Nitroalkanes addition reactions

Although the base-catalyzed addition of nitroalkanes to electron-deficient olefins has been extensively used in organic synthesis fsee Michael addition Chapter 4, it is only recently that the reaction has been extended to the cyclopropanadon reaction. In 1978, it was reported that the anion of nitromethane reacts with certain highly electron-deficient olefins to produce cycloptopanesingoodyieldrEq. 7.36. More recently, this reaction has been extended to more general cyclopropanadons, as shown in Eqs. 7.37 and 7.38, in which potassittm salts of nitroalkanes are employed in DMSO as alkylidene transfer reagents." ... 

The Michael addition of nih oalkanes to alkenes substituted with two elecbon-withdrawing groups at the a- and 3-positions provides a new method for the preparation of functionalized alkenes. Although reactions are not new, Ballini and coworkers have used this sbategy in the synthesis of polyfunctionalized unsaturated carbonyl derivatives by Michael addition of nih oalkanes to enediones as shown in Eqs. 7.124-7.126. Success of this type of reaction depends on the base and solvent. They have found that DBU in acetonihile is the method of choice for this puipose. This base-solvent system has been used widely in Michael additions of nitroalkanes to elechon-deficient alkenes (see Section 4.3, which discusses the Michael addition). ... 

The aza-Henry reaction is the nucleophilic addition of nitroalkanes to imines to give nitroamine derivatives. This reaction was also studied with metal-based catalysts [164]. 

Scheme 2.23 provides some examples of conjugate addition reactions. Entry 1 illustrates the tendency for reaction to proceed through the more stable enolate. Entries 2 to 5 are typical examples of addition of doubly stabilized enolates to electrophilic alkenes. Entries 6 to 8 are cases of addition of nitroalkanes. Nitroalkanes are comparable in acidity to (i-ketocslcrs (see Table 1.1) and are often excellent nucleophiles for conjugate addition. Note that in Entry 8 fluoride ion is used as the base. Entry 9 is a case of adding a zinc enolate (Reformatsky reagent) to a nitroalkene. Entry 10 shows an enamine as the carbon nucleophile. All of these reactions were done under equilibrating conditions. 

Both overt carbanions and organometallic compounds, such as Grignard reagents, are powerful nucleophiles as we have seen in their addition reactions with C=0 (p. 221 et seq.) they tend therefore to promote an SN2 pathway in their displacement reactions. Particularly useful carbanions, in preparative terms, are those derived from CH2(C02Et)2, (3-ketoesters, l,3-( 3-)diketones, e.g. (55), a-cyanoesters, nitroalkanes, etc.—the so-called reactive methylenes ... 

An alternative method for the stereoselective preparation of 1,2-diamines is shown in Eq. 4.29, in which the addition of nitroalkanes to imines is used as a key reaction.35... 

The Michael addition of nitroalkanes to election-deficient alkenes provides a powerful synthetic tool in which it is perceived that the nitro group can be transformed into various functionalities. Various kinds of bases have been used for this transformation in homogeneous solutions, or, alternatively, some heterogeneous catalysts have been employed. In general, bases used in the Henry reaction are also effective for these additions (Scheme 4.18).133... 

The heterogeneous catalytic systems have some advantages over homogeneous reactions. Chemical transformations under heterogeneous conditions can occur with better efficiencies, higher purity of products, and easier work-up. Ballini and coworkers have found that commercial amberlyst A-27 is the best choice for the Michael addition of nitroalkanes with [ substituted alkene acceptors (Eq. 4.111).150 The reaction is also carried out by potassium carbonate in the presence of Aliquat 336 under ultrasonic irradiation (Eq. 4.112).151... 

The Michael addition of nitro compounds is a useful method for the preparation of various natural products. The Michael addition of nitroalkanes to dehydroalanines gives y-nitro-a-amino acids, which provides a convenient synthesis of side-chain modified a-amino acids (Eq. 4.114).152 Transformations of y-nitro-a-amino acid derivatives into a-amino acids occur by reductive denitration (see Section 7.2) into y-oxygenated a-amino acids by the Nef reaction (Eq. 

The Michael addition of nitroalkanes to a,P-unsaturated ketones followed by the Nef reaction has been extensively used as a method for the conjugated addition of acyl anions to enones (see Section 6.1, Nef Reaction). This strategy is one of the best methods for the preparation of 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds.156a h Various natural products have been prepared via this route.157 For example, r/.v-jasmone is prepared from readily available materials, as shown in Scheme 4.19.156f... 

Conjugate addition of nitroalkanes to ailyl Baylis-Hillman acetates in the presence of NaOH (0.6 N) in THF gives 2-alkylidene-4-nitro ketones with high stereoselectivity these are converted via the Nef reaction into the corresponding 1,4-diketones (Eq. 4.119).164... 

The synthesis of 2,3,5-trialkylpyrroles can be easily achieved by conjugate addition of nitroalkanes to 2-alken-l,4-dione (prepared by oxidative cleavage of 2,5-dialkylfuran) with DBU in acetonitrile, followed by chemoselective hydrogenation (10% Pd/C as catalyst) of the C-C- double bond of the enones obtained by elimination of HN02 from the Michael adduct. The Paal-Knorr reaction (Chapter 10) gives 2,3,5-trialkylpyrroles (Eq. 4.124).171... 

The Nef reaction can also be carried out with reducing agents. Aqueous titanium chloride reduces nitro compounds to imines, which are readily hydrolyzed to carbonyl compounds (Eq. 6.17).28 The Michael addition of nitroalkanes to enones followed by reaction with TiCl3 provides an excellent route to 1,4-diketones and hence to cyclopentenones. For example, cw-jasmone is readily obtained,28 as shown in Eq. 6.18. 

Alumina-supported KF is an effective reagent for Michael addition of nitroalkanes to electron-deficient olefins. Subsequent cycloalkylations afford cyclopropanes.37 However, the reaction of a, 3-unsaturated ketones with nitroalkanes in the presence of KF-A1203 in acetonitrile gives 4,5-dihydrofuranes (Eq. 7.39).40... 

All of these reactions proceed in a similar pathway which involves the Michael type additions of enamines to nitroalkenes or addition of nitroalkanes to imines and cyclization. This process has been achieved by solid-phase variation (Scheme 10.2).14... 

The nucleophilic addition of nitroalkane to carbonyl groups is known as the Henry reaction. The products of the Henry reaction are 2-nitroalkanols,115 which are useful intermediates for nitroalkenes, 2-amino alcohols, and 2-nitro-ketones. However, this does not always give high yields because of the possible O-alkylation in preference to C-alkylation during the Henry reaction. 

Addition of nitroalkanes 402 (R = Me, Bu, Ph etc.) to methyl acrylate without a solvent in the presence of Amberlyst-21 gives good yields of the esters 403436. An analogous reaction with electrophilic acetylenes, e.g. dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate, in the presence of potassium fluoride and tetrabutylammonium chloride yields adducts 404 as mixtures of geometrical isomers437. 

Nitroalkanes react with Jt-deficient alkenes, for example, p-nitro ketones are produced from a,P-unsaturated ketones [41], whereas allylic nitro compounds have been prepared via the Michael-type addition of nitroalkanes with electron-deficient alkynes (Table 6.19). The reaction in either dimethylsulphoxide [42] or dimethyl-formamide [43] is catalysed by potassium fluoride in the presence of benzyltriethyl-ammonium chloride the reaction with dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate is only successful in dimethylsulphoxide [42], Primary nitroalkanes produce double Michael adducts [42,44], A-Protected a-aminoacetonitriles react with alkynes under catalysed solidiliquid conditions to produce the Michael adducts [45] which, upon treatment with aqueous copper(Il) sulphate, are converted into a,p-unsaturated ketones. 

The product of a Michael addition depends on the number of acidic protons present in the nitroalkane substrate. Nitroform, which has one acidic proton, can only react with one equivalent of Michael acceptor. Nitroform is a strong acid and sufficiently dissociated in solution so that it can be used in addition reactions without a base catalyst. The reaction of nitroform with unsaturated ketones has been investigated by Gilligan and Graff and used to synthesize a number of trinitromethyl-based explosives. 

Wang and co-workers [57,58] reported several Michael-type enantioselective additions with nitro-olefins. Under neat conditions, 1,3-dinitro compounds were generated in the 74 addition of nitroalkanes 75 to various P-substituted nitro-olefins (Scheme 15). Other Michael-type involving nitro-olefins reactions were illustrated using triazole donors 77 to offer good yields and high enantioselectivities (Scheme 16). 

In a collection of insightful pieces of work Enders has incorporated an iminium ion conjugate addition of nitroalkanes to a,P-unsaturated aldehydes into a triple cascade reaction generating up to four contiguous stereocentres in one pot, again indicative of the complexity attainable from superficially simple catalysts and techniques [175-177] (Scheme 46). 

The conjugate addition of nitroalkanes to a,P-unsaturated aldehydes (Sect. 2.2.2) has been investigated by Uggerud, who compared the uncatalysed, proton catalysed and iminium ion catalysed additions [232]. The results suggested that protonated acrolein was more activated towards addition than the iminium ion catalysed process and also indicated that an intermediate oxazolidin structure 183, unobserved experimentally, may be involved in the reaction pathway (Fig. 17) with the transition state resembling that of a [3+2] cycloaddition process. 

The synthetic methods which are illustrated in this section are (a) the formation of symmetrical 1,4-diketones from 1,3- (or / -)keto esters (Expt 5.104), and (b) a Michael addition reaction involving nitroalkanes and a, /f-unsaturated ketones (Expt 5.105). The synthesis of symmetrical 1,4-diketones from the sodio derivatives of /f-keto esters, or their mono-alkyl derivatives, by treatment with iodine [Method (a)], may be formulated in the following general manner. 

Pyrrolidin-2-yltetrazole has been found to be a versatile organocatalyst for the asymmetric conjugate addition of nitroalkanes to enones.45 Using this catalyst, this transformation requires short reaction times, tolerates a broad substrate scope, and possibly proceeds via generation of an iminium species. 

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