Lithium allenes

If the addition involves an alkynyllithium such as 34, the first-formed alkoxide intermediate 35 isomerizes into the propargylic-allenic lithium reagent. Reactions with electrophiles lead to either 36a or the allenol silyl ethers 36b (equation 13). ... 

Boron trifluoride etherate, 43 of alkynes and allenes Lithium 3-aminopropylamide, 160 of unsaturated carbonyl compounds Alumina, 217... 

Bromination of allenes. Lithium bromide is the bromine source for addition to... 

Huynh and Linestrumelle then kept 11 in the presence of hexamethylphosphoramide at -75 °C, and showed that it rearranged to the allenic lithium compound 14. They suggest the reaction takes place through an ion pair. It is not clear whether or not the reaction is reversible, since the lithium allene is thermodynamically stable, though it has been claimed that the rearrangement of a lithium allene to a lithium acetylide is a forbidden concerted process. 

The research groups of Reich and Kuwajima have described closely related methods for preparing siloxy-substituted allenic lithium reagents which can be alkylated and hydrolysed to give o , -unsaturated ketones. The example shown in Scheme 48 is illustrative. 

The allene-lithium (27), formed by metallation of methoxyallene, reacts with a-halogenoketones to give epoxides (28), which in turn give furans (29) on reaction with Bu OK in DMSO. Lithiated trimethylsilyl allyl ether (30) reacts with ketones to give 1,2-diol derivatives (31), or cyclizes if there is an appropriate electrophilic centre in the molecule. ... 

The stability of the various cumulenic anions depends to a large extent upon the nature of the groups linked to the cumulenic system. Whereas solutions of lithiated allenic ethers and sulfides in diethyl ether or THF can be kept for a limited period at about O C, the lithiated hydrocarbons LiCH=C=CH-R are transformed into the isomeric lithium acetylides at temperatures above about -20 C, probably via HC C-C(Li )R R Lithiated 1,2,4-trienes, LiCH=C=C-C=C-, are... 

The lithiation of allene can also be carried out with ethyllithium or butyl-lithium in diethyl ether (prepared from the alkyl bromides), using THF as a cosolvent. The salt suspension which is initially present when the solution of alkyllithium is cooled to -50°C or lower has disappeared almost completely when the reaction between allene and alkyllithium is finished. 

C. The mixture was cooled to -70°C and the allene (0.22 mol) was added in 5-10 min while maintaining the temperature between -60 and -70°C. After stirring for an additional 30 min at -60°C the solution was ready for further conversions. In the raetallation with ethyllithium the salts initially present had disappeared almost completely after this period. During the lithiation with commercial butyl-lithium the reaction mixture was continuously homogeneous. The solution of the lithiated allenes should be kept below -60°C and used within a few hours. 

A solution of 0.20 mol of butyl lithium in about 140 ml of hexane was cooled to -6Q°C and 140 ml of dry THF were added. The mixture was cooled to about -80 C (liquid nitrogen bath) and 0.23 mol of the allenic hydrocarbon (see Chapter VI, Exp. 1, 2, 44) was added in 5 min (methylal1ene was added as a 1 1 solution in THF). The solutions were kept for 1 h at -55°C. Into another 1-1 flask (see also Fig. 1, but without a dropping funnel), cooled at -90°C by immersion in liquid nitrogen, was poured a solution of dry carbon dioxide (from a cylinder) in 130 ml of dry THF. This solution was obtained by introducing about 40 g of carbon dioxide (note 1) into the THF at -90°C. The gas inlet was removed from the second flask and the solution of the lithiated allene (still cooled below -60 C) was poured... 

In the first method a secondary acetylenic bromide is warmed in THF with an equivalent amount of copper(I) cyanide. We found that a small amount of anhydrous lithium bromide is necessary to effect solubilization of the copper cyanide. Primary acetylenic bromides, RCECCH Br, under these conditions afford mainly the acetylenic nitriles, RCsCCHjCsN (see Chapter VIII). The aqueous procedure for the allenic nitriles is more attractive, in our opinion, because only a catalytic amount of copper cyanide is required the reaction of the acetylenic bromide with the KClV.CuCN complex is faster than the reaction with KCN. Excellent yields of allenic nitriles can be obtained if the potassium cyanide is added at a moderate rate during the reaction. Excess of KCN has to be avoided, as it causes resinifi-cation of the allenic nitrile. In the case of propargyl bromide 1,1-substitution may also occur, but the propargyl cyanide immediately isomerizes under the influence of the potassium cyanide. 

Alkylallenes are obtained by the reaction of 1-ethynylcycloalkanol acetates with organocopper reagents, lithium dimethyl- and dibutylcuprates643 (see Section B.l). Even in the case of the presence of a substituent at the acetylenic terminus, SN2 displacement takes place, giving tetra-substituted allenes. Reaction of the steroidal 17-acetoxy-17-ethynyl derivative la shows that the... 

The reaction of propargylic chiral acetals with a catalytic copper reagent (RMgX/5% CuX) provides the expected alkoxy allenes in quantitative yield (Table 3)61. The diastereomeric excess is highly dependent on the size of the ring of the acetal and on the type of substituents it contains. The best diastereomeric excess is 85% with the acetal derived from cyclooctanediol. The use of lithium dimethylcuprate results in 1,2-addition lo the triple bond and the resulting lithium alkenyl cuprate bearing a cyclic acetal does not eliminate even at reflux temperature ( + 35°C). 

If the alkenes and acetylenes that are subjected to the reaction mediated by 1 have a leaving group at an appropriate position, as already described in Eq. 9.16, the resulting titanacycles undergo an elimination (path A) as shown in Eq. 9.58 [36], As the resulting vinyltitaniums can be trapped by electrophiles such as aldehydes, this reaction can be viewed as an alternative to stoichiometric metallo-ene reactions via allylic lithium, magnesium, or zinc complexes (path B). Preparations of optically active N-heterocycles [103], which enabled the synthesis of (—)-a-kainic acid (Eq. 9.59) [104,105], of cross-conjugated trienes useful for the diene-transmissive Diels—Alder reaction [106], and of exocyclic bis(allene)s and cyclobutene derivatives [107] have all been reported based on this method. 

Reaction of Me3GeCl with a substituted cyclopropene in the presence of lithium diisopropylamide (LDA) yields different products depending on the order of addition of the reagents.97 Addition of LDA to a mixture of the reactants gives the dimetallated cyclopropene (Equation (76)). Dilithiation of the cyclopropane followed by addition of Me3GeCl gives the allene (Equation (77)). 

In this context, albeit not real isomerizations, the [2,3]-Wittig rearrangements induced by a tin-lithium exchange must also be mentioned. Starting from enantio-merically pure propargylic alcohols, high ee values for the axial chiral allenes could be observed as shown for 153 (Scheme 1.69) [505, 506],... 

The first examples of allene syntheses using copper-mediated SN2 substitution processes are documented for the reaction of propargylic acetates 7 with lithium dialkyl-cuprates, which led to the formation of allenes 8 with moderate to good chemical yields (Scheme 2.2) [2]. 

The beneficial effect of added phosphine on the chemo- and stereoselectivity of the Sn2 substitution of propargyl oxiranes is demonstrated in the reaction of substrate 27 with lithium dimethylcyanocuprate in diethyl ether (Scheme 2.9). In the absence of the phosphine ligand, reduction of the substrate prevailed and attempts to shift the product ratio in favor of 29 by addition of methyl iodide (which should alkylate the presumable intermediate 24 [8k]) had almost no effect. In contrast, the desired substitution product 29 was formed with good chemo- and anti-stereoselectivity when tri-n-butylphosphine was present in the reaction mixture [25, 31]. Interestingly, this effect is strongly solvent dependent, since a complex product mixture was formed when THF was used instead of diethyl ether. With sulfur-containing copper sources such as copper bromide-dimethyl sulfide complex or copper 2-thiophenecarboxylate, however, addition of the phosphine caused the opposite effect, i.e. exclusive formation of the reduced allene 28. Hence the course and outcome of the SN2 substitution show a rather complex dependence on the reaction partners and conditions, which needs to be further elucidated. 

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