Additions to Carbonyl Compounds

Carbonyl compounds C==0 have two major resonance structures, R2C=0  

In the second resonance structure, C is electron-deficient, so carbonyl compounds are good electrophiles. Carbonyl groups with a-hydrogen atoms are relatively acidic compounds, because the carbanions produced upon removal of the H are stabilized by resonance with the carbonyl group 0=CR—CR2 O— CR=CR2. The enolate anions that are thereby obtained are nucleophilic at the a-carbon and on O. Under basic conditions, then, carbonyl compounds are electrophilic at the carbonyl C and nucleophilic at the a C s (if they have H s attached). All the chemistry of carbonyl compounds is dominated by this dichotomy. 

Water and alcohols add reversibly to ketones and aldehydes under basic conditions to give hydrates or hemiacetals. 

The equilibrium generally favors both ketones and aldehydes over the corresponding hydrates or hemiacetals, but it favors aldehydes less strongly than it does ketones. The equilibrium is pushed toward the hemiacetal by inductively electron-withdrawing groups on the a-carbon and when a five- or six-membered ring can be formed. Both of these factors are present in glucose, fructose, and other carbohydrates. 

Primary amines (RNH2) also add reversibly to ketones or aldehydes to give imines (Schiff bases) and related compounds via the intermediate hemiaminals. The position of the equilibrium depends on the structure of the amine and the carbonyl compound. With alkylamines, the equilibrium favors the carbonyl compound, but it can be driven to the imine by removal of H2O. With hydrazines (R2NNH2) and hydroxyl-and alkoxylamines (RONH2), the equilibrium greatly favors the hydrazone, oxime, or oxime ether, and it is difficult to drive the reaction in the reverse direction. Secondary amines (R2NH) can form hemiaminals, but they cannot form imines. 

2 Addition of Nucleophiles to Electrophilic it Bonds 2.2.7 Addition to Carbonyl Compounds 

The thermodynamic stabilities of carbonyl compounds are directly related to the stabilities of their R2C 0 resonance structures. The order of thermodynamic stabilities of the common types of carbonyl compounds is RCOC1 (acyl chlorides)  

1 small TS energy r difference once resonance is lost 

The diastereoselectivities of addition of organometallic compounds to ketones and aldehydes are often quite poor (2 1), and there are numerous cases in which anti-Felkin-Anh selectivity is observed, but the rule is widely invoked anyway. 

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Addition to Carbonyl Compounds. Unlike Grignard and alkykitliium compounds, trialkylboranes are inert to carbonyl compounds. The air-catalyzed addition to formaldehyde is exceptional (373). Alkylborates are more reactive and can transfer alkyl groups to acyl halides. The reaction provides a highly chemoselective method for the synthesis of ketones (374). 

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). 

Me- SiCl also affects the stereoselectivity of 1,2-additions to carbonyl compounds [ 133]. Witli the aid of suitable activators, these mildly reactive reagents show selec-tivities unattainable by the conventional reagents, as ilustrated below for Me- SiCl-dependent Chemoselectivity fEq. 10.13) [134]. 

As examples of their addition to carbonyl compounds, Grignard reagents react with formaldehyde, H2C = 0, to give primary alcohols, with aldehydes to give secondary alcohols, and with ketones to give tertiary alcohols. 

I.3.5.6.2. Diastcrcoselective Addition to Carbonyl Compounds, Followed by Cyclization... 

Y. Ogata and A. Kawasaki, Equilibrium Additions to Carbonyl Compounds, in The Chemistry of the Carbonyl Group, J. Zabicky (Ed.), Vol. 2, Interscience, London, 1970. 

By reaction with the appropropriate aryl halides can be prepared a variety of aryltin compounds that are not accessible from the reactions involving arylmagnesium halides and organotin halides (88,89) there is evidence that an aryne intermediate may be involved (90). However, for some purposes, such as the addition to carbonyl compounds, ox-iranes, and oxetanes, to give hydroxyalkyltin compounds, the Sn-Mg reagents may have advantages (see Section II,E) (91-93). 

Alkyl substituents accelerate electrophilic addition reactions of alkenes and retard nucleophilic additions to carbonyl compounds. The bonding orbital of the alkyl groups interacts with the n bonding orbital, i.e., the HOMO of alkenes and raises the energy (Scheme 22). The reactivity increases toward electron acceptors. The orbital interacts with jt (LUMO) of carbonyl compounds and raises the energy (Scheme 23). The reactivity decreases toward electron donors. 

Since aromatic substitutions, aliphatic substitutions, additions and conjugate additions to carbonyl compounds, cycloadditions, and ring expansion reactions catalyzed by Fe salts have recently been summarized [17], this section will focus on reactions in which iron salts produce a critical activation on unsaturated functional groups provided by the Lewis-acid character of these salts. 

The development of the Grignard-type addition to carbonyl compounds mediated by transition metals would be of interest as the compatibility with a variety of functionality would be expected under the reaction conditions employed. One example has been reported on the addition of allyl halides to aldehydes in the presence of cobalt or nickel metal however, yields were low (up to 22%). Benzylic nickel halides prepared in situ by the oxidative addition of benzyl halides to metallic nickel were found to add to benzil and give the corresponding 3-hydroxyketones in high yields(46). The reaction appears to be quite general and will tolerate a wide range of functionality. 

Ally 1-tin compounds are employed as more reactive allylating agents. Because of their high reactivity, less active catalysts (TX species having mild Lewis acidity) or less reactive substrates are often required (Scheme 23).88,89 In addition to carbonyl compounds as substrates, allylation reactions of imines have been also reported.90 Also, a binuclear TiIV Lewis acid has been developed (compound (C) in Scheme 23), which shows higher catalytic activity than the mononuclear analogue (D) because of bidentate coordination to the carbonyl moiety of the substrate.91... 

These reactions comprise nucleophilic SN2 substitutions, -eliminations, and nucleophilic additions to carbonyl compounds or activated double bonds, etc. They involve the reactivity of anionic species Nu associated with counterions M+ to form ion-pairs with several possible structures [52] (Scheme 3.4). 

Nucleophilic Additions to Carbonyl Compounds Saponification of hindered aromatic esters... 

Anionic phosphorus has been used as well in a number of recent reports of additions to carbonyl compounds. Addition of dialkyl phosphite to aromatic aldehydes in the presence of catalytic amounts of La-BINOL and dilithium (R)-binaphthoxide occurs enantioselec-... 

Addition to carbonyl compounds including enones and quinones 745... 

Addition to carbonyl compounds. In the presence of ZnCl2 or SnCl2, N,Si(CH,), adds to aldehydes or ketones to form gem-di azides. Reactions catalyzed by NaN and 15-crown-5 provide a-silyloxy azides exclusively. The adducts of aldehydes in both reactions are obtained in higher yield than the adducts of ketones. 

Dunitz (180) has collected X-ray crystallographic data for carbonyl compounds that possess nucleophilic atoms in proximity to C=0, and has postulated that such molecules can be used as models for the incipient transition state (reaction coordinate) for the nucleophilic addition to carbonyl compounds. Atrop-isomeric compounds have the potential, by providing a variety of such data, for understanding the incipient transition states. For example, the interaction found in the 1,4-dimethoxy-9-(2-acyloxyethyl)triptycenes (130) can be viewed as a model for SN2 type reactions where the acyloxy group is the leaving group and the methoxy is the nucleophile. In an extreme case of this sort, cyclization actually takes place. Such an example has been reported (181). 

While a large number of studies have been reported for conjugate addition and Sn2 alkylation reactions, the mechanisms of many important organocopper-promoted reactions have not been discussed. These include substitution on sp carbons, acylation with acyl halides [168], additions to carbonyl compounds, oxidative couplings [169], nucleophilic opening of electrophilic cyclopropanes [170], and the Kocienski reaction [171]. The chemistry of organocopper(II) species has rarely been studied experimentally [172-174], nor theoretically, save for some trapping experiments on the reaction of alkyl radicals with Cu(I) species in aqueous solution [175]. 

Building on a recently introduced reaction classification system that considers electronic effects, a descriptor for steric hindrance has been added.The expanded classification hierarchy has been applied to a range of representative reactions, including additions to carbonyl compounds, and enolate formation. 

Simple addition to carbonyl compounds occnrs nnder mild acidic conditions. Examples given illns-trate reaction with acetone, an aldol-like reaction, and conjngate addition to methyl vinyl ketone, a Michael-like reaction. The first-formed alcohol products in aldol-like reactions usually dehydrate to give a 3-alkylidene-3//-indolium cation. 

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