DABCO Michael-type reactions

Figure 6.8 Proposed modes of action of hydrogen-bonding catalyst 16 Bidentate hydrogen bonding coordination of the zwitterion derived from Michael-type DABCO attack to methyl acrylate (1) and Zimmerman-Traxler transition state for the reaction of methyl acrylate with benzaldehyde (2).

Despite of the fact that Baylis and Hillman reported the synthesis of a-hydr-oxyethylated nitroethylene through the reaction between nitroethylene and acetaldehyde in the presence of DABCO, nitroalkenes employed as activated olefins in MBH reaction have not received much attention until recently. Prompted by the fact that nitroalkenes have shown superior Michael acceptor abilities, and that the first step in the MBH reaction is the Michael-type addition of the catalyst to substrate, Namboothiri et al. have published a series of papers on nitroalkenes involved the MBH reaction. The MBH reactions between nitroalkenes and various electrophiles such as formaldehyde, activated carbonyl compounds, imines, alkenes and azodicarboxylates " in the presence... 

Kitazume et al. examined the first example of Michael additions via the MBH-type reaction that used 3-fluoromethylprop-2-enamide as a chiral auxiliary electrophile towards activated olefins in the DABCO ionic liquid system. The reaction of (45)-3-[( )-4,4,4-trifluorobut-2-enoyl]-4-isopropyl-2-oxazolidinone (297) with activated vinyl moiety proceeded smoothly at 80 °C to give the corresponding adducts 298 in moderate yields, albeit with low diastereoselectivity (Scheme 1.109). 

While THF or CH2CI2 are the most commonly used solvents, the solubility of the reagents or the catalyst may dictate the use of other solvents. Reactions are usually slow in DMF and in CH3CN when DABCO, DBU or DMAP were used as catalysts. An often-observed byproduct of the aza-MBH reaction is a bridged compound of type 97. This product is the result of a stepwise addition of 95 to 75 via the Mannich reaction, followed by an intramolecular conjugated addition (Michael addition) of the formed anion to the a,/ -unsaturated ketone, and thus due to the elevated basicity of the catalyst (Scheme 5.21) [92]. 

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