Aldol reaction enones from

The reaction conditions needed for aldol dehydration are often only a bit more vigorous (slightly higher temperature, for instance) than the conditions needed for the aldol formation itself. As a result, conjugated enones are usually obtained directly from aldol reactions without isolating the intermediate jS-hydroxy carbonyl compounds. 

The aldol reaction yields either a /3-hydroxy aldehyde/ketone or an a, 3-unsatu-rated aldehyde/ketone, depending on the experimental conditions. By learning how to think backward, it s possible to predict when the aldol reaction might be useful in synthesis. Whenever the target molecule contains either a /3-hydroxy aldehyde/ketone or a conjugated enone functional group, it might come from an aldol reaction. 

What ketones or aldehydes might the following enones have been prepared from by aldol reaction ... 

Copper hydride species, notably Stryker s reagent [Ph3PCuH]6, are capable of promoting the conjugate reduction of a,( >-unsalurated carbonyl compounds [42], Taking advantage of this trustworthy method, Chiu et al. demonstrated in 1998 an intramolecular reductive aldol reaction in the synthesis of novel terpenoid pseudolaric acids isolated from Chinese folk medicine (Scheme 28) [43]. Two equivalents of [Ph3PCuH]6 enabled cycli-zation of keto-enone 104 to provide the bicyclic diastereomers 105 (66%) and 106 (16%). The reaction also was applied to the transformation of 107... 

An attempt to prepare 2-(2-nitrophenyl)-4,6-diphenylpyrylium from l,3-diphenylprop-2-en-1 -one and 2-nitroacetophenone gave only 2,4,6-triphenylpyrylium (58BSF1458). Similarly, substantial formation of this symmetrical pyrylium salt was observed during syntheses of unsymmetrically substituted salts. Thus, pinacolone and chalcone afforded both 2-f-butyl-4,6-diphenylpyrylium and the 2,4,6-triphenyl derivative. The latter product is considered to arise from a retro-aldol reaction of the enone into a mixture of benzaldehyde and acetophenone the latter reacts with unchanged chalcone to give the unrequired salt (80T679). 

Another common trapping method is an intramolecular aldol reaction of the initially formed anion, as shown in equation (91) and Schemes 53 and 54.% In the first case, an aldol-like trapping of the iminium salt produced (411 equation 91 ).96b The initial heteronucleophile in the other two cases is ultimately lost from the product by oxidation and elimination, so that the overall process is C—C bond formation at the a-center of an enone. Thus, treatment of the formyl enone (412 Scheme 53) with an aluminum thiolate afforded in 60% yield the trapped product (413) which could be oxidized and eliminated to give (414).96c Addition of the corresponding aluminate species to the ketoacrylate (415 Scheme 54) produced only one diastereomer of the aldol product (416) which was converted into the alkene (417) in excellent yield.96 1... 

Most of the examples in this chapter have been of molecules without selectivity. They have indeed all been self condensations. We hope this has established the basic disconnections and the chemistry but we must now turn to examples where selectivity is needed. So the ketone 46 was made to study aldol reactions with aromatic aldehydes.13 They found that, in acid or base, the enone 52 was the main product with the best yield from HCI in EtOH. The product 52 was isolated as its HCI salt. In this case it is easy to see that only the ketone can enolise, that the aldehyde is more electrophilic than the ketone and that the geometrical isomer shown is the more stable. Such considerations are the substance of the next chapter. 

The use of silyl enol ethers can be illustrated in a synthesis of manicone, a conjugated enone that ants use to leave a trail to a food source. It can be made by an aldol reaction between the pentan-3-one (as the enol component) and 2-methylbutanal (as the electrophile). Both partners are enolizable so we shall need to form a specific enol equivalent from the ketone. The silyl enol ether works well. 

A simple example from the first report of this reaction by Gilbert Stork and his group in 1974 is the condensation of pentan-2-one with butanal to give the aldol and then the enone oct-4-en-3-one by acid-catalysed dehydration. The yields may seem disappointing, but this was the first time anyone had carried out a crossed aldol reaction like this with an unsymmetrical ketone and an enolizable aldehyde and got just one aldol product in any reasonable yield at all. 

Must we argue that this one enolate is more easily formed than the other three No, of course not. There is little difference between all four enolates and almost no difference between the three enolates from CH2 groups. We can argue that this is the only aldol reaction that leads to a stable conjugated enone in a stable six-membered ring. This must be the mechanism protonation and dehydration follow as usual. 

First, chemoselective (Chapter 24) conjugate addition of the silyl ketene acetal on the enone is preferred to direct aldol reaction with the aldehyde. Then an aldol reaction of the intermediate silyl enol ether on the benzaldehyde follows. The stereoselectivity results, firstly, from attack of benzalde-hyde on the less hindered face of the intermediate silyl enol ether, which sets the two side chains trans on the cyclohexanone, and, secondly, from the intrinsic diastereoselectivity of the aldol reaction (this is treated in some detail in Chapter 34). This is a summary mechanism. 

Conditions for aldol reactions are very similar to those required for conjugate addition so that it is not unusual for conjugate addition and cyclization to occur sequentially without isolation of any intermediates. When we described one Michael addition a few pages back, we were not telling you the whole truth. The product isolated from this reaction was actually the enone from cyclization. 

This approach leads directly to the enone needed for nootkatone. A diketone prepared from a natural terpene (Chapter 51) is also treated with HC1 and much the same reactions ensue except that the fragmentation now breaks open a four-membered ring. First, the intramolecular aldol reaction to make the second six-membered ring. 

Disubstituted furans are available from a,/3-unsaturated enones in a two-step sequence. At first, conjugate addition of a cuprate generates an enolate, which undergoes an aldol reaction with (tetrahydropyranyloxy)acetalde-hyde under zinc chloride catalysis (Scheme 19) <20000 L4095>. Treatment of the reaction product with acid affords the disuhstituted furans in good yields. 

Aldol reactions of aldehydes with the -stannyl a-selanyl enolate generated from 2-phenylselanylcyclopent-2-enone directly produced 2-(l-hydroxyalkyl) cyclopenten-2-ones in high yields [55] (Scheme 43, reaction l).The n-Bu3SnSePh elimination was explained by lithium aldolate assistance. The nature of the nucleophile has a dramatic effect on the stereochemistry of the 1,4-addition products isolated after protonolysis. The use of lithium dibutylcuprate afforded cz5-compounds, whereas Me3SiLi or, better, a mixed silylcuprate, furnished the trans-isomers as the major products [56] (Scheme 43, reaction 2). 

This adduct is in equilibrium with the stable enolate from the keto-ester and elimination now gives an unsaturated carbonyl compound. Such chemistry is associated with the aldol reactions we discussed in Chapter 27. The new enone has two carbonyl groups at one end of the double bond and is therefore a very good Michael acceptor (Chapter 29). A second molecule of enolate does a conjugate addition to complete the carbon skeleton of the molecule. Now the ammonia attacks either of... 

---