Base-catalyst mediation aldol reactions

Reaction progress kinetic analysis offers a reliable alternative method to assess the stability of the active catalyst concentration, again based on our concept of excess [e]. In contrast to our different excess experiments described above, now we carry out a set of experiments at the same value of excess [ej. We consider again the proline-mediated aldol reaction shown in Scheme 50.1. Under reaction conditions, the proline catalyst can undergo side reactions with aldehydes to form inactive cyclic species called oxazolidinones, effectively decreasing the active catalyst concentration. It has recently been shown that addition of small amounts of water to the reaction mixture can eliminate this catalyst deactivation. Reaction progress kinetic analysis of experiments carried out at the same excess [e] can be used to confirm the deactivation of proline in the absence of added water as well to demonstrate that the proline concentration remains constant when water is present. 

The first iyn-selective organocatalytic aldol reaction was disclosed by Barbas III et al. [98]. Based on previous studies on antibody-mediated aldol reactions, they envisaged that the aldol reaction of unmodified hydroxyacetone with an aldehyde should proceed through the (Z)-enamine intermediate in the transition state and thus produce a yn-aldol. Indeed, the reaction catalyzed by O-tBu-L-thyrosine proceeds with high yn-stereoselectivity. Subsequently, the catalyst loading was decreased to 5 mol% by replacing the tyrosine derivative with the O-acylated cysteine (80) [99,90e]. Importantly, donors and acceptors can be used in stoichiometric amounts (Chart 3.10). 

SCHEME 8.56. The base-catalyst-mediated asymmetric vinylogous Mukaiyama aldol reaction by Denmark and Heemstra. 

Aldol reactions using a carbocation as an organocatalyst An organocatalytic aldol reaction based on a different concept was developed by the Chen group. The chiral triarylcarbenium ion 34 was used as a novel non-metallic Lewis acid catalyst in a Mukaiyama-type aldol reaction which led to enantiomerically enriched aldol products (Scheme 6.17) [67]. Although non-chiral trityl salt-mediated catalytic aldol reactions had previously been reported by Mukaiyama and co-workers [68], the construction of a suitable chiral carbenium ion remained a challenge. Optically active salts of type 34 were synthesized as Lewis acids based on a reactive carbe-... 

The trivial name of the reaction was applied by Wurtz in 1872, and stems from the trivial name of the dimer resulting from the acid-catalyzed self-reaction of acetaldehyde (equation 1). In time, the term came to be applied to the analogous self-condensation reactions of ketones, the first known example of which was the acid-mediated dimerization of acetone, discovered in 1838. The first use of a base as a catalyst for the aldol reaction was in the reaction of furfural with acetaldehyde or acetone (equation 2). This example also illustrates the first example of a mixed aldol reaction, a process that came to be known as the Claisen-Schmidt condensation. ... 

Tin(IV)-chloride-mediated double aldol reaction of acyclic ketones is rendered stereoselective by a chiral phosphine oxide, (5)-BE JAPO it is proposed that the catalyst controls the first aldol and the substrate controls the second. Another chiral diphosphine oxide, this one based on thiophene, catalyses direct aldols in high delee Chiral a-silyloxy ketones derived from lactate (61) undergo titanium(IV)-mediated aldols giving diastereomerically pure syn-syn adducts (62) in high yield, irrespective of the alkyl groups fianking the silyl or carbonyl. 

A modification of this system was also used in intramolecular MBH reactions (also called as aldol cycloisomerization) [71, 74]. In this reaction, optically active pipecolinic acid 61 was found to be a better co-catalyst than proline, and allowed ee-values of up to 80% to be obtained, without a peptide catalyst. The inter-molecular aldol dimerization, which is an important competing side-reaction of the basic amine-mediated intramolecular MBH reaction, was efficiently suppressed in a THF H20 (3 1) mixture at room temperature, allowing the formation of six-membered carbocycles (Scheme 5.14). The enantioselectivity of the reaction could be improved via a kinetic resolution quench by adding acetic anhydride as an acylating agent to the reaction mixture and a peptide-based asymmetric catalyst such as 64 that mediates a subsequent asymmetric acylation reaction. The non-acylated product 65 was recovered in 50% isolated yield with ee >98%. 

Recent developments in the field have also identified novel mechanistic pathways for the development of catalytic, asymmetric aldol processes. Thus in addition to Lewis acid catalysts that mediate the Mukaiyama aldol addition by electrophilic activation of the aldehyde reactant, metal complexes that lead to enolate activation by the formation of a metalloenolate have been documented. Additionally, a new class of Lewis-base-catalyzed addition reactions is now available for the asymmetric aldol addition reaction. 

The Henry reaction is an aldol-type reaction between a nitroalkane and an aldehyde in the presence of a base. Since basic reagents are also catalysts for the aldol condensation, the nitroaldol reactions must be strictly controlled. An interesting alternative lies in the use of surfactants to perform the reaction in an aqueous medium [63], The Reformatsky reaction, which involves a-haloketones and aldehydes, can be mediated by zinc, tin or indium in water in the latter case the proportion of undesirable reduction products could be strongly reduced [64]. 

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