1,2-addition reactions cyanohydrins

A thiazole derivative that incorporates a fragment of the amphetamine molecule shows some CNS stimulant activity more specifically, the compound antagonizes the depression caused by overdoses of barbiturates and narcotics. Reaction of benzalde-hyde with sodium cyanide and benzenesulfonyl chloride gives the toluenesulfony1 ester of the cyanohydrin (141). Reaction of this with thiourea leads directly to aminophenazole (143) It is probable the reaction proceeds by displacement of the tosylate by the thiourea sulfur to give 142 addition of the amino group to the nitrile followed by tautomerization affords the observed product. ... 

Aldehydes and unhindered ketones undergo a nucleophilic addition reaction with HCN to yield cyanohydrins, RCH(OH)C=N. Studies carried out in the early 1900s by Arthur Eapworth showed that cyanohydrin formation is reversible and base-catalyzed. Reaction occurs slowly when pure HCN is used but rapidly when a small amount of base is added to generate the nucleophilic cyanide ion, CN. Alternatively, a small amount of KCN can be added to HCN to catalyze the reaction. Addition of CN- takes place by a typical nucleophilic addition pathway, yielding a tetrahedral intermediate that is protonated by HCN to give cyanohydrin product plus regenerated CN-. 

Just as the Kiliani-Fischer synthesis lengthens an aldose chain by one carbon, the Wohl degradation shortens an aldose chain by one carbon. The Wohl degradation is almost the exact opposite of the Kiliani-Fischer sequence. That is, the aldose aldehyde carbonyl group is first converted into a nitrile, and the resulting cyanohydrin loses HCN under basic conditions—the reverse of a nucleophilic addition reaction. 

Claisen rearrangement, 660 conjugate carbonyl addition reaction, 725-726 Curtius rearrangement, 935 cyanohydrin formation, 707 dichlorocarbene formation, 227 Dieckmann cyclization reaction, 892-893... 

The mechanism of the cyanide- and thioazolium ion-catalyzed conjugate addition reactions is considered to be analogous to the Lapworth mechanism for the cyanide-catalyzed benzoin condensation. Thus the cyano-stabilized carbanion resulting from deprotonation of the cyanohydrin of the aldehyde is presumed to be the actual Michael donor. After conjugate addition to the activated olefin, cyanide is eliminated to form the product and regenerate the catalyst. 

Cyanohydrination (addition of a cyano group to an aldehyde or ketone) is another classic reaction in organic synthesis. Enantioselective addition of TMSCN to aldehyde, catalyzed by chiral metal complexes, has also been an active area of research for more than a decade. The first successful synthesis using an (5,)-binaphthol based complex came from Reetz s group142 in 1986. Their best result, involving Ti complex, gave 82% ee. Better results were reported shortly thereafter by Narasaka and co-workers.143 They showed that by... 

It is of some historical interest that Kiliani s cyanohydrin synthesis (24) enabled Emil Fischer (25) to carry out the first asymmetric synthesis. Lapworth (26) used this base-catalyzed nucleophilic 1,2-addition reaction in one of the first studies of a reaction mechanism. Bredig (27,28) appears to have been the first to use quinine (29) in this reaction as the chiral basic catalyst. More recently, others (20) have used basic polymers to catalyze the addition of cyanide to aldehydes. The structure of quinine has been known since 1908 (30). Yet it is of critical importance that Prelog s seminal work on the mechanism of this asymmetric transformation (eq. [4]) could not have begun (16) until the configuration of quinine was established in 1944 (31,32). 

The reaction is reversible, and cyanohydrin formation is more favoinable with aldehydes than with ketones, as with other addition reactions. The reverse reaction is easily effected by treating a cyanohydrin with aqueous base, since cyanide is a reasonable leaving group (see Section 6.1.4). 

Addition of hydrogen cyanide to aldehyde and ketone forms cyanohydrin. The reaction is usually carried out using sodium or potassium cyanide with HCl. Hydrogen cyanide is a toxic volatile liquid, and a weak acid. Therefore, the best way to carry out this reaction is to generate it in situ by adding HCl to a mixture of aldehydes or ketones and excess sodium or potassium cyanide. Cyanohydrins are useful in organic reaction, because the cyano group can be converted easily to an amine, amide or carboxylic acid. 

The cyanide addition was one of the first organic reactions to be elucidated mechanistically. In 1903 Lapworth found that whereas a high concentration of undissociated HCN is desirable to assure a high yield of cyanohydrin, the reaction... 

Aldehydes and ketones undergo a variety of reactions that lead to many different products. The most common reactions are nucleophilic addition reactions, which lead to the formation of alcohols, alkenes, diols, cyanohydrins (RCH(OH)C=N) > and imines (R2C =NR) 5 to mention a few representative examples. 

The very first conjugate addition reaction in this chapter depended on the conditions of the reaction. Treating an enone with cyanide and an acid catalyst at low temperature gives a cyanohydrin by direct attack at C-O, while heating the reaction mixture leads to conjugate addition. What is going on ... 

Carbonyl addition reactions include hydration, reduction and oxidation, the al-dol reaction, formation of hemiacetals and acetals (ketals), cyanohydrins, imines (Schiff bases), and enamines [54]. In all these reactions, some activation of the carbonyl bond is required, despite the polar nature of the C=0 bond. A general feature in hydration and acetal formation in solution is that the reactions have a minimum rate for intermediate values of the pH, and that they are subject to general acid and general base catalysis [121-123]. There has been some discussion on how this should be interpreted mechanistically, but quantum chemical calculations have demonstrated the bifunctional catalytic activity of a chain of water molecules (also including other molecules) in formaldehyde hydration [124-128]. In this picture the idealised situation of the gas phase addition of a single water molecule to protonated formaldehyde (first step of Fig. 5) represents the extreme low pH behaviour. 

The carbonyl carbon atom in the octahydro-l-pyrindones undergoes typical carbonyl addition reactions.142-147 For example, the cyanohydrin (213) is obtained from the corresponding oxo compound. Alcoholysis of 213 gives the ester.142 Phenyllithium adds smoothly to I,2-dimethyI-4-oxo-perhydro-l-pyrindine (207) to give 214.143-145... 

Another micle<)philic addition reaction—this time in reirerae is involved in the chemical defense mechanism by which the millipede Aphe-loria corrugata protects itself from predators. When attacked by ants, it secretes the cyanohydrin maridcl-oniti ile and an enzyme that catalyze the decomposition of mandelonitriie into benzaldehyde and HCN.The millipede actually protects itself by discharging poiBonoua HCN at its attackers. 

There are many examples of acid catalyzed carbonyl addition reactions, such as formation of hydrates (R2C(OH)2), hemiacetals, hemiketals, cyanohydrins, bisulfite compounds, azomethines, oximes, hydrazones, etc. These important reactions are discussed in Vol. 11. 

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