Condensations of Aldehydes and Ketones The Aldol Reaction

This is a base-catalysed dimerisation reaction for all aldehydes and ketones with a-hydrogens. 

With aldehydes, this rapid and reversible reaction leads to the formation of a P-hydroxy aldehyde or aldol (aid for aldehyde and ol for alcohol). When using ketones, P-hydroxy ketones are formed. The aldol products can undergo loss of water on heating under basic or acidic conditions to form conjugated enones (containing both C=0 and C=C bonds) in condensation reactions. Conjugation stabilises the enone product and this makes it relatively easy to form. 

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Condensations of aldehydes and ketones the aldol condensation reaction... 

In this proper sense, aldol condensation includes reactions producing j3-hydroxyaldehydes or j3-hydroxyketones by self-condensation or mixed condensation of aldehydes and ketones these reactions are, in fact, additions of a C—H bond activated by the carbonyl to the C=0 bond of the other molecule, viz. 

Boric acid catalyzes the self-condensation of aldehydes and ketones to produce a,/l-unsaturated enones [6]. The yields are much higher than those reported with other acidic or basic catalysts. Under similar conditions, aldehydes which are not readily susceptible to aldol condensation, dismutate to form esters (Tischenko reaction) [7]. A catalytic amount of boric acid-sulfuric acid mixture has been used to synthesize aryl esters in good yields (Eq. 3) [8] this reaction was unsuccessful when mineral acids or boric acid alone were used. 

The control of zeolite acidity is of special importance when catalyzing reactions involving strong bases such as NH3 or pyridines. For such reactions a zeolite catalyst with excessive acidity will be rapidly poisoned by adsorption of the reactant or the basic products. For instance, in the aldol condensation of aldehydes and ketones with ammonia for the production of pyridine and 3-methylpyridine, an important intermediate in the synthesis of vitamin B3, milder acidities are preferred [11]. 

As the text continues to develop the chemistry of aldehydes and ketones, you will now see how the carbon adjacent to a carbonyl group can become nucleophilic. First, reactions of these new nucleophiles with common electrophiles like luiloalkiines will be covered alkylation reactions. More important arc reactions of the nucleophilic a-carbons of one carbonyl compound with electrophilic carbonyl carbons of another. They are generically termed carbonyl condensation reactions. You see them here for aldehydes and ketones the aldol condensation. (In a later chapter you will be introduced to the analogous reaction of carboxylic esters the Claisen condensation.) The products of aldol condensations are a, j3-un.saturatcd aldehydes and ketones, which contain additional sites of electrophilic and potential nucleophilic character. 

Contrary to some reports, electrophilic addition reactions may occur in other multiple-bond systems. In many of the reactions of aldehydes and ketones the first stage involves the addition of some entity across the carbon-oxygen bond, e.g., the formation of oximes, semicarbazones, hydrazones, hydrates (1,1-diols) and their ethers, and the aldol condensation. Most of these reactions entail a subsequent loss (elimination) of a small molecule e.g. water, ammonia, ethanol) and, while one must be careful to determine whether the rate-determining stage involves attack on the carbonyl compound or elimination from the adduct , there are some systems in which it is evident that electrophilic attack is involved in the slow stage of the reaction sequence. Examples of such reactions are the acid-catalysed formation of oximes of aliphatic - and aromatic carbonyl compounds, of furfural semi-carbazone , and of 1,1-diols from aldehydes or ketones . 

In this final section, we describe an important reaction of esters that resembles the aldol condensation of aldehydes and ketones (Sec. 9.17). It makes use of the a-hydrogen (see pages 272-275) of an ester. 

The aldol reaction (aldol condensation) is one of the fundamental reactions of organic chemistry, since it leads to the formation of a new carbon-carbon bond and is broadly applicable. A condensation reaction is one in which two molecules are joined with the concomitant expulsion of a small stable molecule, usually water or an alcohol. The aldol reaction may be used to condense various combinations of aldehydes and ketones. The mixed aldol condensation of an aldehyde having no a-hydrogen atom with a ketone is specifically known as the Claisen-Schmidt reaction. This variation of the aldol condensation is illustrated here in the synthesis of dibenzalacetone. 

A number of aldehydes and ketones are prepared both m industry and m the lab oratory by a reaction known as the aldol condensation which will be discussed m detail in Chapter 18... 

In practice this reaction is difficult to carry out with simple aldehydes and ketones because aldol condensation competes with alkylation Furthermore it is not always possi ble to limit the reaction to the introduction of a single alkyl group The most successful alkylation procedures use p diketones as starting materials Because they are relatively acidic p diketones can be converted quantitatively to their enolate ions by weak bases and do not self condense Ideally the alkyl halide should be a methyl or primary alkyl halide... 

The aldol reaction is a carbonyl condensation that occurs between two aldehyde or ketone molecules. Aldol reactions are reversible, leading first to a /3-hydroxy aldehyde or ketone and then to an cr,/6-unsaturated product. Mixed aldol condensations between two different aldehydes or ketones generally give a mixture of all four possible products. A mixed reaction can be successful, however, if one of the two partners is an unusually good donor (ethyl aceto-acetate, for instance) or if it can act only as an acceptor (formaldehyde and benzaldehyde, for instance). Intramolecular aldol condensations of 1,4- and 1,5-diketones are also successful and provide a good way to make five-and six-inembered rings. 

The general mechanistic features of the aldol addition and condensation reactions of aldehydes and ketones were discussed in Section 7.7 of Part A, where these general mechanisms can be reviewed. That mechanistic discussion pertains to reactions occurring in hydroxylic solvents and under thermodynamic control. These conditions are useful for the preparation of aldehyde dimers (aldols) and certain a,(3-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones. For example, the mixed condensation of aromatic aldehydes with aliphatic aldehydes and ketones is often done under these conditions. The conjugation in the (3-aryl enones provides a driving force for the elimination step. 

One of the most important reactions of aldehydes and ketones is the Aldol condensation. In this reaction, an enolate anion is formed from the reaction between an aldehyde or a ketone and an aqueous base, e.g. NaOH. The enolate anion reacts with another molecule of aldehyde or ketone to give (3-hydroxyaldehyde or (3-hydroxyketone, respectively (see Section 5.3.2). 

Enantioselective condensation of aldehydes and enol silyl ethers is promoted by addition of chiral Lewis acids. Through coordination of aldehyde oxygen to the Lewis acids containing an Al, Eu, or Rh atom (286), the prochiral substrates are endowed with high electrophilicity and chiral environments. Although the optical yields in the early works remained poor to moderate, the use of a chiral (acyloxy)borane complex as catalyst allowed the erythro-selective condensation with high enan-tioselectivity (Scheme 119) (287). This aldol-type reaction may proceed via an extended acyclic transition state rather than a six-membered pericyclic structure (288). Not only ketone enolates but ester enolates... 

Aldol-type reactions comprise one of the most important classes of synthetic reactions. Although direct enantioselective condensation of aldehydes and unmodified ketones is not easy (280), it is highly desirable. A partly successful example is given in Scheme 115 (281). 

The carbon alpha to the carbonyl of aldehydes and ketones can act as a nucleophile in reactions with other electrophilic compounds or intermolecu-larly with itself. The nucleophilic character is imparted via the keto-enol tau-tomerism. A classic example of this reactivity is seen in the aldol condensation (41), as shown in Figure 23. Note that the aldol condensation is potentially reversible (retro-aldol), and compounds containing a carbonyl with a hydroxyl at the (3-position will often undergo the retro-aldol reaction. The aldol condensation reaction is catalyzed by both acids and bases. Aldol products undergo a reversible dehydration reaction (Fig. 23) that is acid or base catalyzed. The dehydration proceeds through an enol intermediate to form the a,(3-unsaturated carbonyl containing compound. 

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