Alkylations ester enolates

The enolate of an a,p-ester cyclizes preferentially to an alkyl ester enolate, ring closure occurring at the a-carbon. Treatment of (70) with either sodium methoxide or potassium r-butoxide gives (71), via the enolate of the a,p-unsaturated ester. Similarly, (72) cyclizes to (73) with potassium r-butoxide. Cycli-zation of (74) occurs, however, from the saturated rather than unsaturated enolate to give (75). This may reflect the stabilizing effect of sulfur on the enolate or the greater stability of the enolate of (75) relative to that of the alternative product (Scheme 30). 

The critical carbon-carbon bond forming step requires nucleophilic substitution on an alkyl halide by an ester enolate Methyl halides are more reactive than... 

Enolate Initiators. In principle, ester enolate anions should represent the ideal initiators for anionic polymeri2ation of alkyl methacrylates. Although general procedures have been developed for the preparation of a variety of alkaU metal enolate salts, many of these compounds are unstable except at low temperatures (67,102,103). Usehil initiating systems for acrylate polymeri2ation have been prepared from complexes of ester enolates with alkak metal alkoxides (104,105). 

An alkylation reaction is used to introduce a methyl or primary alkyl group onto the a position of a ketone, ester, or nitrile by S 2 reaction of an enolate ion with an alkyl halide. Thus, we need to look at the target molecule and identify any methyl or primary alkyl groups attached to an a carbon. In the present instance, the target has an a methyl group, which might be introduced by alkylation of an ester enolate ion with iodomethane. 

Ester enolates which contain the chiral information in the acid moiety have been widely used in alkylations (see Section D.1.1.1,3.) as well as in additions to carbon-nitrogen double bonds (sec Section D.1.4.2.). Below are examples of the reaction of this type of enolate with aldehydes720. The (Z)-enolate generated from benzyl cinnamate (benzyl 3-phenylpropcnoate) and lithium (dimethylphenylsilyl)cuprate affords the /h/-carboxylic acid on addition to acetaldehyde and subsequent hydrogenolysis, The diastereoselectivity is 90 10. 

Simple 1,2,4-triazole derivatives played a key role in both the synthesis of functionalized triazoles and in asymmetric synthesis. l-(a-Aminomethyl)-1,2,4-triazoles 4 could be converted into 5 by treatment with enol ethers <96SC357>. The novel C2-symmetric triazole-containing chiral auxiliary (S,S)-4-amino-3,5-bis(l-hydroxyethyl)-l,2,4-triazole, SAT, (6) was prepared firmn (S)-lactic acid and hydrazine hydrate <96TA1621>. This chiral auxiliary was employed to mediate the diastereoselective 1,2-addition of Grignard reagents to the C=N bond of hydrazones. The diastereoselective-alkylation of enolates derived from ethyl ester 7 was mediated by a related auxiliary <96TA1631>. 

The preparation of ketones and ester from (3-dicarbonyl enolates has largely been supplanted by procedures based on selective enolate formation. These procedures permit direct alkylation of ketone and ester enolates and avoid the hydrolysis and decarboxylation of keto ester intermediates. The development of conditions for stoichiometric formation of both kinetically and thermodynamically controlled enolates has permitted the extensive use of enolate alkylation reactions in multistep synthesis of complex molecules. One aspect of the alkylation reaction that is crucial in many cases is the stereoselectivity. The alkylation has a stereoelectronic preference for approach of the electrophile perpendicular to the plane of the enolate, because the tt electrons are involved in bond formation. A major factor in determining the stereoselectivity of ketone enolate alkylations is the difference in steric hindrance on the two faces of the enolate. The electrophile approaches from the less hindered of the two faces and the degree of stereoselectivity depends on the steric differentiation. Numerous examples of such effects have been observed.51 In ketone and ester enolates that are exocyclic to a conformationally biased cyclohexane ring there is a small preference for... 

Ester enolates are somewhat less stable than ketone enolates because of the potential for elimination of alkoxide. The sodium and potassium enolates are rather unstable, but Rathke and co-workers found that the lithium enolates can be generated at -78° C.69 Alkylations of simple esters require a strong base because relatively weak bases such as alkoxides promote condensation reactions (see Section 2.3.1). The successful formation of ester enolates typically involves an amide base, usually LDA or LiHDMS, at low temperature.70 The resulting enolates can be successfully alkylated with alkyl bromides or iodides. HMPA is sometimes added to accelerate the alkylation reaction. 

When a larger substituent is present, the reaction becomes much more selective. For example, a (3-dimethylphenylsilyl substituent leads to more than 95 5 anti alkylation in ester enolates.72... 

Entries 3 to 6 are examples of ester enolate alkylations. These reactions show stereoselectivity consistent with cyclic TSs in which the hydrogen is eclipsed with the enolate and the larger substituent is pseudoequatorial. Entries 4 and 5 involve SN2 substitutions of allylic halides. The formation of the six- and five-membered rings, respectively, is the result of ring size preferences with 5 > 7 and 6 > 8. In Entry 4, reaction occurs through a chairlike TS with the tertiary C(5) substituent controlling the conformation. The cyclic TS results in a trans relationship between the ester and vinylic substituents. 

The /rau.v-2-naphthyl cyclohexyl sulfone 15 can be prepared readily in either enantiomeric form. The corresponding ester enolates can be alkylated in good yield and diastereoselectivity.98 In this case, the steric shielding is provided by the naphthyl... 

Several examples of conjugate addition of carbanions carried out under aprotic conditions are given in Scheme 2.24. The reactions are typically quenched by addition of a proton source to neutralize the enolate. It is also possible to trap the adduct by silylation or, as we will see in Section 2.6.2, to carry out a tandem alkylation. Lithium enolates preformed by reaction with LDA in THF react with enones to give 1,4-diketones (Entries 1 and 2). Entries 3 and 4 involve addition of ester enolates to enones. The reaction in Entry 3 gives the 1,2-addition product at —78°C but isomerizes to the 1,4-product at 25° C. Esters of 1,5-dicarboxylic acids are obtained by addition of ester enolates to a,(3-unsaturated esters (Entry 5). Entries 6 to 8 show cases of... 

Nitroethylene is extremely reactive and sensitive to strong basic conditions, but various ketone and ester enolates undergo alkylation with nitroethylene at low temperature (Eq. 4.5165 and Table 4.1). 

More traditional carbon nucleophiles can also be used for an alkylative ring-opening strategy, as exemplified by the titanium tetrachloride promoted reaction of trimethylsilyl enol ethers (82) with ethylene oxide, a protocol which provides aldol products (84) in moderate to good yields <00TL763>. While typical lithium enolates of esters and ketones do not react directly with epoxides, aluminum ester enolates (e.g., 86) can be used quite effectively. This methodology is the subject of a recent review <00T1149>. 

Although simple alkyl esters (ethyl propionate) fail to enolize with the boryl triflate reagents under normal conditions, the more acidic acyloxyboranes 66 readily form the diboryl enediolates 67 (eq. [52]) (6a,66). Several interesting trends are noted in the data included in Table 23. Since previous studies have demonstrated that enolate geometry strongly correlates with product stereochemistry, enediolate 67 has been employed to directly compare the reactivities... 

Scheme 3.7. Diastereoselective formation of /S-silyl ( )- or (Z)-ester enolates by silylcuprate conjugate addition followed by alkylation with aldehydes [49]. Stereoselective synthesis of ( )-and (Z)-allyl silanes [50].

A further attempt has been made to develop a predictive model for chirality transfer achieved through alkylation reactions of ester enolates which feature chiral auxiliaries. " Hippurate esters (30) derived from (lI , 25 )-trani-2-(p-substituted phenyl)cyclohexanols were found, on reaction with benzyl bromide, to give (31) with predominantly the S configuration at the alkylation centre but with no correlation between the degree of stereoselectivity (20-98%) and the electron density on the aromatic ring. 

Another very important visible light-initiated reaction of alkyl aluminum porphyrins is their 1,4-addition to alkyl methacrylates to produce ester enolate species [Eq. (4)]. This enolate then acts as the active species in the subsequent polymerization of the acrylate monomer. For example, Al(TPP)Me acts as a photocatalyst to produce polymethylmethacrylate with a narrow molecular weight distribution in a living polymerization process [Eq. (4)]. Visible light is essential for both the initiation step (addition of methylmethacrylate to Al(TPP)Me) and the propagation... 

The ketone 73 was reduced chemo- and diastereoselectively and protected to provide the silyl ether 74. The ester function was then deprotonated to the corresponding ester enolate (75) that was alkylated with methyl iodide exclusively from the Re face of the enolate to afford the bicycle 76 (Scheme 11). The substrate for the retro-aldol reaction (77) was prepared by a sequence that consists of seven functional and protecting group transformations. The retro-aldol reaction converted the bicyclic yS-hydroxy ketone 77 into the 1,3-diketone 69 via the alkoxide (78) in very good yield. 

Ketone and ester enolates have historically proven problematic as nucleophiles for the transition metal-catalyzed allylic alkylation reaction, which can be attributed, at least in part, to their less stabilized and more basic nature. In Hght of these limitations, Tsuji demonstrated the first rhodium-catalyzed allylic alkylation reaction using the trimethly-silyl enol ether derived from cyclohexanone, albeit in modest yield (Eq. 4) [9]. Matsuda and co-workers also examined rhodium-catalyzed allylic alkylation, using trimethylsilyl enol ethers with a wide range of aUyhc carbonates [22]. However, this study was problematic as exemplified by the poor regio- and diastereocontrol, which clearly delineates the limitations in terms of the synthetic utihty of this particular reaction. 

Alkylation of enolate is an important synthetic method.27 The alkylation of relatively acidic compounds such as /i-dikctoncs, /i-ketoesters, and esters of malonic acid can be carried out in alcohols as solvents using metal alkoxides as bases. The presence of two electron-withdrawing substituents facilitates formation of the enolate resulting from removal of a proton from the carbon situated between them. Alkylation then occurs by an Sn2 process. Some examples of alkylation reactions involving relatively acidic carbon acids are shown in Scheme 1.5. These reactions are all mechanistically similar in that a... 

The use of /i-ketocstcrs and malonic ester enolates has largely been supplanted by the development of the newer procedures based on selective enolate formation that permit direct alkylation of ketone and ester enolates and avoid the hydrolysis and decarboxylation of ketoesters intermediates. Most enolate alkylations are carried out by deprotonating the ketone under conditions that are appropriate for kinetic or thermodynamic control. Enolates can also be prepared from silyl enol ethers and by reduction of enones (see Section 1.3). Alkylation also can be carried out using silyl enol ethers by reaction with fluoride ion.31 Tetraalkylammonium fluoride salts in anhydrous solvents are normally the... 

The full paper on the synthesis of onikulactone and mitsugashiwalactone (Vol. 7, p. 24) has been published.Whitesell reports two further useful sequences (cf. Vol. 7, p. 26) from accessible bicyclo[3,3,0]octanes which may lead to iridoids (123 X=H2, Y = H) may be converted into (124) via (123 X = H2, Y = C02Me), the product of ester enolate Claisen rearrangement of the derived allylic alcohol and oxidative decarboxylation/ whereas (123 X = 0, Y = H) readily leads to (125), a known derivative of antirride (126) via an alkylation-dehydration-epoxi-dation-rearrangement sequence. Aucubigenin (121 X = OH, R = H), which is stable at —20°C and readily obtained by enzymic hydrolysis of aucubin (121 X = OH, R = j8-Glu), is converted by mild acid into (127) ° with no dialdehyde detected sodium borohydride reduction of aucubigenin yields the non-naturally occurring isoeucommiol (128 X=H,OH) probably via the aldehyde (128 X = O). ... 

Anomeric triphenylphosphonium salts have been used as well as phenylsul-fides,but in the latter case extra stabilization is necessary (see below). Anomeric nitrosugars, which have been extensively studied in C-glycosylation reactions by Vasella, will be covered in Sect. 2.2.1 and ester enolates derived from 3-deoxy-2-ketoulosonic acids (sialic acid and KDO derivatives), which bear a structural similarity to 2-deoxy pyranosides, will be covered in Sect. 4.4. Deprotonation of anomeric phenylsulfones has been discussed in Sect. 2.1.1 and additional transformations on closely related compounds are presented in Scheme 14 [20]. Alkylation of phenylsulfone 54 with epoxide 55 provides adduct 56 which eliminates benzenesulfinic acid at room temperature to give the C(l)-alkylated glycal 57 a similar elimination is also observed with adducts derived from... 

The topic of this section is the diastereoselectivity of alkylation, i.e., C-C bond formation of sp3 center electrophiles and ester enolates (including lactones). 

The next extension of preparatively useful ester enolate chemistry was the deconjugative a-alkylation of a./J-unsaturatcd esters20,21. A Michael addition of LDA was avoided by the use of one equivalent of HMPA21, which forms a non-nucleophilic complex with the former. The yields of the mono- and disubstituted products are all in the region of 90% 21,22. 

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