Aldehydes reductive coupling

The Houk group reported a theoretieal study of the Ni-catalyzed alkyne-aldehyde reductive coupling reactions with silane as reducting agent. They showed that the selectivity of the [5+2] cycloaddition is controlled by the anisotropic steric environment of the NHC ligands. 

The reductive coupling of aldehydes or ketones with 01, -unsaturated carboxylic esters by > 2 mol samarium(II) iodide (J.A. Soderquist, 1991) provides a convenient route to y-lactones (K. Otsubo, 1986). Intramolecular coupling of this type may produce trans-2-hy-droxycycloalkaneacetic esters with high stereoselectivity, if the educt is an ( )-isomer (E.J. Enholm, 1989 A, B). 

Other syntheses of oxiranes which are occasionally useful and involve a species (64) are the dehydration of 1,2-diols (Scheme 69) (78TL5153, 7808(58)12) and the reductive coupling of aldehydes (Scheme 70) (B-73MI50500). 

This procedure is representative of a new general method for the preparation of noncyclic acyloins by thiazol ium-catalyzed dimerization of aldehydes in the presence of weak bases (Table I). The advantages of this method over the classical reductive coupling of esters or the modern variation in which the intermediate enediolate is trapped by silylation, are the simplicity of the procedure, the inexpensive materials used, and the purity of the products obtained. For volatile aldehydes such as acetaldehyde and propionaldehyde the reaction Is conducted without solvent in a small, heated autoclave. With the exception of furoin the preparation of benzoins from aromatic aldehydes is best carried out with a different thiazolium catalyst bearing an N-methyl or N-ethyl substituent, instead of the N-benzyl group. Benzoins have usually been prepared by cyanide-catalyzed condensation of aromatic and heterocyclic aldehydes.Unsymnetrical acyloins may be obtained by thiazol1um-catalyzed cross-condensation of two different aldehydes. -1 The thiazolium ion-catalyzed cyclization of 1,5-dialdehydes to cyclic acyloins has been reported. 

A variety of such ternary catalytic systems has been developed for diastereoselective carbon-carbon bond formations (Table). A Cp-substituted vanadium catalyst is superior to the unsubstituted one,3 whereas a reduced species generated from VOCl3 and a co-reductant is an excellent catalyst for the reductive coupling of aromatic aldehydes.4 A trinuclear complex derived from Cp2TiCl2 and MgBr2 is similarly effective for /-selective pinacol coupling.5 The observed /-selectivity may be explained by minimization of steric effects through anti-orientation of the bulky substituents in the intermediate. 

In the future, further studies should be addressed to improve the chemose-lectivity and diastereoselectivity of the reductive coupling process, especially searching for novel reagents and milder experimental conditions. As a matter of fact, a few novel reductive couphng procedures which showed improved efficiency and/or stereoselectivity have not been further apphed to optically active imines. For example, a new electrochemical procedure which makes use of the spatially addressable electrolysis platform with a stainless steel cathode and a sacrificial aluminum anode has been developed for imines derived from aromatic aldehydes, and the use of the N-benzhydryl substituent allowed 1,2-diamines to be obtained with good yields and dl-to-meso ratios... 

Moreover, a dramatic increase of the reaction rate was observed when the coupUng of aromatic imines mediated by samariiun diiodide was carried out in the presence of both water and a tertiary amine or tetramethylethylene-diamine (TMEDA) [29], causing the almost instantaneous formation of the 1,2-diamine, although with undetermined diastereoselectivity. Similarly, the samarium diiodide promoted reductive coupling of iminiiun ions formed in situ by reacting ahphatic aldehydes with secondary amines and benzotriazole occurred at temperatures as low as - 70 °C [30]. Even in this case a mixture of diastereomers with undetermined ratio was obtained nevertheless, the item of diastereoselectivity induced by a chiral amine (auxiliary) is worthy of investigation. 

The asymmetric synthesis of unsymmetrical vicinal diamines by samarium diiodide induced reductive coupling of nitrones derived from aUphatic aldehydes with optically pure N-tert-butanesulfinyl aromatic imines has been recently reported [41]. For example, the reaction between nitrone 55 and... 

Recently, it has been demonstrated that coordination vacancies on the surface metal cations are relevant to the unique redox reactivity of oxide surfaces]2]. Oxidation of fonnaldehyde and methyl formate to adsorbed formate intermediates on ZnO(OOOl) and reductive C-C coupling of aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes and cyclic ketones on 1102(001) surfaces reduced by Ar bombardment are observed in temperature-prognunmed desorption(TPD). The thermally reduced 1102(110) surface which is a less heavily damaged surface than that obtained by bombardment and contains Ti cations in the -t-3 and +4 states, still shows activity for the reductive coupling of formaldehyde to form ethene]13]. Interestingly, the catalytic cyclotrimerization of alkynes on TiO2(100) is also traced in UHV conditions, where cation coordination and oxidation states appear to be closely linked to activity and selectivity. The nonpolar Cu20( 111) surface shows a... 

R)-Benzoins and (/ )-2-hydroxypropiophcnonc derivatives are formed on a preparative scale by benzaldehyde lyase (BAL)-catalyzed C-C bond formation from aromatic aldehydes and acetaldehyde in aqueous buffer/DMSO solution with remarkable ease in high chemical yield and high optical purity (Eq. 8.112).303 Less-stable mixed benzoins were also generated via reductive coupling of benzoyl cyanide and carbonyl compounds by aqueous titanium(III) ions.304... 

Reductive coupling of aldimines obtained from aromatic aldehydes and aromatic amines to generate vicinal diamines mediated by indium was carried out in aqueous ethanol (Eq. 11.59)." Small indium rods were used in this study. No side-product was observed due to unimolecular reduction. The presence of NH4CI was found to accelerate the reaction. The reaction fails completely in CH3CN, DMF, or wet DMF. The use of nonaromatic substrates also resulted in the failure of the reaction. 

A number of chiral monodentate phosphines have been examined in asymmetric nickel-catalyzed reductive couplings of aldehydes and alkynes. The best results to date have been obtained with (+)-NMDPP (16) [33]. Aromatic internal alkynes and branched aldehydes participate with excellent enantiose-lectivity (Scheme 15), although yields and enantioselectivities were somewhat lower with other combinations of aldehydes and alkynes. In a complemen-... 

A broad array of mechanistic pathways may be considered in the different variants of nickel-catalyzed reductive couplings of aldehydes and alkynes, and a generalized overview of possible mechanisms has been previously described [10]. Whereas a comprehensive mechanistic study has not been presented, a number of key observations have been illustrated that provide insight into how the nickel-catalyzed reductive couplings of aldehydes and alkynes proceed. It should be stressed at the outset that the different reaction variants may proceed by different mechanisms. 

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