Amide reaction with LiAlH

The chemistry of acid anhydrides is similar to that of acid chlorides. Although anhydrides react more slowly than acid chlorides, the kinds of reactions the two groups undergo are the same. Thus, acid anhydrides react with water to form acids, with alcohols to form esters, with amines to form amides, and with LiAlH.i to form primary alcohols (Figure 21.7, p. 864). 

Amides differ from carboxylic acids and other acid derivatives in their reaction with LiAlH Instead of forming primary alcohols, amides are reduced to amines (Fig.P). The mechanism (Fig.Q) involves addition of the hydride ion to form an intermediate that is converted to an organoaluminium intermediate. The difference in this mechanism is the intervention of the nitrogen s lone pair of electrons. These are fed into the electrophilic centre to eliminate the oxygen that is then followed by the second hydride addition. 

Primary and secondary amines also react with epoxides (or in situ produced episulfides )r aziridines)to /J-hydroxyamines (or /J-mercaptoamines or 1,2-diamines). The Michael type iddition of amines to activated C—C double bonds is also a useful synthetic reaction. Rnally unines react readily with. carbonyl compounds to form imines and enamines and with carbo-tylic acid chlorides or esters to give amides which can be reduced to amines with LiAlH (p. Ilf.). All these reactions are often applied in synthesis to produce polycyclic alkaloids with itrogen bridgeheads (J.W. Huffman, 1967) G. Stork, 1963 S.S. Klioze, 1975). 

A number of organic species, including amides, oximes, and nitriles, undergo reductive amination, a variety of reduction reactions that produce cimines. In general, these processes involve imines, R=N-R, or related species. Reduction processes include hydrogenation using Raney nickel as the catalyst (for nitriles), the reaction with sodium/EtOH (for oximes), and the use of lithium aluminum hydride, LiAlH (for amides or nitriles). Figure 13-16 illustrates the preparation of amphetamine by reductive amination. 

So far, we have considered protocols that result in chiral centres in the C and position (actnally always with the same substiment). Let us now turn to satnrated carbenes that have only one chiral centre in the backbone. Figure 5.15 shows a procedure that utilises a chiral diamine derived from proline, a naturally occurring a-amino acid. Reaction with aniline to the corresponding amide and reduction with LiAlH yields the diamine used [60]. The actual synthesis of the chiral carbene then calls for reaction of the proUne derived diamine with thiophosgene and subsequent S/Cl exchange with oxalyl chloride [50]. The... 

The bicyclization commences with the hydroformylation of an appropriate N-substituted allyl amide, producing the linear aldehyde as the main product. The compound undergoes spontaneous intramolecular cyclization. The final product of this domino reaction is formed by the reaction with the solvent (AcOH). Subsequent oxidation of the acylic keto group to the corresponding ester and reduction with LiAlH produced the targeted racemic natural compound with 33% overall yield over four steps. 

Conversion of Amides into Amines Reduction Like other carboxylic acid derivatives, amides can be reduced by LiAlH.4. The product of the reduction, however, is an amine rather than an alcohol. The net effect of an amide reduction reaction is thus the conversion of the amide carbonyl group into a methylene group (C=0 —> CTbV This kind of reaction is specific for amides and does not occur with other carboxylic acid derivatives. 

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