, the 2% of 2-methyl-2-hydroxypentan-4-one ( diacetone alcohol , 91, b.p. 164°) being left behind. A second siphoning will add a further 2% equilibrium s worth of (91) to the first 2%, and more or less total conversion of (90) — (91) can thus ultimately be effected. These poor aldol reactions can, however, be accomplished very much more readily under acid catalysis. The acid promotes the formation of an ambient concentration of the enol form (93) of, for example, propanone (90), and this undergoes attack by the protonated form of a second molecule of carbonyl compound, a carbocation (94) ... 

Electronically excited states of organic molecules, acid-base properties of, 12,131 Energetic tritium and carbon atoms, reactions of, with organic compounds, 2, 201 Enolisation of simple carbonyl compounds and related reactions, 18,1 Entropies of activation and mechanisms of reactions in solution, 1,1 Enzymatic catalysis, physical organic model systems and the problem of, 11, 1 Enzyme action, catalysis of micelles, membranes and other aqueous aggregates as models of, 17. 435... 

The a-arylation of carbonyl compounds (sometimes in enantioselective version) such as ketones,107-115 amides,114 115 lactones,116 azlactones,117 malonates,118 piperidinones,119,120 cyanoesters,121,122 nitriles,125,124 sul-fones, trimethylsilyl enolates, nitroalkanes, esters, amino acids, or acids has been reported using palladium catalysis. The asymmetric vinylation of ketone enolates has been developed with palladium complexes bearing electron-rich chiral monodentate ligands.155... 

Another example of the use of Lewis acids in organic reactions in water is the lan-thanide(III) triflate catalysed aza-Diels-Alder reaction, exemplified in Scheme 14. In this reaction the hetero-dienophile is formed in situ from a primary ammonium hydrochloride and a carbonyl compound followed by the actual Diels-Alder reaction288,289. This type of reaction proceeds readily in aqueous media290-296, and a dramatic increase in the yield upon addition of lanthanide triflates was observed288,289. The exact role of the catalyst, however, is not entirely clear. Although it was suggested that the catalyst binds to the dienophile, other mechanisms, such as simple proton catalysis, are also plausible. Moreover, these reactions are further complicated since they are often heterogeneous. 

---