Ammonia added proton source

The mechanism follows the same course as the reduction of aromatic rings, but the vinyl anion is basic enough to deprotonate ammonia, so no added proton source is required. Vinyl anions are geometrically unstable, and choose to be E, negative charge in sp orbita,... 

The sodium donates an electron to the LUMO of the triple bond (one of the two orthogonal 7t orbitals). The resulting radical anion can pick up a proton from the ammonia solution to give a vinyl radical. A second electron, supplied again by the sodium, gives an anion that adopts the more stable trans geometry. A final proton quench by a second molecule of ammonia or by an added proton source (t-butanol is often used, as in the Birch reduction) forms the E-alkene. 

Ammonia, no added proton source 1.4J.1.4 Other solvents... 

Dissolving-Metal Reduction of Aromatic Compounds and Alkynes. Dissolving-metal systems constitute the most general method for partial reduction of aromatic rings. The reaction is called the Birch reduction,214 and the usual reducing medium is lithium or sodium in liquid ammonia. An alcohol is usually added to serve as a proton source. The reaction occurs by two successive electron transfer/proto-nation steps. 

Reduction of benzenoid hydrocarbons with solvated electrons generated by the solution of an alkali metal in liquid ammonia, the Birch reaction [34], involves homogeneous electron addition to the lowest unoccupied 7t-molecular orbital. Protonation of the radical-anion leads to a radical intermediate, which accepts a further electron. Protonation of the delocalised carbanion then occurs at the point of highest charge density and a non-conjugated cyclohexadiene 6 is formed by reduction of the benzene ring. An alcohol is usually added to the reaction mixture and acts as a proton source. The non-conjugated cyclohexadiene is stable in the presence of... 

Solutions of these metals in liquid ammonia effect (i) the reduction of a range of functional groups such as carbonyl and acetylenic and also conjugated and aromatic systems, and (ii) cleavage of benzyl and allyl ethers and thioethers. These reactions are usually carried out by the general procedure of adding the metal to a solution of the substrate in liquid ammonia to which dry methanol or ethanol or t-butanol has been added to provide a ready proton source (alcohols are more acidic than ammonia).34... 

There is no standard, universal, procedure for the Birch reduction. Experiment 7.19 illustrates some of the variants which have been reported in the literature. The original Birch procedure is to add small pieces of sodium metal to a solution of the aromatic compound in a mixture of liquid ammonia and the proton source (ethanol).18 After completion of the reaction, which is usually indicated by the disappearance of the blue colour, it is quenched by the addition of ammonium chloride and the ammonia allowed to evaporate before the cautious addition of water, and isolation of the product by ether extraction. In a modified procedure a co-solvent (ether, tetrahydrofuran, etc.) is initially added to the solution of aromatic compound/liquid ammonia prior to the addition of metal lithium metal is often used in place of sodium.19a,b In general these latter procedures are used for substrates which are more difficult to reduce. Redistilled liquid ammonia is found to be beneficial since the common contaminant iron, in collodial form or in the form of its salts, has a deleterious effect on the reaction.20 A representative selection of procedures is given in Expt 7.19 for the reduction of o-xylene, anisole, benzoic acid, and 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoic acid. 

Na, or Li in liquid ammonia, for example) to reduce aromatic rings and alkynes. The dissolving metal reduction of enones by lithium metal in liquid ammonia is similar to these reactions—the C=C bond of the enone is reduced, with the C=0 bond remaining untouched. An alcohol is required as a proton source and, in total, two electrons and two protons are added in a stepwise manner giving net addition of a molecule of hydrogen to the double bond. 

Selective catalytic hydrogenation of the 6,7-double bond of 17/3-acetoxy-7-methylandrosta-4,6-dien-3-one was achieved with Pd-C-PhCH20H and gave the 7/8-methyl dihydro-compound. Added FeCls has been reported to improve the selectivity of reduction of a,/S-enones in metal-ammonia reactions, thereby improving the yield of the saturated ketones. Similar improvements were observed in the lithium-ethylamine reductions at -78 C when a substantial excess of lithium was used and t-butyl alcohol was the proton source. The influence of solvent and added nitrogenous bases on the stereoselectivity of hydrogenation of A - and A -3-oxo-steroids with Pd catalysts has been studied, and the stereoselectivity of Pd-catalysed hydrogenation of various A -7-oxo-steroids has been reported to be unaffected by substituents at C-3 or C-17. 

Reactions.— Nitriles can be reduced to aldehydes in aqueous media by photochemically generated hydrated electrons. The reduction of nitriles to amines by sodium borohydride is catalysed by Raney nickel. The transition metal promoted reductive decyanation of alkyl nitriles to homologous hydrocarbons with one less carbon atom is reported, and has been shown by van Tamelen to proceed by a different mechanism from that of a similar reduction by alkali metals in ammonia, where a process of stepwise two-electron transfer has been proposed. In the former reaction, where use is made of ferric acetylacetonate and sodium, the proton required for alkane production is derived exclusively from the acetylacetonate ligand, alkane being formed before a proton source is added this suggests a mechanism which involves initial co-ordination of the nitrile to iron, followed by reductive cleavage of the nitrile 1,2-carbon bond and proton transfer to this area, as pictured in Scheme 42. 

Reduction of PAHs in a solution of alkali metal in liquid ammonia, known as the Birch reaction [10], is a conventional synthetic way to reduce polyaromatic rings to their dihydro derivatives [11]. Highly basic dianions are produced as intermediates, and are protonated by the ammonia to afford monoanions. In most cases, the monoanions persist in ammonia, and are quenched when a stronger proton source is added [12]. The choice of alkali metal affects the kinetics of the protonation of the monoanion intermediate. 

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