A-Alkylated aldehydes

Comito, R. J., Finelli, F. G., MacMillan, D. W. C. (2013). Enantioselective intramolecular aldehyde a-alkylation with simple olefins direct access to homo-ene products. Journal of American Chemical Society, 135, 9538-9361. 

A diaryIprolinol silyl ether induces ee < 99% for aldehyde a-alkylation on 1,4-addition to acridinium salts. Computational chemistry has been used to explain stereoinduction by a family of iodooxazoline catalysts developed for enantioselective a-tosyloxylation of ketones by m-CPBA/TsOH. a-Benzoyloxylation of ketones (cyclohexanones and 1-indanones) by dibenzoyl peroxide occurs enantioselectively in the presence of a mixture of 9-amino-(9-deoxy)epi-dihydroquinidine and salicylic acid. ° The scope and limitations of asymmetric a-oxyacylation of cyclic ketones by chiral Ai-alkyl-O-acyl hydroxylamines have also been reported. ... 

Because etiolate anions are sources of nucleophilic carbon one potential use m organic syn thesis IS their reaction with alkyl halides to give a alkyl denvahves of aldehydes and ketones... 

Future Trends. In addition to the commercialization of newer extraction/ decantation product/catalyst separations technology, there have been advances in the development of high reactivity 0x0 catalysts for the conversion of low reactivity feedstocks such as internal and a-alkyl substituted a-olefins. These catalysts contain (as ligands) ortho-/-butyl or similarly substituted arylphosphites, which combine high reactivity, vastiy improved hydrolytic stabiUty, and resistance to degradation by product aldehyde, which were deficiencies of eadier, unsubstituted phosphites. Diorganophosphites (28), such as stmcture (6), have enhanced stabiUty over similarly substituted triorganophosphites. 

Conversely, when A-alkyl tryptophan methyl esters were condensed with aldehydes, the trans diastereomers were observed as the major products." X-ray-crystal structures of 1,2,3-trisubstituted tetrahydro-P-carbolines revealed that the Cl substituent preferentially adopted a pseudo-axial position, forcing the C3 substituent into a pseudo-equatorial orientation to give the kinetically and thermodynamically preferred trans isomer." As the steric size of the Cl and N2 substituents increased, the selectivity for the trans isomer became greater. A-alkyl-L-tryptophan methyl ester 42 was condensed with various aliphatic aldehydes in the presence of trifluoroacetic acid to give predominantly the trans isomers. ... 

Here a typical property of three-membered rings wdth two hetero atoms is shown and this property is also found in the diaziridines. Only with the oxaziranes which are substituted by aryl groups in the 3-position does the hydrolysis by acids occur according to Eq. (14) with formation of an aromatic aldehyde and alkyl hydroxylamine. 

Notable examples of general synthetic procedures in Volume 47 include the synthesis of aromatic aldehydes (from dichloro-methyl methyl ether), aliphatic aldehydes (from alkyl halides and trimethylamine oxide and by oxidation of alcohols using dimethyl sulfoxide, dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, and pyridinum trifluoro-acetate the latter method is particularly useful since the conditions are so mild), carbethoxycycloalkanones (from sodium hydride, diethyl carbonate, and the cycloalkanone), m-dialkylbenzenes (from the />-isomer by isomerization with hydrogen fluoride and boron trifluoride), and the deamination of amines (by conversion to the nitrosoamide and thermolysis to the ester). Other general methods are represented by the synthesis of 1 J-difluoroolefins (from sodium chlorodifluoroacetate, triphenyl phosphine, and an aldehyde or ketone), the nitration of aromatic rings (with ni-tronium tetrafluoroborate), the reductive methylation of aromatic nitro compounds (with formaldehyde and hydrogen), the synthesis of dialkyl ketones (from carboxylic acids and iron powder), and the preparation of 1-substituted cyclopropanols (from the condensation of a 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol derivative and ethyl-... 

The diastereofacial selectivity of Lewis acid promoted reactions of allylsilancs with chiral aldehydes has been thoroughly investigated58. Aldehydes with alkyl substituted a-stereogenic centers react with a mild preference for the formation of Cram products, this preference being enhanced by the use of boron trifluoride-diethyl ether complex as catalyst58. 

Good Cram selectivity is observed for Lewis acid induced reactions between allylstannanes and aldehydes with alkyl-substituted a-chiral centers66,87. This enhanced Cram selectivity may be due to the effect of the Lewis acid on the trajectory of nucleophilic attack on the aldehyde66. 

Useful Cram selectivity is observed for Lewis acid induced reactions between 3-alkoxyallylstan-nanes and aldehydes with alkyl substituted a-stereogenic centers116. 

Compounds 137 and 138 are thus synthons for carboxylic acids this is another indirect method for the a alkylation of a carboxylic acid, representing an alternative to the malonic ester synthesis (10-104) and to 10-106 and 10-109. The method can be adapted to the preparation of optically active carboxylic acids by the use of a chiral reagent. Note that, unlike 132, 137 can be alkylated even if R is alkyl. However, the C=N bond of 137 and 138 cannot be effectively reduced, so that aldehyde synthesis is not feasible here. ... 

The imines are prepared by 16-12. The enamine salt method has also been used to give good yields of mono a alkylation of a,P-unsaturated ketones. Enamines prepared from aldehydes and butylisobutylamine can be alkylated by simple primary alkyl halides in good yields. N-alkylation in this case is presumably prevented by steric hindrance. 

Deprotonation of allylic aryl sulfoxides leads to allylic carbanions which react with aldehyde electrophiles at the carbon atom a and also y to sulfur . With benzaldehyde at — 10 °C y-alkylation predominates , whereas with aliphatic aldehydes at — 78 °C in the presence of HMPA a-alkylation predominates . When the a-alkylated products, which themselves are allylic sulfoxides, undergo 2,3-sigmatropic rearrangement, the rearranged compounds (i.e., allylic sulfenate esters) can be trapped with thiophiles to produce overall ( )-l,4-dihydroxyalkenes (equation 24). When a-substituted aldehydes are used as electrophiles, formation of syn-diols 27 occurs in 40-67% yields with diastereoselectivities ranging from 2-28 1 (equation 24) . ... 

Lewis acid-catalyzed additions can be carried out in the presence of other chiral ligands that induce enantioselectivity.156 Titanium TADDOL induces enantioselectivity in alkylzinc additions to aldehydes. A variety of aromatic, alkyl, and a, (3-unsaturated aldehydes give good results with primary alkylzinc reagents.157... 

The synthesis in Scheme 13.21 starts with a lactone that is available in enantiomer-ically pure form. It was first subjected to an enolate alkylation that was stereocontrolled by the convex shape of the cis ring junction (Step A). A stereospecific Pd-mediated allylic substitution followed by LiAlH4 reduction generated the first key intermediate (Step B). This compound was oxidized with NaI04, converted to the methyl ester, and subjected to a base-catalyzed conjugation. After oxidation of the primary alcohol to an aldehyde, a Wittig-Horner olefination completed the side chain. 

Domino transformations combining two consecutive anionic steps exist in several variants, but the majority of these reactions is initiated by a Michael addition [1]. Due to the attack of a nucleophile at the 4-position of usually an enone, a reactive enolate is formed which can easily be trapped in a second anionic reaction by, for example, another n,(5-urisalurated carbonyl compound, an aldehyde, a ketone, an inline, an ester, or an alkyl halide (Scheme 2.1). Accordingly, numerous examples of Michael/Michael, Michael/aldol, Michael/Dieckmann, as well as Michael/SN-type sequences have been found in the literature. These reactions can be considered as very reliable domino processes, and are undoubtedly of great value to today s synthetic chemist... 

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