Aldol reactions aldehyde donors, intermolecular

Aldol reactions using phosphoramides as organocatalysts The organic base-catalyzed asymmetric intermolecular aldol reaction with ketone-derived donors can be successfully applied to the construction of aldol products with two stereogenic centers [82-86]. Trichlorosilyl enolates of type 51 have been used as nucleophiles. Such enolates are strongly activated ketone derivatives and react spontaneously with several aldehydes at —80 °C. A first important result was that in the aldol reaction of 51 catalytic amounts of HMPA led to acceleration of the rate of reaction. After screening several optically active phosphoramides as catalysts in a model reaction the aldol product anti-53 was obtained with a diastereomeric... 

The as)rmmetric proline-catalyzed intramolecular aldol cyclization, known as the Hajos-Par-rish-Eder-Sauer-Wiechert reaction [106,107], was discovered in the 1970s [108,109,110,111]. This reaction, together with the discovery of nonproteinogenic metal complex-catalyzed direct asymmetric aldol reactions (see also Sect 5.5.1) [112,113,114], led to the development by List and co-workers [115,116] of the first proline-catalyzed intermolecular aldol reaction. Under these conditions, the reaction between a ketone and an aldehyde is possible if a large excess of the ketone donor is used. For example, acetone reacts with several aldehydes in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) to give the corresponding aldol in good yields and enantiomeric excesses (ee) (O Scheme 17) [117]. 

As in intermolecular aldol reactions, amine-catalyzed 5-enolexo aldolizations can either lead to aldol condensation (Eqs. (l)-(4)) or addition products (Eq. (5)). These reactions usually involve an aldehyde group as the aldol donor the corresponding amine-catalyzed 5-enolexo aldolizations of ketone donors have so far not been realized. The acceptor carbonyl group can either be an aldehyde or a ketone. 

In 2003, a proline-catalyzed enamine-enamine activation sequence was used to develop a three-component reaction leading to functionalized P-amino alcohols 35 [29, 30]. The reaction used both ketones (specifically, acetone) and aldehydes 33 as donors, together with azodicarboxylate 34 (Scheme 42.9) [30]. The first step is the pro line-catalyzed amination of aldehydes [31], leading to intermediate 36, which represents the electrophiUc substrate for the subsequent aldol reaction with acetone. Both intermolecular steps proceed under enamine catalysis by proline 1. A key factor in the high level of chemoselectivity observed was the much higher reactivity of aldehyde over ketone in the proline-catalyzed a-amination reaction, which selectively forms 36. 

An enantioselective intermolecular Michael addition of aldehydes (138) to enones (139), catalysed by imidazolidinones (140), has been reported. Chemoselectivity (Michael addition versus aldol) can be controlled through judicious choice of hydrogen bond-donating co-catalysts. The optimal imidazolidinone-hydrogen bond donor pair affords Michael addition products in <90% ee. Furthermore, the enamine intermediate was isolated and characterized and its efficacy as a nucleophile in the observed Michael addition reactions was demonstrated.172... 

One of the most studied processes is the direct intermolecular asymmetric aldol condensation catalysed by proline and primary amines, which generally uses DMSO as solvent. The same reaction has been demonstrated to also occur using mechanochemical techniques, under solvent-free ball-milling conditions. This chemistry is generally referred to as enamine catalysis , since the electrophilic substitution reactions in the a-position of carbonyl compounds occur via enamine intermediates, as outlined in the catalytic cycle shown in Scheme 1.1. A ketone or an a-branched aldehyde, the donor carbonyl compound, is the enamine precursor and an aromatic aldehyde, the acceptor carbonyl compound, acts as the electrophile. Scheme 1.1 shows the TS for the ratedetermining enamine addition step, which is critical for the achievement of enantiocontrol, as calculated by Houk. ... 

Despite these mechanistic and theoretical studies, intermolecular amine-catalyzed aldolizations have only rarely been used on a preparative scale. A few note vorthy exceptions in vhich aldehydes are used as donors are sho vn in Scheme 4.6 [51-55]. These reactions are often performed neat or in the presence of small amounts of an organic solvent. The catalyst usually used is either a primary or secondary amine, a combination of an amine vith a carboxylic acid, or simply an amino acid. These catalyst systems have previously been used in the Knoevenagel condensation and it is apparent that synthetic amine-catalyzed aldolizations originate from Knoevenagel s chemistry [56]. 

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