Cyclobutanes enamines

Condensation of aliphatic aldehydes with l,3,3-trimethyl-2-methyleneindoline gives enamines 133548,549. Attempted preparation of cyclobutane enamines is reported550 to yield dienamine 134. 

In the case of enamines derived from aldehydes a cycloaddition to give a cyclobutane occurs (48-50). Thus the enamine (16) reacted with methyl acrylate in acetonitrile to give a 91 % yield of methyl 2-dimethylamino-3,3-dimethylcyclobutane carboxylate (56). Similarly, treatment of (16) with diethylmaleate at 170° gave a 70% yield of diethyl 4-dimethylamino-3,3-dimethyl-l,2-cyclobutanedicarboxylate (57), and 16 and acrylonitrile gave a 65% yield of 2-dimethylamino-3,3-dimethylcyclobutanecarbonitrile (58). 

Enamines having a hydrogen on the enamine carbon also undergo cycloaddition to give cyclobutane derivatives. The latter are less stable, so that the reaction must be carried out under milder conditions in order to obtain... 

The types of cycloadditions discovered for enamines range through a regular sequence starting with divalent addition to form a cyclopropane ring, followed by 1,2 addition (i) of an alkene or an alkyne to form a cyclo-cyclobutane or a cyclobutene, then 1,3-dipolar addition with the enamine the dipolarophile 4), and finally a Diels-Alder type of reaction (5) with the enamine the dienophile. 

The initial product formed when methyl vinyl ketone is mixed with an enamine [such as N,N-dimethylisobutenylamine (10)] is the dihydropyran (11) from a 1,4 cycloaddition (ll,20a,20b). The chemical reactions that the dihydropyran undergoes indicate that it is readily equilibrated with the cyclobutane isomer 12a and zwitterion 12 (11). Treatment of adduct 11 with phenyllithium gives cyclobutane 13, possibly via intermediate 12a (11). 

The reaction of methyl or ethyl acrylate with the enamine of an alicyclic ketone results in simple alkylation when the temperature is allowed to rise uncontrolled in the reaction mixture (7,34,35). If the reaction mixture is kept below 30°C, however, a mixture of the simple alkylated and cyclobutane (from 1,2 cycloaddition) products are obtained (34). Upon distillation of this mixture only starting material and simple alkylated product is obtained because of the instability of the cyclobutane adduct. 

In a similar manner diethyl maleate (actually diethyl fumarate since the basic enamine catalyzes the maleate s isomerization upon contact) forms unstable 1,2 cycloadducts with enamines with hydrogens at temperatures below 30°C (37). At higher temperatures simple alkylated products are formed (41). Enamines with no )3 hydrogens form very stable 1,2 cycloadducts with diethyl maleate (36,37,41). The two adjacent carboethoxy groups of the cyclobutane adduct have been shown to be Irons to one another (36,37). 

The addition of p-quinone to enamines normally produces furan derivatives, especially when the enamine possesses a 3 hydrogen (see Section III. A). 1,2 Cycloaddition is claimed to take place to give a cyclobutane derivative when p-quinone and an enamine with no jS hydrogens are allowed to react at low temperatures (51). However, little evidence is reported to verify this structural assignment, and the actual structure probably is a benzofuranol (52). Reaction of a dienamine (formed in situ) with p-quinone in the presence... 

Olefins conjugated with electron-withdrawing groups other than a carbonyl group undergo reactions with enamines in a manner similar to the carbonyl-conjugated electrophilic alkenes described above. Namely, they condense with an enamine to form a zwitterion intermediate from which either 1,2 cycloaddition to form a cyclobutane ring or simple alkylation can take place. 

Nitroolefins also offer the possibilities of 1,2 cycloaddition (37,57) or simple alkylation (57-59) products when they are allowed to react with enamines. The reaction of nitroethylene with the morpholine enamine of cyclohexanone led primarily to a cyclobutane adduct in nonpolar solvents and to a simple alkylated product in polar solvents (57). These products are evidently formed from kinetically controlled reactions since they cannot be converted to the other product under the conditions in which the other... 

The reaction between the pyrrolidine enamine of butyraldehyde (52) and )3-nitrostyrene (53) provides cyclobutane adduct 54 quantitatively in either petroleum ether or acetonitrile solvent, but in the more polar ethanol solvent a 2 1 condensation product occurred. The structure of the product was shown to be 55 (57). 

Methyl vinyl sulfone forms 1,2-cycloaddition adducts with aldehydic enamines, both with and without 3 hydrogens (37). Simple alkylation was reported to take place when phenyl vinyl sulfone was allowed to react with cyclohexanone enamines (58,60), but it has recently been shown that phenyl vinyl sulfone also forms cyclobutane adducts (60a). 

Thus the reactions of cyclic or acyclic enamines with acrylic esters or acrylonitrile can be directed to the exclusive formation of monoalkylated ketones (3,294-301). The corresponding enolate anion alkylations lead preferentially to di- or higher-alkylation products. However, by proper choice of reaction conditions, enamines can also be used for the preferential formation of higher alkylation products, if these are desired. Such reactions are valuable in the a substitution of aldehydes, which undergo self-condensation in base-catalyzed reactions (117,118). Monoalkylation products are favored in nonhydroxylic solvents such as benzene or dioxane, whereas dialkylation products can be obtained in hydroxylic solvents such as methanol. The difference in products can be ascribed to the differing fates of an initially formed zwitterionic intermediate. Collapse to a cyclobutane takes place in a nonprotonic solvent, whereas protonation on the newly introduced substitutent and deprotonation of the imonium salt, in alcohol, leads to a new enamine available for further substitution. 

The facile formation of cyclobutane products is indeed another important contribution of enamine chemistry (302-306). The formation of cyclobutanes has also been found in the closely related reactions of amino acetal derivatives of ketenes with acrylic esters (307). 

Unsaturated sulfoncs (314,315) and nitroolcfins (303,315-317) also give alkylation products with enamines. In the latter reactions the formation of nitroethyl or cyclobutane derivatives has been found (316) to depend on the reaction medium as well as steric and electronic parameters which determine the fate of zwitterionic intermediates. Thus no enamine products could... 

The alkylation of enamines with nitroolefins, which gives intermediates for reductive cyclization (6S2), also provided an example of a stable cycliza-tion product derived from attack of the intermediate imonium function by the nitro anion (683). A previously claimed tetrasubstituted enamine, which was obtained from addition of a vinylsulfone to morpholinocyclohexene (314), was shown to be the corresponding cyclobutane (684). Perfluoro-olefins also gave alkylation products with enamines (685). Reactions of enamines with diazodicarboxylate (683,686) have been used diagnostically for 6-substituted cyclohexenamines. In a reaction of 2-penten-4-one with a substituted vinylogous amide, stereochemical direction was seen to depend on solvent polarity (687). 

Alkenes with electron-withdrawing groups may form cyclobutanes with alkenes containing electron-donating groups. The enamine reactions, mentioned above, are examples of this, but it has also been accomplished with tetracyanoethylene and similar molecules, which give substituted cyclobutanes when treated with alkenes of the form C=C—A, where A may be... 

Cyclobutanes can also be formed by nonconcerted processes involving zwitter-ionic intermediates. The combination of an electron-rich alkene (enamine, enol ether) and an electrophilic one (nitro- or polycyanoalkene) is required for such processes. 

A key step in the synthesis in Scheme 13.11 was a cycloaddition between an electron-rich ynamine and the electron-poor enone. The cyclobutane ring was then opened in a process that corresponds to retrosynthetic step 10-IIa 10-IIIa in Scheme 13.10. The crucial step for stereochemical control occurs in Step B. The stereoselectivity of this step results from preferential protonation of the enamine from the less hindered side of the bicyclic intermediate. 

The cyclobutane ring was then cleaved by hydrolysis of the enamine and ring opening of the resulting (3-diketone. The relative configuration of the chiral centers is unaffected by subsequent transformations, so the overall sequence is stereoselective. Another key step in this synthesis is Step D, which corresponds to the transformation 10-IIa => 10-la in the retrosynthesis. A protected cyanohydrin was used as a nucleophilic acyl anion equivalent in this step. The final steps of the synthesis in Scheme 13.11 employed the C(2) carbonyl group to introduce the carboxy group and the C(l)-C(2) double bond. 

More recently in 2001, Winkler and Kwak reported methodology designed to access the pyrrolidine core of the hetisine alkaloids via a photochemical [2+2], retro-Mannich, Mannich sequence (Scheme 1.3) [26]. In a representative example of the methodology, vinylogous amide 42 was photo-irradiated to give the [2+2] cycloaddition product 43. Heating cyclobutane 43 in ethanol provided enamine 44 via a retro-Mannich reaction. Exposure of enamine 44 to acidic conditions then effected a Mannich reaction, resulting in pyrrolidine 45. 

The first stereocontrolled syntheses of juvabione are described in Schemes 13.11 and 13.12. Scheme 13.10 is a retrosynthetic analysis corresponding to these syntheses. These syntheses have certain similarities. Both start with cyclohexenone. There is a general similarity in the fragments that were utilized, but the order of construction differs. In the synthesis shown in Scheme 13.11, the crucial step for stereochemical control is step B. The first intermediate is constructed by a [2 + 2] cycloaddition between reagents of complementary polarity, the electron-rich enamine and the electron-poor enone. The cyclobutane ring is then opened in a process which corresponds to retrosynthetic step Ha => Ilia in... 

Olefins with electron-withdrawing groups may form cyclobutanes with olefins containing electron-donating groups. The enamine reactions, mentioned above, are examples... 

Other olefinic substrates known to dimerize through photo-induced electron transfer sensitization include enamines (72), diarylethylenes (73-75), vinyl ethers (76), styrenes (77,78), and phenyl acetylenes (79). Alternate ring closures (besides cyclobutanes) are sometimes observed, probably via 1,4-radical cationic intermediates. For example, a tetrahydronaphthalene is formed from the radical cation of 1,1-diphenylethylene, eq. 

As pointed out by Stork and coworkers in their definitive 1963 paper3, the reaction with electrophilic alkenes is especially successful since reaction at nitrogen is reversible. Reaction at the /2-carbon is (usually) rendered irreversible by, in the case of cyclohexanone enamines, internal proton transfer of the axial C-/2 proton to the anionic centre of the initially formed zwitterionic intermediate (34), under conditions of stereoelectronic control (Scheme 22). When this intramolecular proton transfer cannot occur in aprotic solvents, or when the product produced in protic solvents is a stronger carbon acid than adduct 35 (i.e. when Z = COR, N02), then carbon alkylation is also reversible and surprising changes in the regioselectivity of reaction may be observed (vide infra see also Section VI.D and Chapter 26). Cyclobutanes (36) and, in the case of a,/ -unsaturated... 

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