Carbonyl compounds Simmons-Smith reaction

The Simmons-Smith reaction is an efficient and powerful method for synthesizing cyclopropanes from alkenes [43]. Allylic alcohols are reactive and widely used as substrates, whereas a,j8-unsaturated carbonyl compounds are unreactive. In 1988, Ambler and Davies [44] reported the electrophilic addition of methylene to a,/3-unsaturated acyl ligands attached to the chiral-at-metal iron complex. The reaction of the racemic iron complex 60 with diethylzinc and diiodomethane in the presence of ZnCl2 afforded the c/s-cyclopropane derivatives 61a and 61b in 93 % yield in 24 1 ratio (Sch. 24). 

Allylation. Amalgamated Sm proi iodide) with carbonyl compounds. Dialh Cyclopropanation The Sm-HgO the Simmons-Smith reaction on allylic 1... 

Cyclopropanes are efficiently obtained from alkenes by Simmons-Smith reaction applying CH2l2/Zn-Cu couple or CH2l2/Et2Zn as reagents. A variety of compounds bearing a chiral moiety have been studied, as for example a,P-unsaturated acetals and oxazolidines, enolethers, allylic alcohols, alkenylboronic esters as well as a,p-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. 

Alkenes are reduced by addition of H2 in the presence of a catalyst such as platinum or palladium to yield alkanes, a process called catalytic hydrogenation. Alkenes are also oxidized by reaction with a peroxyacid to give epoxides, which can be converted into trans-l,2-diols by acid-catalyzed hydrolysis. The corresponding cis-l,2-diols can be made directly from alkenes by hydroxylation with OSO4. Alkenes can also be cleaved to produce carbonyl compounds by reaction with ozone, followed by reduction with zinc metal. In addition, alkenes react with divalent substances called carbenes, R2C , to give cyclopropanes. Nonhalo-genated cyclopropanes are best prepared by treatment of the alkene with CH2I2 and zinc-copper, a process called the Simmons-Smith reaction. 

The chemical behavior of heteroatom-substituted vinylcarbene complexes is similar to that of a,(3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds (Figure 2.17) [206]. It is possible to perform Michael additions [217,230], 1,4-addition of cuprates [151], additions of nucleophilic radicals [231], 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions [232,233], inter-[234-241] or intramolecular [220,242] Diels-Alder reactions, as well as Simmons-Smith- [243], sulfur ylide- [244] or diazomethane-mediated [151] cyclopropanati-ons of the vinylcarbene C-C double bond. The treatment of arylcarbene complexes with organolithium reagents ean lead via conjugate addition to substituted 1,4-cyclohexadien-6-ylidene complexes [245]. 

Cyclopropanation reactions have generated appreciable interest since the products have potential for chemical manipulation and as enzyme inhibitors.60 A notable early finding is that addition at either side of a double bond can be induced by manipulation of the structures of the substrates. For example, compound 171 is obtained from ethyl 4,6-di-0-acetyl-2,3-dideoxy-a-D-eryt/zro-hex-2-enopyranoside by Simmons-Smith cyclopropanation (diiodomethane and Zn-Cu couple) followed by conversion of the C-4 group from an ester to a carbonyl. On the other hand, the substrate with a carbonyl group instead of the ester at C-4 cyclopropanates to give the a-lyxo product 172.198... 

Cyclopropanation of enol ethers, for example the conversion of 399 - 400, proceeds especially easy under Simmons-Smith conditions. This reaction offers additional options for the synthetic utilization of carbonyl compounds capable of forming enol ethers. Some of them will be considered later in this chapter (see Section 2.23.2). 

Dimethylsulfonium methylide and dimethylsulfoxonium methylide also differ in their reachons with a,p-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. The sulfonium ylide reacts at the carbonyl group to form an epoxide, but with the sulfoxonium ylide a cyclopropane derivative is obtained by Michael addihon to the carbon-carbon double bond. The difference is again due to the fact that the kinehcally favoured reachon of the sulfonium yhde with the carbonyl group is irreversible, whereas the corresponding reaction with the sulfoxonium yhde is reversible, allowing preferenhal formahon of the thermodynamically more stable product from the Michael addihon. For example, the cyclopropane 112 is obtained from the reaction of dimethylsulfoxonium methylide with the enone 111 (1.105). Other methods for the formahon of cyclopropanes include carbene and Simmons-Smith-type... 

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