Claisen condensation acylation, ketones with esters

The acylation of ketones with esters an example of the Claisen condensation is generally effected with a basic reagent, such as sodium ethoxide, sodium, sodamide or sodium hy dride. Thus acetone and ethyl acetate condense in the presence of sodium ethoxide to yield acetylacetone ... 

In 1887, Claisen and Lowman reported that the condensation of 2 mol of an ester, such as ethyl acetate, in the presence of base gave the p-keto ester, ethyl acetoacetate (ethyl 3-oxobutanoate equation 1). The intramolecular equivalent was recognized by Dieckmann in 1894. He found that heating an adipic acid ester with sodium and a trace of alcohol led to cyclization, with the formation of a cyclopentanone (equation 2). The reaction was, at an early stage, extended to the acylation of ketones. Claisen himself reported the base-catalyzed reaction of acetophenone and ethyl benzoate to give dibenzoylmethane in 1887. This reaction, too, has an intramolecular parallel. The acylation of ketones with esters and other acid derivatives is sometimes called a Claisen condensation, although this usage is criticized by some writers and avoided by others. A widely used example of ketone acylation is the synthesis of a-formyl (hydroxymethylene) ketones (equation 3). Intramolecular variants of this reaction include the classical synthesis of dimedone (Scheme 1). 

Aldehyde, Ketone, and Ester Enolates 867 Enolate Regiochemistry 872 The Aldol Condensation 873 Mixed Aldol Condensations 878 Chalcones From the Mulberry Tree to Cancer Chemotherapy 880 The Claisen Condensation 882 Intramolecular Claisen Condensation The Dieckmann Cyclization 884 Mixed Claisen Condensations 885 Acylation of Ketones with Esters 886 Alkylation of Enolates 887 The Acetoacetic Ester Synthesis 889 The Malonic Ester Synthesis 891 Alkylation of Chiral Enolates 893 Enolization and Enol Content 895 a Halogenation of Aldehydes and Ketones 900... 

The starting material in this reaction is the P-keto ester product formed by the Dieckmann cyclization seen in part (a) of Problem 20.14. The P-keto esters formed by Claisen condensations (Sections 20.5 and 20.7) and the acylation of ketones with esters (Section 20.8) can also be employed as reactants in analogous alkylation-saponification-decarboxylation sequences. 

A variation of the malonic ester synthetic uses a P-keto ester such as 116. In Section 22.7.1, the Claisen condensation generated P-keto esters via acyl substitution that employed ester enolate anions. When 116 is converted to the enolate anion with NaOEt in ethanol, reaction with benzyl bromide gives the alkylation product 117. When 117 is saponified, the product is P-keto acid 118, and decarboxylation via heating leads to 4-phenyl-2-butanone, 119. This reaction sequence converts a P-keto ester, available from the ester precursors, to a substituted ketone in what is known as the acetoacetic acid synthesis. Both the malonic ester synthesis and the acetoacetic acid synthesis employ enolate alkylation reactions to build larger molecules from smaller ones, and they are quite useful in synthesis. 

U THE CLAISEN CONDENSATION Dieckmann Condensation Mixed Claisen Condensations Acylation of Ketones with Esters... 

In a reaction related to the mixed Claisen condensation, nonenolizable esters are used as acylating agents for ketone enolates. Ketones (via their enolates) are converted to p-keto esters by reaction with diethyl carbonate. 

C-Acylations of C,H-acidic compounds have also been realized on insoluble supports. The few examples that have been reported include the C-acylation of support-bound ester enolates with acyl halides [9], Claisen condensations of polystyrene-bound ketones with benzoic acid esters, the C-acylation of nitriles with acyl nitriles or anhydrides, and the C-acylation of phosphonates with acyl halides (Entries 5-9, Table... 

Next, we shall turn to reactions in which the carbonyl group plays both its roles the aldol condensation, in which a carbanion generated from one molecule of aldehyde or ketone adds, as a nucleophile, to the carbonyl group of a second molecule and the Claisen condensation, in which a carbanion generated from one molecule of ester attacks the carbonyl group of a second molecule, with acyl substitution as the final result. 

The Dieckmann condensation is an intramolecular variant of the Claisen condensation where a diester is converted to a 3-ketoester. Typically, an alkoxide is used as the base to form the enolate which attacks the remaining ester to form the carbocycle. Five- and six-membered rings are formed readily with this method. Reviews (a) Davis, B. R. Garrett, P. J. In Comprehensive Organic Synthesis, Trost, B. M. Fleming, 1. Eds. Pergamon Press Oxford, 1991 Vol. 2, Chapter 3.6 Acylation of Esters, Ketones, and Nitriles, pp. 806-829. (b) Schaefer, J. P Bloomfield, J. J. Org. React. 1967,15, 1-203. 

Carbon-carbon bond formation is a reaction of fundamental importance to the cellular metabolism of all living systems and includes alkylation reactions involving one and five carbon fragments as well as carboxylation reactions. In addition, a very common method of generating carbon-carbon bonds in biology includes the reactions of enolates and their equivalents (such as enamines) with aldehydes, ketones, keto acids, and esters. Reactions in which the enolate derives from an acyl thioester are Claisen condensations, whereas the remainder are classified as aldol reactions. 

Claisen condensations are acylations that always involve esters as the electrophilic partner, but enolates of other carbonyl compounds—ketones, for example—may work equally well as the enol partner. In a reaction with a carbonate, only the ketone can enolize and the reactive carbonate ester is more electrophilic than another molecule of the ketone. A good example is this reaction of cyciooctanone. It does not matter which side of the carbonyl group enolizes— they are both the same. 

Aldol additions and condensations begin with the reaction of an enolate derived from an aldehyde or ketone with the carbonyl group of a second molecule of aldehyde or ketone. A related reaction takes place between esters and their enolates when both are present in the same solution. In ethanol containing sodium ethoxide, for example, the enolate reacts with the ester by nucleophilic acyl substitution to give a (3-keto ester in what is known as a Claisen condensation. 

Once an ester enolate is generated, it can react with another ester in a Claisen condensation however, it may also react with the carbonyl of an aldehyde or ketone. The ester enolate anion is a nucleophile and it reacts with an aldehyde or ketone via acyl addition. Kinetic control conditions are the most suitable for this reaction in order to minimize Claisen condensation of the ester with itself (self-condensation). If ester 74 (ethyl propanoate, in green in the illustration) is treated first with LDA and then with butanal (21, in violet), for example, the initial acyl addition product is 78. The new carbon-carbon bond is marked in blue and treatment with dilute aqueous acid converts the alkoxide to an alcohol in the final product of this sequence, 79. Compound 79 is a P-hydroxy ester, which is the usual product when an ester enolate reacts with an aldehyde or a ketone. Ester enolate anions react with ketones in the same way that they react with aldehydes. 

An ester enolate is formed by reaction with a strong base, and the resulting enolate anion can condense with an aldehyde, a ketone, or another ester. Ester enolates react with aldehydes or ketones to form p-hydroxy esters. Aldehyde or ketone enolate anions react with esters to form p-hydroxy esters, 1,3-diketones, or p-keto aldehydes 56,57,84,99,100,102,108,110,114,115. Enolate anions react as nucleophiles. They give nucleophilic acyl substitution reactions with acid derivatives. The condensation reaction of one ester with another is called a Claisen condensation and it generates a P-keto ester. A mixed Claisen condensation under thermodynamic conditions leads to a mixture of products, but kinetic control conditions can give a single product 52, 53, 54, 55, 59, 68, 69,98,99,101,125. 

A useful variation of the acylation of a ketone with an ester uses diethyl carbonate as the ester with no a-hydrogens. Diethyl carbonate will react with the enolate anion of a ketone. The enolate displaces one of the two alkoxy groups of diethyl carbonate. The product of this Claisen-type condensation is a P-keto ester. 

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