Carbanion nitromethane

The condensation of nitro compounds and imines, the so-called aza-Henry or nitro-Mannich reaction, has recently emerged as a powerful tool for the enantioselective synthesis of 1,2-diamines through the intermediate /3-amino nitro compounds. The method is based on the addition of a nitronate ion (a-nitro carbanion), generated from nitroalkanes, to an imine. The addition of a nitronate ion to an imine is thermodynamically disfavored, so that the presence of a protic species or a Lewis acid is required, to activate the imine and/or to quench the adduct. The acidic medium is compatible with the existence of the nitronate anion, as acetic acid and nitromethane have comparable acidities. Moreover, the products are often unstable, either for the reversibility of the addition or for the possible /3-elimination of the nitro group, and the crude products are generally reduced, avoiding purification to give the desired 1,2-diamines. Hence, the nitronate ion is an equivalent of an a-amino carbanion. 

Many of the compounds that undergo ready base-catalysed keto i enol prototropic changes, e.g. / -keto esters, l,3-(/ -) diketones, aliphatic nitro compounds, etc., form relatively stable carbanions, e.g. (25), that can often be isolated. Thus it is possible to obtain carbanions from the keto forms of the /J-keto ester (23a) and nitromethane (24a) and, under suitable conditions, to protonate them so as to obtain the pure enol forms (23b) and (24i>), respectively. It thus seems extremely probable that their interconversion follows the intermolecular pathway (a). The more acidic the substrate, i.e. the more stable the carbanion to which it gives rise, the greater the chance that prototropic interconversion will involve the carbanion as an intermediate. 

The mechanisms of the condensation and many other reactions of nitroalkanes are formulated nowadays in terms of carbanions, as in the case of reactions involving CH activated by other groups6. The ion generated from a nitroalkane by the action of base is regarded as a resonance hybrid e.g. for nitromethane ... 

Secondary nitro compounds can be converted into carbanions in similar fashion. Interesting highly functionalized adducts (46) were prepared by addition to levoglucosene (45) (equation 17)59. Mixtures of diastereomeric adducts were generally formed60. The adduct from nitromethane undergoes double Michael addition followed by aldol condensation to afford the novel adduct 47. 

In organic chemistry this stabilizing effect is well known the stability of carbanions is known to be enhanced by nitro groups. The stability of the cyclopentadienide anion is increased by complexing with a typical Lewis acid so that it becomes less reactive. For example, ferrocene is not ionized in nitromethane solution. Addition of a Lewis acid such as aluminum chloride facilitates the occurrence of intramolecular race-mization (75) a process which is believed to involve ionic intermediates [16). This belief is supported by kinetic evidence and the failure of the reaction to occur in nearly inert solvents like methylene chloride and in those of high donidty. Whereas the former do not support the solvation of the cation formed in the process of ionization, the latter will react preferentially with the Lewis acid, which is then no longer available for the stabilization of the carbanion. 

As with epoxides, carbanions can add in a 1,4 fashion to enones or nitrosugars. Nitromethane anion has been used [64], Dithiane anion has been successfully used in the addition to nitroolefins [65] and to enones [66], Accordingly, C-5 branched-chain glucose derivatives 47 and 48 have been prepared from nitroolefin 46 (Scheme 20) [67,68], Sugar-derived enones have been also used as acceptors in free radical reactions to trap alkyl radicals as well as anomeric radicals (see Schemes 29 and 30). 

The reactions of 1,3-dihaloadamantanes with various carbanions in DMSO have been studied.18 For example, potassium enolates of acetophenone and pinacolone and the anion of nitromethane react with 1,3-diiodoadamantane (19) under photo-stimulation a free-radical chain process forms a 1-iodo monosubstitution product (20) as an intermediate, which undergoes concerted fragmentation to yield derivatives of 7-methylidenebicyclo[3.3.1]nonene (21). These and other results were interpreted in terms of the Srn1 mechanism. The work has been extended to the reactions of 1- and 2-halo- and 1,2-dichloro-adamantanes, examples of the SrnI mechanism again being found.19... 

Photostimulated, S r k 1 reactions of carbanion nucleophiles in DMSO have been used to advantage in C—C bond formation (Scheme 1).25-27 Thus, good yields of substitution products have been obtained from neopentyl iodide on reaction with enolates of acetophenone and anthrone, but not with the conjugate base of acetone or nitromethane (unless used in conjunction, whereby the former acts as an entrainment agent).25 1,3-Diiodoadamantane forms an intermediate 1-iodo mono substitution product on reaction with potassium enolates of acetophenone and pinacolone and with the anion of nitromethane subsequent fragmentation of the intermediate gives derivatives of 7-methylidenebicyclo[3.3.1]nonene. Reactions of 1,3-dibromo- and 1-bromo-3-chloro-adamantane are less effective.26... 

The reactivity of carbanions with 1-AdI differs for different reaction steps. Thus, the photostimulated ET rate from the carbanion to 1-AdI increases with the pKa of the conjugate acid of the carbanion (the pKa values in DMSO are acetone 26.5, acetophenone 24.7 and nitromethane 17.2125). The reactivity in the coupling reaction does not follow the pKa order of the ketones. 

Equation 26. Electron-deficient flavins will also oxidize nitroalkane anions in model reactions (12). The observation (11) that nitromethane anion and FloXEt yield a stable 4a-adduct is evidence that 4a-adducts are not on the reaction path for nitroalkane oxidation. That the blocking of the N(5)-position of flavin (i.e., FloxEt) prevents oxidation of nitromethane would, however, be in accord with the requirement for an N(5)-adduct (11). The nitroalkane reaction with flavoenzyme has been used to implicate N(5)-adducts as intermediates in the oxidation mechanism of amino acid oxidases. However, it must be understood that nitroalkane anions differ significantly from the carbanions generated from a normal substrate. The nitroalkane anion on loss of its pair of electrons would provide an impossibly unstable carbonium ion, whereas in the case of the amino acid anion an internal electron release obviates carbonium ion formation. 

On the other hand, the pKa values of a series of substituted nitromethanes [83] (Table 4.11) suggest that, whilst chlorine bonded directly to the carbanion centre increases acidity relative to hydrogen, fluorine decreases acidity and, therefore, decreases the stability of the corresponding carbanion. 

All Pi values obtained for oxygen bases A- are between 0.94 and 1.09 (Table 7), with the exception of two reactions involving nitromethane, with lower p2 values. This indicates that proton transfer between these oxygen bases must be fast as expected. (The best value is probably a little larger than 1.) It follows that the assumption of the constancy of the p, values is essentially correct for these examples. Furthermore, the predicted relationship between p value (of a CH bond) and resonance effect in the carbanion appears to be fulfilled (Table 7). For some reactions of the type RH + A-, the values calculated for n2max = 1 — nmax are of approximately the same magnitude as the experimental Bronsted (5 values [132],... 

Owing to this dichotomy, a, -unsaturated aldehydes, ketones, or esters can undergo a nucleophilic attack at either the carbonyl carbon or the )S-carbon atom (Scheme 2.29). The first of these reactions is a familiar addition to the carbonyl group (1,2-addition) which leads, in this case, to the valuable allylic alcohols. Even more intriguing synthetic options, however, are offered by the alternative pathway, the 1,4-addition generally known as the Michael reaction. The classic version of this reaction employed stable carbanions such as those generated in situ from malonic ester or nitromethane under the action of bases and in the presence of Michael acceptors, e.g. methyl vinyl ketone 90 ... 

A variety of stabilized primary carbanions generated from alkyl acetates, A,A-disubsti-tuted acetamides,acetonitrile, dimethyl sulfone, A,7y-dimethylmethanesulfon-amide, nitromethane, and 2-methylpyridine with lithium diisopropylamide or lithium amide are capable of effecting the Sternbach ring expansion of 2-chloromethylquinazoline 3-oxides 5 into 3//-1,4-benzodiazepine 4-oxides 6 bearing a carbon substituent at the 2-position. 

Condensation of [Co(tacn)2] bis-triaminate with formaldehyde and nitromethane led to an unusual clathrochelate complex with a stable carbanion, A tripodal cap from three formaldehyde and one nitromethane species formed on one octahedral face as expected by the conventional route. However, on another octahedral face, the capping process proceeded in an unusual way to stabilize a carbanion chelate and to methylate the remaining coordinated amino group ... 

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