Aldol Reactions and the Robinson Annulation

The aldol reaction can be applied to dicarbonyl compounds in which the two groups are favorably disposed for intramolecular reaction. Kinetic studies on cyclization of 5-oxohexanal, 2,5-hexanedione, and 2,6-heptanedione indicate that formation of five-membered rings is thermodynamically somewhat more favorable than formation of six-membered rings, but that the latter is several thousand times faster.170 A catalytic amount of acid or base is frequently satisfactory for formation of five- and six-membered rings, but with more complex structures, the techniques required for directed aldol condensations are used. 

A particularly important example of the intramolecular aldol reaction is the Robinson annulation, a procedure that constructs a new six-membered ring from a ketone.171 The reaction sequence starts with conjugate addition of the enolate to methyl 

Reactions of Carbon Nucleophiles with Carbonyl Compounds 

Other a,(3-unsaturated enones can be used, but the reaction is somewhat sensitive to substitution at the P-carbon and adjustment of the reaction conditions is necessary.172 

Robinson annulation can also be carried out using aluminum tris(2,6-diphenylphen-oxide) to effect the conjugate addition and cyclization. 

Another version of the Robinson annulation procedure involves the use of methyl 1-trimethylsilylvinyl ketone. The reaction follows the normal sequence of conjugate addition, aldol cyclization, and dehydration. 

The role of the trimethylsilyl group is to stabilize the enolate formed in the conjugate addition. The silyl group is then removed during the dehydration step. The advantage of methyl 1 -trimethylsilylvinyl ketone is that it can be used under aprotic conditions which are compatible with regiospecific methods for enolate generation. The direction of annulation of unsymmetrical ketones can therefore be controlled by the method of 

The detailed mechanism of this enantioselective transformation remains under investigation.92 It is known that the acidic carboxylic group is crucial. The cyclization is believed to occur via the enamine derived from the catalyst and the exocyclic ketone. There is evidence that a second molecule of the catalyst is involved, and it has been suggested that this molecule participates in the proton-transfer step which completes the cyclization reaction. 

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Aldol addition and related reactions of enolates and enolate equivalents are the subject of the first part of Chapter 2. These reactions provide powerful methods for controlling the stereochemistry in reactions that form hydroxyl- and methyl-substituted structures, such as those found in many antibiotics. We will see how the choice of the nucleophile, the other reagents (such as Lewis acids), and adjustment of reaction conditions can be used to control stereochemistry. We discuss the role of open, cyclic, and chelated transition structures in determining stereochemistry, and will also see how chiral auxiliaries and chiral catalysts can control the enantiose-lectivity of these reactions. Intramolecular aldol reactions, including the Robinson annulation are discussed. Other reactions included in Chapter 2 include Mannich, carbon acylation, and olefination reactions. The reactivity of other carbon nucleophiles including phosphonium ylides, phosphonate carbanions, sulfone anions, sulfonium ylides, and sulfoxonium ylides are also considered. 

The entire manifold of aldol-type condensation reactions. The aldol condensation itself (Equation 9.45, el seq) and all of those in Table 9.5 (viz. the Claisen, Stobbe, Perkin, and Knovenagel condensation reactions and the Robinson annulation). 

The reactions described in this chapter include some of the most useful and frequently employed synthetic methods for carbon-carbon bond formation aldol and Claisen condensation reactions, the Wittig and related olefination reactions, and the Robinson annulation. All of these processes involve, at some point, the addition of a carbon nucleophile to a carbonyl group. The type of product which is isolated depends on the nature of the substituent (X) on the carbon nucleophile, the substituents (A and B) on the carbonyl group, and the ways in which A, B, and X affect the reaction pathways available to the intermediate formed in the addition step. 

Dommo-type reactions involve careful design of a multistep reaction in a one-pot sequence in which the first step creates the functionality to trigger the second reaction and so on, making this approach economical and environmentally friendly. A classical example of a tandem reaction is the Robinson annulation (a Michael reaction followed by aldol condensation and dehydration). 

Conjugate addition reactions, including the Robinson annulation, which make use of reactive Michael acceptors such as methyl vinyl ketone, can suffer from low yields of the desired adduct. The basic conditions required for enolate formation can cause polymerization of the vinyl ketone. Further difficulties arise from the fact that the Michael adduct 42 and the original cyclohexanone have similar acidities and reactivities, such that competitive reaction of the product with the vinyl ketone can ensue. These problems can be minimized by the use of acidic conditions. Sulfuric acid is known to promote the conjugate addition and intramolecular aldol reaction of 2-methylcyclohexanone and methyl vinyl ketone in 55% yield. Alternatively, a silyl enol ether can be prepared from the ketone and treated with methyl vinyl ketone in the presence of a Lewis acid such as a lanthanide triflate" or boron tri fluoride etherate (BF3 OEt2) and a proton source to effect the conjugate addition (followed by base-promoted aldol closure). 

Besides the aldol reaction to form y0-hydroxyketone, 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition can also form similar molecules. In addition to the Mukaiyama Aldol Reaction, the following are also similar or closely related to the aldol reaction the Claisen-Schmidt Condensation (the aldol reaction between benzaldehyde and an aliphatic aldehyde or ketone in the presence of relatively strong bases to form an o, )0-unsaturated aldehyde or ketone), the Henry Reaction (base-catalyzed addition of nitroalkane to aldehydes or ketones), the Ivanov Reaction (the addition of enediolates or aryl acetic acid to electrophiles, especially carbonyl compounds), the Knoevenagel Reaction (the condensation of aldehydes or ketones with acidic methylene compounds in the presence of amine or ammonia), the Reformatsky Reaction (the condensation of aldehydes or ketones with organozinc derivatives of of-halo-esters), and the Robinson Annulation Reaction (the condensation of ketone cyclohexanone with methyl vinyl ketone or its equivalent to form bicyclic compounds). 

Michael reaction with an o , S-unsaturated ketone followed by an intramolecular aldol reaction has proven to be a valuable method for the synthesis of 2-cyclohexenones. An especially important example of a Michael-aldol sequence is the Robinson annulation, in which treatment of a cyclic ketone, 8-ketoester, or S-diketone with an a,)8-unsaturated ketone in the presence of a base catalyst forms a cyclohexenone ring fused to the original ring. When the following racemic 8-ketoester, for example, is treated with methyl vinyl ketone in the presence of sodium ethoxide in ethanol, the Michael adduct forms and then, in the presence of sodium ethoxide, undergoes a base-catalyzed intramolecular aldol reaction followed by dehydration to give a racemic substituted cyclohexenone. 

The reaction of a cyclic ketone—e.g. cyclohexanone 1—with methyl vinyl ketone 2 resulting in a ring closure to yield a bicyclic a ,/3-unsaturated ketone 4, is called the Robinson annulation This reaction has found wide application in the synthesis of terpenes, and especially of steroids. Mechanistically the Robinson annulation consists of two consecutive reactions, a Michael addition followed by an Aldol reaction. Initially, upon treatment with a base, the cyclic ketone 1 is deprotonated to give an enolate, which undergoes a conjugate addition to the methyl vinyl ketone, i.e. a Michael addition, to give a 1,5-diketone 3 ... 

The Robinson annulation is a two-step process that combines a Michael reaction with an intramolecular aldol reaction. It takes place between a nucleophilic donor, such as a /3-keto ester, an enamine, or a /3-diketone, and an a,/3-unsaturated ketone acceptor, such as 3-buten-2-one. The product is a substituted 2-cyclohexenone. 

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). 

Johnson has developed two linear approaches to synthesize the C-nor-D-homosteroid skeleton (Scheme 2.2). In his first approach [21], tetralone 19, obtained from reduction of 2,5-dimethoxynaphthalene, was used as the source of the C,D-rings. The B- and A-rings were constructed by sequential Robinson annulations (19 —> 20 —> 21). The Cl 1,12 olefin was then introduced to provide 22. Ozonolysis of 22 followed by an aldol reaction of the resulting dialdehyde gave 23. Subsequent deformylation and deoxygenation afforded the cyclopamine skeleton 24. 

Strategies based on two consecutive specific reactions or the so-called "tandem methodologies" very useful for the synthesis of polycyclic compounds. Classical examples of such a strategy are the "Robinson annulation" which involves the "tandem Michael/aldol condensation" [32] and the "tandem cyclobutene electrocyclic opening/Diels-Alder addition" [33] so useful in the synthesis of steroids. To cite a few new methodologies developed more recently we may refer to the stereoselective "tandem Mannich/Michael reaction" for the synthesis of piperidine alkaloids [34], the "tandem cycloaddition/radical cyclisation" [35] which allows a quick assembly of a variety of ring systems in a completely intramolecular manner or the "tandem anionic cyclisation approach" of polycarbocyclic compounds [36]. 

A rather nice example of enolate anion chemistry involving the Michael reaction and the aldol reaction is provided by the Robinson annulation, a ring-forming sequence used in the synthesis of steroidal systems (Latin annulus, ring). 

Aldol reactions are often used to close five- and six-membered rings. Because of the favorable entropy (p. 211), such ring closures generally take place with ease, even where a ketone condenses with a ketone. An important example is the Robinson annulation reaction which has often been used in the synthesis of steroids and terpenes. In this reaction a cyclic ketone is converted to another cyclic ketone, with one additional six-membered ring containing a double bond. The substrate is treated with methyl vinyl ketone (or a simple derivative of methyl vinyl ketone) and a base.551 The enolate ion of the substrate adds to the methyl vinyl ketone in a Michael reaction (5-17) to give a diketone that undergoes or... 

As with Michael additions to activated alkenes, the initial adducts with activated alkynes can be trapped by various processes. An aldol reaction can occur if a carbonyl is properly situated in the starting material (Scheme 71).123 However, the use of methyl ethynyl ketone (509) and its homologs in the Robinson annulation process to give cyclohexadienones (510 equation 110) usually proceeds in poor... 

In addition to these intermolecular processes, intramolecular versions of the Claisen (Dieckmann) reaction and the mixed Claisen and the aldol reaction (Robinson annulation) are also well known. In all cases the same structural classes of products are formed. 

The Robinson Annulation is a useful reaction for the formation of six-membered rings in polycyclic compounds, such as steroids. It combines two reactions the Michael Addition and the Aldol Condensation... 

Enolate D of Figure 13.71 can undergo an aldol reaction with the C=0 double bond of the ketone. The bicyclic compound A is formed as the condensation product. It is often possible to combine the formation and the consecutive reaction of a Michael adduct in a one-pot reaction. The overall reaction then is an annulation of a cyclohexenone to an enolizable ketone. The reaction sequence of Figure 13.71 is the Robinson annulation, an extraordinarily important synthesis of six-membered rings. 

This is an example of a Robinson annulation. The mechanism for the Robinson annulation involves a sequence of conjugate addition reactions and aldol condensations. As illustrated, the first step is deprotonation of cyclohexanedione with sodium hydride. The resulting anion then participates in a 1,4-addition to methyl vinyl ketone. The resulting enolate anion then tautomerizes through... 

The Robinson annulation is a combination of two reactions covered in this chapter. First, a Michael reaction takes place between a nucleophilic donor (the diketone in this problem) and an a,(3-unsaturated carbonyl compound (the enone shown). The resulting product can cyclize in an aldol reaction. The base catalyzes both reactions. 

Carbonyl condensation reactions are widely used in synthesis. One example of their versatility is the Robinson annulation reaction, which leads to the formation of substituted cyclohexanones. Treatment of a i dikotone or -keto ester u-itb an o,fi-unsaturated ketone leads first tu a Mie nael addition, which is followed by intramolecular aldol cycUaatinn. Condensation reactions are also used widely in nature for the bionyntbesis of such molecules as fats and steroids. 

The Robinson annulation is a ring-forming reaction that combines a Michael reaction with an intramolecular aldol reaction. Like the other reactions in Chapter 24, it involves enolates and it forms carbon-carbon bonds. The two starting materials for a Robinson annulation are an a,P-unsaturated carbonyl compound and an enolate. 

The mechanism of the Robinson annulation consists of two parts a Michael addition to the a,p-unsaturated carbonyl compound to form a 1,5-dicarbonyl compound, followed by an intramolecular aldol reaction to form the six-membered ring. The mechanism is written out in two parts (Mechanisms 24.7 and 24.8) for Reaction [2] between methyl vinyl ketone and 2-methyl-1,3-cyclohexanedione. 

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