Aldol condensation esters

Clalsen aldol condensation. This consists in the condensation of an aromatic aldehyde and an ester R—CHjCOOCjHj in the presence of finely divided sodium and a trace of alcohol at a low temperature. The catalyst is the alkoxide ion aqueous alkalis caimot be employed since they will hydrolyse the resulting ester. The product is an ap-unsaturated ester, for example ... 

The mechanism of the reaction between aromatic aldehydes and esters probably involves the intermediate formation of an aldol (hence the name— Claisen aldol condensation) ... 

A regioselective aldol condensation described by Biichi succeeds for sterical reasons (G. Biichi, 1968). If one treats the diaidehyde given below with acid, both possible enols are probably formed in a reversible reaaion. Only compound A, however, is found as a product, since in B the interaction between the enol and ester groups which are in the same plane hinders the cyclization. BOchi used acid catalysis instead of the usual base catalysis. This is often advisable, when sterical hindrance may be important. It works, because the addition of a proton or a Lewis acid to a carbonyl oxygen acidifies the neighbouring CH-bonds. 

Cydopentane reagents used in synthesis are usually derived from cyclopentanone (R.A. Ellison, 1973). Classically they are made by base-catalyzed intramolecular aldol or ester condensations (see also p. 55). An important example is 2-methylcydopentane-l,3-dione. It is synthesized by intramolecular acylation of diethyl propionylsucdnate dianion followed by saponification and decarboxylation. This cyclization only worked with potassium t-butoxide in boiling xylene (R. Bucourt, 1965). Faster routes to this diketone start with succinic acid or its anhydride. A Friedel-Crafts acylation with 2-acetoxy-2-butene in nitrobenzene or with pro-pionyl chloride in nitromethane leads to acylated adducts, which are deacylated in aqueous acids (V.J. Grenda, 1967 L.E. Schick, 1969). A new promising route to substituted cyclopent-2-enones makes use of intermediate 5-nitro-l,3-diones (D. Seebach, 1977). 

Difunctional target molecules are generally easily disconnected in a re/ro-Michael type transform. As an example we have chosen a simple symmetrical molecule, namely 4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2,6-heptanedione. Only p-anisaldehyde and two acetone equivalents are needed as starting materials. The antithesis scheme given helow is self-explanatory. The aldol condensation product must be synthesized first and then be reacted under controlled conditions with a second enolate (e.g. a silyl enolate plus TiCl4 or a lithium enolate), enamine (M. Pfau, 1979), or best with acetoacetic ester anion as acetone equivalents. 

The decarboxylation of allyl /3-keto carboxylates generates 7r-allylpalladium enolates. Aldol condensation and Michael addition are typical reactions for metal enolates. Actually Pd enolates undergo intramolecular aldol condensation and Michael addition. When an aldehyde group is present in the allyl fi-keto ester 738, intramolecular aldol condensation takes place yielding the cyclic aldol 739 as a main product[463]. At the same time, the diketone 740 is formed as a minor product by /3-eIimination. This is Pd-catalyzed aldol condensation under neutral conditions. The reaction proceeds even in the presence of water, showing that the Pd enolate is not decomposed with water. The spiro-aldol 742 is obtained from 741. Allyl acetates with other EWGs such as allyl malonate, cyanoacetate 743, and sulfonylacetate undergo similar aldol-type cycliza-tions[464]. 

The method was applied to the synthesis of (-t-)-l9-nortestosterone by the following sequence of reactions. Michael addition of the bisannulation reagent 124 to the optically active keto ester 129 and decarboxylation afforded 130, and subsequent aldol condensation gave 131. Selective Pd-catalyzed oxidation of the terminal double bond afforded the diketone 132 in 78% yield. Reduction of the double bond and aldol condensation gave ( + )-19-nortestosterone (133)[114]. 

Mixed Claisen condensations are analogous to mixed aldol condensations and involve carbon-carbon bond formation between the a carbon atom of one ester and the carbonyl carbon of another... 

Original Synthesis. The first attempted synthesis of i7-biotin in 1945 afforded racemic biotin (Fig. I). In this synthetic pathway, L-cysteine [52-90-4] (2) was converted to the methyl ester [5472-74-2] (3). An intramolecular Dieckmaim condensation, during which stereochemical integrity was lost, was followed by decarboxylation to afford the thiophanone [57752-72-4] (4). Aldol condensation of the thiophanone with the aldehyde ester [6026-86-4]... 

KNOEVENAGEL OOEBNER STOBBE Condensation Base catalyzed aldol condensation of aldehydes or ketones with an activated methylene group of a malonic ester (Knoevenagel Doebner) or a succinic ester (Stobbe)... 

For synthetic purposes, aldol-rype condensations of aldehydes with esters or amides are potentially of great utility because the carbonyl group is easily transformed either by further additions or by oxidation or reduction. Deprotonation of an ester [7, 19, 20] or amide of fluoroacetic acid [9, 27] has led to aldol condensations in high yields (equation 17) (Table 7)... 

Ketene acetals prepared from fluorinated esters by trimethylsilylation undergo Lewis acid-promoted aldol condensations giving satisfactory yields but low diastereoselectivity [27] (equation 22). 

Ketone body synthesis occurs only in the mitochondrial matrix. The reactions responsible for the formation of ketone bodies are shown in Figure 24.28. The first reaction—the condensation of two molecules of acetyl-CoA to form acetoacetyl-CoA—is catalyzed by thiolase, which is also known as acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase or acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase. This is the same enzyme that carries out the thiolase reaction in /3-oxidation, but here it runs in reverse. The second reaction adds another molecule of acetyl-CoA to give (i-hydroxy-(i-methyl-glutaryl-CoA, commonly abbreviated HMG-CoA. These two mitochondrial matrix reactions are analogous to the first two steps in cholesterol biosynthesis, a cytosolic process, as we shall see in Chapter 25. HMG-CoA is converted to acetoacetate and acetyl-CoA by the action of HMG-CoA lyase in a mixed aldol-Claisen ester cleavage reaction. This reaction is mechanistically similar to the reverse of the citrate synthase reaction in the TCA cycle. A membrane-bound enzyme, /3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase, then can reduce acetoacetate to /3-hydroxybutyrate. 

Activity is apparently retained when the ring nitrogen is alkylated as in flordipine (42). Aldol condensation of the benzaldehyde 39 with ethyl acetoacetate gives the unsaturated ester 40. The nitrogen containing reaction partner 41 is obtained by condensation of 32 with 2- morpholi-noethylamine. Reaction of 40 with 41 leads to flordipine (42) [12]. 

Pyrimidinopyrazines related to folic acid have been investigated in some detail for their antimeta-bolic and antineoplastic activities. A related compound, which lacks one nitrogen atom, has been described as an antiproliferative agent, indicating it too has an effect on cell replication. Aldol condensation of the benzaldehyde 99 with ethyl acetoacetate gives the cinnamate 100. This is then reduced catalytically to the acetoacetate 101. Reaction of that keto ester with 2,4,6- triami-nopyrimidine gives the product 102 which is subsequently chlorinated (103) and subjected to hydrogenolysls. There is thus formed piritrexim (104) [17]. 

Tire mechanism of the Claisen condensation is similar to that of the aldol condensation and involves the nucleophilic addition of an ester enolate ion to the carbonyl group of a second ester molecule. The only difference between the aldol condensation of an aldeiwde or ketone and the Claisen condensation of an ester involves the fate of the initially formed tetrahedral intermediate. The tetrahedral intermediate in the aldol reaction is protonated to give an alcohol product—exactly the behavior previously seen for aldehydes and ketones (Section 19.4). The tetrahedral intermediate in the Claisen reaction, however, expels an alkoxide leaving group to yield an acyl substitution product—exactly the behavior previously seen for esters (Section 21.6). The mechanism of the Claisen condensation reaction is shown in Figure 23.5. 

The mixed Claisen condensation of two different esters is similar to the mixed aldol condensation of two different aldehydes or ketones (Section 23.5). Mixed Claisen reactions are successful only when one of the two ester components has no a hydrogens and thus can t form an enolate ion. For example, ethyl benzoate and ethyl formate can t form enolate ions and thus can t serve as donors. They can, however, act as the electrophilic acceptor components in reactions with other ester anions to give mixed /3-keto ester products. 

Intramolecular Claisen condensations can be carried out with diesters, just as intramolecular aldol condensations can be carried out with diketones (Section 23.6). Called the Dieckmann cyclization, the reaction works best on 1.6-diesters and 1,7-diesters. Intramolecular Claisen cyclization of a 1,6-diester gives a five-membered cyclic /3-keto ester, and cyclization of a 1,7-diester gives a six-membered cyclic /3-keto ester. 

The first step of the Robinson annulation is simply a Michael reaction. An enamine or an enolate ion from a jS-keto ester or /3-diketone effects a conjugate addition to an a-,/3-unsaturated ketone, yielding a 1,5-diketone. But as we saw in Section 23.6,1,5-diketones undergo intramolecular aldol condensation to yield cyclohexenones when treated with base. Thus, the final product contains a six-membered ring, and an annulation has been accomplished. An example occurs during the commercial synthesis of the steroid hormone estrone (figure 23.9). 

The intramolecular Michael addition of acyclic systems is often hampered by competing reactions, i.e., aldol condensations. With the proper choice of Michael donor and acceptor, the intramolecular addition provides a route to tram-substituted cyclopentanones, and cyclopentane and cyclohexane derivatives. Representative examples are the cyclizations of /3-oxo ester substituted enones and a,/J-unsaturated esters. 

Benzilic acid rearrangement Benzoin reaction (condensation) Blanc chloromethylation reaction Bouveault-Blanc reduction Bucherer hydantoin synthesis Bucherer reaction Cannizzaro reaction Claisen aldol condensation Claisen condensation Claisen-Schmidt reaction. Clemmensen reduction Darzens glycidic ester condensation Diazoamino-aminoazo rearrangement Dieckmann reaction Diels-Alder reaction Doebner reaction Erlenmeyer azlactone synthesis Fischer indole synthesis. ... 

This is another reaction that involves carbanions derived from esters, e.g. (Ill), but this time adding to the carbonyl carbon atom of another ester molecule. The reason for considering it here rather than under carboxylic derivatives (p. 237) is that it can, in its initiation, be regarded as something of an analogue, for esters, of the aldol condensation on aldehydes (cf. p. 224), e.g. with ethyl ethanoate (acetate, 112) ... 

In the reductive aldol condensation of an ,/J-unsaturated ester and an aldehyde shown in Eq. 291, the initial step is believed to be the addition of an in situ formed rhodium hydride to the a,/Tunsaturated ester, followed by reaction of the resulting rhodium enolate with the aldehyde.470 The reaction has been carried out both inter-470 and intramolecularly471,472 as well as in an asymmetric fashion (Eq. 291). 

The third hypothesis (C) is that reaction takes place through an aldol condensation between the ethyl acetoacetate and the carbonyl form of the sugar. There is some precedent indicating that it is possible for /3-ketonic esters to undergo aldol condensation. These compounds react mole to mole with the aliphatic aldehydes and afford unsaturated substances, which could be formed via an aldol condensation with subsequent dehydration. 

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