Amino nitriles => ketones

In a modification of the original method. Read (60) replaced a-amino acids with a-amino nitriles. This reaction is sometimes known as Strecker hydantoin synthesis, the term referring to the reaction employed for the synthesis of the a-amino nitrile from an aldehyde or ketone. The cycli2ation intermediate (18) has been isolated in some cases (61), and is involved in a pH-controUed equiUbrium with the corresponding ureide. 

Synthesis from Thiohydantoins. A modification (71) of the Bucherer-Bergs reaction consisting of treatment of an aldehyde or ketone with carbon disulfide, ammonium chloride, and sodium cyanide affords 2,4-dithiohydantoias (19). 4-Thiohydantoias (20) are available from reaction of amino nitriles with carbon disulfide (72). Compounds (19) and (20) can be transformed iato hydantoias. 

Hydroxyl Group. The OH group of cyanohydrins is subject to displacement with other electronegative groups. Cyanohydrins react with ammonia to yield amino nitriles. This is a step in the Strecker synthesis of amino acids. A one-step synthesis of a-amino acids involves treatment of cyanohydrins with ammonia and ammonium carbonate under pressure. Thus acetone cyanohydrin, when heated at 160°C with ammonia and ammonium carbonate for 6 h, gives a-aminoisobutyric acid [62-57-7] in 86% yield (7). Primary and secondary amines can also be used to displace the hydroxyl group to obtain A/-substituted and Ai,A/-disubstituted a-amino nitriles. The Strecker synthesis can also be appHed to aromatic ketones. Similarly, hydrazine reacts with two molecules of cyanohydrin to give the disubstituted hydrazine. 

An a-amino acid 3 can be prepared by treating aldehyde 1 with ammonia and hydrogen cyanide and a subsequent hydrolysis of the intermediate a-amino nitrile 2. This so-called Strecker synthesis - is a special case of the Mannich reaction-, it has found application for the synthesis of a-amino acids on an industrial scale. The reaction also works with ketones to yield a, a -disubstituted a-amino acids. 

In asymmetric Strecker synthesis ( + )-(45,55 )-5-amino-2,2-dimethyl-4-phenyl-l,3-dioxane has been introduced as an alternative chiral auxiliary47. The compound is readily accessible from (lS,25)-2-amino-l-phcnyl-l,3-propancdioI, an intermediate in the industrial production of chloramphenicol, by acctalization with acetone. This chiral amine reacts smoothly with methyl ketones of the arylalkyl47 or alkyl series48 and sodium cyanide, after addition of acetic acid, to afford a-methyl-a-amino nitriles in high yield and in diastereomerically pure form. 

A particularly useful variation of this reaction uses cyanide rather than HCN. a-Amino nitriles can be prepared in one step by the treatment of an aldehyde or ketone with NaCN and NH4CI. This is called the Strecker synthesisand it is a special case of the Mannich reaction (16-15). Since the CN is easily hydrolyzed to the acid, this is a convenient method for the preparation of a-amino acids. The reaction has also been carried out with NH3-I-HCN and with NH4CN. Salts of primary and secondary amines can be used instead of NH to obtain N-substituted and N,N-disubstituted a-amino nitriles. Unlike 16-51, the Strecker synthesis is useful for aromatic as well as aliphatic ketones. As in 16-51, the Me3SiCN method has been used 64 is converted to the product with ammonia or an amine. ... 

Chiral cyanohydrins are versatile intermediates in the synthesis of a-hydroxy acids, /3-amino alcohols, amino nitriles, a-hydroxy ketones and aziridines. For the synthesis of enantiopure cyanohydrins, the use of hydroxynitrile lyases is currently the most effective approach.Application of an organic-solvent-free system allows thermodynamically hindered substrates to be converted with moderate to excellent yields. With the use of the highly selective hydroxynitrile lyase from Manihot esculenta, the syntheses of several acetophenone cyanohydrins with excellent enantioselectivities were developed (Figure 8.2). (5)-Acetophenone cyanohydrin was synthesized on a preparative scale. ... 

Results from an alternate synthesis of an intermediate amino nitrile (similar to (R,S)-3) that uses a ketone as a reactant instead of the aldehyde 2... 

One of useful building blocks for the synthesis of 2-(l//)-pyrazinones is iV-BOC amino acids, whose carboxylic acid moiety reacts with the amino group of another component having cyano or carbonyl functionality at the a-position, such as a-amino nitriles <2004T835>, a-amino amide (Scheme 46) <2000H(53)1559>, a-amino ketones... 

Pyrazine A -oxides have been conveniently synthesized by oxidation of pyrazines (Section 8.03.5.2), and by condensation of a-amino nitriles with a-oximino ketones (Section 8.03.9.3). 

A similar reaction of 70 leads to an amino nitrile ylide synthon (36,37), which reacts with a range of aromatic and heteoaromatic aldehydes to give the 2-oxazolines (71), but which fails to react with ahphatic aldehydes, simple ketones, or activated alkenes. 

The use of the cone, hydrocyanic acid necessary in the above reactions can be avoided, and the amino-nitrile synthesised in one stage by using ammonium cyanide or an equimolecular mixture of ammonium chloride and potassium cyanide this also brings ketones within the scope of the reaction (0. S., XI., 4). The condensation is carried out in aqueous or aqueous alcoholic solutions. An extension of this reaction permits the use of primary aromatic amines and potassium cyanide in place of ammonium chloride and potassium cyanide (D.R.P., 157710 157709 158090, 158346 J. C. S 1931, 653 Am. Soc., 53, 2809.)... 

The Strecker reaction is a three-component reaction of an aldehyde (or ketone), ammonia (86, or another amine) and hydrogen cyanide (87, or equivalents) to give a-amino nitriles and, after hydrolysis, a-amino acids (Scheme 9.16). 

Another class of problematic amines are a-amino nitriles, which are readily accessible from ketones, amines, and cyanide. Like a-amino acids, these amines are electronically deactivated and less basic and nucleophilic than purely aliphatic amines, and are therefore difficult to acylate. Some a-amino nitriles or the corresponding acylated derivatives can, furthermore, decompose into imines and cyanide if reaction temperatures are too high or if the bases used are too strong (Scheme 7.11). 

Nevertheless, the use of chirally modified Lewis acids as catalysts for enantioselective aminoalkylation reactions proved to be an extraordinary fertile research area [3b-d, 16]. Meanwhile, numerous publications demonstrate their exceptional potential for the activation and chiral modification of Mannich reagents (generally imino compounds). In this way, not only HCN or its synthetic equivalents but also various other nucleophiles could be ami-noalkylated asymmetrically (e.g., trimethylsilyl enol ethers derived from esters or ketones, alkenes, allyltributylstannane, allyltrimethylsilanes, and ketones). This way efficient routes for the enantioselective synthesis of a variety of valuable synthetic building blocks were created (e.g., a-amino nitriles, a- or //-amino acid derivatives, homoallylic amines or //-amino ketones) [3b-d]. 

Kobayashi S, Nagayama S, Busujima T, Polymer scandium-catalyzed three-component reactions leading to diverse amino ketone, amino ester, and amino nitrile derivatives, Tetrahedron Lett., 37 9221-9224, 1996. 

Trimethylsilyl cyanide is a useful reagent for the preparation of /8-amino alcohols,2 a-amino nitriles,3 and a-trimethylsiloxyacrylo-nitriles4 from the corresponding ketones, imines, and ketenes. The reagent adds rapidly to the carbonyl of aldehydes at 25°C,2 and the resulting adducts have proven useful precursors for the preparation of carbonyl anion synthons.5 Enones give exclusively the products derived from 1,2-addition.2... 

The amino acid synthesis from Strecker has been known since 1850 [25]. Stereoselective versions of this synthesis start with chiral amines, which are condensed with carbonyl compounds to form imines. Addition of hydrogen cyanide and subsequent hydrolysis of the amino nitriles yields the amino acids. When ketones are used for the condensation, a-alkylated amino acids are obtained in high yields and optical purities... 

Silver is well known in its ability to oxidize amines into imines or hydroxyl-amine compounds. Normal conditions use persulfate as an oxidant, with the mechanism considered to be a radical chain reaction (87-93). In some cases, oxidative condensations may occur between two substrate molecules to yield heterocycles. Imines can be oxidatively converted into aldehydes or ketones with aldehydes eventually converting into carboxyhc acids. In 1999, Enders and co-workers (94) reported the mild oxidation of a-amino nitriles into a-hydro-xyenones. The reaction was regioselective with good reported yields. 

Strecker a-amino nitrile synthesis. This synthesis can be conducted by reaction of ketones and an amine and this reagent for introduction of the CN group (equation... 

The same catalyst is also effective in three-component reactions between aldehydes, amines, and silylated nucleophiles, leading to amino ketone, amino ester, and amino nitrile derivatives, respectively (Eq. 30) [114]. It is reported that 103 can be recovered and that continuous use is possible without any loss of activity. More interestingly, in competitive reaction of aldehyde, aldimine and silyl enolate, the less reactive aldimine reacted exclusively with silyl enolate in the presence of 103. This unique selectivity was explained by the polymer effect [115]. 

An intramolecular reductive coupling of ketones with nitriles has been reported for acyclic and monocyclic substrates y9-amino nitriles were isolated from acyclic malononitrile adducts [87]. The Sml2-initiated reductive cyclization of cyclic a-cyanoalkyl-substituted ketones leads to acyloin products in high yields. In this instance further irradiation of the reaction mixtures was performed to afford complete conversion (Scheme 27) [88]. More applications have been collected in several excellent reviews [89-92]. 

Alkylation of metallated a-(dialkylamino)nitriles with alkyl halides, epichlorohydrin, allyl halides or ethyl bromoacetate followed by hydrolysis furnishes an array of ketones in good yield. - For example, reaction of (42) with benzyl chloride leads to the formation of deoxybenzoins. Alkylation of a-(dialkyl-amino)nitriles is also possible if the latter are derived from aliphatic aldehydes. - ... 

Two particular reactions are characteristic of the (3-functional alkyltin compounds. First, conjugative electron attraction by the functional group makes C-C=X a good leaving group, and the Sn-C bond has an enhanced reactivity in substitution (e.g. hydrolysis) and addition where C=X is a nitrile, ketone, ester, or amino group, the compounds add across the N=C bond in isocyanates, and undergo Reformatsky-type reactions with carbonyl compounds.91-92... 

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