Carboxylic esters, carbonyl olefination

Heterosubstituted cyclopropanes can be synthesized from appropriate olefins and car-benes. Since cyclopropane resembles olefins in its reactivity and is thus an electron-rich car bo-cycle (p. 76ft). it forms complexes with Lewis acids, e.g. TiCL, and is thereby destabilized This effect is even more pronounced in cydopropanone ketals. If one of the alcohols forming the ketal is a silanol, the ketal is stable and distillable. The O—Si-bond is cleaved by TiCl4 and a d3-reagent is formed. This reacts with a -reagents, e.g. aldehydes or ketals. Various 4-substituted carboxylic esters are available from 1-alkoxy-l-siloxycyclopropanes in this way (E. Nakamura, 1977). If one starts with l-bromo-2-methoxycyclopropanes, the bromine can be selectively substituted by lithium. Subsequent treatment of this reagent with carbonyl compounds yields (2-methoxycyclopropyl)methanols, which can be transformed to /7,y-unsaturated aldehydes (E.J. Corey, 1975B). 

The reaction under consideration is typified by the formation of saturated carboxylic acids from olefins, carbon monoxide, and water. Other compounds have been used in place of olefins (alkyl halides, alcohols), and besides water, a variety of compounds containing active hydrogen may be employed. Thus, alcohols, thiols, amines, and acids give rise to esters, thio-esters, amides, and acid anhydrides, respectively (15). If the olefin and the active hydrogen are part of the same molecule, three or four atoms apart, cyclizations may occur to produce lactones, lactams, imides, etc. The cyclizations are formally equivalent to carbonylations, however, and will be considered later. 

The use of palladium and ruthenium as halogen-free carbonylation catalysts has been studied intensively by Shell. The catalysts were principally designed for the carbonylation of olefins in the presence of alcohols in order to yield carboxylic esters [26], but work also well for the synthesis of carboxylic acids or anhydrides. The latter are formed when the reaction is conducted in an acid as a solvent [27]. The palladium systems typically consist of palladium acetate, tertiary phosphines, and strong acids such as mineral acids or acids with weak or noncoordinating anions such as p-toluenesulfonic acid. Remarkable activities are achieved when aromatic phosphines that carry pyridines as substituents are... 

The ease of reaction depends both on the CH acidity of the addend and on the polarizability of the ethylenic double bond of the acceptor. Thus, in general, only such compounds function as addend in which a methylene or methine group is activated by two neighboring carbonyl or nitrile groups, as, for example, in malonic esters, malonodinitrile, cyanoacetic esters, 1,3-dioxo compounds and 3-oxo carboxylic esters, and their monoalkyl substitution products. The ethylenic double bond of the acceptor is polarized by conjugation with a polar multiple bond, so that the olefinic component is usually an unsaturated ketone, an, / -unsaturated ester, or an, / -unsaturated nitrile. The addition is catalysed by bases such as potassium hydroxide solution, sodium ethoxide, and amines. 

The starting compound 8 is obtained from 1,4-dibromobutane by a succession of reactions with triphenylphosphane and carboxylates. This cyclization is one of the few examples of the conversion of an ester carbonyl group into an olefinic moiety by a phosphorus ylide. 

The diazo reaction with olefins as shown previously is still the fastest method to get hold of mixtures of diastereomers, often, however, with moderate yields due to the lack of reactivity of the olefins. Several nor-chrysanthemic esters [479], alkoxycyclopro-pane carboxylic esters [480,481], which are interesting because of their photostabihty and insecticidal activity [482], and 2,2,3,3-tetramethylcarboxyhc ester [483] were prepared by this route. Asymmetric synthesis using optically active iron carbonyl-olefin complexes afforded 1-R-configurated esters, i.e. precursors for caronaldehyde [484]. The addition of diazopropane across the double bond of olefinic esters via pyrazolines [485, 486] also provides a rapid access to sometimes more complex cyclopropane carboxylic esters with questionable purity, from which the pure compounds can be separated. 

Garboxylation Reaction. The carboxylation reaction represents the conversion of acetylene and olefins into carboxyHc acids (qv) or their derivatives. The industrially important Reppe process is used in the synthesis of P-unsaturated esters from acetylene. Nickel carbonyl is the catalyst of choice (134). 

With the long chain a-diazo ketone. 6-diazo-7-tridecanone, 1,5-insertion could proceed with placement of the carbonyl outside the ring, or included in the ring. In fact, only the product 7, from the first of these two cyclization modes, is observed67. The alternative cyclopentane 9 is not formed. As with the a-diazo ester, the relative proportion of 1,2- and 1,5-products depends on the rhodium carboxylate employed. Throughout these studies, it has been observed that the olefin 8, obtained from 1,2-elimination, is cleanly Z-configured67 68. 

The metal hydride mechanism was first described for the cobalt-carbonyl-catalyzed ester formation by analogy with hydroformylation.152 It was later adapted to carboxylation processes catalyzed by palladium136 153 154 and platinum complexes.137 As in the hydroformylation mechanism, the olefin inserts itself into the... 

On the pages which follow, general methods are illustrated for the synthesis of a wide variety of classes of organic compounds including acyl isocyanates (from amides and oxalyl chloride p. 16), epoxides (from reductive coupling of aromatic aldehydes by hexamethylphosphorous triamide p. 31), a-fluoro acids (from 1-alkenes p. 37), 0-lactams (from olefins and chlorosulfonyl isocyanate p. 51), 1 y3,5-triketones (from dianions of 1,3-diketones and esters p. 57), sulfinate esters (from disulfides, alcohols, and lead tetraacetate p. 62), carboxylic acids (from carbonylation of alcohols or olefins via carbonium-ion intermediates p. 72), sulfoxides (from sulfides and sodium periodate p. 78), carbazoles... 

An alternative route to carboxylic acids (and their esters) involves carbonylation of an olefin in the presence of water (to give the acid) or an alcohol (to give... 

The total unsaturation from Equation (7) can be apportioned into contributions from alicyclic structural moieties such as furanose and pyra-nose rings, aromatic structural moieties such as benzene rings, and carbonyl-containing moieties such as carboxylic acids, esters, amides, aldehydes, and ketones. Olefinic moieties such as the unsaturated alkyl chains of some lipids are thought to be of only minor importance. Equation (7) can thus be rewritten as... 

Among the different methods for the formation of C-C double bonds, the reductive elimination of (3-functionalized (mainly P-hydroxy or (3-carboxy) sulfones, is one of the most widely used ones in organic synthesis. The reductive elimination of (3-hydroxy sulfones and derivatives is the so-called Julia,94 or Julia-Lythgoe olefination reaction (Eq. 2). It usually involves a condensation between the anion of an alkyl sulfone and a carbonyl compound to afford a (3-hydroxy sulfone (Eq. 47). The metal alkoxide intermediate is typically transformed in situ into a carboxylic or sulfonic ester derivative, which is then reduced... 

Carbonylation of olefins in the presence of alcohols to give esters is called hydroesterification. Similarly, olefin carbonylation in the presence of carboxylic acids yields acid anhydrides. Both hydroesterification and acid anhydride formation by olefin carbonylation are covered in section 14.6.4. Other carbonylation variations, including the use of acetylenic substrates, thiols and amines as hydrogen sources and the carbonylation of allylic halides are not discussed. Several excellent reviews of hydrocarboxyiation and carbonylation of olefinshave appeared. 

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