Acyclic 2-hydroxyketones

Dioh. Acyclic 2-hydroxyketones and a-diketones undergo ultrasound-assisted reduction with LilnH (prepared from InBrj and LiH) in a highly diastereoselective manner. For example, benzoin is converted to the meso-diol exclusively. 

Five- or six-membered cyclic hemiketals, which are also referred to as lactols, can form from y- or 8-hydroxy kefones. However, hemiketals of this type are not necessarily more stable than the acyclic hydroxyketone isomers because ketones are less thermodynamically suitable to add nucleophiles than are aldehydes (Section 9.1.1). 

Mild reducing agent, reduces acyclic ) -hydroxyketones to the corresp. diols with high diastereoselectivity. Prismatic needles (CH2Cl2/EtOAc). Exceedingly hygroscopic. 

The well established chemistry of acyclic secondary-alkyl peroxides 12> suggested that bases should catalyse the isomerization of related bicyclic peroxides to cyclic hydroxyketones 62 via abstraction of bridgehead hydrogen and heterolysis of the peroxide bond (Eq. 48). 

Some features were put into light (a) condensation of thiocyanic acid on carbohydrate-based a-hydroxyketones favors the formation of a fused OZT over an OXT, whereas the opposite is observed on acyclic systems 48 taking the different geometries into account, this is indicative of a thermodynamic... 

The proportion of the acyclic form also increases with increasing temperature this is true for aldoses and ketoses,16,31 as well as for simple hydroxyketones.74 This would be expected from considerations of entropy, as the acyclic form has a greater degree of freedom, but studies on y- and d-hydroxyketones show that change in enthalpy contributes even more to the changing position of the equilibrium with increasing temperature. Evidently, cyclization of hydroxyketones is exothermic, and is favored by lower temperatures.74... 

Desymmetrization via proline-catalyzed asymmetric intramolecular aldol reaction can, however, also be performed with acydic diketones of type 109 as has been reported by the Agami group [106], In the first step a prochiral acyclic diketone reacts in the presence of L-proline as catalyst (22-112 mol%) with formation of the aldol adduct 111 (Scheme 6.49). In this step reaction products with two stereogenic centers, 110, are formed. These chiral hydroxyketones 110 are subsequently converted, via dehydration, into the enones 111, by treatment with p-toluenesulfonic acid. 

The alkylation of asymmetric acyclic ketones takes place regioselectively on the most-substituted carbon, thus affording the syn isomers as major products. a-Hydroxyketones showed anti selective additions similar to that observed in related aldol, and Mannich-type additions (Scheme 2.39). Such selectivity is due to the preferred formation of the Z-enamine intermediate, stabilized by intramolecular hydrogen bonding between the hydroxy group and the tertiary amine of the catalyst [23]. 

Acyclic chiral a-amino acids or derivatives are also effleient eatalysts for the asymmetric two- or three-components Mannich reaction. Protected or free 2-hydroxyketones reacted with 16 in the presence of L-tiyptophan, O-protected-L-threonine or L-serine and generally led to the a ft-adduct 17, explained by the formation of a (Z)-enamine stabilised by an intramolecular hydrogen bond (Scheme 12.5). Threonine surfactant 14 was equally effective for the three-component reaction with hydro gracetone, benzalde-hyde derivatives and anilines. ... 

The aldol reaction of cyclic ketones and acetone with aromatic aldehydes were carried out in combination with triflic acid in water at 25°C [250]. Other chiral primary-tertiary diamine catalyst such as compound 167 (20 mol%) was used in combination with solid polyoxometalate acid support (6.67% mol) in the aldol reaction between dihydroxyacetone (149a) and aromatic aldehydes in NMP as solvent at 25°C to afford mainly iyn-aldol products in good yields (59-97%) and high diastereo- and enantioselectivities (78-99% de, 84-99% ee). The combination of catalyst 167 with triflic acid was used in the reaction of acyclic ketones and a-hydroxyketones 8 with aromatic aldehydes also with good results [251]. Simple chiral diamine 168 (10 mol%) in the presence of Iriflic acid (20 mol%) was applied as catalyst in the reaction between acetone and cyclohexanone with aromatic aldehydes in water at 25°C, giving aldol adducts 4 in low yields (15-58%) and moderate diastereo- and enantioselectivities (50-98% de, 45-93% ee) [252]. 

Analogously, copper(I) salts cleave diboron compounds [e.g., bis(pinacolato)diboron] to give, in the presence of an a,/3-enone, the corresponding conjugate boration product (eq 113). In contrast to the silylation procedure, reactions can be run at room temperature both on cyclic and acyclic enones. Subsequent oxidation of the borylated ketone provides the /3-hydroxyketone. 

Silyl Anion Equivalent. Silylboronic ester 1 reacts as a silyl anion equivalent in the presence of transition metal catalysts. Cyclic and acyclic a,/3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds serve as good acceptors of the silyl groups in conjugate addition of 1 catalyzed by rhodium and copper complexes, giving /3-silylcarbonyl compounds (eq 30). The silylation takes place with high enan-tioselectivity when Rh/(5)-BINAP or Cu/chiral NHC catalysts are used. Three-component coupling of 1, a,/3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, and aldehydes affords 8-hydroxyketone stereoselec-tively in the presence of a copper catalyst (eq 31). The copper enolate 32 is presumed as an intermediate of the reaction. 

List and coworkers reported an oxa-Michael reaction with aliphatic acyclic enones 94 using hydrogen peroxide as oxygen source [111]. Treatment of enones with catalytic amounts of cinchona alkaloid derived primary amine 33 (as its salt), followed by excess hydrogen peroxide furnished the intermediate peroxy-hemiketals with high yields and stereoselectivities. Subsequent reduction of these compounds led to the corresponding p-hydroxyketones 124 without loss of enantioselectivity (Scheme 33.36). The same research group developed the asymmetric epoxidation of enones with excellent results [112],... 

DYKAT is a dynamic system closely related to DKR. Although four types of DYKAT have been reported in the literature, all the examples reviewed here are included in DYKAT type 111. They focus on the asymmetric transformation of a diastereomeric mixture of enantiomeric pairs of acyclic and cyclic diols by means of lipase-catalyzed transesterification and epimerization of the chiral centers mediated by the Ru catalyst 3a. The major differences with respect to DKR reside in the formation of chiral intermediates (hydroxyketones) during the metal-catalyzed epimerization as well as the involvement of two successive enzymatic transformations with different selectivities. An additional complexity originates from possible intramolecular acyl-migrations. Nevertheless, if similar requirements to those described for an efficient DKR are fulfilled, the result of these DYKATs could be the formation of only one stereoisomer of the diacylated product. 

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