Lewis acids interaction with carbonyl compounds

Fig. 2.15 Intermolecular interaction of boric ester (a) with hthium salt and (b) with carbonyl compound based on Lewis acid-base neutralization...

The first important characteristic is the presence of functional groups within a compound that can interact specifically with CO2 in interactions of the Lewis acid/base type. These functional groups may be electron donating, such as carbonyls, to interact with CO2, which would be the electron acceptor. 

In addition to the reaction of Cp3Ni3(CO)2 and Cp4Fe4(CO)4 with molecular Lewis acids in solution, a similar interaction is found with Lewis acid sites on y-AI203 (111). These compounds are rapidly extracted from hydrocarbon solution by dehydroxylated y-Al203, and IR spectra of the adsorbed species indicate an interaction between a surface aluminum acid site and a carbonyl oxygen (17a and 17b). Infrared stretching frequencies... 

Complexes of carbonyl oxygen with trivalent boron and aluminum compounds tend to adopt a geometry consistent with directional interaction with one of the oxygen lone pairs. Thus the C—O—M bonds tend to be in the trigonal (120°—140°) range and the boron or aluminum is usually close to the carbonyl plane.The structural specificity that is built into Lewis acid complexes can be used to advantage to achieve stereoselectivity in catalysis. For example, use of chiral ligands in conjunction with Lewis acids is frequently the basis for enantioselective catalysts. 

A regioselective aldol condensation described by Biichi succeeds for sterical reasons (G. Biichi, 1968). If one treats the diaidehyde given below with acid, both possible enols are probably formed in a reversible reaaion. Only compound A, however, is found as a product, since in B the interaction between the enol and ester groups which are in the same plane hinders the cyclization. BOchi used acid catalysis instead of the usual base catalysis. This is often advisable, when sterical hindrance may be important. It works, because the addition of a proton or a Lewis acid to a carbonyl oxygen acidifies the neighbouring CH-bonds. 

The mechanism of the cycloaddition reaction of benzaldehyde 2a with Danishefsky s diene 3a catalyzed by aluminum complexes has been investigated theoretically using semi-empirical calculations [14]. It was found that the reaction proceeds as a step-wise cycloaddition reaction with the first step being a nucleophilic-like attack of Danishefsky s diene 2a on the coordinated carbonyl compound leading to an aldol-like intermediate which is stabilized by interaction of the cation with the oxygen atom of the Lewis acid. The next step is the ring-closure step, giving the cycloaddition product. 

A simple approach for the formation of 2-substituted 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrans, which are useful precursors for natural products such as optically active carbohydrates, is the catalytic enantioselective cycloaddition reaction of a,/ -unsaturated carbonyl compounds with electron-rich alkenes. This is an inverse electron-demand cycloaddition reaction which is controlled by a dominant interaction between the LUMO of the 1-oxa-1,3-butadiene and the HOMO of the alkene (Scheme 4.2, right). This is usually a concerted non-synchronous reaction with retention of the configuration of the die-nophile and results in normally high regioselectivity, which in the presence of Lewis acids is improved and, furthermore, also increases the reaction rate. 

Overall, it is possible to divide the silyl Lewis acids into two groups, depending on how strong the counter anion interacts with the silicon atom as shown in Scheme 2. In the case where a very weakly coordinating anion is part of the compound, one could consider that a free silyl cation is present. However, the silyl cation is very strong and will be coordinated by solvent molecules like acetonitrile or toluene [25, 26]. This complex could activate, for example, a carbonyl group. Whether the carbonyl group replaces the solvent molecule is not known. In the case... 

Although the allylation reaction is formally analogous to the addition of allylboranes to carbonyl derivatives, it does not appear to occur through a cyclic transition state. This is because, in contrast to the boron in allyl boranes, the silicon in allylic silanes has no Lewis acid character and would not be expected to coordinate at the carbonyl oxygen. The stereochemistry of addition of allylic silanes to carbonyl compounds is consistent with an acyclic transition state. Both the E- and Z-stereoisomers of 2-butenyl(trimethyl)silane give the product in which the newly formed hydroxyl group is syn to the methyl substituent.64 The preferred orientation of approach by the silane minimizes interaction between the aldehyde substituent R and the methyl group. 

Nitrones can be activated mainly in two different ways for the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition with alkenes. In the reaction between a nitrone and an electron-dehcient alkene, such as an a,p-unsaturated carbonyl compound (a normal electron-demand reaction), it is primarily controlled by the interaction between HOMOnitrone-LUMOaikene (Scheme 12.64). By coordination of a Lewis acid (LA) catalyst to the a,p-unsaturated carbonyl compound, the LUMOaikene energy decreases and a better interaction with the nitrone can take place (16,17). 

NMR has been extensively applied to carbonyl compounds in acidic zeolites and other solid acids. The unshared pairs of electrons on the oxygen can interact with either Brpnsted or Lewis sites, and aldol condensation reactions are commonly observed. Acetone was first studied on a zeolite by Bosacek and co-workers (146) followed by Haw and co-workers (147) and later by Gorte and co-workers (148). The conclusion of an earlier acetone paper of Gorte and co-workers (149) was that acetone forms a static complex on the Brdnsted site of HZSM-5 at room temperature, but this claim was later revised (150) upon the realization that molecular motion in the complex is not halted except at appreciably lower temperatures. 

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