Conjugate addition to a,p-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones

The preparation and some synthetic applications of lithium dialkylcuprates were described earlier (Section 14 11) The most prominent feature of these reagents is then-capacity to undergo conjugate addition to a p unsaturated aldehydes and ketones... 

Conjugate addition to a,P-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones (Section 19.13). 

FIGURE 18 7 Nucleophilic addition to a p unsaturated aldehydes and ketones may take place either in a 1 2 or 1 4 manner Direct addition (1 2) occurs faster than conjugate addition (1 4) but gives a less stable product The product of 1 4 addition retains the carbon-oxygen double bond which is in general stronger than a carbon-carbon double bond... 

P carbon atom of an a 3 unsatu rated carbonyl compound is elec trophilic nucleophiles especially weakly basic ones yield the prod ucts of conjugate addition to a 3 unsaturated aldehydes and ketones... 

Conjugate Nucleophilic Addition to a,p-Unsaturated Aldehydes and Ketones 786... 

Micelle A spherical cluster in aqueous solution, such as the cluster of long-chain carboxylic acids in soap. Michoel addition The conjugate addition of enolates to a.p-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones. 

Even in the presence of other silicon reagents like PhjSiHj, Michael acceptors are totally unaffected. The addition of catalytic amounts of zinc chloride to the Pd(0)/silane system, however, creates a three-component mixture that allows rapid conjugate reduction of a,p-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones. The conjugate reduction was shown to be both regio- and stereoselective. The use of dideuterodiphenylsilane in the reduction of unsaturated ketones yielded satmated ketones containing one deuterium atom at the P-position. On the other hand, when traces of D2O were added to the nondeuterated mixture, incorporation of deuterium occurred in the a-position (Scheme 16). ... 

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... 

As we have already seen, delocalization of electrons by conjugation decreases the energy difference between the HOMO and LUMO energy levels, and this leads to a red shift. Alkyl substitution on a conjugated system also leads to a (smaller) red shift, due to the small interaction between the cr-bonded electrons of the alkyl group with the K-bond system. These effects are additive, and the empirical Woodward-Fieser rules were developed to predict the 2max values for dienes (and trienes). Similar sets of rules can be used to predict the A ax values for a,P-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones (enones) and the Amax values for aromatic carbonyl compounds. These rules are summarized in Table 2.4. 

The reduction of a,p-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones by NaBH4 leads, in general, to substantial amounts of fully saturated alcohols. In alcoholic solvents, saturated -alkoxy alcohols can be formed via conjugate addition of the solvent. This latter process becomes the main reaction path when reduction is performed in 2-propanol in the presence of sodium isopropoxide. In base, a homoallylic alcohol can become the major product of borohydride reduction of an enone. Analysis of the influence of substrate structure on NaBH4 reduction has shown that increasing steric hindrance on the enone increases 1,2-attack. ... 

Sodium cyanoborohydride (NaBHsCN) or tetrabutylammonium cyanoborohydride in acidic methanol or acidic HMPA reduces a,p-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones to the corresponding allylic alcohols. This system is limited to enones in which the double bond is not further conjugated, in which case the allylic hydrocarbon is formed in substantial amounts. Thus, reduction of chalcone gives mainly 1,3-di-phenylpropene (48%) as well as 26% of the allylic ether. Cyclic enones are also not good substrates, as competing 1,4-addition gives large fractions of saturated alcohols. ... 

There are many examples of nucleophilic reagents that add to a, 3-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones in a manner in which the addition is formally 1,4. This result is called conjugate addition. Under basic conditions, these transformations involve initial attack by the nucleophile to the p-carbon atom, followed by electrophilic addition (normally of a proton) on the carbonyl oxygen the nucleophile and electrophile add at the 1 and 4 positions relative to one another. The enolate formed in the early stages of the reaction is generally quickly protonated to give an enol. The enol wiU subsequently tautomer-ize to the ketone. A general mechanistic scheme is shown below for the 1,4 addition of water to an a,p-unsaturated carbonyl system. 

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