Aldol Knoevenagel condensation

An example of an intermolecular aldol type condensation, which works only under acidic catalysis is the Knoevenagel condensation of a sterically hindered aldehyde group in a formyl-porphyrin with a malonic ester (J.-H. Fuhrhop, 1976). Self-condensations of the components do not occur, because the ester groups of malonic esters are not electrophilic enough, and because the porphyrin-carboxaldehyde cannot form enolates. 

Examples of commercially applied solid base catalysts are much fewer than for solid acids. Nevertheless, much attention is currently focused on the development of novel solid base catalysts for classical organic reactions such as aldol condensations, Michael additions, and Knoevenagel condensations, to name but a few. 

Hydrotalcite clays, for example, are built up of positively charged brucite layers, for reviews see Cavani et al. (1991). Upon calcination they become active as solid bases in e.g. aldol and Knoevenagel condensations (see Fig. 2.26) (Fgueras et al., 1998 Corma and Martin-Aranda, 1993 Climent e/a/., 1995). 

Iminium ions are intermediates in a group of reactions that form ,( -unsaturated compounds having structures corresponding to those formed by mixed aldol addition followed by dehydration. These reactions are catalyzed by amines or buffer systems containing an amine and an acid and are referred to as Knoevenagel condensations,2U The reactive electrophile is probably the protonated form of the imine, since it is a more reactive electrophile than the corresponding carbonyl compound.212... 

TiIV compounds also work well at promoting cross-aldol reactions between two different aldehydes and/or ketones without prior activation or protection (Scheme 19).74 Claisen condensation and Knoevenagel condensation are promoted by TiX4, an amine, and trimethylsilyl triflate.75-77... 

A wide variety of M W-assisted aldol [59, 60] and Knoevenagel condensation reactions have been accomplished using relatively benign reagents such as ammonium acetate [61], including the Gabriel synthesis of phthalides with potassium acetate [62],... 

As part of a search for environmentally friendly solid acid-base catalysts, a modified Mg-Al hydrotalcite has been used as a base catalyst for aldol and Knoevenagel condensations. Yields are often quantitative, reaction times are about Ih, the catalyst can be recovered by filtration, and only moderate temperatures are required (60 °C for the aldol, ambient for the Knoevenagel). 

The condensation of aldehydes and ketones with active hydrogen atoms is called Knoevenagel condensation. It is related to an aldol condensation and commonly is used to produce enones (a compound with a carbon-carbon double bond adjacent to a carbonyl). The process requires a weak base (an amine). A typical excimple and mechanism eire presented in Figure 15-22. 

The Knoevenagel condensation is a cross-aldol condensation of a carbonyl compound with an active methylene compound leading to C-C bond formation (Scheme 7). This reaction has wide application in the synthesis of fine chemicals and is classically catalyzed by bases in solution (146,147). 

The forward synthetic reaction is a base-catalysed condensation reaction between two carbonyl compounds, the aldol condensation leading to -hydroxy-aldehydes or / -hydroxyketones followed by dehydration. This sequence is one of the most important carbon-carbon bond forming reactions, and aldol-type condensation reactions are considered in a number of other sections of the text, for example, the Doebner reaction (Section 5.18.3, p. 805), the Knoevenagel reaction (Section 5.11.6, p. 681), the Perkin reaction (Section 6.12.3, p. 1036) and the Robinson annelation reaction (Section 7.2). 

Scheme 4. The ruthenium-catalyzed aldol-type condensation and Knoevenagel reaction.

Lakshmi Kantam, M., Choudary, B. M., Reddy, C. V., Koteswara Rao, K. and Figueras, F. Aldol and Knoevenagel condensations catalyzed by modified Mg-Al hydrotalcite a solid base as catalyst useful in synthetic organic chemistry, Chem. Commun., 1998, 1033-1034. 

The enolate A or the nitronate A, respectively, initially adds to the C=0 double bond of the aldehyde or the ketone. The primary product in both cases is an atkoxide, D, which contains a fairly strong C,H acid, namely, of an active-methylene compound or of a nitroalkane, respectively. Hence, intermediate D is protonated at the atkoxide oxygen and the C-fi atom is deprotonated to about the same extent as in the case of the respective starting materials. An OH-substituted enolate C is formed (Figures 13.52 and 13.53), which then undergoes an Elcb elimination, leading to the condensation product B. The Knoevenagel condensation and the aldol condensation have in common that both reactions consist of a sequence of an enolate hydroxy alkylation and an Elcb elimination. 

Among the most important reactions in organic synthesis are those that form carbon-carbon bonds. Classically this was accomplished using base-catalyzed reactions such as the aldol, Claisen, and Knoevenagel condensation reactions. Modem versions of these reactoins often display remarkable stereoselectivity.1 Unfortunately, many types of carbon atoms cannot be joined together by these reactions, for example, an aryl carbon to another aryl carbon. It took the development of transition metal-catalyzed reactions before new types of carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds could be created. Of particular note in this regard are the reactions catalyzed by palladium, usually in its 0 or +2 oxidation state.2,3,4,5... 

Alkali-exchanged mesoporous molecular sieves are suitable solid base catalysts for the conversion of bulky molecules which cannot access the pores of zeolites. For example, Na- and Cs-exchanged MCM-41 were active catalysts for the Knoevenagel condensation of benzaldehyde with ethyl cyanoacetate (pKa=10.7) but low conversions were observed with the less acidic diethyl malonate (pKa=13.3) [123]. Similarly, Na-MCM-41 catalyzed the aldol condensation of several bulky ketones with benzaldehyde, including the example depicted in Fig. 2.38, in which a flavonone is obtained by subsequent intramolecular Michael-type addition [123]. 

Among the fluoride ion promoted reactions which occur in dipolar non-HBD solvents are alkylations of alcohols and ketones, esterifications, Michael additions, aldol and Knoevenagel condensations as well as eliminations for a review, see reference [600]. In particular, ionic fluorides are useful in the dehydrohalogenation of haloalkanes and haloalkenes to give alkenes and alkynes (order of reactivity R4N F > K ([18]crown-6) F > Cs F K F ). For example, tetra-n-butylammonium fluoride in AjA-dimethylformamide is an effective base for the dehydrohalogenation of 2-bromo-and 2-iodobutane under mild conditions [641] cf Eq. (5-123). 

Furthermore, the carbanion also may be added to a carbonyl group of another molecule, with formation of a new CC bond. Synthetic applications are the aldol condensation and the diacetonealcohol condensation. The acid strength of CH bonds in alpha position to COO-, COOR, or CN groups is extremely low (p > 20) and condensation reactions of the corresponding anions must be carried out in the absence of water (Claisen, Perkin, and Knoevenagel condensations). 

If the reactivity of a methyl group in aldol or Knoevenagel condensations can be assumed to depend on the ease of release of its proton to form the carbanion, reactivity then will be predicted by inspection of acidity, theoretically estimated by the following two approaches. 

The Knoevenagel condensation is a base-catalyzed aldol-type reaction, and the exact mechanism depends on the substrates and the type of catalyst used. The first proposal for the mechanism was set forth by A.C.O. Hann and A. Lapworth Hann-Lapworth mechanism) In 1904." When tertiary amines are used as catalysts, the formation of a p-hydroxydlcarbonyl Intermediate is expected, which undergoes dehydration to afford the product. On the other hand, when secondary or primary amines are used as catalyst, the aldehyde and the amine condense to form an Imlnlum salt that then reacts with the enolate. Finally, a 1,2-ellmlnatlon gives rise to the desired a,p-unsaturated dicarbonyl or related compounds. The final product may undergo a Michael addition with the excess enolate to give a bis adduct. 

Aldol and Knoevenagel condensations. The aldol reaction between 1,4-cyclo-hexanedione and aldehydes to give 2-substituted hydroquinones is conducted with LiCl in refluxing p)nidine. Microwave irradiation facilitates Knovenagel condensation using LiCl as catalyst, otherwise NMP is employed as solvent. 

Previous sections have shown that catalysis by solid acids has received much attention due to its importance in petroleum refining and petrochemical processes. Conversely, relatively few studies have focused on catalysis by bases, even if acid and base are paired concepts. Base catalysts, however, play a decisive role in several reactions essential for fine-chemical syntheses [248-251]. Solid-base catalysts have many advantages over liquid bases. Examples of successfijl reactions include isomerization, aldol condensation, Knoevenagel condensation, Michael condensation, oxidation and Si—C bond formation. Various reviews have discussed catalysis by solid bases [248-255]. 

The use of these materials in a range of reactions [isomerization of alkenes and alkynes, C—C bond formation, aldol condensation, Knoevenagel condensation, nitroaldol reactions, Michael addition, conjugate addition of alcohols, nucleophilic addition of phenylacetylene, nucleophilic ring opening of epoxides, oxidation reactions, Si—C bond formation, Pudovik reaction (P—C bond formation) and synthesis ofheterocycles] have been discussed in detail by Ono [248], as well as in the other cited reviews. We will thus discuss here only selected examples. 

Figure 2.42 Examples of reactions catalyzed by hydrotalcite-based catalysts for the synthesis of flavors and fragrances (a) aldol condensation (b) Knoevenagel condensation (c) double-bond isomerization.

In particular, we have described selected examples of the application of monofunctional supported catalysts in reactions of considerable synthetic interest such as aldol, Michael and Knoevenagel condensations. In general. 

Related to their application in synthesis, protic ILs have been used in C-C bond-forming reactions (Knoevenagel condensations, Diels Alder reactions, alkylation and Henry reactions, aldol condensations and Mannich reactions)... 

The Aldol condensation and Knoevenagel condensation (eqn. 1) was carried out as follows. The powder catalyst was added to toluene (2.5 ml) solution of benzaldehyde (0.7 mmol, 1) and reactant (0.5 mmol, 2), then the reaction mixture was stirred at 323 K, Products 3 were analyzed by gas chromatography employing dodecane as an internal standard. 

The catalytic activity of the NHs-grafted mesoporous silica, FSMN, was examined in some base-catalysed condensations (eqn. 1). The results were listed in Table 1. The FSMN catalyst used here was FSMN-5 that was prepared by the pre-activation at 1073 K followed by NH3-treatment at 973 K. The Aldol condensation of benzaldehyde and acetone did not proceed in this condition (entry 1). The Knoevenagel condensation of benzaldehyde and diethyl malonate (entry 2) did not occurred. On the other hand, the reactions with malononitrile (entry 3) and with ethyl cyanoacetate (entry 4) were catalysed by the FSMN-5. This shows that the NHa-grafted mesoporous silica would function as base catalyst. 

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