Aldehydes hydroxyketones

Benzoin condensation. Aromatic aldehydes when treated with an alkali cyanide, usually in aqueous solution, undergo condensation to the -hydroxyketone or benzoin. The best known example is the conversion of benzaldehyde to benzoin ... 

Both aldoses and ketoses reduce Fehling s solution (for details, see under 4). This fact may appear surprising when it is remembered that Fehling s solution is one of the reagents for distinguishing between aldehydes and ketones (see 4). The explanation lies in the fact that a-hydroxyketones are much more readily oxidised than simple ketones, perhaps because the hydroxy ketone allows its isomerisation, in the presence of alkali, into an aldehyde. For example, fructose, a keto-hexose, might Isomerlse thus ... 

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. 

The selective intermolecular addition of two different ketones or aldehydes can sometimes be achieved without protection of the enol, because different carbonyl compounds behave differently. For example, attempts to condense acetaldehyde with benzophenone fail. Only self-condensation of acetaldehyde is observed, because the carbonyl group of benzophenone is not sufficiently electrophilic. With acetone instead of benzophenone only fi-hydroxyketones are formed in good yield, if the aldehyde is slowly added to the basic ketone solution. Aldols are not produced. This result can be generalized in the following way aldehydes have more reactive carbonyl groups than ketones, but enolates from ketones have a more nucleophilic carbon atom than enolates from aldehydes (G. Wittig, 1968). 

This type of chemistry also functions for hydroxyketones and aldehydes. The process using 1,2-ethanedithiol or 2-mercaptoethanol results in cycHc stmctures (eq. 25). The 1,3-ditholenes (X = S) and 1,3-thioxalanes (X = O) resulting from these reactions have been shown to be of interest commercially. 

Treatment of a-hydroxy-ketones or -aldehydes with ammonium acetate (65BSF3476, 68BSF4970) results in the formation of dihydropyrazines, presumably by direct amination of the hydroxyketone followed by self-condensation (79AJC1281). Low yields of pyrazines have been noted in the electrolysis of ketones in admixture with KI and ammonia, and again it appears probable that the a-aminoketone derived by way of the a-iodoketone is the intermediate (69CI(L)237>. 

After the first hydrolytic step, secondary alcohols seem to continue biodegradation through ketone, hydroxyketone, and diketone. Diketones then produce a fatty acid and a linear aldehyde which is further oxidized to fatty acid. Finally, these two fatty acids continue biodegradation by enzymatic 3 oxidation [410],... 

As an extension of this work, the same authors explored such methodology for the synthesis of 2,6-disubstituted dihydropyrans using secondary homopropargylic alcohols (Scheme 10, route E). Surprisingly, the treatment of pent-4-yn-2-ol and 3-methylbutanal in the presence of FeCls led to unsaturated ( )-(3-hydroxyketone and ( )-a,p-unsaturated ketone in 2.5 1 ratio and 65% yield, without any trace of the expected Prins-type cyclic product (Scheme 22) [36]. To test the anion influence in this coupling, FeCE and FeBrs were used in a comparative study for the reaction of pent-4-yn-2-ol (R = R" = H, = Me) and several aldehydes. A range of aldehydes except for benzaldehyde was transformed into unsaturated (3-hydroxy-ketones in moderate to good yields. 

P-Hydroxyketones are also subject to fragmentation. Lewis acids promote fragmentation of mixed aldol products derived from aromatic aldehydes.100... 

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. 

The first intermediate product of ketone oxidation is a-ketohydroperoxide. All other molecular products are formed by decay and reactions of this hydroperoxide and its adduct with ketone. Among these products, aldehydes, diketones, a-hydroxyketones, acids, esters, and C02 were observed. The information about the products of the oxidation of ketones by dioxygen are available in monographs [4,7],... 

Miiller and co-workers have developed an enantioselective enzymatic crossbenzoin reaction (Table 2) [43, 44], This is the first example of an enantioselective cross-benzoin reaction and takes advantage of the donor-acceptor concept. This transformation is catalyzed by thiamin diphosphate (ThDP) 23 in the presence of benzaldehyde lyase (BAL) or benzoylformate decarboxylase (BFD). Under these enzymatic reaction conditions the donor aldehyde 24 is the one that forms the acyl anion equivalent and subsequently attacks the acceptor aldehyde 25 to provide a variety of a-hydroxyketones 26 in good yield and excellent enantiomeric excesses without contamination of the other cross-benzoin products 27. The authors chose 2-chlorobenzaldehyde 25 as the acceptor because of its inability to form a homodimer under enzymatic reaction conditions. 

The generation of the (2S,3R) diol 4 from 1 is the consequence of a multlenzymic process involving two distinct chemical operations (2) (i) Addition of a unit equivalent to acetaldehyde onto thesiface of the carbonyl carbon atom of the unsaturated aldehyde to form a (3R) -hydroxyketone, in an acyloin of type condensation, and (ii) reduction of the latter intermediate on the face of the carbonyl group to give rise to the diol actually isolated (Eq. 2). 

One of the most important reactions of aldehydes and ketones is the Aldol condensation. In this reaction, an enolate anion is formed from the reaction between an aldehyde or a ketone and an aqueous base, e.g. NaOH. The enolate anion reacts with another molecule of aldehyde or ketone to give (3-hydroxyaldehyde or (3-hydroxyketone, respectively (see Section 5.3.2). 

Aldol condensation reaction may be either acid or base catalysed. However, base catalysis is more common. The product of this reaction is called an aldol, i.e. aid from aldehyde and ol from alcohol. The product is either a P-hydroxyaldehyde or P-hydroxyketone, depending on the starting material. For example, two acetaldehyde (ethanal) molecules condense together in the presence of an aqueous base (NaOH), to produce 3-hydroxybutanal (a P-hydroxyaldehyde). 

Compared with aldehydes, ketones and esters are less reactive electrophiles in the addition of dialkylzincs. This makes it possible to perform a unique reaction that cannot be done with alkyllithium or Grignard reagents, which are too reactive nucleophiles. For example, Watanabe and Soai reported enantio- and chemoselective addition of dialkylzincs to ketoaldehydes and formylesters using chiral catalysts, affording enantiomerically enriched hydroxyketones 30 (equation 12)43 and hydroxyesters 31 in 91-96% , respectively (equation 13). The latter are readily transformed into chiral lactones 3244. 

The Evans-Tischenko Reaction generally requires a P-hydroxyketone (developed from an Aldol reaction) to react with an aldehyde. The resulting glycol monoester will be characterized as having high anti-selectivity. 

In this proper sense, aldol condensation includes reactions producing j3-hydroxyaldehydes or j3-hydroxyketones by self-condensation or mixed condensation of aldehydes and ketones these reactions are, in fact, additions of a C—H bond activated by the carbonyl to the C=0 bond of the other molecule, viz. 

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