Bases: for enolate generation

Najera and coworkers introduced a new class of cyclic alanine templates (227, equation 59), the structure of which was anchored on Schollkopf s bislactim ether . Palladium-catalyzed allylations of the chiral pyrazinone derivative 227 with allylic carbonates (228) as substrates led to the formation of y,i5-unsaturated amino acids (229a-c) under very mild and neutral reaction conditions, whereas the required base for enolate preparation has been generated in situ from the allylic carbonate during jr-allyl complex formation. With this protocol in hand, the alkylated pyrazinones 229 were obtained with excellent regio- and diastereoselectivities (>98% ds). Finally, hydrolysis with 6 N aqueous HCl under relatively drastic conditions (150 °C) led to the free amino acids. 

This reagent has been shown to be a good base for the generation of highly reactive potassium enolates for example, treatment of various ketones and esters bearing a-hydrogens with KN(TMS)2 followed by 2 equiv of N-F-saccharinsultam allowed isolation of the difluorinated product (eq 3). 

Sterically Hindered Base for Enolate Formation. Like other metal dialkylamide bases, sodium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide is sufficiently basic to deprotonate carbonyl-activated carbon acids and is sterically hindered, allowing good initial kinetic vs. thermodynamic deprotonation ratios. The presence of the sodium counterion also allows for subsequent equilibration to the thermodynamically more stable enolate. More recently, this base has been used in the stereoselective generation of enolates for subsequent alkylation or oxidation in asymmetric syntheses. As shown in eq 1, NaHMDS was used to selectively generate a (Z)-enolate alkylation with lodomethane proceeded with excellent diastereoselectivity. In this case, use of the sodium enolate was preferred as it was more reactive than the corresponding lithium enolate at lower temperatures. 

Lithium dialkylamides are excellent bases for making ketone enolates as well Ketone enolates generated m this way can be alkylated with alkyl halides or as illus trated m the following equation treated with an aldehyde or a ketone... 

Chapters 1 and 2. Most C—H bonds are very weakly acidic and have no tendency to ionize spontaneously to form carbanions. Reactions that involve carbanion intermediates are therefore usually carried out in the presence of a base which can generate the reactive carbanion intermediate. Base-catalyzed condensation reactions of carbonyl compounds provide many examples of this type of reaction. The reaction between acetophenone and benzaldehyde, which was considered in Section 4.2, for example, requires a basic catalyst to proceed, and the kinetics of the reaction show that the rate is proportional to the catalyst concentration. This is because the neutral acetophenone molecule is not nucleophihc and does not react with benzaldehyde. The much more nucleophilic enolate (carbanion) formed by deprotonation is the reactive nucleophile. 

The familiar alkylation of -ketoesters followed by decarboxylation is still a useful route to a-alkyl ketones, although the alkylation of enamines is frequently the preferred route. Given below are two examples of alkylation of 2-carbethoxycycloalkanones (prepared in Chapter 10, Section I). In the first case, sodium ethoxide is the base employed to generate the enolate ion of 2-carbethoxycyclohexanone. In the second case, the less acidic 2-carbethoxycyclooctanone requires sodium hydride for the generation of the enolate ion. 

Enolate ions are more useful than enols for two reasons. First, pure enols can t normally be isolated but are instead generated only as short-lived intermediates in low concentration. By contrast, stable solutions of pure enolate ions are easily prepared from most carbonyl compounds by reaction with a strong base. Second, enolate ions are more reactive than enols and undergo many reactions that enols don t. Whereas enols are neutral, enolate ions are negatively charged, making them much belter nucleophiles. As a result, enolate ions are more common than enols in both laboratory and biological chemistry. 

In the presence of a very strong base, such as an alkyllithium, sodium or potassium hydride, sodium or potassium amide, or LDA, 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds can be converted to their dianions by two sequential deprotonations.79 For example, reaction of benzoylacetone with sodium amide leads first to the enolate generated by deprotonation at the more acidic methylene group between the two carbonyl groups. A second equivalent of base deprotonates the benzyl methylene group to give a dienediolate. 

The stereochemistry of the silyl ketene acetal can be controlled by the conditions of preparation. The base that is usually used for enolate formation is lithium diisopropyl-amide (LDA). If the enolate is prepared in pure THF, the F-enolate is generated and this stereochemistry is maintained in the silyl derivative. The preferential formation of the F-enolate can be explained in terms of a cyclic TS in which the proton is abstracted from the stereoelectronically preferred orientation perpendicular to the carbonyl plane. The carboxy substituent is oriented away from the alkyl groups on the amide base. 

Other procedures for a oxidation of ketones are based on prior generation of the enolate. The most useful oxidant in these procedures is a molybdenum compound, MoOs-pyridine-HMPA, which is prepared by dissolving M0O3 in hydrogen peroxide, followed by addition of HMPA. This reagent oxidizes the enolates of aldehydes, ketones, esters, and lactones to the corresponding a-hydroxy compound.189 190 191... 

A similar procedure for the synthesis of a-acyl aminoesters has been proposed using a MgCl2/R3N base system to generate the magnesium enolates of a series of a-carboxy aminoesters. These reagents react smoothly at 0 °C with a variety of acid chlorides to give a-acyl aminoesters in good to excellent yields (equation 58). 

Notes Shown to be an extremely useful base for generating thermodynamic enolates. Useful for alilol condensations. 

Aldol reactions.1 Several exotic boron derivatives have been used to prepare boron enolates, of particular interest because of their use for selective syn-aldol reactions. Actually boron enolates can be generated using BC13 and Hiinig s base. Dichloroboron enolates are unusually reactive even at -95°, and show syn-selectivity of 80-95%. Aldol reactions are carried out in CH2C12 by mixing the ketone and BC13 (1 2 equiv.) followed by addition of the base (2 equiv.) and the aldehyde (1 equiv.). Yields are 80-95%. 

Enolates and related carbanionic nucleophiles are routinely generated by removal of an acidic proton in a molecule with a base. Carbonyl groups acidify their a protons somewhat and make dieir removal by a base a common process. However, structural features other than carbonyl groups can also acidify protons bound to carbon and thus facilitate dieir removal by bases. For example, pK values for structurally acidified C-H protons include the ones given below. 

Today reactions of etiolates are usually carried out much differently by utilizing very strong, nonnucleophilic bases for generating the enolate nucleophile. Instead of having only small equilibrium concentrations of an enolate produced in solution, the use of strong, nonnucleophilic bases like LDA, KHMDS, and KH that have pAYs >35 permits carbonyl compounds, whose a protons have pA"a s of 20-25, to be converted completely to enolate anions. Doing so completely converts the carbonyl compound into a nucleophile which cannot condense with itself and is stable in solution. This enolate can then be reacted with a second carbonyl compound in a subsequent step to give product ... 

In 1978, we observed that flash photolysis of butyrophenone produced acetophenone enol as a transient intermediate, which allowed us to determine the acidity constant KE of the enol from the pH-rate profile (section pH Rate Profiles ) of its decay in aqueous base.4 That work was a sideline of studies aimed at the characterization of biradical intermediates in Norrish Type II reactions and we had no intentions to pursue it any further. Enter Jerry Kresge, who had previously determined the ketonization kinetics of several enols using fast thermal methods for their generation. He immediately realized the potential of the photochemical approach to study keto enol equilibria and quickly convinced us that this technique should be further exploited. We were more than happy to follow suit and to cooperate with this distinguished, inspiring, and enthusing chemist and his cherished wife Yvonne Chiang, who sadly passed away in 2008. Over the years, this collaboration developed into an intimate friendship of our families. This chapter is an account of what has been achieved. Several reviews in this area appeared in the years up to 1998.5 10... 

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