Carboxylic acids ketonic decarboxylation

Note an intuitive point here. The p-keto esters, which contain a ketone, are the sources of ketones after decarboxylation, and the diesters, which contain only ester carbonyls, are the source of carboxylic acids after decarboxylation (Rg. 19.60). 

The compounds most frequently encountered m this reaction are (3 keto acids that is carboxylic acids m which the (3 carbon is a carbonyl function Decarboxylation of (3 keto acids leads to ketones... 

It is obvious that many carboxylic acids of the formulas RCH2COOH and RR CHCOOH can be synthesized by this method (for some other ways of preparing such acids, see 10-106, 10-108, and 10-109). Another important example is the acetoacetic ester synthesis, in which Z is COOEt and Z is COCH3. In this case the product can be decarboxylated with acid or dilute base (12-38) to give a ketone or cleaved with concentrated base (12-41) to give a carboxylic ester and a salt of acetic acid ... 

Examples of this approach to the synthesis of ketones and carboxylic acids are presented in Scheme 1.4. In these procedures, an ester group is removed by hydrolysis and decarboxylation after the alkylation step. The malonate and acetoacetate carbanions are the synthetic equivalents of the simpler carbanions that lack the additional ester substituent. 

Miki et al. reported the total synthesis of ellipticine (228) starting from N-benzylindole-2,3-dicarboxylic anhydride (852) (714,715). Reaction of (3-bromo-4-pyridyDtriisopropoxyltitanium (1232) with 852 gave 2-acylindole-3-carboxylic acid 1233 in 86% yield. Decarboxylation and debenzylation of 1233 led to the ketone 1234. Wittig olefination of the ketone 1234, followed by catalytic hydrogenation. 

Relatively acidic carbon acids such as malonic esters and jS-keto esters were the first class of carbanions for which reliable conditions for alkylation were developed. The reason being that these carbanions are formed using easily accessible alkoxide ions. The preparation of 2-substiuted /i-kcto esters (entries 1, 4, and 8) and 2-substituted derivatives of malonic ester (entries 2 and 7) by the methods illustrated in Scheme 1.5 are useful for the synthesis of ketones and carboxylic acids, since both /1-ketoacids and malonic acids undergo facile decarboxylation ... 

Examples of this approach to the synthesis of ketones and carboxylic acids are presented in Scheme 1.6. In these procedures, an ester group is removed by hydrolysis and decarboxylation after the alkylation step. The malonate and acetoacetate carbanions are the synthetic equivalents of the simpler carbanions lacking the ester substituents. In the preparation of 2-heptanone (entries 1, Schemes 1.5 and 1.6), for example, ethyl acetoacetate functions as the synthetic equivalent of acetone. It is also possible to use the dilithium derivative of acetoacetic acid as the synthetic equivalent of acetone enolate.29 In this case, the hydrolysis step is unnecessary, and decarboxylation can be done directly on the alkylation product. 

Scheme 1.6. Synthesis of Ketones and Carboxylic Acid Derivatives via Alkylation Followed by Decarboxylation... 

Similarly, acetylation of thieno[3,2-6]thiophene (2) afforded 2-acetyl-thieno[3,2-6]thiophene, which was converted into methyl n-hexyl ketone by desulfurization with Raney nickel. Oxidation of 2-acetylthieno-[3,2-i]thiophene followed by nitration gave 5-nitrothieno[3,2-6]-thiophene-2-carboxylic acid. Decarboxylation of the latter furnished 2-nitrothieno[3,2-ft]thiophene identical with the compound obtained by direct nitration of thienothiophene 2 [Eq. (60)]. 

The relatively easy decarboxylation of a- (682) and y-carboxylic acids is a result of inductive stabilization of intermediate ylides of type (683) (cf. Section 3.2.1.8.2). By carrying out the decarboxylation in the presence of aldehydes or ketones, products of type (684) are formed (Hammick Reaction). 

Ring-closure techniques are more commonly used to obtain 3-alkylbenzo[6]thiophenes. Thus, acid-catalyzed cyclization of arylthio methyl ketones gives the 3-alkylbenzo[6]thio-phenes in good yield, with little rearrangement (equation 3). Formation of the 3-aryl-benzo[6]thiophenes by this approach is complicated, however, by rearrangement to the 2-isomer (Section 3.15.2.3.2). 3-Methylbenzo[f> Jthiophene is also obtained by decarboxylation of the corresponding 2-carboxylic acid (equation 4), readily available from ar-mer-captocinnamic acids (Section 3.15.2.1.1). 

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