Alkoxide-directed 1,6-addition

A six-step synthesis of nonactic acid with excellent stereocontrol via sultone intermediates has been published (Scheme 26) <1998EJO2073>. The tricyclic sultone 107 was synthesized by a tandem esterification/cycloaddition with vinylsulfonyl chloride whereby only the fvo-adduct with fvo-Me was obtained <1989AGE202>. Next, the tandem elimination/alkoxide-directed 1,6-addition first led to a mixture of sulfones, but equilibration with catalytic... 

The direct addition to the left means that cyanide ion must attack the carbonyl group directly while the conjugate addition to the right means that it must attack the less electrophilic alkene. The second is a slower reaction but gives the more stable product. Both reactions have an alkoxide anion as an intermediate. 

In base, the mechanism involves direct addition of the strong nucleophile HO to give the tetrahedral addition intermediate, followed by collapse to give a carboxylic add and an aUcoxide, which transfers a proton from the relatively addic carboxylic acid to the relatively basic alkoxide to give the carboxylate ion and alcohol as final products. 

Alternatively, 3-carboxy-substituted tetrahydropyran-4-ones were produced in good yields with high levels of diastereoselectivity from a single reaction vessel by the direct addition of a potassium alkoxide salt (Equation 12.4 in Scheme 12.42). 

For example, aldehydes have more reactive carbonyl groups than ketones do, so aldehydes form primarily direct addition products with hydride ion and Grignard reagents. Ethanol (EtOH) is used to protonate the alkoxide ion. 

Besides direct hydrolysis, heterometaHic oxoalkoxides may be produced by ester elimination from a mixture of a metal alkoxide and the acetate of another metal. In addition to their use in the preparation of ceramic materials, bimetallic oxoalkoxides having the general formula (RO) MOM OM(OR) where M is Ti or Al, is a bivalent metal (such as Mn, Co, Ni, and Zn), is 3 or 4, and R is Pr or Bu, are being evaluated as catalysts for polymerization of heterocychc monomers, such as lactones, oxiranes, and epoxides. An excellent review of metal oxoalkoxides has been pubUshed (571). 

The addition of alcohols to carbon disulfide in the presence of a base produces xanthates. The base is often OH, but in some cases better results can be obtained by using methylsulfinyl carbanion (MeSOCH ) If an alkyl halide RX is present, the xanthate ester ROCSSR can be produced directly. In a similar manner, alkoxide ions add to CO2 to give carbonate ester salts ROCOO. ... 

The mechanism of the nucleophilic substitution of a-halogenosulphoxides depends on structural factors and the nature of a nucleophile and may occur according to two competitive mechanisms a direct 8 2 substitution and an elimination-addition process . Thus, chloromethyl and bromomethyl sulphoxides react with alkoxide and mercaptide anions via an 8, 2 mechanism to give the corresponding a-alkoxy and a-alkylthiomethyl sulphoxides 502, respectively (equation 305). Optically active a-alkoxymethyl and a-alkylthiomethyl sulphoxides can also be obtained in this way - . 

Addition of potassium ferf-butoxide or of sodium isopropoxide to the solvent led to ignition of the latter. This was attributed to presence of free metal in the alkoxides, but a more likely explanation seems to be that of direct interaction between the powerful bases and the sulfoxide. 

Knochel demonstrated the effectiveness of soluble potassium or cesium alkoxides such as KO Bu or CsO Bu as well as KH in iV-methylpyrrolidinone (NMP) for promoting the 5-endo-dig cyclizations of 2-alkynylanilines to 2-substituted indoles in solution or the solid-phase <00AG(E)2488>. Alternatively, Cacchi coupled a palladium-catalyzed cyclization of o-alkynyltrifluoroacetanilides with the addition of benzyl bromide or ethyl iodoacetate to afford 2-substituted-3-benzyl or 3-indolylcarboxylate esters, respectively <00SL394>. Yamamoto reported a new palladium catalyzed indole synthesis in which 2-(l-alkynyl)-Ar-alkylideneanilines 117 give 2-substituted-3-(l-alkenyl)indoles 118 directly from the imine by the in situ coupling of an aldehyde with the alkynylaniline <00JA5662>. 

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