Condensation with carboxylic esters

Upon heating of a carboxylic ester 1 with sodium in an inert solvent, a condensation reaction can take place to yield a a-hydroxy ketone 2 after hydrolytic workup. " This reaction is called Acyloin condensation, named after the products thus obtained. It works well with alkanoic acid esters. For the synthesis of the corresponding products with aryl substituents (R = aryl), the Benzoin condensation of aromatic aldehydes is usually applied. 

Reaction of a-sulphinyl carboxylic esters 421 with carbonyl compounds has usually been performed using a Grignard reagent as a base. No condensation products are obtained using t-butyllithium or sodium hydride367,496,497 (equation 251). The condensation products formed are convenient starting materials for the synthesis of a, p-unsaturated esters and /1-ketones497. 

A condensation reaction joins two molecules and splits out a small molecule. The small molecule is usually water. The formation of a peptide bond is an example of a condensation reaction. The conditions necessary for a condensation reaction vary with the functional groups involved. In most cases, a catalyst will be present. The two most common catalysts are acids and enzymes. Two alcohols will condense to form an ether. A carboxylic acid condenses with an alcohol to form an ester. A carboxylic acid condenses with an amine to form an amide. 

In this context Miller " has demonstrated that all these issues could be overcome by hydroxamic-acids-based heteroatom activation.Therefore, S-halo or /S-hydroxy carboxylic acids 148a and 148b are converted to the corresponding hydroxamates 149a and 149b by active ester condensation with 0-substituted hydroxylamines (Scheme 69). Since chiral... 

Aldol condensation of a-amino silyl ketene acetals (l).10 2-Dibenzylami-noketene trimethylsilyl acetals (1) react with aldehydes premixed with TiCl4 to give a-amino-p-hydroxy carboxylic esters (2) with moderate to high syn-selectivity. Surprisingly, TiCl4-catalyzed reaction of 1 with a chiral a-alkoxy aldehyde proceeds with low asymmetric induction. 

Carboxylic esters react with sodium metal to give a-hydroxy ketones (often referred to as acyloins). The reaction, known as the acyloin condensation, is thought to proceed by the mechanism shown in Figure Si3.13. 

If other active groups are y or 8 to the nitro group, hydrogenation can result in the formation of cyclic products. Esters condense with the product amine to give lactams. Ketones or aldehydes produce imines that can be hydrogenated further to an amine. The hydrogenation of y- or 5-nitro carboxylic acids under mild conditions, however, gives the amino acids in excellent yields.58.59 The... 

Condensation reactions have appeared several times outside the context of polymer synthesis. For example, two molecules of H2SO4 condense to form disulfuric acid (H2S2O7), and a carboxylic acid condenses with an alcohol to form an ester (see Section 7.6). 

Ethyne may be condensed first with the alkyl halide to give H3C [CH2]a C=CH or with the difunctional entity to give Hcic(CH2)yY. The carboxyl group can be generated by oxidation of an alcohol or by reaction of halide with cyanide and then with acidic methanol to give a methyl ester. Condensation with acetylene or an ethynyl compound requires the sodium or lithium derivative and is usually conducted in liquid ammonia. Modification of this approach is necessary when the unsaturated centre is close to either end of the molecule. 

Reductions of aromatic nitro compounds provide a simple and general access to various heterocyclic compounds through the domino process (Scheme 9.23). Quinolines are important skeletal moieties present in various natural products and biologically active compounds [58]. Most common methods of their preparation involve condensation of o-amino benzaldehydes with an enolizable carbonyl compound (Friedlander synthesis) [59]. Miller et al. [60] reported an efficient synthesis of quinolines 109, in which a reduction of o-nitroaryl carbaldehyde by SnCl2 followed by condensation with an enolizable carbonyl compound in the presence of ZnCl2 yielded 109 through a domino process. In 2001, Bunce et al. [61] reported a domino nitroarene reduction/reductive amination sequence for the preparation of tetrahydroquinoline-4-carboxylic ester 110 with excellent yields. 

Esters of pyridine-carboxylic acids react normally with compounds containing activated methylene groups. The reactions are valuable, for example as routes to acylpyridines. The ethoxide-catalysed condensation of ethyl pyridine carboxylates with ethyl acetate has often been described early work suggested that esters of nicotinic acid gave lower yields than their isomers, but this is not so . Many esters other than ethyl acetate have been used and a number of substituted pyridine esters > Condensations with picolines to give desoxypyridoins are of practical value (p. 380). 

Indanedioiie (III) may also be prepared by condensation of diethyl phthalate (V) with ethyl acetate in the presence of sodium ethoxide the resulting sodium 1 3-indanedione-2-carboxylic ester (VI) upon warming with sulphuric acid yields (HI). 

In his cephalosporin synthesis methyl levulinate was condensed with cysteine in acidic medium to give a bicyclic thiazolidine. One may rationalize the regioselective formation of this bicycle with the assumption that in the acidic reaction mixture the tMoI group is the only nucleophile present, which can add to the ketone. Intramolecular amide formation from the methyl ester and acid-catalyzed dehydration would then lead to the thiazolidine and y-lactam rings. The stereochemistry at the carboxylic acid a-... 

The main example of a category I indole synthesis is the Hemetsberger procedure for preparation of indole-2-carboxylate esters from ot-azidocinna-mates[l]. The procedure involves condensation of an aromatic aldehyde with an azidoacetate ester, followed by thermolysis of the resulting a-azidocinna-mate. The conditions used for the base-catalysed condensation are critical since the azidoacetate enolate can decompose by elimination of nitrogen. Conditions developed by Moody usually give good yields[2]. This involves slow addition of the aldehyde and 3-5 equiv. of the azide to a cold solution of sodium ethoxide. While the thermolysis might be viewed as a nitrene insertion reaction, it has been demonstrated that azirine intermediates can be isolated at intermediate temperatures[3]. 

The formation of an enamine from an a,a-disubstituted cyclopentanone and its reaction with methyl acrylate was used in a synthesis of clovene (JOS). In a synthetic route to aspidospermine, a cyclic enamine reacted with methyl acrylate to form an imonium salt, which regenerated a new cyclic enamine and allowed a subsequent internal enamine acylation reaction (309,310). The required cyclic enamine could not be obtained in this instance by base isomerization of the allylic amine precursor, but was obtained by mercuric acetate oxidation of its reduction product. Condensation of a dihydronaphthalene carboxylic ester with an enamine has also been reported (311). 

Under basic conditions, the o-nitrotoluene (5) undergoes condensation with ethyl oxalate (2) to provide the a-ketoester 6. After hydrolysis of the ester functional group, the nitro moiety in 7 is then reduced to an amino function, which reacts with the carbonyl group to provide the cyclized intermediate 13. Aromatization of 13 by loss of water gives the indole-2-carboxylic acid (9). 

Only in the case of the pyruvic acid condensation product was it possible to isolate the corresponding ethyl ester under these conditions. This, on mild hydrolysis, reverted to 1-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-j8-carbohne-1-carboxylic acid, identical with the starting material, which therefore had the assigned structure 26 (R = CH3) and was not the SchiflF s base 25 (R = CH3). Alkaline hydrolysis of the ester was accompanied by decarboxylation. ... 

Carboxylic esters 1 that have an a-hydrogen can undergo a condensation reaction upon treatment with a strong base to yield a /3-keto ester 2. This reaction is called the Claisen ester condensation or acetoacetic ester condensation, the corresponding intramolecular reaction is called the Dieckmann condensation ... 

The prototype of a Knoevenagel reaction shown in the scheme above is the condensation of an aldehyde or ketone 1 with a malonic ester 2, to yield an a ,/3-unsaturated carboxylic ester 4. 

Finally, the quinoline ring can be methylated at the 3 position with retention of biologic activity. The starting quinoline is prepared by the same scheme as that used for the desmethyl compound by substituting the methylated oxosuccinate ester, S6, in the sequence. The initial quinoline carboxylate (87) is taken on to the dichloro compound (88) by the standard reactions. Condensation with the ubiquitous diamine (76) affords sontoquine (89)... 

Spirapril (37) is a clinically active antihypertensive agent closely related structurally and mechanistically to enalapril. Various syntheses are reported with the synthesis of the substituted proline portion being the key to the methods. This is prepared fkim l-carbobenzyloxy-4-oxopro-line methyl ester (33) by reaction with ethanedithiol and catalytic tosic acid. The product (34) is deprotected with 20% HBr to methyl l,4-dithia-7-azospiro[4.4 nonane-8-carboxylate (35), Condensation of this with N-carbobenzyloxy-L-alanyl-N-hydroxysuccinate leads to the dipeptide ester which is deblocked to 36 by hydrolysis with NaOH and then treatment with 20% HBr. The conclusion of the synthesis of spirapril (37) follows with the standard reductive alkylation [11]. 

Replacement of a benzene ring by its isostere, thiophene, is one of the more venerable practices in medicinal chemistry. Application of this stratagem to the NSAID piroxicam, gives tenoxicam, 136, a drug with substantially the same activity, nie synthesis of this compound starts by a multi-step conversion of hydroxy thiophene carboxylic ester 130, to the sulfonyl chloride 133. Reaction of that with N-methylglycinc ethyl ester, gives the sulfonamide 134. Base-catalyzed Claisen type condensation serves to cyclize that intermediate to the p-keto ester 135 (shown as the enol tautomer). The final product tenoxicam (136) is obtained by heating the ester with 2-aminopyridine [22]. 

Alcohols condense with carboxylic acids to form esters. 

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