Cyclic ketones, preparation

The preparation of the cyclic ketone a-tetralone possesses a number of interesting features. Succinic anhydride is condensed with pure benzene in the presence of anhydrous aluminium chloride (slightly over two equivalents see 1 above) to yield (3-benzoylpropionlc acid ... 

The 3.8-nonadienoate 91, obtained by dimerization-carbonylation, has been converted into several natural products. The synthesis of brevicomin is described in Chapter 3, Section 2.3. Another royal jelly acid [2-decenedioic acid (149)] was prepared by cobalt carbonyl-catalyzed carbonylation of the terminal double bond, followed by isomerization of the double bond to the conjugated position to afford 149[122], Hexadecane-2,15-dione (150) can be prepared by Pd-catalyzed oxidation of the terminal double bond, hydrogenation of the internal double bond, and coupling by Kolbe electrolysis. Aldol condensation mediated by an organoaluminum reagent gave the unsaturated cyclic ketone 151 in 65% yield. Finally, the reduction of 151 afforded muscone (152)[123]. n-Octanol is produced commercially as described beforc[32]. 

Preparation of spirooxaziridines from cyclic ketones poses no problems nor does oxaziridine synthesis from cyclic Schiff bases, which was preferably carried out with pyrro-lines to give, for example (245) (59JCS2102) and, in connection with tranquilizer synthesis, with heterocyclic seven-membered rings to give, for example, (246) (63JOC2459). 

We present here examples of this condensation with an aromatic aldehyde and a cyclic ketone. Both of these examples are useful because, although other methods are available for their preparation, problems often attend these syntheses. In the synthesis of cyclohexy11deneaceton1tr11e, for example, the standard method results exclusively In the g.y-lsomer and none of the a,g-Isomer. In Part A of this procedure, cyclohexanone Is condensed with acetonitrile to give predominantly the conjugated Isomer (80-83%) whicfi is then separated from the nonconjugated isomer by selective bromination. 

The present preparation illustrates a general and convenient irethod for ring contraction of cyclic ketones. The first step is the usual procedure for the preparation of enamines. The second step involves 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of diphenyl phosphorazidate to an enamine followed by ring contraction with evolution of nitrogen. Ethyl acetate and tetrahydrofuran can be used as a solvent in place of toluene. Pyrrolidine enamines from various cyclic ketones smoothly undergo the reaction under similar reaction conditions. Diphenyl (cycloalkyl-1-pyrrolidinylmethylene)phosphoramidates with 5,6,7, and 15 members in the ring have been prepared in yields of 68-76%. 

It is recommended that Nelson and Schut s diazomethane procedure be considered first for preparing saturated A-homo-4-ketones, or enlarging cyclic ketones in general, rather than the Tiffeneau procedure, because fewer steps are involved, isolation and purification are operationally simpler, and the overall yield is often better. 

If cyclic ketones are monosubstituted in the a-position, their rates of reaction decrease as compared to the rate for the parent ketone (9,41). More highly substituted ketones (e.g., diisobutyl ketone, diisopropyl ketone) can be caused to react using newer preparative techniques (39,43,44, see Section VII). Monosubstituted acetones often can give selfcondensation products, but the recent literature (13,39,43) contains reports of the successful formation of the enamines of methyl ketones. 

The reaction of the enamines of cyclic ketones with alkyl isocyanates, acyl isocyanates, phenyl isothiocyanates, and acyl isothiocyanates has also been reported 112). The products are the corresponding carboxamides. The products from the isothiocyanates have been utilized as intermediates in the preparation of various heterocyclic compounds 113). 

One of the most actively investigated aspects of enamine chemistry has been the acylation process (i). Initial intensive studies by Hiinig (373-375) showed the ease of preparing a variety of 9-diketones and particularly the synthetic potential of acylated cyclic ketones as intermediates in the preparation of aliphatic keto acids, keto dicarboxylic acids and diketo dicarboxylic acids (376-378). 

The method which has been of most preparative value is that established by Panizzi el and Di Maio and Tardella. Benzene-sulfonhydroxamic acid (74), known as Piloty s acid, reacts with a cyclic ketone (73) in alkaline media at 0 , to produce the ring-expanded hydroxamic acids (75 and 76) in approximately equal yield. 

The preparation of enamines of unsubstituted cyclic ketones is convenient and unambiguous in that only a single product results. Moreover, such enamines have found wide application as means of chain extension or ring formation. 

This procedure has been patterned after the method by which the carbethoxy group is introduced into a few alicyclic ketones 6 and several cyclic ketones. Cyclohexanone has been reported to yield 50% of 2-carbethoxycyclohexanone when treated with sodium hydride and diethyl carbonate using ether as the solvent.7 The preparation of 2-carbethoxycycloheptanone using potassium f-butoxide and diethyl carbonate in benzene has been reported in 40% yield.8 Jacob and Dev report an 80% yield of the latter compound using sodium hydride as the base.9... 

If 1,4-dihalides are treated with K2pe(CO)4, five-membered cyclic ketones are prepared. ... 

This process, called Ruzicka cyclization, is good for the preparation of rings of six and seven members and, with lower yields, of Cg and Cio to C30 cyclic ketones. Not much work has been done on the mechanism of this reaction. However, a free-radical mechanism has been suggested on the basis of a thorough study of all the side products. ° ... 

This procedure illustrates a new three-step reaction sequence for the one-carbon ring expansion of cyclic ketones to the homologous tt,/3-unsaturated ketones. The key step in the sequence is the iron(III) chloride-induced cleavage of the central bond of trimethyl-silyloxycyclopropanes which me obtained by cyclopropanation of trimethylsilyl enol ethers. The procedure for the preparation of 1-trimethylsilyloxycyclohexene from cyclohexanone described in Part A is that of House, Czuba, Gall, and Olmstead. ... 

Compared to the cyclic ketones, the coupling of aliphatic aldehydes to prepare 3-substituted indoles was less successful, except for phenyl acetaldehyde, which afforded 3-phenyl indole 83 in 76% yield (Scheme 4.22). The lack of imine formation or the instability of the aliphatic aldehyde towards the reaction conditions may be responsible for the inefficiency of these reactions. Therefore, a suitable aldehyde equivalent was considered. With the facile removal of a 2-trialkylsilyl group from an indole, an acyl silane was tested as a means of preparing 3-substituted indoles. Indeed, coupling of acetyl trimethylsilane with the iodoaniline 24 gave a 2 1 mixture of 2-TMS-indole 84 and indole (85) in a combined 64% yield. Evidently, the reaction conditions did lead to some desilylation. Regardless, the silyl group of 84 was quantitatively removed upon treatment with HC1 to afford indole (85). 

Attack by eCN is slow (rate-limiting), while proton transfer from HCN or a protic solvent, e.g. HzO, is rapid. The effect of the structure of the carbonyl compound on the position of equilibrium in cyanohydrin formation has already been referred to (p. 206) it is a preparative proposition with aldehydes, and with simple aliphatic and cyclic ketones, but is poor for ArCOR, and does not take place at all with ArCOAr. With ArCHO the benzoin reaction (p. 231) may compete with cyanohydrin formation with C=C—C=0, 1,4-addition may compete (cf. p. 200). 

The method can be further improved using trimethylsilyl (TMS) enol ethers, which can be prepared in situ from aldehydes and ketones [49]. TMS enol ethers of cyclic ketones are also suitable, and diversity can be enhanced by making either the kinetic or thermodynamic enol ether, as shown for benzyl methyl ketone. Thus, reaction of the kinetic TMS enol ether 10-133 with the amino aldehyde 10-134 and dimethylbarbituric acid 10-135 yielded 10-136, whereas the thermodynamic TMS enol ether 10-137 led to 10-138, again in excellent purity, simply by adding diethyl ether to the reaction mixture (Scheme 10.33). 

Cyclic nitroalkenes are prepared from cyclic ketones via nitration of vinylstannanes with tetranitromethane in DMSO, as shown in Eq. 2.36, where DMSO is a critical choice of solvent for replacing tin by nitro at the unsaturated carbon. The conversion of ketones to vinylstannanes... 

Dianions derived from cyclic a-nitro ketones have been used for the preparation of the natural product phoracanthlide and related macrocyclic lactones (see Scheme 5.2).13 Alkylation of dianion of a-nitro cyclic ketones is followed by radical denitration with Bu3SnH (see Section... 

The present method is successful with a wide variety of ketones (see Table). Cyclic ketones (entries 1-4, 8) produce benzoannelated products in excellent overall yields. There is no need to purify the intermediate both the nucleophilic addition of methallylmagnesium chloride and the aromatic cyclization take place cleanly. Acyclic ketones (entries 5-7) also provide high yields of benzoannelated product. Aromatic ketones are particularly interesting substrates for this reaction since they provide substituted biphenyls, which are potentially useful materials for liquid crystal synthesis and whose preparation through classical methodology is often not straightforward. The conditions for the cationic cyclization step can be modified to accommodate acid-sensitive functionality. For example, cyclization of 3 to 4, the latter a precursor for 3-methyl-8,14-dehydromorphinan, was accomplished in 77% yield by treatment of 3 at... 

The cyclic ketone 5-oxo-l,3,2,4-dithiadiazole, S2N2CO, may be prepared by two methods.106 This neutral, diamagnetic dithiadiazole is an aromatic six n-... 

The synthetic utility of the carbonylation of zirconacycles was further enhanced by the development of a pair of selective procedures producing either ketones or alcohols [30] and has been extensively applied to the synthesis of cyclic ketones and alcohols, most extensively by Negishi [22—27,29—33,65,87,131—134], as detailed below in Section I.4.3.3.4. The preparation of unsaturated aldehydes by carbonylation with CO is not very satisfactory. The use of isonitriles in place of CO, however, has provided a useful alternative [135], and this has been applied to the synthesis of curacin A [125]. Another interesting variation is the cyanation of alkenes [136]. Further developments and a critical comparison with carbonylation using CO will be necessary before the isonitrile reaction can become widely useful. The relevant results are shown in Scheme 1.35. 

The sequential double migratory insertion of CO into acydic and cydic diorganozircono-cene complexes through acylzirconocene and ketone—zirconocene species provides a convenient procedure for preparing acyclic and cyclic ketones (Scheme 5.6) [8], Thus, the bi-cydic enones from enynes can be obtained through CO insertion into zirconacyclopen-tenes followed by a subsequent rearrangement (Scheme 5.7). The scope and limitations of this procedure have been described in detail elsewhere [8d]. This procedure provides a complementary version of the well-known Pauson Khand reaction [9]. 

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