Conjugate addition example

If the electrophilic end of the alkene is unsubstituted, it is particularly prone to conjugate additions. Examples include exo-methylene lactones 63, ketones 64 and vinyl ketones 65 that are often used... 

Indoles can also be alkylated by conjugate addition under alkaline conditions. Under acidic conditions, alkylation normally occurs at C3 (see Section 11.1). Table 9.1 includes examples of alkylation by ethyl acrylate, acrylonitrile, acrylamide and 4-vinylpyridine. 

Conjugate addition is most often observed when the nucleophile (Y ) is weakly basic The nucleophiles m the two examples that follow are C=N and C6H5CH2S respectively Both are much weaker bases than acetylide ion which was the nucleophile used m the example illustrating direct addition... 

Both the conjugate addition step and the intramolecular aldol condensation step can be carried out in one synthetic operation without isolat mg any of the intermediates along the way For example consider the reaction... 

Stabilized anions exhibit a pronounced tendency to undergo conjugate addition to a p unsaturated carbonyl compounds This reaction called the Michael reaction has been described for anions derived from p diketones m Section 18 13 The enolates of ethyl acetoacetate and diethyl malonate also undergo Michael addition to the p carbon atom of a p unsaturated aldehydes ketones and esters For example... 

Conjugate acid (Section 1 13) The species formed from a Brpnsted base after it has accepted a proton Conjugate addition (Sections 1010 and 1812) Addition reaction in which the reagent adds to the termini of the con jugated system with migration of the double bond synony mous with 1 4 addition The most common examples include conjugate addition to 1 3 dienes and to a 3 unsaturated car bonyl compounds... 

The primary disadvantage of the conjugate addition approach is the necessity of performing two chiral operations (resolution or asymmetric synthesis) ia order to obtain exclusively the stereochemicaHy desired end product. However, the advent of enzymatic resolutions and stereoselective reduciag agents has resulted ia new methods to efficiently produce chiral enones and CO-chain synthons, respectively (see Enzymes, industrial Enzymes in ORGANIC synthesis). Eor example, treatment of the racemic hydroxy enone (70) with commercially available porciae pancreatic Hpase (PPL) ia vinyl acetate gave a separable mixture of (5)-hydroxyenone (71) and (R)-acetate (72) with enantiomeric excess (ee) of 90% or better (204). 

Dehydrodiscretamine (72), Thalifedine (73), Thalidastine (74), Fissisaine (75), Stepharanine (76), and Dehydrocorydahnine (77) are additional examples of alkaloids, which possess the 7-hydroxy-isoquinoline moiety which on deprotonation yields conjugated mesomeric betaines (Scheme 27). In either case, the rr-electron system is extended by substitution... 

Vincarpin and Dihydrovincarpin are two additional examples of pseudo-cross-conjugated mesomeric betaines. They were isolated from Vinca major elegantissima (76TL4887) (Scheme 82). 

Quite a number of asymmetric thiol conjugate addition reactions are known [84], but previous examples of enantioselective thiol conjugate additions were based on the activation of thiol nucleophiles by use of chiral base catalysts such as amino alcohols [85], the lithium thiolate complex of amino bisether [86], and a lanthanide tris(binaphthoxide) [87]. No examples have been reported for the enantioselective thiol conjugate additions through the activation of acceptors by the aid of chiral Lewis acid catalysts. We therefore focussed on the potential of J ,J -DBFOX/ Ph aqua complex catalysts as highly tolerant chiral Lewis acid catalyst in thiol conjugate addition reactions. 

Enantioselectivities were found to change sharply depending upon the reaction conditions including catalyst structure, reaction temperature, solvent, and additives. Some representative examples of such selectivity dependence are listed in Scheme 7.42. The thiol adduct was formed with 79% ee (81% yield) when the reaction was catalyzed by the J ,J -DBFOX/Ph aqua nickel(II) complex at room temperature in dichloromethane. Reactions using either the anhydrous complex or the aqua complex with MS 4 A gave a racemic adduct, however, indicating that the aqua complex should be more favored than the anhydrous complex in thiol conjugate additions. Slow addition of thiophenol to the dichloromethane solution of 3-crotonoyl-2-oxazolidinone was ineffective for enantioselectivity. Enantioselectivity was dramatically lowered and reversed to -17% ee in the reaction at -78 °C. A similar tendency was observed in the reactions in diethyl ether and THF. For example, a satisfactory enantioselectivity (80% ee) was observed in the reaction in THF at room temperature, while the selectivity almost disappeared (7% ee) at 0°C. 

Conjugate addition reactions of acyclic Midiael acceptors possessing betetoatom-SLibstituted stereogenic centers in tlieir )>-positions may provide usefiil levels of diastereoselectivity. A typical example is given witli tlie y-alkoxy-substituted enoate 49 in Sdieme 6.8 [17]. High levels of diastereoselectivity in favor of tlie anii addition product SO were found in tlie course of dlmediylcuprate addition. 

Syntlietic cliemists can now work witli tlitee-dlmensional pictures of tlie conjugate addition available on a website [80]. In tlie absence of steric hindrance i5-nietliylcydobexenone, for example), an "axial attack" tlitougb a balf-diait conformation is favored, while in tlie corLisone syntliesis an "equatorial attack" tliroLigli a half-boat conformation is favored because of tlie constraint imposed by tlie bicydic tings [83]. 

Enamines react with acceptor-substituted alkenes (Michael acceptors) in a conjugate addition reaction for example with o ,/3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds or nitriles such as acrylonitrile 8. With respect to the acceptor-substituted alkene the reaction is similar to a Michael addition ... 

Another example of resort to heteroatoms to obtain both oral potency and a split between androgenic and anabolic activities Ls tiomestrone (99). Trienone, 98, prepared in much the same way as 23, undergoes sequential 1,6 and 1,4 conjugate addition of thioacetic acid under either irradiation or free radical catalysis to afford the compound containing two sulfur atoms. 

Deletion of the 17a-hydroxy group similarly leads to an effective topical antiinflammatory agent. Treatment of 16a-methylpregnenolone (244) (obtained by conjugate addition of an organometallic to pregnenolone) sequentially with bromine and acetate ion affords the 21 acetate, 245 (see, for example, the transformation of 196 to 198). In an interesting variation on the method for the introduction of a fluorine atom at 6, the... 

The best Michael reactions are those that take place when a particularly stable enolate ion such as that derived from a /i-keto ester or other 1,3-dicarbonyl compound adds to an unhindered a,/3-unsaturated ketone. Tor example, ethyl acetoacetate reacts with 3-buten-2-one in the presence of sodium ethoxide to yield the conjugate addition product. 

The first step of the Robinson annulation is simply a Michael reaction. An enamine or an enolate ion from a jS-keto ester or /3-diketone effects a conjugate addition to an a-,/3-unsaturated ketone, yielding a 1,5-diketone. But as we saw in Section 23.6,1,5-diketones undergo intramolecular aldol condensation to yield cyclohexenones when treated with base. Thus, the final product contains a six-membered ring, and an annulation has been accomplished. An example occurs during the commercial synthesis of the steroid hormone estrone (figure 23.9). 

In conclusion, there are only a few examples of conjugate additions with optically active organocopper reagents in which the copper is directly attached to the stereogenic center. There is still room for extensive investigation of this field. 

An example for synthesis of the chiral [l-keto ester 69 is illustrated in equation 64. It involves conjugate addition of the dipotassium / -keto ester 68 to vinyl sulfone 67 followed by in situ quenching with allyl bromide54. The method provides a new procedure to sevenring annulation product 70 that is a potential precursor for (l)-(-)-cytochalasin C. 

An example of intramolecular conjugate addition of aryllithium generated by halogen metal exchange reaction of 92 is illustrated in equation 7966. 

This type of asymmetric conjugate addition of allylic sulfinyl carbanions to cyclopen-tenones has been applied successfully to total synthesis of some natural products. For example, enantiomerically pure (+ )-hirsutene (29) is prepared (via 28) using as a key step conjugate addition of an allylic sulfinyl carbanion to 2-methyl-2-cyclopentenone (equation 28)65, and (+ )-pentalene (31) is prepared using as a key step kinetically controlled conjugate addition of racemic crotyl sulfinyl carbanion to enantiomerically pure cyclopentenone 30 (equation 29) this kinetic resolution of the crotyl sulfoxide is followed by several chemical transformations leading to (+ )-pentalene (31)68. 

In some cases, conjugate addition has been performed on systems where a double bond is conjugated with a cyclopropyl ring. An example is ... 

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