Alkynes, triple bond hydration

The hydration of alkynes is also accomplished by use of catalytic amounts of palladium and gold salts.305 The mildness of this reaction is demonstrated by the preparation of 5-oxo-prostaglandin derivatives (equation 202). In this connection, it should be noted that attempted use of other metal salts to catalyze C—-C triple bond hydrations has met with little success.306... 

Terminal alkyne anions are popular reagents for the acyl anion synthons (RCHjCO"). If this nucleophile is added to aldehydes or ketones, the triple bond remains. This can be con verted to an alkynemercury(II) complex with mercuric salts and is hydrated with water or acids to form ketones (M.M.T. Khan, 1974). The more substituted carbon atom of the al-kynes is converted preferentially into a carbonyl group. Highly substituted a-hydroxyketones are available by this method (J.A. Katzenellenbogen, 1973). Acetylene itself can react with two molecules of an aldehyde or a ketone (V. jager, 1977). Hydration then leads to 1,4-dihydroxy-2-butanones. The 1,4-diols tend to condense to tetrahydrofuran derivatives in the presence of acids. 

The addition of acetylides to oxiranes yields 3-alkyn-l-ols (F. Sondheimer, 1950 M.A. Adams, 1979 R.M. Carlson, 1974, 1975 K. Mori, 1976). The acetylene dianion and two a -synthons can also be used. 1,4-Diols with a carbon triple bond in between are formed from two carbonyl compounds (V. Jager, 1977, see p. 52). The triple bond can be either converted to a CIS- or frans-configurated double bond (M.A. Adams, 1979) or be hydrated to give a ketone (see pp. 52, 57, 131). 

Acid catalyzed hydration (Section 9 12) Water adds to the triple bond of alkynes to yield ketones by way of an unstable enol intermediate The enol arises by Markovnikov hydration of the alkyne Enol formation is followed by rapid isomerization of the enol to a ketone... 

Hydration of alkynes (Section 9.12) Reaction occurs by way of an enol intermediate formed by Markovnikov addition of water to the triple bond. 

The hydration of triple bonds is generally carried out with mercuric ion salts (often the sulfate or acetate) as catalysts. Mercuric oxide in the presence of an acid is also a common reagent. Since the addition follows Markovnikov s rule, only acetylene gives an aldehyde. All other triple-bond compounds give ketones (for a method of reversing the orientation for terminal alkynes, see 15-16). With allqmes of the form RC=CH methyl ketones are formed almost exclusively, but with RC=CR both possible products are usually obtained. The reaction can be conveniently carried out with a catalyst prepared by impregnating mercuric oxide onto Nafion-H (a superacidic perfluorinated resinsulfonic acid). ... 

The degradation of alkynes has been the subject of sporadic interest during many years, and the pathway has been clearly delineated. It is quite distinct from those used for alkanes and alkenes, and is a reflection of the enhanced nucleophilic character of the alkyne C C bond. The initial step is hydration of the triple bond followed by ketonization of the initially formed enol. This reaction operates during the degradation of acetylene itself (de Bont and Peck 1980), acetylene carboxylic acids (Yamada and Jakoby 1959), and more complex alkynes (Figure 7.18) (Van den Tweel and de Bont 1985). It is also appropriate to note that the degradation of acetylene by anaerobic bacteria proceeds by the same pathway (Schink 1985b). 

The hydration of C-C triple bonds represents one of the most atom economical and environmentally friendly oxidation reactions [37], Recently, Nolan and co-workers reported the cationic [Au(lPr)][SbF ] system, which was generated in situ from [AuCl(lPr)] and AgSbF. The catalyst system showed remarkable activity in the hydration of a large range of alkynes, at An loadings as low as 10 ppm (typically 50-100 ppm), under acid-free conditions (Table 10.6) [38],... 

K. Tani and Y. Kataoka, begin their discussion with an overview about the synthesis and isolation of such species. Many of them contain Ru, Os, Rh, Ir, Pd, or Pt and complexes with these metals appear also to be the most active catalysts. Their stoichiometric reactions, as well as the progress made in catalytic hydrations, hydroal-coxylations, and hydrocarboxylations of triple bond systems, i.e. nitriles and alkynes, is reviewed. However, as in catalytic hydroaminations the holy grail", the addition of O-H bonds across non-activated C=C double bonds under mild conditions has not been achieved yet. 

Remember to work backward. The target ketone has five carbons, whereas the designated starting material has only three, so it is necessary to form a carbon-carbon bond. A nucleophilic substitution reaction can be done at C-l of 1-chloropropane. so a two-carbon nucleophile that can be ultimately converted to a ketone is required. A carbon-carbon bond-forming reaction that meets these requirements is the alkylation of an acetylide anion (see Section 10.8). Once the carbon-carbon bond has been formed, hydration of the alkyne can be used to convert the triple bond to a ketone ... 

Mercuric Ion-Catalyzed Hydration Alkynes undergo acid-catalyzed addition of water across the triple bond in the presence of mercuric ion as a catalyst. A mixture of mercuric sulfate in aqueous sulfuric acid is commonly used as the reagent. The hydration of alkynes is similar to the hydration of alkenes, and it also goes with Markovnikov orientation. The products are not the alcohols we might expect, however. 

Hydration (H2O, H2SO4, and HgS04> and hydroboration-oxidation (BH3 followed by H2O2, HO") both add the elements of H2O across a triple bond. Sample Problem 11.4 shows that different constitutional isomers are formed from terminal alkynes in these two reactions despite their similarities. 

The mercuric ion-catalyzed hydration of alkynes probably proceeds in a similar manner to the oxymercuration of alkenes (see Section 5.1). Electrophilic addition of Hg to the triple bond leads to a vinylic cation, which is trapped by water to give an vinylic organomercury intermediate. Unlike the alkene oxymercuration, which requires reductive removal of the mercury by NaBH4, the vinylic mercury intermediate is cleaved under the acidic reaction conditions to give the enol, which tautomerizes to the ketone. Hydration of terminal alkynes follows the Mai kovnikov rule to furnish methyl ketones. ° ... 

Like the double bond, the carbon-carbon triple bond is susceptible to many of the common addition reactions. In some cases, such as reduction, hydroboration and acid-catalyzed hydration, it is even more reactive. A very efficient method for the protection of the triple bond is found in the alkynedicobalt hexacarbonyl complexes (.e.g. 117 and 118), readily formed by the reaction of the respective alkyne with dicobalt octacarbonyl. In eneynes this complexation is specific for the triple bond. The remaining alkenes can be reduced with diimide or borane as is illustrated for the ethynylation product (116) of 5-dehydro androsterone in Scheme 107. Alkynic alkenes and alcohols complexed in this way show an increased structural stability. This has been used for the construction of a variety of substituted alkynic compounds uncontaminated by allenic isomers (Scheme 107) and in syntheses of insect pheromones. From the protecting cobalt clusters, the parent alkynes can easily be regenerated by treatment with iron(III) nitrate, ammonium cerium nitrate or trimethylamine A -oxide. ° ... 

The photochemical hydration of one of the triple bonds of naphthyl-1,3-butadiynes is reported to yield naphthyl substituted ynones if the reaction is carried out in methanol rather than water then the primary products include (240) which result from addition of solvent or photoreduction. These compounds undergo secondary photochemistry and are found to photocyclise to the phenanthrenes (241). A similar reaction occurs for phenyl substituted 1,3-butadiynes. Photolysis of the phenyl iodonium ylid of dibenzoylmethane, i.e. (242), with terminal alkynes yields (243) which photocyclises in a similar manner to (240) to yield benzoyl-naphthols (244). °... 

Only rarely is proton loss observed from the intermediate cation derived from acylation of a terminal alkyne. In contrast, acylation of alkynylsilanes provides an excellent strategy for the synthesis of alkynyl ketones. " Here, it is apparent that elimination of the silyl substituent competes very effectively with capture of a nucleophile. Acylation of bis(trimethylsilyl)ethyne" provides a convenient route to terminal alkynic ketones, particularly since desilylation can be carried out using bases as weak as dilute aqueous borax, conditions mild enough to prevent the ready hydration of the triple bond (Scheme 25)." Silylated diynes are also excellent substrates for Friedel-Crafts acylation. ... 

Several arene-ruthenium complexes containing bidentate phosphine ligands have been shown to be useful catalyst precursors for the hydration of terminal aryl alkynes 105 to afford acetophenones 106 (Scheme 29) [52]. For example, the cationic complex 104, when activated by AgSbH5, promoted addition of water to a carbon-carbon triple bond. It was found that such reactions proceeded slowly but in good to excellent yields. It is remarkable, that the water in commercial acetone was sufficient to achieve complete conversion to the product. 

Oxidation of organoboranes to alcohols is usually effected with alkaline hydrogen peroxide. The reaction is of wide applicability and many functional groups are unaffected by the reaction conditions, so that a variety of substituted alkenes can be converted into alcohols by this procedure. Several examples have been given above. A valuable feature of the reaction is that it results in the overall addition of water to the double (or triple) bond, with a regioselectivity opposite to that from acid-catalysed hydration. This follows from the fact that, in the hydroboration step, the boron atom adds to the less-substituted carbon atom of the multiple bond. Terminal alkynes, for example, give aldehydes in contrast to the methyl ketones obtained by mercury-assisted hydration. 

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