Alkyllithiums deprotonation

When 2-lithio-2-(trimethylsilyl)-l,3-dithiane,9 formed by deprotonation of 9 with an alkyllithium base, is combined with iodide 8, the desired carbon-carbon bond forming reaction takes place smoothly and gives intermediate 7 in 70-80% yield (Scheme 2). Treatment of 7 with lithium diisopropylamide (LDA) results in the formation of a lactam enolate which is subsequently employed in an intermolecular aldol condensation with acetaldehyde (6). The union of intermediates 6 and 7 in this manner provides a 1 1 mixture of diastereomeric trans aldol adducts 16 and 17, epimeric at C-8, in 97 % total yield. Although stereochemical assignments could be made for both aldol isomers, the development of an alternative, more stereoselective route for the synthesis of the desired aldol adduct (16) was pursued. Thus, enolization of /Mactam 7 with LDA, as before, followed by acylation of the lactam enolate carbon atom with A-acetylimidazole, provides intermediate 18 in 82% yield. Alternatively, intermediate 18 could be prepared in 88% yield, through oxidation of the 1 1 mixture of diastereomeric aldol adducts 16 and 17 with trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA) in... 

Fe+ + has been deprotonated, but the reaction is complicated by further nucleophilic attack of the methylene unit with the starting material [17]. Enhanced acidity of the ring hydrogens in arene-metal complexes is shown [21] by the formation of complexes of alkyllithium by proton abstraction. 

Phosphinous amides of general structure R R PNHR are easily converted to their respective anions by metals or bases. For instance, they can be easily deprotonated by alkyllithium reagents to give the [R R PNR ] anions (8-A or 8-B, illustrated in Scheme 12). 

In the presence of a very strong base, such as an alkyllithium, sodium or potassium hydride, sodium or potassium amide, or LDA, 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds can be converted to their dianions by two sequential deprotonations.79 For example, reaction of benzoylacetone with sodium amide leads first to the enolate generated by deprotonation at the more acidic methylene group between the two carbonyl groups. A second equivalent of base deprotonates the benzyl methylene group to give a dienediolate. 

Addition of alkyllithium to cyclobutanones and transmetallation with VO(OEt)Cl2 is considered to give a similar alkoxide intermediates, which are converted to either the y-chloroketones 239 or the olefinic ketone 240 depending on the substituent of cyclobutanones. Deprotonation of the cationic species, formed by further oxidation of the radical intermediate, leads to 240. The oxovanadium compound also induces tandem nucleophilic addition of silyl enol ethers and oxidative ring-opening transformation to produce 6-chloro-l,3-diketones and 2-tetrahydrofurylidene ketones. (Scheme 95)... 

The synthesis of alkali metal organophosphides and arsenides is usually most conveniently achieved by the direct metalation of a primary or secondary phosphine/arsine with a strong deprotonating agent such as an alkyllithium or an alkali metal hydride ... 

Kinetic enolates. Alkyllithium reagents have the advantage over lithium amides for deprotonation of ketones in that the co-product is a neutral alkane rather than an amine. This bulky lithium reagent is useful for selective abstraction of the less-hindered a-proton of ketones with generation of the less-stable enolate, as shown previously for a hindered lithium dialkylamide (LOBA,12,285). Thus reaction of benzyl methyl ketone (2) with 1 and ClSifCH,), at - 50° results mainly in the less-stable enolate (3), even though the benzylic protons are much more acidic than those of the methyl group, the less hindered ones. Mesityllithium shows... 

Most, perhaps all, of the reactions that simple alkenes undergo are also available to allenes. By virtue of their strain and of the small steric requirement of the sp-hybrid-ized carbon atom, the reactions of allenes usually take place more easily than the corresponding reactions of olefins. Because the allenes can also be chiral, they offer opportunities for control of the reaction products that are not available to simple alkenes. Finally, some reaction pathways are unique to allenes. For example, deprotonation of allenes with alkyllithium reagents to form allenyl anions is a facile process that has no counterpart in simple alkenes. These concepts will be illustrated by the discussion of cyclization reactions of allenes that follows. 

Better results were obtained for the carbamate of 163 (entry 3) [75, 80). Thus, deprotonation of the carbamate 163 with a lithium base, followed by complexation with copper iodide and treatment with one equivalent of an alkyllithium, provided exclusive y-alkylation. Double bond configuration was only partially maintained, however, giving 164 and 165 in a ratio of 89 11. The formation of both alkene isomers is explained in terms of two competing transition states 167 and 168 (Scheme 6.35). Minimization of allylic strain should to some extent favor transition state 167. Employing the enantiomerically enriched carbamate (R)-163 (82% ee) as the starting material, the proposed syn-attack of the organocopper nucleophile could then be as shown. Thus, after substitution and subsequent hydrogenation, R)-2-phenylpentane (169) was obtained in 64% ee [75]. 

A regioselective deprotonation with amide base by preferential abstraction of the a-methylene hydrogen syn to the phenylaziridyl moiety in 116 and subsequent decomposition of the resulting monoanion furnishes, with extrusion of styrene and nitrogen, the alkyllithium 118. After abstraction of the amine proton, the c -alkene 117 is formed with regeneration of the lithium amide base for further use in the catalytic cycle. 

By careful optimization, Widdowson and coworkers were able to show that methoxy-methyl ethers of phenols are better substrates for alkyllithium-diamine controlled enan-tioselective deprotonation, and (—)-sparteine 362 is then also the best ligand among those surveyed the BuLi-(—)-sparteine complex deprotonates 447 to give, after electrophilic quench, compounds such as 449 in 58% yield and 92% ee (Scheme 180) . Deprotonation of the anisole complex 410 (see Scheme 169) under these conditions gave products of opposite absolute stereochemistry with poor ee. 

The combination of an alkyllithium with a metal aUcoxide provides a marked increase in the basicity of the organolithium . The most widely used of these superbases is the one obtained from BnLi and KOBu-t, known as LiCKOR (Li—C + KOR) °. The exact natnre of the prodncts obtained by snperbase deprotonations—whether they are organolithinms, organopotassiums, or a mixtnre of both—is debatable, as is the precise nature of the superbase itself. For example, while prolonged mixing of alkyllithium and... 

Since different reactivity is observed for both the stoichiometric and the catalytic version of the arene-promoted lithiation, different species should be involved in the electron-transfer process from the metal to the organic substrate. It has been well-established that in the case of the stoichiometric version an arene-radical anion [lithium naph-thalenide (LiCioHg) or lithium di-ferf-butylbiphenylide (LiDTBB) for using naphthalene or 4,4 -di-ferf-butylbiphenyl (DTBB) as arenes, respectively] is responsible for the reduction of the substrate, for instance for the transformation of an alkyl halide into an alkyllithium . For the catalytic process, using naphthalene as the arene, an arene-dianion 2 has been proposed which is formed by overreduction of the corresponding radical-anion 1 (Scheme 1). Actually, the dianionic species 2 has been prepared by a completely different approach, namely by double deprotonation of 1,4-dihydronaphthalene, and its X-ray structure determined as its complex with two molecules of N,N,N N tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA). ... 

The most popular method for generation of a-thio-carbanion (migration terminus) is direct lithiation (deprotonation) with alkyllithium or lithium amide. These deprotonation methods are widely applicable to various substrates, not only benzyl or allyl sulfides , but also dithioacetals 142 which form 143 (equation 83), and a phosphonate substituted system 144 which gives 145 (equation 84). ... 

Moreover, in deprotonation reactions with common alkyllithium bases (e.g. butyl-lithium), no side-products are formed, that increase the solubility of the polylithium compound. Also, product mixtures are only rarely observed with this method. Thus, the resulting polylithium compound can be isolated or crystallized more easily. This is why—in addition to Section II. E—only this section presents many visualizations of successful X-ray structural analyses of polylithiated compounds. 

In the group of van Koten, dilithiated precursors for the peripheral functionalization of carbosilane dendrimers were generated by deprotonation of compounds 32, 34a and 34b using f-butyllithium. The reaction was effected in n-pentane at room temperature, using the appropriate amount of the alkyllithium base. Dilithiated compounds 33, 35a and 35b were almost quantitatively obtained, the para positions of the aromatic ring systems... 

The first successful examples for asymmetric deprotonation by alkyllithium/(—)-sparte-ine (11) utilizing O-allyl and O-alkyl carbamates were published in 1989-1990 by Hoppe and coworkers °. Later, in 1991, Kerrick and Beak contributed the application of this method to Ai-Boc-pyrrolidine" (Sections II.D.l). 

Deprotonation is the most convenient manner for the generation of alkyllithium derivatives. However, most of the potential precursors have insufficient acidity. Notable exceptions are those substrates which lead to dipole-stabilized carbanions , among them O-alkyl iV,A-dialkylcarbamates 15 ° and A-Boc-(cyclo)alkylamines 18 ° (equation 5). A... 

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