Amino-ketones

Catalytic hydrogenation of amino ketones to amino alcohols has been a subject of a number of synthetic studies mostly from the viewpoint of pharmacologic interest. The hydrogenation of amino ketones often encounters some difficulty such as a low rate of hydrogenation and the loss of amino groups. 

Amidone (6-dimethylamino-4,4-diphenyl-3-heptanone), while resistant to hydrogenation with Raney nickel, could be hydrogenated to the alcohol with platinum oxide as catalyst.140 However, isoamidone (6-dimethylamino-4,4-diphenyl-5-methyl-3-hexanone)(15, R = Me) did not absorb hydrogen in the presence of platinum oxide and the reduction to the corresponding alcohol was achieved by reduction with lithium aluminum hydride.141 

The hydrogenation of 4-chloro-CO-dibutylamino-l-propionaphthone hydrochloride over Adams catalyst was accompanied by a large proportion of cleavage of the nuclear halogen. Hydrogenation of the Mannich-type base derived from phenylacetone, 17, R = Me, as the hydrochloride in an aqueous solution over Pd-C failed to take place. However, the hydrogenation of the free bases 17, R = Me and R2 = (CH2)5 was successful over Raney Ni in ethanol at 0.34 MPa H2.143 Freifelder has reviewed the hydrogenation of various amino ketones.144 

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Scheme 9. Mechanism for the racemization of )0-amino-ketones such as N-methylpelletierine...

The synthesis will therefore normally produce a 2,4-substituted pyrrole, with in addition an ester group or an acyl group at the 3-position, if a keto ster or a diketone respectively has been employed, and an ester group or an alkyl (aryl) group at the 5-position, according to the nature of the amino-ketone. 

The p-substituted amino ketones can be reduced readily to the more stable P-dialkylamino alcohols, many of which are useful local anaesthetics. Thus the local anaesthetic Tutocaine is made from the Mannich base derived from formaldehyde, methyl ethyl ketone and dimethylamine, followed by reduction and conversion into the p-aminobenzoate ... 

In a second attempt to extend the scope of Lewis-acid catalysis of Diels-Alder reactions in water, we have used the Mannich reaction to convert a ketone-activated monodentate dienophile into a potentially chelating p-amino ketone. The Mannich reaction seemed ideally suited for the purpose of introducing a second coordination site on a temporary basis. This reaction adds a strongly Lewis-basic amino functionality on a position p to the ketone. Moreover, the Mannich reaction is usually a reversible process, which should allow removal of the auxiliary after the reaction. Furthermore, the reaction is compatible with the use of an aqueous medium. Some Mannich reactions have even been reported to benefit from the use of water ". Finally, Lewis-acid catalysis of Mannich-type reactions in mixtures of organic solvents and water has been reported ". Hence, if both addition of the auxiliary and the subsequent Diels-Alder reaction benefit from Lewis-acid catalysis, the possibility arises of merging these steps into a one-pot procedure. 

As anticipated from the complexation experiments, reaction of 4.42 with cyclopentadiene in the presence of copper(II)nitrate or ytterbium triflate was extremely slow and comparable to the rate of the reaction in the absence of Lewis-acid catalyst. Apparently, Lewis-acid catalysis of Diels-Alder reactions of p-amino ketone dienophiles is not practicable. 

Apparently, 4.54 is extremely reluctant to undergo a retro Mannicli reaction. Riviere demonstrated that this behaviour is not unusual for (3-amino ketones. From the study of a large number of Mannich adducts. Riviere concludes that the retro Mannich reaction requires an aromatic group next to the carbonyl functionality. Qearly, 4.54 lacks this arrangement. 

There also exists an acidregioselective condensation of the aldol type, namely the Mannich reaction (B. Reichert, 1959 H. Hellmann, 1960 see also p. 291f.). The condensation of secondary amines with aldehydes yields Immonium salts, which react with ketones to give 3-amino ketones (=Mannich bases). Ketones with two enolizable CHj-groupings may form 1,5-diamino-3-pentanones, but monosubstitution products can always be obtained in high yield. Unsymmetrical ketones react preferentially at the most highly substituted carbon atom. Sterical hindrance can reverse this regioselectivity. Thermal elimination of amines leads to the a,)3-unsaturated ketone. Another efficient pathway to vinyl ketones starts with the addition of terminal alkynes to immonium salts. On mercury(ll) catalyzed hydration the product is converted to the Mannich base (H. Smith, 1964). 

Many successful regioselective syntheses of heterocydes, however, are more complex than the examples given so far. They employ condensation of two different carbonyl or halide compounds with one nitrogen base or the condensation of an amino ketone with a second difunctional compound. Such reactions cannot be rationalized in a simple way, and the literature must be consulted. 

The wide variety of ketomethylene and amino ketone monomers that could be synthesized, and the abiUty of the quinoline-forming reaction to generate high molar mass polymers under relatively mild conditions, allow the synthesis of a series of polyquinolines with a wide stmctural variety. Thus polyquinolines with a range of chain stiffness from a semirigid chain to rod-like macromolecules have been synthesized. Polyquinolines are most often prepared by solution polymerization of bis(i9-amino aryl ketone) and bis (ketomethylene) monomers, where R = H or C H, in y -cresol with di-y -cresyl phosphate at 135—140°C for a period of 24—48 h (92). 

The exploration of the chemistry of azirines has led to the discovery of several pyrrole syntheses. From a mechanistic viewpoint the simplest is based upon their ability to behave as a-amino ketone equivalents in reactions analogous to the Knorr pyrrole synthesis cf. Section 3.03.3.2.2), as illustrated in Schemes 91a and 91b for reactions with carbanions. Parallel reactions with enamines or a-keto phosphorus ylides can be effected with electron-deficient 2//-azirines (Scheme 91c). Conversely, electron-rich azirines react with electron deficient alkynes (Scheme 91d). 

Azirines react with alcohols in the presence of alkoxides to give alkoxyaziridines (67JA4456). Further treatment with alcohol and alkoxide results in the formation of amino ketone acetals. Alkoxyaziridines are not isolated in general from the acid-catalyzed addition of methanol to azirines. Azirines are also known to react with amines (66JOC1423). Frequently the initially produced adducts undergo subsequent transformations. 

Rearrangement of N.N-dimethyttiydrazone or tosylate derivatives of oxime to azirines and from there to a-amino ketones. 

A partial explanation of the above findings must lie in the known ease of addition of nucleophilic reagents to the conjugated double bond of pregn-16-en-20-ones. The amide ion that is a by-product of the reduction probably adds to a portion of the unreduced pregn-16-en-20-one giving the lithium enolate of amino ketone (74). This enolate may well be relatively stable at — 33° and would be protonated to the free 16-amino-20-one during work-up... 

Preparation of Heterocyclic Enamines from y- and h-Amino Ketones... 

Alkyl-/l -pyrrolines (8, n = 1) and 2-alkyl-/l -piperideines (8, n = 2) are readily formed by the methods used to prepare y- and S-amino ketones (3-6). The reaction of corresponding halogeno ketones with ammonia belongs to the classical reactions of this type. 

The use of primary amines instead of ammonia affords l,2-dialkyl-/l -pyrrolines or l,2-dialkyl-/l -piperideines. Amino ketones with a primary amino group are intermediates in the reduction of y-nitropropylalkyl ketones (14,15) or S-nitrobutylalkyl ketones (16-18) by catalytic hydrogenation over Raney nickel or with zinc and hydrochloric acid (Scheme 1). 

Structural analogy of aliphatic amino ketones can be found in the heterocyclic series. A simple example of such compounds is /) -octahydro-7-quinolone (767) which, as a vinylog of an amide, can possess enonamine-enolimine tautomerism (168). 

The study of structure and reactivity of tertiary heterocyclic enamines is associated with the problem of equilibrium of the cyclic enamine form (70) and the tautomeric hydration products 173,174) quaternary hydroxide (71), pseudo base (so-called carbinolamine) (72) and an opened form of amino aldehyde or amino ketone (73). 

The salts of some enamines crystallize as hydrates. In such cases it is possible that they are derived from either the tautomeric carbinolamine or the amino ketone forms. Amino ketone salts (93) ( = 5, 11) can serve as examples. The proton resonance spectra of 93 show that these salts exist in the open-chain forms in trifluoroacetic acid solution, rather than in the ring-closed forms (94, n = 5, 11). The spectrum of the 6-methylamino-l-phenylhexanone cation shows a multiplet at about 2.15 ppm for phenyl, a triplet for the N-methyl centered at 7.0 ppm and overlapped by signals for the methylene protons at about 8.2 ppm. The spectrum of 93 ( = 11) was similar. These assignments were confirmed by determination of the spectrum in deuterium oxide. Here the N-methyl group of 93 showed a sharp singlet at about 7.4 ppm since the splitting in —NDjMe was much reduced from that of the undeuterated compound. 

On the other hand there have been isolated salts of either the acyclic amino ketone form or the cyclic enamine form, namely 6-methylamino-l-a-naphthyl-l-hexanone (95, = 5) and 12-methylamino-l-a-naphthyl-l-dodecanone (95, n=ll), or l-methyl-2-a-naphthyl-l-aza-2-cycloheptene... 

Schopf et al. 188,189) observed that -tetrahydroanabasine salts contain a molecule of water or methanol. According to infrared spectra, they exist as 2-hydroxy- or 2-methoxy-3-(2-piperidyl)piperidine salts (97). Salt 99, obtained by a transannular cyclization reaction taking place on neutralization of bicyclic amino ketone 98, also belongs to this group 181). 

Reaction of 2-alkyl- -pyrrolines and 2-alkyl- -piperideines with acid chlorides leads to ring-opening and formation of N-acylated amino ketones (131, = 1, 2) (211-213). Ketene reacts with J -piperideine to form a tricyclic derivative (132) (214). 

An interesting addition of ethyl acrylate has been reported in the case of l-methyl-2-ethylidenepyrrolidine. An unsaturated amino ketone 144 is formed, which rearranges to 1,7-dimethyloctahydroindole (145) on reduction with formic acid, as established by dehydrogenation to 1,7-dimethyl-indole (Scheme 12) 217). 

The intermediate formation of iminium salts is postulated in the reduction of (x-amino ketones by the Clemmensen method, occurring with concomitant ring enlargement or contraction (244-246). Reduction of l,2,2-trimethyl-3-piperidone (154) in this manner gave l-methyl-2-iso-propylpyrrolidine (155). 

The aldol reactions of enamines may be formally considered to proceed via acyclic amino aldehyde or amino ketone forms, in spite of the fact that the cyclic enamine forms can also take part in aldol reactions. 

Cyclic enamines with an isomeric position of the double bond have been obtained by the addition of Grignard reagents to five- (78-81), six- (82-86), seven- (87-90), and thirteen- (89-91) membered lactams, whereas other medium-sized (92,93) lactams furnished amino ketones. The reaction has been extended to substituted lactams (94-98), and iminoethers (99,100). 

The Knorr pyrrole synthesis involves the reaction between an a-amino ketone 1 and a second carbonyl compound 2, having a reactive a-methylene group, to give a pyrrole 3. The amine 1 is often generated in situ by reduction of an oximino group. 

A ketoxime tosylate 1 can be converted into an a-amino ketone 2 via the Neber rearrangement by treatment with a base—e.g. using an ethoxide or pyridine. Substituent R is usually aryl, but may as well be alkyl or H substituent R can be alkyl or aryl, but not H. 

An a-amino ketone, obtained by the Neber rearrangement, can be further converted into an oxime tosylate, and then subjected to the Neber conditions a ,a -diamino ketones can be prepared by this route. 

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