Acyl anion

Thiamin pyrophosphate- natures acyl anion equivalent for trans ketolization reactions... 

Again we need a reagent for an acyl anion synthon (A). We find this in the acetyhde ion since substituted acetylenes can be hydrated to ketones ... 

Terminal alkyne anions are popular reagents for the acyl anion synthons (RCHjCO"). If this nucleophile is added to aldehydes or ketones, the triple bond remains. This can be con verted to an alkynemercury(II) complex with mercuric salts and is hydrated with water or acids to form ketones (M.M.T. Khan, 1974). The more substituted carbon atom of the al-kynes is converted preferentially into a carbonyl group. Highly substituted a-hydroxyketones are available by this method (J.A. Katzenellenbogen, 1973). Acetylene itself can react with two molecules of an aldehyde or a ketone (V. jager, 1977). Hydration then leads to 1,4-dihydroxy-2-butanones. The 1,4-diols tend to condense to tetrahydrofuran derivatives in the presence of acids. 

Allylalion of the alkoxymalonitrile 231 followed by hydrolysis affords acyl cyanide, which is converted into the amide 232. Hence the reagent 231 can be used as an acyl anion equivalent[144]. Methoxy(phenylthio)acetonitrile is allylated with allylic carbonates or vinyloxiranes. After allylation. they are converted into esters or lactones. The intramolecular version using 233 has been applied to the synthesis of the macrolide 234[37]. The /i,7-unsaturated nitrile 235 is prepared by the reaction of allylic carbonate with trimethylsilyl cyanide[145]. 

An interesting application of the Paal thiophene synthesis was documented for the synthesis of a polystyrene-oligothiophene-polystyrene copolymer. In the Stetter reaction of aldehyde 13 and P-dimethylaminoketone 14, in situ generation of the a,p-unsaturated ketone preceded nucleophilic 1,4-conjugate addition by the acyl anion... 

Although many carbonyl derivatives act as acyl cation equivalents, R(C=0)" in synthetic chemistry, the inherent polarity of the carbonyl group makes it much more difficult to find compounds that will act as equivalents of acyl anions, R(C=0) . Since the 1960s, major progress has been made in this area, and there are now a wide variety of compound types that can react in this way. As in so many areas of organic chemistry, heterocyclic compounds take pride of place and form the basis of many of the most useful methods. In recent years there has been particular interest in developing chiral acyl anion equivalents that will show high... 

The 2-substituted 1,3-benzodithioles 57 are readily lithiated and react as acyl anions with various electrophiles, including alkyl halides, aldehydes, ketones. 

Among the most successful classes of asymmetric acyl anion equivalents are the dioxane-containing a-amino nitriles 99 introduced by Enders and coworkers. These are deprotonated by EDA, and the resulting anions act as efficient equivalents of RCO for addition to a, (3-unsaturated esters [90AG(E)179],... 

Oxathiane 101 is readily deprotonated using s-BuLi, and the resulting anion reacts with alkyl halides, ketones, and benzonitrile (85JOC657). The majority of work in this area, however, is due to Eliel and coworkers and has involved chiral 1,3-oxathianes as asymmetric acyl anion equivalents. In the earliest work it was demonstrated that the oxathianes 102 and 103, obtained in enantiomeri-cally pure form by a sequence involving resolution, could be deprotonated with butyllithium and added to benzaldehyde. The products were formed with poor selectivity at the new stereocenter, however, and oxidation followed by addition... 

The methylenebis(boronic acid) 122 may be deprotonated and alkylated at the central position and may thus behave as an acyl anion equivalent. Monoalkylation of 122 followed by hydrolysis gives aldehydes in good yield, and a second alkylation led to a ketone in one case (77JA3196). 

The (V-methyldihydrodithiazine 125 has also been used as an effective formyl anion equivalent for reaction with alkyl halides, aldehydes, and ketones (77JOC393). In this case there is exclusive alkylation between the two sulfur atoms, and hydrolysis to give the aldehyde products is considerably easier than for dithianes. However, attempts to achieve a second alkylation at C2 were unsuccessful, thus ruling out the use of this system as an acyl anion equivalent for synthesis of ketones. Despite this limitation, the compound has found some use in synthesis (82TL4995). 

The benzodithiepines 126 and 127 have been used as formyl and acyl anion equivalents, respectively, although the range of electrophiles was restricted to alkyl halides (75S720) and epifluorohydrin (72TL1837). The carbonyl products were formed by hydrolysis with either mercury or copper salts. 

There has been recent interest in naphtho-fused dithiepines as chiral acyl anion equivalents, particularly since the starting dithiol 128 can be obtained in enan-tiomerically pure form (89TL2575). This is transformed using standard methods into the dithiepine 129, but showed only moderate diastereoselectivity in its addition to carbonyl compounds. On the other hand, as we have seen previously for other systems, formation of the 2-acyl compound 130 and reduction or addition of a Grignard reagent gave the products 131 with much better stereoselectivity (91JOC4467). 

A number of lyases are known which, unlike the aldolases, require thiamine pyrophosphate as a cofactor in the transfer of acyl anion equivalents, but mechanistically act via enolate-type additions. The commercially available transketolase (EC 2.2.1.1) stems from the pentose phosphate pathway where it catalyzes the transfer of a hydroxyacetyl fragment from a ketose phosphate to an aldehyde phosphate. For synthetic purposes, the donor component can be replaced by hydroxypyruvate, which forms the reactive intermediate by an irreversible, spontaneous decarboxylation. 

Protected cyanohydrins may be employed as acyl anion equivalents in 1,4-additions in the presence of HMPA129. For instance cyanohydrins prepared from arylaldehydes add in a 1,4-fashion under thermodynamic control (THF or THF/HMPA) to cyclohexenone, isophorone and decalone systems in the latter case c/.s-octahydro-2(l/f)-naphthalenones are exclusively obtained 130-131. 

Treatment of 3-thiolenes with BuLi provides the 2-anion 323, which may act as a butadiene 1-anion equivalent (i.e. 324)306. Treatment of 323 with alkyl halide gives the 2-alkylated product (325) in high yield306,307 (see equation 118). Acylation of 323 leads to the products 327 in which the acylated anions formed in situ under the basic conditions have undergone further acylation306. 

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