Aldehyde donors

A Mannich-type condensation mechanism involving an iminium ion electrophile similar to the aminocatalytic Knoevenagel reaction has recently been proposed for the amine-catalyzed self-aldolization of propionaldehyde (Eq. (6)) [55]. Although this mechanism is not unreasonable it should be 

Preparative amine-catalyzed intermolecular aldolizations /ith aldehyde donors. 

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Unlike most enantio- and diastereoselective direct aldol processes, the enamine-catalyzed aldol reactions are also feasible with aldehyde donors. In a milestone paper, Northrup and MacMillan reported in 2002 that aldehyde-aldehyde aldol... 

Scheme 19 Asymmetric aldol reactions with aldehyde donors...

The simplest possible aldehyde donor, acetaldehyde, can also be used as the donor Very recently, Hayashi and coworkers discovered how to use acetaldehyde in crossed-aldol reactions - the trick is to use diarylprohnol as the catalyst and to optimize the reaction conditions carefully to prevent oligomerization of acetaldehyde. However, so far the acetaldehyde aldol reactions appear to be limited to aromatic aldehyde acceptors [205],... 

With aldehyde donors, the reactions are generally syn selective. A range of acceptors can be used, including a,p-unsaturated nitro compounds [72, 270, 274-281], a,p-unsaturated ketones [71, 282-285], vinyl phosphonates [286] and vinyl sulfones [287] etc. (Scheme 27). So far, no general anti selective... 

The oxazolidine system proved a good protecting group with which to mask the ethanolamine moiety in the a-formylation and a-benzoylation of 558, and it could also be used as an aldehyde donor in the rearrangement, based on the ring-chain tautomeric character of 559, under acidic conditions to yield 3-(2-hydroxyethyl)-substituted 1,3-oxazin-4-ones 560 (Scheme 106) <1996JOC3358>. 

Barbas et al. [113] have published the asymmetric synthesis of spiro-p-lactams 171 (Scheme 39) using proline-catalyzed Mannich reaction with branched aldehyde donors. The Mannich reactions of a,a-disubstituted aldehydes 168 with... 

The mechanism of proline-catalyzed Mannich reactions is depicted in Scheme 5. The ketone or aldehyde donor reacts with proline to give an enamine. Next, the preformed or in-situ-generated imine reacts with the enamine to give, after hydrolysis, the enantiomerically enriched Mannich adduct the catalytic cycle can then be repeated. 

S)-Proline-catalyzed aldehyde donor reactions were first studied in Michael [21] and Mannich reactions (see below), and later in self-aldol and in cross-aldol reactions. (S)-Proline-catalyzed self-aldol and cross-aldol reactions of aldehydes are listed in Table 2.6 [22-24]. In self-aldol reactions, the reactant aldehyde serves as both the aldol donor and the acceptor whereas in cross-aldol reactions, the donor aldehyde and acceptor aldehyde are different. 

Aldol and Mannich-Type Reactions 27 Table 2.6 (S)-Proline-catalyzed cross-aldol reactions of aldehyde donors.3)... 

Table 2.7 Diamine 8-CF3C02H-catalyzed aldol reactions of a,a-disubstituted aldehyde donors to afford hydroxyaldehydes with a quaternary carbon atom [29].

For the aldol reactions of aldehyde donors using (S)-proline or diamine (S)-8-CF3C02H, the major products and the proposed most suitable transition state that explains the stereochemistries of the products are also shown in Scheme 2.12 [8, 29a]. 

Scheme 2.12 The proposed most suitable transition states of the (S)-proline-catalyzed and diamine 8-CF3C02H-catalyzed aldol reactions of aldehyde donors [29b].

In the case of the 9-catalyzed aldol reactions of ketones and aldehyde donors that have a high affinity for water (e.g., chloral, trifluoroacetaldehyde, aqueous formaldehyde or the corresponding hydrates of the aldehydes), the addition of 100-500 mol% water to the reaction mixture accelerated the reaction rate and afforded the products with higher enantiomeric excess (Scheme 2.13) [16]. The presence of a catalytic amount of water (20 or 50 mol%) or no addition of water... 

Mannich-Type Reactions of Aldehyde Donors with Glyoxylate Imines... 

Table 2.10 (S)-Proline-catalyzed Mannich-type reactions of aldehyde donors and /N/-PMP-protected glyoxylate imine [71 a,b].

Table 2.12 ont/ -Mannich-type reactions of aldehyde donors and N-PMP-protected glyoxylate imine catalyzed by (3/ ,5/ )-5-methyl-3-pyrrolidine-carboxylic acid (13) [73]. 

The (S)-proline-catalyzed Mannich reactions of aldehyde donors and N-PMP-protected imines of fluorinated aldehyde, such as CF3CHO, C2F5CHO, and PI1CF2CHO, were also used for the expedient synthesis of fluorinated aminoalco-hols [81]. 

Three-Component Mannich Reactions using Aldehyde Donors... 

Table 2.14 (S)-Proline-catalyzed three-component Mannich reactions of aldehyde donors [71b, 82].

General Procedures for (S)-Proline-Catalyzed Cross-Aldol Reactions of Aldehyde Donors (p. 28)... 

Bertelsen S, Halland N, Bachmann S, Marigo M, Braunton A, Jprgensen KA (2005) Organocatalytic asymmetric alpha-bromination of aldehydes and ketones. Chem Commun (Camb) 14 4821 1823 Betancort JM, Barbas CF 3rd (2001) Catalytic direct asymmetric Michael reactions taming naked aldehyde donors. Qrg Lett 3 3737-3740... 

The use of enzymes for the aldol reaction complements traditional chemical approaches. In the early twentieth century a class of enzymes was recognized that catalyzes, by an aldol condensation, the reversible formation of hexoses from their three carbon components.3 The lyases that catalyze the aldol reaction, are referred to as aldolases. More than 30 aldolases have been characterized to date. These aldolases are capable of stereospecifically catalyzing the reversible addition of a ketone or aldehyde donor to an aldehyde acceptor. Two distinct mechanistic classes of aldolases have been identified (Scheme 5.1).4... 

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