Lithium, reaction with alkynes

The conversion of an alkyne to a trans-alkene can be accomplished by heating with lithium aluminum hydride (LAH), by reaction with lithium in liquid ammonia (Li, NH3). Thus all of these reagents (H2/P-2 Ni, LAH, and Li, NH3) are reducing agents for alkynes and give alkenes as the reduced products. 

Dichloro-l-alkenes can also be converted into 1-chloro-1-alkynes by reaction with lithium diethylamide in ether—THF (equation 11) ... 

Reaction with Lithium Alnminum Hydride. Treatment of the reagent with LiAIELj followed by acetylation of the resulting metal alkoxide with acetyl chloride in situ leads to dimethyl[2-(2-acetoxymethyl)phenyl]silane (eq 5). The hydrosilane thus obtained undergoes the platinum-catalyzed hydrosilylation of alkynes to give alkenyl[2-(hydroxymethyl)phenyl]dimethyl-silanes, which can be used for the above transformations, upon deacetylation under basic conditions. 

Propargylic alcohol, after lithiation, reacts with CO2 to generate the lithium carbonate 243, which undergoes oxypalladation. The reaction of allyl chloride yields the cyclic carbonate 244 and PdC. By this reaction hydroxy and allyl groups are introduced into the triple bond to give the o-allyl ketone 245[129]. Also the formation of 248 from the keto alkyne 246 with CO2 via in situ formation of the carbonate 247 is catalyzed by Pd(0)[130]. 

One way to generate carbanions is to combine an acidic molecule with one equivalent of a very strong base, such as n-butyl lithium (n-BuLi). For example, reaction of the alkyne shown below with n-BuLi leads to a carbanion of formula CsH, 02 , which then undergoes an Sn2 reaction with n-propyl bromide (n-PrBr),... 

Liquid chromatography. 432 Lithium, reaction with alkynes, 269-270... 

We see from these examples that many of the carbon nucleophiles we encountered in Chapter 10 are also nucleophiles toward aldehydes and ketones (cf. Reactions 10-104-10-108 and 10-110). As we saw in Chapter 10, the initial products in many of these cases can be converted by relatively simple procedures (hydrolysis, reduction, decarboxylation, etc.) to various other products. In the reaction with terminal acetylenes, sodium acetylides are the most common reagents (when they are used, the reaction is often called the Nef reaction), but lithium, magnesium, and other metallic acetylides have also been used. A particularly convenient reagent is lithium acetylide-ethylenediamine complex, a stable, free-flowing powder that is commercially available. Alternatively, the substrate may be treated with the alkyne itself in the presence of a base, so that the acetylide is generated in situ. This procedure is called the Favorskii reaction, not to be confused with the Favorskii rearrangement (18-7). ... 

A multi-step reaction sequence was then realized to prepare the precursor (178) for the pivotal macrocyclization reaction. Alternate stepwise chain elongations were achieved according to Schemes 28 and 29. Reaction of the tosylate prepared from the alcohol 162 with lithium acetylide afforded the alkyne 174 (Scheme 28). Following the introduction of a tosylate at the upper branch, a one-carbon chain elongation of the terminal alkyne afforded the methyl alkynoate 175. A methyl cuprate 1,4-addition was used to construct the tri-substituted C double bond stereoselectively. For this purpose, the alkynoate 175 was initially transformed into the Z-configured a,/ -unsat-... 

Homoleptic phenoxido complexes of the composition [Re(L)4] where L = 2,6-diisopropylphenoxide or 2,6-dimethylphenoxide have been prepared by the reaction of [ReCl4(THF)2] with the lithium salts of the ligands. The molecular geometry is square planar and the metal center is well protected from above and below the Re04 plane by the isopropyl groups and protects the complex from reactions with alkynes, whereas such a reaction and the formation of [Re(OC6H3-2,6-Me2)4(RC=CR)] adducts (R = Me, Eth, Ph) has been observed for the dimethyl derivative of the phenoxide. ... 

Alkynes react with bromine via an electrophilic addition mechanism. A bridged bromonium ion intermediate has been postulated for alkyl-substituted acetylenes, while vinyl cations are suggested for aryl-substituted examples.119 1-Phenylpropyne gives mainly the anti addition product in acetic acid, but some of the syn isomer is formed.120 The proportion of dibromide formed and stereoselectivity are enhanced when lithium bromide is added to the reaction mixture. 

Stereoselective Alkene Synthesis. Terminal alkynes can also be alkylated by organoboranes. Adducts are formed between a lithium acetylide and a trialkylborane. Reaction with iodine induces migration and results in the formation of the alkylated alkyne.24 25... 

Similarly, l-bromo-l,l-difluoro-2-alkynes, which were prepared by the reaction of lithium acetylides with CF2ClBr [284] or CF2Br2 [285], also reacted with carbonyl compounds in the presence of zinc to afford the corresponding a,a-difluoropropargyl alcohol [285]. This reaction has been utilized for the preparation of 3-fluoro-2,5-disubstituted furans [286] and other fluorinated biologically active compounds [285,287] (Scheme 99). 

A synthesis of the furanoeremophilane ( )-ligularone has been accomplished via the intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction of an oxazole with an alkynic dienophile (81JA4611). The lactone (359) was treated with lithium methylisocyanide to yield the oxazole (360). Oxidation of alcohol to aldehyde and reaction of this unstable aldehyde with lithiopropyne gave a 55 45 mixture of diastereomeric alcohols (361). Oxidation of the mixture gave a single alkynic ketone (362) which when refluxed in ethylbenzene afforded the desired furanosesquiterpene (363 Scheme 78). 

Non-aromatic organolithium compounds can be prepared by transmetallation of resin-bound stannanes [25] or by deprotonation of alkynes [26], triphenylmethane [27], or other resin-bound C II acidic compounds with lithium amides or similar bases (Figure 4.3). The reaction of polystyrene-bound trialkylboranes with diethylzinc yields resin-bound alkylzinc derivatives [28]. 

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