Cyanohydrins elimination reactions

Methyl methacrylate (MMA) is one of the most important monomers [80-82]. It forms the basis of acrylic plastics and of polymer dispersion paints. The traditional production is by the formation of acetone cyanohydrin, elimination of water and hydrolysis of the nitrile group, followed by the ester formation. In the carbon-carbon bond forming reaction large amounts of excess HCN and ammonium bisulfate are left as waste. Although these problems have been addressed there is still much room for improvement. In particular the number of reaction steps should be reduced and, in order to achieve this, cyanide should be avoided. The building block to replace it is CO. 

Aromatic aldehydes generally do not produce cyanohydrins on reaction with hydrogen cyanide, but undergo the benzoin condensation (Scheme 6.12). The initial product from nucleophilic attack by cyanide ion is depro-tonated to form a resonance-stabilized carbanion, which attacks a second molecule of the aldehyde. Elimination of HCN leads to an a-hydroxy ketone, benzoin (2-hydroxy-1,2-diphenylethanone). The benzoin condensation is catalysed specifically by cyanide ion, which assists in both the formation and stabilization of the carbanion. The reaction is limited to aromatic aldehydes, since the aryl ring also stabilizes the anion. 

The ElcB mechanism is rare in practice when the elimination reaction would result in a carbon/carbon double bond. When a carbon/oxygen double bond is to be formed then it is far more common. For example, the ElcB mechanism is found in the reverse of the cyanohydrin formation reaction. You will recall that the forward reaction involves the addition of a cyanide anion to a carbonyl group. Write down the pathway for the reverse reaction, i.e. the elimination reaction. 

Lyases are the enzymes responsible for catalyzing addition and elimination reactions. Lyase-catalyzed reactions involve the breaking of a bond between a carbon atom and another atom such as oxygen, sulfur, or another carbon atom. They are found in cellular processes, such as the citric acid cycle, and in organic synthesis, such as in the production of cyanohydrins. 

HCI + CH2 CH2 CHaCHja An example of nucleophilic addition is the addition of hydrogen cyanide across the carbonyl bond in aldehydes to form cyanohydrins. Addition-elimination reactions are ones in which the addition is followed by... 

Cyanohydrins eliminate HCN under basic conditions, giving the corresponding planar aldehyde or ketone. When combined with an asymmetric reaction, the equilibrium can be used for an efficient in situ racemization of cyanohydrins, leading to a DKR process. For example, chiral secondary cyanohydrins can be acylated by isopropenyl acetate in the presence of lipase and solid base such as anion-exchange resin (OH" form) [8a,b] or silica-supported ammonium hydroxide [8c] (Scheme 5.31). A range of aromatic cyanohydrin acetates can be obtained in high chemical and optical yields, although the efficiency is lower for aliphatic precursors [8a]. The success of DKR is ascribable not only to the stereochemical... 

The reduction of acylcyanide using neat (f )-Alpine-Borane affords the corresponding (i )-P-amino alcohols [4cj. The reduction of acylcyanide and subsequent workup is not a straightforward process. The reaction of benzoylcyanide with neat Alpine-Borane (1.5 equiv) is complete within 2 h. The cyanohydrin-9-BBN adduct builds up to maximum, and then decreases with the appearance of a 9-BBN-benzyl alcohol adduct. Apparently, the 9-BBN-cyanohydrin adduct undergoes an elimination reaction to give benzaldehyde, which then undergoes reduction. The results indicate that the desired bimolecular reduction process can compete with the elimination reaction. 

Cyanohydrins, however, are stable. The OH group will not eliminate the cyano group because the transition state for the elimination reaction would have a partial positive charge on the oxygen, thereby making it relatively unstable. 

Under basic conditions, a cyanohydrin readily undergoes elimination to give an aldehyde. Thus, we cannot make a cyanohydrin under basic conditions. Note that the 1,2 elimination reaction of the cyanohydrin is analogous to the P-ehmination reactions of haloalkanes to give alkenes that we discussed in Chapters 9 and 10. 

When allylic compounds are treated with Pd(0) catalyst in the absence of any nucleophile, 1,4-elimination is a sole reaction path, as shown by 492, and conjugated dienes are formed as a mixture of E and Z isomers[329]. From terminal allylic compounds, terminal conjugated dienes are formed. The reaction has been applied to the syntheses of a pheromone, 12-acetoxy-1,3-dode-cadiene (493)[330], ambergris fragrance[331], and aklavinone[332]. Selective elimination of the acetate of the cyanohydrin 494 derived from 2-nonenal is a key reaction for the formation of the 1,3-diene unit in pellitorine (495)[333], Facile aromatization occurs by bis-elimination of the l,4-diacetoxy-2-cyclohex-ene 496[334],... 

Diels-Alder reaction of 2-bromoacrolein and 5-[(ben2yloxy)meth5i]cyclopentadiene in the presence of 5 mol % of the catalyst (35) afforded the adduct (36) in 83—85% yield, 95 5 exo/endo ratio, and greater than 96 4 enantioselectivity. Treatment of the aldehyde (36) with aqueous hydroxylamine, led to oxime formation and bromide solvolysis. Tosylation and elimination to the cyanohydrin followed by basic hydrolysis gave (24). 

Cyanohydrin Synthesis. Another synthetically useful enzyme that catalyzes carbon—carbon bond formation is oxynitnlase (EC 4.1.2.10). This enzyme catalyzes the addition of cyanides to various aldehydes that may come either in the form of hydrogen cyanide or acetone cyanohydrin (152—158) (Fig. 7). The reaction constitutes a convenient route for the preparation of a-hydroxy acids and P-amino alcohols. Acetone cyanohydrin [75-86-5] can also be used as the cyanide carrier, and is considered to be superior since it does not involve hazardous gaseous HCN and also virtually eliminates the spontaneous nonenzymatic reaction. (R)-oxynitrilase accepts aromatic (97a,b), straight- (97c,e), and branched-chain aUphatic aldehydes, converting them to (R)-cyanohydrins in very good yields and high enantiomeric purity (Table 10). 

Several reports on DKR of cyanohydrins have been developed using this methodology The unstable nature of cyanohydrins allows continuous racemization through reversible elimination/addition of HCN under basic conditions. The lipase-catalyzed KR in the presence of an acyl donor yields cyanohydrin acetates, which are not racemized under the reaction conditions. 

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. 

The condensation product is then converted, with elimination of potassium cyanide, into benzoin. The catalytic participation of the potassium cyanide is obvious. The distinction between this reaction and the cyanohydrin synthesis should be thoroughly grasped. 

In his later papers on degradation reactions, Zempl4n employed sodium methoxide and used chloroform as the solvent for the sugar derivative. When the acyl groups are removed, the cyanohydrin can be considered an intermediate product which loses hydrocyanic acid to yield an aldose. It is possible that the acetyl and nitrile groups are eliminated simultaneously by concurrent reactions. 

The nitrile group is very sensitive to alkalis and the elimination of it by the action of potassium hydroxide on acetaldehyde cyanohydrin was described by Simpson and Gauthier as one of the reactions of the acetaldehyde cyanohydrin, a substance that they prepared for the first time. That the nitriles of the aldonic acids yield cyanides under the action of alkali, is described by Wohl as one of the properties of penta-acetyl-D-glucononitrile. 

The lyases comprise enzyme class 4. They are enzymes cleaving C-C, C-0, C-N and other bonds by elimination, not by hydrolysis or oxidation. Lyases also catalyse addition to donble bonds. The types of reactions catalysed by lyases are decarboxylation (decarboxylase), hydration/dehydration (hydratase/dehydratase), ammonia addition/deamination (ammonia-lyase), cyanohydrin formation/cleavage (oxynitrilase),... 

Pyrrole and indole rings can also be constructed by intramolecular addition of nitrogen to a multiple bond activated by metal ion complexation. Thus, 1-aminomethyl-l-alkynyl carbinols (obtained by reduction of cyanohydrins of acetylenic ketones) are cyclized to pyrroles by palladium(II) salts. In this reaction the palladium(II)-complexed alkyne functions as the electrophile with aromatization involving elimination of palladium(II) and water (Scheme 42) (81TL4277). 

The presence of the double bond (carbonyl group C 0) markedly determines the. chemical behavior of the aldehydes. The hydrogen atom connected directly to the carbonyl group is not easily displaced. The chemical properties of the aldehy des may be summarized by (1) they react with alcohols, with elimination of H2O, to form ace t i (2) they combine readily with HCN to form cyanohydrins, (3) they react with hydroxylamine to yield aldoximes (4) they react with hydrazine to form hydrazones (5) they can be oxidized lulu fatty acids, which contain die same [lumber of carbons as in the initial aldehyde 5) they can be reduced readily to form primary alcohols. When bcnzaldchydc is reduced with sodium amalgam and HjO, benzyl alcohol C,f l - -C f I Of I is obtained. The latter compound also may be obtained by treating benzaldehyde with a solution of cold KOH in which benzyl alcohol and potassium benzoate are produced. The latter reaction is known as Cannizzaro s reaction. 

Chain-extension reactions constitute a more widely used approach. Thus, the cyanohydrin synthesis followed by base-catalyzed cyclization and /1-elimination to iminolactones, which then undergo stepwise hydrolysis, affords 3-deoxy-2-glyculosonic acids.313 The overall yield of this reaction is low. Paerels314 used this method to prepare the first crystalline members of this group, namely 3-deoxy-D-m //iro-hex-2-ulosopyranosonic acid (2-keto-3-deoxy-D-gluconic acid, KDG, 119), and the L isomer, starting from D-ribose and L-arabinose, respectively. The synthesis of 119 is illustrated in Scheme 10. 

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