Cyclization Cyclobutanones

Vinyl etheis cyclize with ketenes to cyclobutanones (239). 

This method for the preparation of cyclobutanone via oxaspiropentane is an adaptation of that described by Salaiin and Conia. The previously known large-scale preparations of cyclobutanone consist of the reaction of the hazardous diazomethane with ketene, the oxidative degradation or the ozonization in presence of pjrridine of methylenecyclobutane prepared from pentaerythritol, or the recently reported dithiane method of Corey and Seebach, which has the disadvantage of producing an aqueous solution of the highly water-soluble cyclobutanone. A procedure involving the solvolytic cyclization of 3-butyn-l-yl trifluoro-methanesulfonate is described in Org. Syn., 54, 84 (1974). 

CsF induces the ring-opening cyclization of the thus obtained l-[2-(trimethylsilylmethyl)cyclopropylcarbonyl] imidazole 154 with diethyl fumar-ate or diethyl maleate to give the cyclobutanone 155 [80], The facile ring fission of 154 also occurs in the presence of BF3OEt with the formation of the corresponding y,<5-unsaturated carboxylic acid. (Scheme 55)... 

A nickel(O) complex catalyzes insertion of alkynes into cyclobutanones (Equation (79)).437 Formation of metalla-cycle 194 via oxidative cyclization of an alkyne with the carbonyl group of a cyclobutanone followed by /3-carbon elimination (formation of metallacycle 195) and reductive elimination are postulated for the mechanism (Scheme 92). 

CYCLOBUTANONE, 51, 76 CYCLOBUTANONE VIA SOLVOLYTIC CYCLIZATION, 54, 84 Cyclobutanones, 54, 32 CYCLOBUTENE, cis-3,4-DICHLORO-,... 

Intermolecular coupling of ketones and alkenes, promoted by SmH, occurs with excellent stereochemical control. In one such reaction, samarium(II) iodide has been used to prepare cyclobutanones and cyclobutanols from chiral, 6-oxohex-2-enoates (equation 137)520. The reaction is performed in THF in the presence of HMPT and occurs in good yield with excellent stereocontrol. If appropriately located carbonyl and alkene moieties are present in a molecule, then Sml2-HMPT can be used to form cyclooctanols by a radical cyclization process in some cases there is a reasonable degree of diastereoselectivity (equation 138)521,522. 

A synthetic method for the prepararation of cyclobutanones via an intramolecular cyclization of a ketone enolate has been reported.83 Enol triflates having a silyloxy group at the ft-position under the influence of TBAF give a cyclobutanone or a four-membered enol ether through rearrangement of the trifluoromethanesulfonyl group followed by an intramolecular C- or O-alkylation reaction (Scheme 49). 

The relative yields of cyclized products increase greatly with the decreasing nucleophilicity (2a-c, 3 and 4 of Table 3) and with the increasing ionizing power of the solvent. Cyclobutanone derivatives (32) are usually obtained in much greater amounts than cyclopropyl ketones (33) but, when mercuric ions are added, formation of 33 is overwhelming. The effect of R in 31 on the product distribution is illustrated in cases 3b, 4a, 5a, 6a, and 7. 

The photochemical behavior of cyclobutanone (IS) contrasts sharply with that of other ketones. Cyclobutanone undergoes a cleavage also from the (n, r ) state, with subsequent fragmentation to ketene and olefin, decarbonylation to cyclopropane or cyclization to oxacarbene (16), whose concerted formation has also been proposed on the basis of stereochemical observations (Stohrer et al., 1974). In contrast, cyclohexanone cleaves exclusively from the triplet state and undergoes disproportionation reactions. The photochemical activity of cyclobutanone persists even at low temperatures (77 K) where cyclohexanone is photostable. 

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