Azaenolates

The mechanism of organolithium addition to naphthyl oxazolines is believed to occur via initial complexation of the alkyllithium reagent to the oxazoline nitrogen atom and the methyl ether to form chelated intermediate 17. Addition of the alkyl group to the arena 7t-system affords azaenolate 18, which undergoes reaction with an electrophile on the opposite face of the alkyl group to provide the observed product 4. The chelating methyl... 

Hetero-benzylic anionic reagents, derived from 2-alkyl-l,3-oxazoles, -1,3-thiazoles and -imidazoles and related compounds, are not covered in this section because these resemble metallo 1-azaenolates in their reactivity (Section D.l.3.5.). 

Volume E21 D.1.3.5.1. Addition of Azaenolates from Imines or Nitrogen Heterocycles... 

In contrast to the amt-selective reaction of lithiated imines with aldehydes, titanated imines, prepared by transmetalation of the corresponding lithium azaenolates, give predominantly. sFH-adducts2. 

Chiral imines derived from 1-phenylethanone and (I. Sj-exo-l, 7,7-trimethyIbicyclo-[2.2.1]heptan-2-amine [(S)-isobornylamine], (.S>1-phenylethanamine or (R)-l-(1-naphthyl) ethanamine are transformed into the corresponding (vinylamino)dichloroboranes (e.g., 3) by treatment with trichloroborane and triethylamine in dichloromethane. Reaction of the chiral boron azaenolates with aromatic aldehydes at 25 "C, and subsequent acidic hydrolysis, furnishes aldol adducts with enantiomeric excesses in the range of 2.5 to 47.7%. Significantly lower asymmetric inductions are obtained from additions of the corresponding lithium and magnesium azaenolates. Best results arc achieved using (.S )-isobornylamine as the chiral auxiliary 3. 

Chiral oxazolidines 6, or mixtures with their corresponding imines 7, are obtained in quantitative yield from acid-catalyzed condensation of methyl ketones and ( + )- or ( )-2-amino-l-phcnylpropanol (norephedrine, 5) with azeotropic removal of water. Metalation of these chiral oxazolidines (or their imine mixtures) using lithium diisopropylamide generates lithioazaeno-lates which, upon treatment with tin(II) chloride, are converted to cyclic tin(II) azaenolates. After enantioselective reaction with a variety of aldehydes at 0°C and hydrolysis, ft-hydroxy ketones 8 are obtained in 58-86% op4. 

Metalation ofa-sulfinyl dimethylhydrazones with terf-butylmagnesium bromide, butyllithium or lithium diisopropylamide, and reaction of the generated azaenolates with aldehydes, provides aldol adducts (e.g., 6) as mixtures of diastereomers. Reductive desulfurization leads to fi-hydroxy dimethylhydrazones (e.g., 7) which are cleaved to the desired /(-hydroxy ketones in 25% overall yield10 u. The enantiomeric excesses are about 50%, except for (- )-3-hydroxy-4-methyl-1-phenyl-1-pentanone (8) which was obtained in 88% ee. 

The stereochemical outcome of the reaction is strongly dependent on the nature of the base and the aldehyde condensation time, reaction temperature, and the ETA ratio of the azaenolate. The enantioselectivity of the reaction increases with increasing bulk of the aldehyde residue. 

Metalation of 4,5-dihydro-2-[(7 )-sulfinylmethyl]oxazoles (e.g., 2) with butyllithium at -90 C and reaction of the chiral azaenolates with aldehydes furnishes the hydroxyalkylated sulfinylox-azole derivatives 3 which are desulfurized to give the 4,5-dihydro-2-(2-hydroxyalkyl)oxazoles 4. The corresponding 3-hydroxy acids 5 are obtained by acidic hydrolysis in 60-85% overall yield and 26-53% ee31. 

Addition of the chiral azaenolate obtained from metalation of (4A,55 )-4,5-dihydro-2-methyl-4-methoxymethyl-5-phenyloxazole (6, see Section D.1.1.1.4.3.3) to aldehydes shows lowdiastere-ofacial selectivity. Acidic hydrolysis of the aldol adducts gives 3-hydroxy adds 7 in 31 -87% yield and less than 25% ee18. 

Enhanced anti selectivity is observed in reactions of lithiated 4.5-dihydrooxazoles bearing an additional substituent which facilitates the formation of rigid azaenolates by internal chelation of lithium13. Thus, reaction of 2-ethyl-4,5-dihydro-4,4-dimethyloxazole (10) with 2-methylpropanal gives a 56 44 mixture of adducts while (R)-2-ethyl-4,5-dihydro-4-(methoxymethyl)-oxazolc (12) reacts with the same aldehyde to yield a 90 10 mixture of adducts 1313. 

Boron azaenolates, generated from achiral 2-ethyl-4,5-dihydro-4,4-dimethyloxazolc (10) and chiral diisopinocamphcylboryl trifluoromethanesulfonate [14, derived from (+)-a-pinene], selectively provide the //////-adducts (>90%) in 77 85% ee. These are converted to the corresponding methyl esters 16 in 22 -36% overall yield20,21. 

In contrast to the above boron azaenolates, those bearing the chiral information in the 4,5-di-hydrooxazole moiety (e.g., 17) furnish. ynt-adducts 18 in >97% selectivity and 40-60% ee. In these cases, the aldol adducts are hydrolyzed and esterified without prior purification20,21. 

The rcgiosclcctivity in deprotonation reactions of 4,5-dihydroisoxazoles is dependent on the substituents, the reaction conditions, and on the nature of the base used for generation of the azaenolate (see Section D.1.1.1.4.4.2.). 

Metalation of substituted 3-ethyl-4,5-dihydroisoxazoles (e.g., 7, see Section D.l.1.1.4.4.2.), followed by addition to acetone, furnishes a single diastercomer26 due to attack of the Z-azaenolate from the face opposite to the substituent at C-3a. 

All four possible diastereomers are formed from the addition of the same Z-azaenolate to a series of aldehydes. Both the ratio of topside (major)/bottomside (minor) attack (4 1, controlled by the dihydroisoxazole substituents) and the diastereofacial selectivity (syn/anti ratio) are nearly independent of the structure of the aldehyde used26. 

Volume E21 D.l.3.5.5. Addition of Azaenolates from 3,6-Dialkoxy 2,5-dihydropyra/ines... 

Addition of Enolates and Azaenolates to, /i-l nsa titrated Carbonyl Compounds... 

The use of hydrazone or enamine derivatives of ketones or aldehydes offers the advantage of stcreocontrol via chelated azaenolates. Extremely useful synthetic methodology, with consistently high anti selectivity, has been developed using azaenolates based on (S)- or (R)-l-amino-2-(methoxymethyl)pyrrolidine (SAMP or RAMP)51 58 (Enders method, see Section 1.5.2.4.2.2.3.). An example which illustrates the efficiency of this type of Michael addition is the addition of the lithium azaenolate of (5 )-l-amino-2-(methoxymethyl)pyrrolidine (SAMP) hydrazone of propanal (R = II) to methyl (E )-2-butenoate to give the nub-isomer (an 1 adduct) in 80% yield with a diastereomeric ratio > 98 2,... 

This method was extended to the diastereoselective synthesis of amino acid derivatives from the 1,4-addition of chiral nonracemic azaenolates derived from optically active imines to enones90. 

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