Cyclohexanones hydride reduction

Attempts have been made to account for the stereochemistry of hydride reductions of asymmetric cyclohexanones. Until recently the most widely accepted view was that of Dauben, Noyce and their co-workers, who... 

Some instances of incomplete debromination of 5,6-dibromo compounds may be due to the presence of 5j5,6a-isomer of wrong stereochemistry for anti-coplanar elimination. The higher temperature afforded by replacing acetone with refluxing cyclohexanone has proved advantageous in some cases. There is evidence that both the zinc and lithium aluminum hydride reductions of vicinal dihalides also proceed faster with diaxial isomers (ref. 266, cf. ref. 215, p. 136, ref. 265). The chromous reduction of vicinal dihalides appears to involve free radical intermediates produced by one electron transfer, and is not stereospecific but favors tra 5-elimination in the case of vic-di-bromides. Chromous ion complexed with ethylene diamine is more reactive than the uncomplexed ion in reduction of -substituted halides and epoxides to olefins. ... 

The preparation of Pans-1,2-cyclohexanediol by oxidation of cyclohexene with peroxyformic acid and subsequent hydrolysis of the diol monoformate has been described, and other methods for the preparation of both cis- and trans-l,2-cyclohexanediols were cited. Subsequently the trans diol has been prepared by oxidation of cyclohexene with various peroxy acids, with hydrogen peroxide and selenium dioxide, and with iodine and silver acetate by the Prevost reaction. Alternative methods for preparing the trans isomer are hydroboration of various enol derivatives of cyclohexanone and reduction of Pans-2-cyclohexen-l-ol epoxide with lithium aluminum hydride. cis-1,2-Cyclohexanediol has been prepared by cis hydroxylation of cyclohexene with various reagents or catalysts derived from osmium tetroxide, by solvolysis of Pans-2-halocyclohexanol esters in a manner similar to the Woodward-Prevost reaction, by reduction of cis-2-cyclohexen-l-ol epoxide with lithium aluminum hydride, and by oxymercuration of 2-cyclohexen-l-ol with mercury(II) trifluoro-acetate in the presence of ehloral and subsequent reduction. ... 

With less hindered hydride donors, particularly NaBH4 and LiAlH4, confor-mationally biased cyclohexanones give predominantly the equatorial alcohol, which is normally the more stable of the two isomers. However, hydride reductions are exothermic reactions with low activation energies. The TS should resemble starting ketone, so product stability should not control the stereoselectivity. A major factor in the preference for the equatorial isomer is the torsional strain that develops in the formation of the axial alcohol.117... 

Tributyltin hydride reduction of carbonyl compounds. The reduction of carbonyl compounds with metal hydrides can also proceed via an electron-transfer activation in analogy to the metal hydride insertion into TCNE.188 Such a notion is further supported by the following observations (a) the reaction rates are enhanced by light as well as heat 189 (b) the rate of the reduction depends strongly on the reduction potentials of ketones. For example, trifluoroacetophenone ( re<1 = —1.38 V versus SCE) is quantitatively reduced by Bu3SnH in propionitrile within 5 min, whereas the reduction of cyclohexanone (Erea — 2.4 V versus SCE) to cyclohexanol (under identical... 

The cyclohexadiene complex 29 has been further elaborated to afford either the cydo-hexenone 34 or the cyclohexene 36 in moderate yields (Scheme 1) [21]. The addition of HOTf to 29 generates the oxonium species 33, which can be hydrolyzed and treated with cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate (CAN) to release the cyclohexanone 34 in 43 % yield from 29. Alternatively, hydride reduction of 33 followed by treatment with acid eliminates methanol to generate the r 3-allyl complex 35. This species can be trapped by the conjugate base of dimethyl malonate to afford a cyclohexene complex. Oxidative decomplexation of this species using silver trifluoromethanesulfonate liberates the cyclohexene 36 in 57 % overall yield (based on 29). 

The heterocyclic Mannich bases of oxa- and thia-cyclohexanone (290, X = O, S) obey the general rule of predominant B attack in hydride reductions. The synthesis of A diastereomer requires the use of aluminum isopropoxide (Meerwein-Pondoif), which always favors the opposite direction of attack with respect to metal hydride. 

Although the metal-NHs reduction of unhindered cyclohexanones usually affords equatorial alcohols with greater stereoselectivity then metal hydride reductions, this method has not been used frequently in synthesis. An exception is the highly stereoselective reduction of ketoxime (19 equation 10), an intermediate in the synthesis of ( )-perhydrohistrionicotoxin, which gave an excellent yield of equatorial alcohol (20) on reduction with Na-NHs. This reduction is noteworthy in that the oxime survives the reduction, which was carried out below the boiling point of liquid NH3 for a relatively short period of time (30 min). ... 

The stereoselectivity of the hydride reduction of conjugated cyclohexenones has also been subjected to close examination from both experimental and theoretical viewpoints. Much of the work has involved polycyclic systems, e.g.. steroids which have little conformational flexibility and in which axial and equatorial directions of approach can be clearly defined. With small" hydride donors, these substrates show an even clearer preference for axial attack than the corresponding cyclohexanones. For examples involving reductions with lithium aluminum hydride and sodium borohydride, see Table 10. 3/(-Acetylcholest-5-en-7-one and cholest-2-en-l-one are notable in that the analogous saturated substrates are attacked from the equatorial direction115 l16. The reduction of 17/i-hydroxy-4-androsten-3-one (testosterone) to 4-androstene-3/1,17/j-diol with d.r. 90 10 can be compared with the sodium borohydride reduction of 17/i-hy-droxyandrostan-3-one (dihydrotestosterone) to androstane-3/ ,17/ -diol with d.r. 81 19 (see p 4030). 

Table 4.11. Hydride Reduction of 2-Substituted Cyclohexanone Derivatives, 302...

With less hindered hydride donors, particularly sodium borohydride and lithium aluminum hydride, cyclohexanones give predominantly the equatorial alcohol. There has been less agreement about the factors that lead to this result. The equatorial alcohols are, of course, the more stable of the two isomers. The stereochemistry of hydride reduction is determined by kinetic control, but it was argued that the relative stability of the equatorial alcohol might be reflected in the transition state and be the dominant factor when no major steric problems intervened. The term product development control was introduced to indicate this explanation of the reaction stereochemistry. A number of objections were raised to this idea, primarily on the basis of the Hammond principle. The common hydride reductions are exothermic reactions with low activation energies. The transition state should resemble starting ketone and reflect little of the structural features that are present in the product, so that it is difficult to see why product stability should determine the product composition. 

Lithium tri-i-amylborohydride is a generally more stereoselective reducing agent than the earlier reported lithium tri-s-butylborohydride. Thus 3-methyl- and 4-t-butyl-cyclohexanones yield trans-3-methyl- and cis-4-t-butyl-cyclohexanol respectively, in greater than 99.5% isomeric purity. In most hydride reductions of... 

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