Copper organocopper compound addition

During the last decade, a substantial number of novel (sometimes even stereoselective) strategies for the preparation of allenic prostaglandins have been devised. The approach used by Patterson involves a three-component coupling via a 1,4-addi-tion of the organocopper compound 121 to the enone 120, followed by alkylation of the enolate formed with the bromide 122 (Scheme 18.40) [121]. However, due to the notoriously low reactivity in the alkylation of the mixed copper-lithium enolate formed during the Michael addition [122], the desired product 123 was obtained with only 28% chemical yield (the alkylation was not even stereoselective, giving 123 as a 1 1 mixture of diastereomers). 

In general, copper-zinc compounds, unlike organolithium-derived organocopper reagents, undergo clean addition reactions to nitroolefins. After Michael addition, the resulting zinc nitronates can be oxidatively converted into polyfunctional ketones, such as 117 (Scheme 2.45) [96]. 

The synthetic application of organocopper compounds received a major impetus from the study of the catalytic effect of copper salts on reactions of Grignard reagents with y.,(i-unsaturated ketones.1 Whereas Grignard reagents normally add to conjugated enones to give the 1,2-addition product, the presence of catalytic amounts of Cu(I) results in... 

The chiral organocopper compound (186) adds diastereoselectively to 2-methyl-2-cyclopentenone, allowing the preparation of optically active steroid CD-ring building blocks (Scheme 68).202-204 A related method was applied to a synthesis of the steroid skeleton via an intramolecular (transannular) Diels-Alder reaction of a macrocyclic precursor.203 Chiral acetone anion equivalents based on copper azaeno-lates derived from acetone imines were shown to add to cyclic enones with good selectivity (60-80% ee, after hydrolysis).206-208 Even better ee values are obtained with the mixed zincate prepared from (187) and dimethylzinc (Scheme 69). Other highly diastereoselective but synthetically less important 1,4-additions of chiral cuprates to prochiral enones were reported.209-210... 

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