Crossed aldol adducts

Table 13.6 shows the various aldol adducts that can be obtained if one reacts a quantitatively formed ester enolate or a quantitatively formed (kinetic) ketone enolate with three representative carbonyl compounds. Crossed aldol adducts are adducts that result from the addition of the enolate of one carbonyl compound to the C=0 double bond of a second carbonyl compound (center column in Table 13.6). 

Crossed aldol condensations between aliphatic aldehydes and ketones succeed only in two steps via the corresponding crossed aldol adducts. The latter can be obtained by adding the aldehyde dropwise to a mixture of the ketone and base. The aldol adducts subsequently must be dehydrated with acid catalysis. 

The use of Ln(OTf)3 in the activation of aldehydes other than formaldehyde was also investigated [18], Several examples of the present aldol reaction of silyl enol ethers with aldehydes are listed in Table 14-1. In every case, the aldol adducts were obtained in high yields in the presence of a catalytic amount of Yb(OTf)3, Gd(OTf)3, or Lu(OTf)3 in aqueous media. Diastereoselectivities were generally good to moderate. One feature in the present reaction is that water-soluble aldehydes, for instance, acetaldehyde, acrolein, and chloroacetaldehyde, can be reacted with silyl enol ethers to afford the corresponding cross aldol adducts in high yields (entries 5-7). Some of these aldehydes are commercially supplied as water solutions and are appropriate for direct use. Phenylglyoxal monohydrate also worked well (entry 8). It is known that water often interferes with the aldol reactions of aldehydes with metal enolates and that, in the cases where such water... 

In organocatalytic cross-aldol reactions of two different aldehydes through the enamine intermediate first reported by MacMillan and Northrop, the a d-cross-aldol adduct could be obtained in a highly stereoselective fashion. However, most such reactions required the use of sterically hindered aliphatic aldehydes, from which the enamine intermediates are rather difficult to form, or aromatic aldehydes as electrophile. In the direct aldol reaction between simple aliphatic aldehydes (enolisable aldehydes), both aldehydes can perform the double role of nucleophile and electrophile, and consequently, two cross-aldol adducts and two homo-aldol adducts would be possible products with each having four stereoisomers. To differentiate two... 

Cross aldol adducts are obtained from silyl ene ethers and aldehyde or acetals. OSi(CH,), CHO... 

In contrast to Nair, Bode and co-workers propose that cross-benzoin adduct LVII is formed which then undergoes an oxy-Cope rearrangement to form LVIII (Scheme 38). Tautomerization and indamolecular aldol reaction occurs following the catalytic cycle proposed by Nair. 

For satisfactory diemo- and stereoselectivity, most catalytic, direct cross-aldol methods are limited to the use of non enolizable (aromatic, a-tert-alkyl) or kineti-cally non enolizable (highly branched, ,/funsaturated) aldehydes as acceptor carbonyls. With aromatic aldehydes, however, enantioselectivity is sometimes moderate, and the dehydration side-product may be important. With regard to the donor counterpart, the best suited pronucleophile substrates for these reactions are symmetric ketones (acetone) and ketones with only one site amenable for enolization (acetophenones). With symmetric cyclic or acyclic ketones superior to acetone, syn/anti mixtures of variable composition are obtained [8b, 11, 19a]. Of particularly broad scope is the reaction of N-propionylthiazolidinethiones with aldehydes, which regularly gives high enantioselectivity of the syn aldol adduct of aromatic, a,fi-unsaturated, branched, and unbranched aldehydes [13]. 

Crossed aldol condensations between aliphatic aldehydes on the one hand and benzaldehyde or cinnamic aldehyde or their derivatives on the other also are possible. The reaction components can even be mixed together. The aldol adducts are formed without chemo-... 

Crossed aldol condensations between aliphatic aldehydes on the one hand and benzaldehyde or cinnamic aldehyde or their derivatives on the other also are possible. The reaction components can even be mixed together. The aldol adducts are formed without chemoselectivity, as a mixture of isomers, but their formations are reversible. The Elcb elimination to an a,/3-unsaturated carbonyl compound is fast only if the newly created C=C double bond is conjugated to an aromatic system or to another C=C double bond already present in the substrate. This effect is due to product-development control. All the starting materials thus react in this way via the most reactive aldol adduct. 

The aldol addition reaction is one of the most versatile carbon-carbon bond forming processes available to synthetic chemists. The addition reaction involves readily accessed starting materials and can provide )9-hydroxy carbonyl adducts possessing up to two new stereocenters. The previous decade witnessed many substantive advances in the crossed aldol addition reaction as a result of the development of a variety of well-defined enolization protocols and the evolution of highly sophisticated understanding of the reaction mechanism. Moreover, the design of highly effective chiral auxiliary-based systems has allowed for impressive levels of stereocontrol in a number of asymmetric aldol processes. 

They even react cleanly with formaldehyde, thus solving the problem that the Mannich reaction is not applicable to esters. The synthesis of the exo-methylene lactone 80 can be accomplished this way. Enone disconnection13 reveals formaldehyde as the electrophilic component in a crossed aldol reaction, realised with a lithium enolate 82.14 The mono-adduct 83 of formaldehyde and the lactone 81 can be isolated and the cautious dehydration step is to avoid migration of the double bond into the ring. 

There has been a quite limited number of reports of clay-catalysed aldol condensations. One of the more interesting of these is the aluminium-exchanged montmorillonite (Al3+-mont) catalysed cross-aldol reaction of silyl enol ethers with aldehydes (Reaction 6).34 The reaction proceeded smoothly under mild conditions to give the corresponding aldol adduct in good yield. 

The cross-aldol reaction between enolisable aldehydes (donor aldehydes) and nonenolisable aldehydes (acceptor aldehydes) is known to be catalysed by L-proline and the related amine catalysts, giving antz -aldol adducts. For instance, the cross-aldol reaction of propanal with 4-nitrobenzaldehyde gave the corresponding anti-dXdoX adduct with excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivity (Scheme 17.4). ° The reaction catalysed by an amino sulfonamide (5 )-3, on the other hand, gave the unusual q n-aldol product as the major diastereomer. ... 

It is reported that enol ethers react with acetals or ketals, promoted by Lewis acids, to give aldol-type adducts these reactions of alkyl enol ethers are, however, often accompanied by undesired side reactions [21]. Further, is difficult to perform crossed-aldol reactions selectively because conventional aldol reactions are conducted under equilibrium conditions using a basic or acidic catalyst in protic solvents [22]. Detailed studies of this new aldol reaction of silicon enolates, however, reveal a number of advantages over conventional methods. 

In the Mukaiyama aldol additions of trimethyl-(l-phenyl-propenyloxy)-silane to give benzaldehyde and cinnamaldehyde catalyzed by 7 mol% supported scandium catalyst, a 1 1 mixture of diastereomers was obtained. Again, the dendritic catalyst could be recycled easily without any loss in performance. The scandium cross-linked dendritic material appeared to be an efficient catalyst for the Diels-Alder reaction between methyl vinyl ketone and cyclopentadiene. The Diels-Alder adduct was formed in dichloromethane at 0°C in 79% yield with an endo/exo ratio of 85 15. The material was also used as a Friedel-Crafts acylation catalyst (contain-ing7mol% scandium) for the formation of / -methoxyacetophenone (in a 73% yield) from anisole, acetic acid anhydride, and lithium perchlorate at 50°C in nitromethane. 

Carreira and co-workers have also extended the scope of aldehydes that may be utilized in catalytic addition reactions to include stannylpropenal 108 as a substrate (Table 8B2.12, Entry 7). The adduct produced from the aldol addition of 105 is isolated with 92% ee and serves as a useful building block, as it is amenable for further synthetic elaboration (Scheme 8B2.9). Thus, vinylstannane 109 is a substrate for Stille cross-coupling reactions to give a diverse family of protected acetoacetate adducts 110. Following deprotection of the masked keto ester, the corresponding hydroxy keto ester 111 may be converted to either the syn or anti skipped polyols 112 or 113. A recent total synthesis of macrolactin A by Carreira and co-workers utilizes aldol... 

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