Cyclopentanones Dieckmann cyclization

The cyclic /3-keto ester produced in a Dieckmann cyclization can be further alkylated and decarboxylated by a series of reactions analogous to those used in the acetoacetic ester synthesis (Section 22.7). For example, alkylation and subsequent decarboxylation of ethyl 2-oxocyclohexanecarboxylate yields a 2-alkylcvclohexanone. The overall sequence of (1) Dieckmann cyclization, (2) /3-keto ester alkylation, and (3) decarboxylation is a powerful method for preparing 2-substituted cyclohexanones and cyclopentanones. 

The desired ketone, cyclopentanone, is derived from the corresponding j8-keto ester. This key intermediate is obtained from a Dieckmann cyclization of the starting material, diethyl hexanedioate. 

The product of a Dieckmann cyclization can undergo alkylation, hydrolysis, and decarboxylation. This sequence represents an efficient method for preparing 2-substituted cyclopentanones and cyclohexanones (below). Using this information, propose an efficient synthesis of 2-propylcyclohexanone using 1,7-heptanediol and propyl iodide. 

In 1887, Claisen and Lowman reported that the condensation of 2 mol of an ester, such as ethyl acetate, in the presence of base gave the p-keto ester, ethyl acetoacetate (ethyl 3-oxobutanoate equation 1). The intramolecular equivalent was recognized by Dieckmann in 1894. He found that heating an adipic acid ester with sodium and a trace of alcohol led to cyclization, with the formation of a cyclopentanone (equation 2). The reaction was, at an early stage, extended to the acylation of ketones. Claisen himself reported the base-catalyzed reaction of acetophenone and ethyl benzoate to give dibenzoylmethane in 1887. This reaction, too, has an intramolecular parallel. The acylation of ketones with esters and other acid derivatives is sometimes called a Claisen condensation, although this usage is criticized by some writers and avoided by others. A widely used example of ketone acylation is the synthesis of a-formyl (hydroxymethylene) ketones (equation 3). Intramolecular variants of this reaction include the classical synthesis of dimedone (Scheme 1). 

The cyclization reactions described in this chapter and, occasionally, even the acyclic condensation reactions, can often be prefaced by a different type of process such as a Michael reaction. We shall term such a sequence a tandem reaction and a number of these have already been described. Others will be collected here to illustrate the types of processes that have been observed. The cycloenones (198), when treated with a nucleophile (199) under basic conditions, react in a Michael fashion to give the intermediates (200), which then undergo the Dieckmann reaction to give the bicyclic dione (201). Similarly, methyl cinnamate (202) reacts with the nucleophile (203) in the same tandem sequence to give the cyclopentanone (204) as a diastereomeric mixture (Scheme 89). ... 

In the Dieckmann condensation certain esters having hydrogen on the a-carbon atom which is activated (generally by a carbonyl group) undergo intramolecular cyclization. These reactions may be illustrated by the formation of a-carbethoxy-cyclopentanone from diethyl adipate. 

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