Michael reactions aldehydes

Stabilized anions exhibit a pronounced tendency to undergo conjugate addition to a p unsaturated carbonyl compounds This reaction called the Michael reaction has been described for anions derived from p diketones m Section 18 13 The enolates of ethyl acetoacetate and diethyl malonate also undergo Michael addition to the p carbon atom of a p unsaturated aldehydes ketones and esters For example... 

The Michael reaction occurs with a variety of a,/3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, not just conjugated ketones. Unsaturated aldehydes, esters, thio-esters, nitriles, amides, and nitro compounds can all act as the electrophilic acceptor component in Michael reactions (Table 23.1). Similarly, a variety of different donors can be used, including /3-diketones, /3-keto esters, malonic esters, /3-keto nitriles, and nitro compounds. 

In particular, a,P-unsaturated aldehydes seldom give 1,4 addition. The Michael reaction has traditionally been performed in protic solvents, with catalytic amounts of base, but more recently better yields with fewer side reactions have... 

Route (b) offers a short cut since the reaction between (5) and PhCHO under dehydrating conditions needs no control as (3) is the only possible enone from a ketone enolate attacking the more reactive aldehyde (p T 167). The Michael reaction is also better by this route as explained on p T 171, This is the published synthesis. 

The previous sections dealt with reactions in which the new carbon-carbon bond is formed by addition of the nucleophile to a carbonyl group. Another important method for alkylation of carbon nucleophiles involves addition to an electrophilic multiple bond. The electrophilic reaction partner is typically an a,(3-unsaturated ketone, aldehyde, or ester, but other electron-withdrawing substituents such as nitro, cyano, or sulfonyl also activate carbon-carbon double and triple bonds to nucleophilic attack. The reaction is called conjugate addition or the Michael reaction. 

The combination of the carbonyl group and a / -hydroxyl group allows also the sugar to (a) dissociate in two smaller aldehydes, via the retro-Aldol reaction, or (b) eliminate the OH, via a retro-Michael reaction. 

Crossed reactions of the two aldehydes under phase-transfer catalytic conditions with the intermediate thioacetates, which can be isolated under controlled reaction conditions [14], leads to the formation of three products [13], as result of retro-Michael reactions (Scheme 4.18). In the case of the reactions involving crotonaldehyde, the major product results from the reaction of the aldehyde with the released thiolacetic acid, with lesser amounts of the expected crossed reaction products (Table 4.23). In contrast, the reaction of acrolein with the thioacetate derived from crotonaldehyde produces, as the major product, the crossed cycloadduct. These observations reflect the relative stabilities of the thioacetates and the relative susceptibilities of acrolein and crotonaldehyde to the Michael reaction. 

P-keto esters with a,p-unsaturated aldehydes liquidrliquid two-phase conditions [20] but, in contrast, under analogous conditions a-cyanoacetic esters produce aldol adducts with a,p-unsaturated aldehydes [20], Ethyl acetoacetate undergoes a catalysed Michael reaction addition with trans but-2-en-l,4-diones the products are generally insufficiently stable for isolation, but can be converted into furans [21 ]. 

Maruoka has found that simple alcohols can also be used in the oxy-Michael reaction [107], Using the axially chiral biaryl catalyst 67 (1 mol%) the conjugate addition of methanol, ethanol and aUyl alcohol to a, 3-unsaturated aldehydes was examined (Scheme 29). Despite moderate yields (55-83%) and enantioselectivities (16-53% ee), the high activity of this catalyst suggests that further optimisation... 

J0rgensen has also reported a sequential Michael/Michael/aldol condensation for the three component coupling of malonitrile 111 and a,P-unsaturated aldehydes that involves two iminium ion catalysed Michael additions followed by an intramolecular aldol condensation (Scheme 43) [170]. Using diarylprolinol ether 55 (10 mol%) in a concentrated toluene solution of malonitrile 111 and 3 equivalents of a,P-unsaturated aldehyde the reaction products can be isolated in just 1 8 h (57-89% yield 97-99% ee). The atom efficiency of this three component reaction is remarkable and the ability to prepare these complex products under... 

By 1989 Mukaiyama had already explored the behaviour of phosphonium salts as Lewis acid catalysts. It was possible to show that the aldol-type reaction of aldehydes or acetals with several nucleophiles and the Michael reaction of a,j3-unsatu-rated ketones or acetals with silyl nucleophiles gave the products in good yields with a phosphonium salt catalyst [116]. In addition, the same group applied bisphosphonium salts as shown in Scheme 45 in the synthesis of ]3-aminoesters [117]. High yields up to 98% were obtained in the reaction of A-benzylideneaniline and the ketene silyl acetal of methyl isobutyrate. Various analogues of the reaction parteers gave similar results. The bisphosphonium salt was found to be superior to Lewis acids like TiCl and SnCl, which are deactivated by the resulting amines. 

These a,/l-unsaturated ketones and aldehydes are used as reactants in Michael additions (Section 1.10) and Robinson annulations (Section 2.1.4), as well as in a number of other reactions that we will encounter later. Entries 8 and 9 in Scheme 2.11 illustrate Michael reactions carried out by in situ generation of a,/ -unsaturated carbonyl compounds from Mannich bases. 

Another significant development in oxazoline chemistry is the application of oxazoline-containing ligands for asymmetric catalysis, such as palladium-catalyzed allylic substimtions, Heck reactions, hydrogenations, dialkylzinc additions to aldehydes, and Michael reactions. The discovery of diastereoselective metalation of chiral ferrocenyloxazolines has further expanded the availability of chiral ligands for metal-catalytic reactions. 

Tetrahydropyrrolo[4,3-. ]pyridines can be synthesized from 5,5-dimethyltetramic acid, 84, in a sequence of steps that begins with aryl aldehydes to generate arylmethylene-substituted tetramic acids. A Michael reaction with methyl acetoacetate followed by treatment with ammonium acetate yields the tetrahydropyrrolopyridine derivatives (Scheme 20) <2005H(65)377>. A similar reaction can be carried out with aroyl-substituted butenolides to give substituted furopyridine derivatives. 

Crtm-aldol and Michael reactions. CsF is an effective catalyst in reactions of ullyl cool i-lhri s with aldehydes and keloncs lo form i./l-unsaluratcd ketones. 

The cyclization of 5-oxonitriles offers an attractive route to 2-amino-4//-pyrans (Scheme 18) (78JHC57). The starting materials, a-benzoylcinnamonitriles, are available from benzoyl-acetonitrile and an aromatic aldehyde. Michael addition of ethyl cyanoacetate or malononitrile to the benzoylcinnamonitrile affords the oxonitrile and is followed by cyclization to the imine. The reaction proceeds at room temperature in the presence of either piperidine or sodium ethoxide. 

---