Bamford-Stevens reaction mechanisms

The reaction also takes place with other bases (e.g., LiH,213 Na in ethylene glycol, NaH, NaNH2) or with smaller amounts of RLi, but in these cases side reactions are common and the orientation of the double bond is in the other direction (to give the more highly substituted olefin). The reaction with Na in ethylene glycol is called the Bamford-Stevens reaction,214 For these reactions two mechanisms are possible—a carbenoid and a carbocation mechanism.215 The side reactions found are those expected of carbenes and carbocations. In general, the carbocation mechanism is chiefly found in protic solvents and the carbenoid mechanism in aprotic solvents. Both routes involve formation of a diazo compound (34) which in some cases can be isolated. 

Mechanism The first step of the Bamford-Stevens reaction is the formation of the diazo compound A by the treatment of tosylhydrazone with a base. The reaction mechanism involves a carbene B in an aprotic solvent (Path A) and carbocation C in a protic solvent (Path B) (Scheme 4.53). When an aprotic solvent is used, predominantly Z-alkenes are obtained, while a protic solvent gives a mixture of E- and Z-alkenes. If there is a choice of product, the more substituted alkene is produced predominantly. 

The reaction of tosylhydrazones with sodium in ethylene glycol to give alkenes had been observed before (Bamford-Stevens reaction) other bases, e.g. NaOMe, alkali metal hydrides and NaNH2 were also used. However, in these cases side reactions occur and, in contrast to the Shapiro reaction, the more highly substituted alkene is predominantly formed. Two mechanisms are discussed for these reactions a mechanism via a carbenium ion, which usually takes place in protic solvents, and a carbene mechanism in aprotic solvents (Scheme 28). In both cases diazo compounds are intermediates, which can sometimes be isolated. ... 

Casanova, J., Waegell, B. Bamford-Stevens reaction. Various mechanisms. Bull. Soc. Chim. Fr. 1975, 922-932. 

The Bamford-Stevens reaction is frequently used not for the isolation of aliphatic diazo compounds, but for the synthesis of the products obtained by dediazoniation either by the carbene or the carbocation mechanisms in (2-38). As 4-toluenesulfonyl-hydrazones are fairly stable under Bamford-Stevens conditions, the reactions must be carried out at higher temperature, which is, of course, a disadvantage when it is desired to stop the reaction at the diazoalkane stage. Yields above 90% can, however, be obtained in some cases, particularly for the synthesis of 9-diazofluorene (Dudman and Reese, 1982). 

When cyclobutanone is subjected to the conditions for the Bamford-Stevens reaction, the major products are cyclobutene and methylenecyclopropane. Propose a mechanism to account for their formation. 

The mechanism was originally proposed by Powell and Whiting," with further corroboration by others soon thereafter. The first step of the Bamford-Stevens reaction is the formation of the diazo compound 3, via the tosylate salt 2. ... 

The Bamford-Stevens reaction involves the addition of tosylhydrazine to an aliphatic ketone, followed by treatment with a strong base and heating. The product is an alkene. Write a mechanism for this reaction, and describe experiments you would perform to confirm the presence of any reactive intermediate you postulate. 

From Diazo-compounds. The Wolff rearrangement of a-diazo-ketones has been reviewed and a discussion of the Bamford-Stevens reaction and its associated mechanisms has appeared. The details of a cryochemical synthesis of cyclo-propanone from keten and diazomethane have been described, as have syntheses of cyclopropanone and cyclopropanone acetal. The photolysis of 1-diazobutane, resulting in methylcyclopropane, has been subjected to physico-chemical study. 

The Bamford-Stevens synthesis is related to the Shapiro reaction (Shapiro and Heath, 1967 reviews Shapiro, 1976 Adlington and Barrett, 1983), in which a 4-toluenesulfonyl hydrazone of an aldehyde or a ketone is treated with at least two equivalents of a very strong base, usually, methyllithium (see Organic Syntheses examples of Chamberlin et al., 1983, and Shapiro et al., 1988). The Shapiro reaction leads to an olefin by a hydrogen shift. The mechanism has been proposed by Casanova and Waegell (1975) as given in (2-34). This mechanism involves a diazenide anion 2.81 as intermediate. 

The problem of distinguishing between carbenoid and carbonium ion mechanisms of decomposition of diazoalkanes in protic media arises also in interpreting the base-induced decomposition of tosylhydrazones. In the original procedure for this widely-used reaction (W. R. Bamford and Stevens, 1952), the tosylhydrazone of a carbonyl compound is treated with the sodium salt of ethylene glycol in refluxing glycol. A mixture of olefins and alkoxyethanol is produced (equation 6). Many... 

Carbenoid generation of nitrogen ylides represents a useful alternative to the widely employed base-promoted methodology.49 The reaction of aliphatic diazo compounds with tertiary amines was first investigated by Bamford and Stevens in 1952.50 The formation of a-benzyl-a-dimethyl-aminofluorene (99) from the reaction of diazofluorene (97) with ben-zyldimethylamine is consistent with a mechanism involving the generation of ammonium ylide 98 which then undergoes a [l,2]-benzyl shift. 

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