Reformatsky reactions carboxylic acid derivatives

Condensation reactions of simple carboxylic acids with imines are of intense interest because of their applications to 3-lactam synthesis. Activation of the carboxylic acid derivative is accomplished by preforming the enolate in situ or by using a silyl ketene acetal derivative with Lewis acid catalysis. The first example of an enolate-imine condensation of this type can be attributed to Gillman and Speeter, who in 1943 reported the synthesis of 3-lactams from Reformatsky reagents and Schiff bases. Subsequently, other workers have investigated the mechanism and syn-anti selectivity of this reaction. A review of these studies by Evans et al. covering work through 1980 has appeared in their review, Stereoselective Aldol Condensations . ... 

Reactions exhibiting diastereofacial selectivity, which occur when the imine or the enolate contains an endogenous stereocenter or a chiral auxiliary, have important applications for the synthesis of optically active 3-l ctams and 3-amino carboxylic acid derivatives. Early work by Furukawa et al. has demonstrated the viability of preparing optically active 3-amino acids from chiral imines. For example, the Schiff base derived from (5)-a-methylbenzylamine (110) reacts with Reformatsky reagent (111) to give, after hydrolysis and removal of the chiral auxiliary, 3-amino-2,2-dimethyl-3-phenylpropionic acid (112) in 33% ee (Scheme 21). Similar Reformatsky reactions have been performed using (-)-menthyl esters but the enantiomeric excess values are lower. ... 

A synthesis of (313) from cycloheptanone and p-bromobenzoic acid which involved protection of the carboxylic acid function as its oxazoline derivative, has been described. Benzsuberone was converted into a mixture predominantly containing (314) by a Reformatsky reaction, and to (315 mixture of isomers) by condensation with the Grignard reagent of ethoxyacetylene followed by hydrolysis. 

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