Benzenes reaction with lithium enolates

The reaction of the enamines of cyclohexanones with a,ft-unsaluraled sulfones gives mixtures resulting from attack of the enamine at the a- and /(-carbons of the oc,/ -unsaturated sulfone. The ratio of x- and /1-adducts is dependent upon the reaction solvent, the geometry and structure of the sulfone1 4. The diastereoselectivity of these reactions is also poor. The reaction of lithium enolates of cyclic ketones with ( )-[2-(methylsulfonyl)ethenyl]benzene, however, gives bicyclic alcohols, as single diastereomers, that result from initial -attack on the oc,/ -unsaturated sulfone5. 

The reverse trend is observed with (Z)-enolates. The reaction of the lithium enolate of cyclohexanone with ( )-(2-nitroethenyl)benzene gives a 75 25 mixture of the syn- and anti-adducts. In contrast, the same enolate undergoes addition of ( )-5-(2-nitroethenyl)-l,3-benzo-dioxole to give exclusively the yymaddition product in 93% yield2. 

The freshly ground lithium enolate 1 (1.2 equiv.) was mixed with o-anisaldehyde 2a (1 equiv.) in argon atmosphere at room temperature. The reaction was allowed to continue at room temperature under vacuum for three days, quenched with aqueous NH4CI and the mixture extracted with three portions of diethyl ether. The combined organic extract was washed with water and dried with anhydrous Na2S()4- The solvent was removed using a rotary evaporator at reduced pressure to yield the crude product. The crude product was found to contain mainly anti aldol product (syn/anti ratio 8 92). Further purification was earned out using preparative TLC with methanol-benzene (5 95 in volume) as eluent. The purified product thus isolated was a colorless solid (mp 64-65 °C, yield 70%) with the same syn/anti ratio as that of the crude product. 

To a solution of lithium diisopropylamide (4.4 mmol) in dimethoxyethane (DME) (12 mL), in a flask equipped with a reflux condenser and a septum inlet was added a solution of 2-allyl-2-carbomethoxycycloheptanone (4 mmol) in DME (8 mL) at — 78 °C. Then, a solution of PhN(Tf)2 (4.28 mmol) in DME (8 mL) was added. After 30 min, at — 78 °C, the reaction mixture was allowed to stand at 0°C overnight. The solution was diluted with benzene, washed with aqueous 10% NaHCOj and brine, and finally dried over MgS04. Chromatography over silica gel with hexane/ether (30 1) gave the enol triflate (0.854 g, 60% yield). 

A lateral lithiation occurs at a benzylic position29 (161 reacting to 162) rather than on the benzene ring itself. These reactions are quite common so we must discuss them briefly here as the same functional groups that behave as ortho-directors are also lateral lithiation directors as in the case of the amide 161 below. The lithiated species can be represented as a lithium enolate 163 or even with chelation 164. This is not possible with an ort/zo-lithiation where the charge is localised in a C-Li o-bond. 

A variety of reagents will effect the conversion C(XTH2 - C(XrHC02R the decarbonylation of glyoxalate esters was described above. The most recently described reagent, methyl cyanoformate, reported by Mander and Sethi in 1983, allows the conversion of a preformed lithium enolate to the 3-keto ester in high yield (Scheme 68). Diethyl dicarbonate with potassium hydride in benzene effects the same reaction wiA symmetrical ketones, and with lithium dicyclohexylamide in ether introduces the ethoxycarbonyl group into the a -position of a,3-unsaturated ketones (Scheme 69)."" Diethyl carbon-... 

Alkylation of the enolate of (138) with methallyliodide gave the product (149) whose stereochemistry was assigned on the basis of equilibration experiment. It was converted to the dione (150) by oxidation with osmium tetrooxide and sodiumperiodate. The aldol cyclization of (150) effected with sodium hydride and trace of t-amyl alcohol in refluxing benzene afforded the enone (151) in 88% yield. Normal protic conditions (sodium hydroxide, ethanol) were not effective in this transformation. All attempts for its conversion to aphidicolin (148) by intermolecular additions proved fruitless and therefore were turned to intramolecular methods. Molecular models show clearly that the top face of the carbonyl group is less hindered to nucleophilic attack than is the bottom face. Thus the reduction of (151) with lithium aluminium hydride afforded the alcohol (152) whose vinyl ether (153) was subjected to pyrolysis for 2 hr at 360 C in toluene solution containing a small amount of sodium t-pentoxide to obtain the aldehyde (154) in 69% yield. Reduction and then tosylation afforded the alcohol (155) and tosylate (156) respectively. Treatment of this tosylate with Collman s reagent [67] (a reaction that failed in the model system) afforded the already reported ketoacetonide (145) whose conversion to aphidicolin (148) has been described in "Fig (12)". 

Cyclo-octa-2,4-dien-l-ol is converted into anti -2,3-epoxycyclo-oct-4-enol (91 %) on treatment with m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid, whereas t-butyl peroxide-VO(acac)2 gives the bicyclic ether (163 78 %). 2,6,6-Trimethylcyclohepta-2,4-dienol is converted into syn-2,3-epoxy-2,6,6-trimethylcyclohept-4-enol (65 %) by m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid and into (164 86%) by t-butyl per oxide-VO(acac)2- As the syn-epoxycyclo-heptenol gave (164) on treatment with VO(acac)2, it was suggested that in the t-butyl peroxide-VO(acac)2 epoxidations the bicyclic ethers were formed via the syn-2,3-epoxides and subsequent transannular S 2 substitution. The nature of the products obtained from reactions of epoxides with lithium diethylamide is solvent dependent. Thus the mono-epoxide of cyclo-octa-1,5-diene gives cyclo-oct-3-enone in benzene or ether and bicyclo[5,l,0]oct-2-en-syn-6-ol in HMPT the exocyclic... 

Similarly, the enamine salt 15 is obtained by lithiation of 14 (equation 5). In both cases the lower steric hindrance leads to higher stability of the enaminic system33 where the double bond is formed on the less substituted carbon. The Af-metalated enamines 11 and 15 are enolate analogs and their contribution to the respective tautomer mixture of the lithium salts of azomethine derivatives will be discussed below. Normant and coworkers34 also reported complete regioselectivity in alkylations of ketimines that are derived from methyl ketones. The base for this lithiation is an active dialkylamide—the product of reaction of metallic lithium with dialkylamine in benzene/HMPA. Under these conditions ( hyperbasic media ), the imine compound of methyl ketones 14 loses a proton from the methyl group and the lithium salt 15 reacts with various electrophiles or is oxidized with iodine to yield, after hydrolysis, 16 and 17, respectively (equation 5). 

Lithium naphthalenide (prepared from lithium and 1.33 equivalents of naphthalene) also reductively cleaves benzyl ethers [Scheme 4.143],262 Some functionalities survive the reaction conditions like carbon-carbon double bonds, benzene rings, THP ethers, stlyl ethers and methoxymethyl ethers. A ketone group can be present but its prior conversion to an enolate is necessary. A similar transformation, but with a catalytic amount of naphthalene, has been reported.263 Although allyl ethers are also cleaved by the procedure, the selective deprotec-... 

---