Alkylation reactions using enamine intermediate

Thus the reactions of cyclic or acyclic enamines with acrylic esters or acrylonitrile can be directed to the exclusive formation of monoalkylated ketones (3,294-301). The corresponding enolate anion alkylations lead preferentially to di- or higher-alkylation products. However, by proper choice of reaction conditions, enamines can also be used for the preferential formation of higher alkylation products, if these are desired. Such reactions are valuable in the a substitution of aldehydes, which undergo self-condensation in base-catalyzed reactions (117,118). Monoalkylation products are favored in nonhydroxylic solvents such as benzene or dioxane, whereas dialkylation products can be obtained in hydroxylic solvents such as methanol. The difference in products can be ascribed to the differing fates of an initially formed zwitterionic intermediate. Collapse to a cyclobutane takes place in a nonprotonic solvent, whereas protonation on the newly introduced substitutent and deprotonation of the imonium salt, in alcohol, leads to a new enamine available for further substitution. 

The alkylation of enamines with nitroolefins, which gives intermediates for reductive cyclization (6S2), also provided an example of a stable cycliza-tion product derived from attack of the intermediate imonium function by the nitro anion (683). A previously claimed tetrasubstituted enamine, which was obtained from addition of a vinylsulfone to morpholinocyclohexene (314), was shown to be the corresponding cyclobutane (684). Perfluoro-olefins also gave alkylation products with enamines (685). Reactions of enamines with diazodicarboxylate (683,686) have been used diagnostically for 6-substituted cyclohexenamines. In a reaction of 2-penten-4-one with a substituted vinylogous amide, stereochemical direction was seen to depend on solvent polarity (687). 

If DAMN is mono-N-alkylated before reaction with the carbonyl reagent the method gives 1-alkylimidazoles [15]. For example, 4,5-dicyano-l-(2, 3, 5 -tri-0-benzoyl-)S-D-ribofuranosyl)imidazole (57%) has been made by treatment of the ribosylamino-DAMN with triethyl orthoformate at 90°C in anisole under nitrogen for 5h. The intermediate enamine is not isolated in this case [42]. When DAMN is treated with AyV-dialkylamides in the presence of phosphoryl chloride, the Schiff base (14) (R = NR R ) cyclizes to give 2-dialkylaminoimidazoles (15) (R = NR R ), including 4,5-dicyanoimidazole (15) (R = H) when DMF is used [15], Imidazoles (15) (R = OR, NR R ) can be made in one step when DAMN reacts with orthoesters or iminoether hydrochlorides. Under mild reaction conditions the intermediate alkoxyimines (14) (R = OR" ) or amidines (14) (R = NR R ) can be isolated before oxidation to (15) [46, 47, 49], Table 2.1.4 lists some examples. 

Among the ethers of prolinol, (5)-2-methoxymethylpyrrolidinc [SMP, (S)-10] has found most applications. It is readily prepared from prolinol by the normal sodium hydride/iodo-methane technique9,13 (sec also Section 2.3. for O-alkylations of other amino alcohols) and is also commercially available. An improved synthesis from proline avoids the isolation of intermediates and gives the product (which is highly soluble in water) by continuous extraction14. SMP has been used as the lithium salt in deprotonation and elimination reactions (Section C.) and as an auxiliary for the formation of chiral amides with carboxylic acids, which in turn can undergo carbanionic reactions (Sections D.l.3.1.4., D.l. 1.1.2.. D.l. 1.1.3.1., in the latter experimental procedures for the formation of amides can be found). Other important derivatives are the enamines of SMP which are frequently used for further alkylation reactions via enolates (Sections D.l.1.2.2.. where experimental procedures for the formation of enamines are... 

In 2004, Vignola and List [111] demonstrated the ability of proline-derived catalysts to overcome drawbacks associated with the stoichiometric alkylation of preformed aldehyde enolates when they described an elegant amino acid catalyzed intramolecular a-alkylation reaction of haloaldehydes. The reaction furnished substituted cyclopentanes, cyclopropanes, and pyrrolidines in good yields and good enantio-selectivities (Scheme 8.23), when commercially available (5)-a-methyl proline (LV) as catalyst was used. The presence of a stoichiometric amount of additional base (tertiary amine) was required, not only to trap the hydrogen halide produced in the reaction but also because it has also significant effect on the stereoselectivity of the C—C bond-formation process by stabilizing the ant/ -TS of the /ra 5-enamine intermediate. Nevertheless, an intermolecular version of the reaction remains still elusive, mainly because of the deactivation of the amine catalyst by A -alkylation with the alkyl halide [112]. 

Because the alkylation step is an Sn2 reaction, only primary alkyl halides or methyl halides should be used (Section 9.2). The main advantage to using an enamine intermediate to alkylate an aldehyde or a ketone is that it forms a monoalkylated product without having to use a strong base (LDA). 

Enamines resemble enols because both have an increased electron density at a structurally related a carbon atom. The electron density at the a carbon atom in enamines is greater than that in enols because nitrogen is less electronegative than oxygen and releases an electron pair more readily. As a result, enamines are more nucleophilic than enols, and they are useful intermediates in alkylation reactions. We recall that enolate anions react with alkyl halides to give a-alkylated carbonyl compounds (Section 23.6), but uncharged enols are not sufficiently nucleophilic to be alkylated. Alkylation of the more nucleophilic enamine produces an iminium ion. 

This genera] scheme could be used to explain hydrogen exchange in the 5-position, providing a new alternative for the reaction (466). This leads us also to ask whether some reactions described as typically electrophilic cannot also be rationalized by a preliminary hydration of the C2=N bond. The nitration reaction of 2-dialkylaminothiazoles could occur, for example, on the enamine-like intermediate (229) (Scheme 141). This scheme would explain why alkyl groups on the exocyclic nitrogen may drastically change the reaction pathway (see Section rV.l.A). Kinetic studies and careful analysis of by-products would enable a check of this hypothesis. 

Enamines 1 are useful intermediates in organic synthesis. Their use for the synthesis of a-substituted aldehydes or ketones 3 by reaction with an electrophilic reactant—e.g. an alkyl halide 2, an acyl halide or an acceptor-substituted alkene—is named after Gilbert Stork. 

The process of enamine alkylation has found widespread application in natural product synthesis188. Since the overall sequence involves the reaction of a nitrogen moiety with a ketone to form a reactive intermediate, modification of the process through the use of chiral enamine seemed ideal for asymmetric induction. Previous attempts to obtain stereochemical control were for a long time unsuccessful, because proper attention had not been directed to the involvement of two reactive conformations, interconvertible... 

As noted earlier, the development of new alkylation and acylation methods for compounds bearing carbonyl groups has fostered the use of enamines as reaction intermediates. 

Af -2,2-Bis(ethoxycarbonyl)vinyl-protected amino acids are prepared by reaction of commercially available diethyl 2-(ethoxymethylene)malonate (127) with the respective amino acid in methanolic KOH. This rapid reaction is complete within 5 minutes and leads to the potassium salts. Subsequent acidification with 1M HCl yields the amino acid derivative in 75-90% yield.f This intermediate enamine-type N-protection is of particular interest in chemistry to be performed on the carboxy groups of the amino acids such as esterification with alkyl bromides in the presence of a base. Since cleavage of the enamine entity is achieved by treatment with bromine in chloroform at room temperature, it cannot be used for amino acids sensitive to halogenation such as tyrosine, tryptophan, and methionine (Scheme 61). Based on the experience gained with the enamine-type protection the Al-2-(4,4-dimethyl-2,6-dioxocyclohexylidene)ethyl (Dde) and N-2-(4,4-dimethyl-2,6-dioxocyclohex-ylidene)isovaleryl derivatives were developed as specific side-chain protecting groups (see Section 2.1.2.2.5.2). 

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