Alpha carbon conjugate addition reactions

Like the aldol and the Claisen, the Michael reaction also involves an enolate, so the mechanism begins with the deprotonation of an alpha carbon. In the Michael reaction, however, the electrophile is not an ordinary carbonyl, but an a,P-unsaturated carbonyl. Attack of the stable enolate nucleophile occurs at the beta carbon of the a,P-unsaturated carbonyl (called a 1,4-addition or conjugate addition or even Michael addition) to give an enolate intermediate. Protonation at the alpha carbon of the enolate gives the final product, a 1,5-dicarbonyl compound. 

A carbon atom alpha to a carbonyl function may become nucleophilic either by forming an etiolate (Eq. 18.3) or an enol (Eq. 18.4). In the crossed-aldol reaction described in the previous section (Scheme 18.4), the nucleophilic character of the carbon atom alpha to a ketone function was provided by enolate formation. However, in the experiment that follows, nucleophilicity at the a-carbon atom is promoted by enol formation. The overall reaction is the acid-catalyzed conversion of 2-methylpropanal (26) and 3-buten-2-one (27) into 4,4-dimethyl-2-cyclohexen-1-one (29), as shown in Equation 18.12. For the first stage of the reaction, the enol form of 26 serves as the nucleophile in the 1,4- or conjugate addition to the a,3-unsaturated ketone 27 to give 28. In the second stage, an enol is the nucleophile in the cyclization of 28 by an intramolecular aldol condensation that is acid-catalyzed. The conjugate addition to give 28 is an example of a... 

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