Darzens reaction chloroacetonitrile

The Darzens reaction between aldehydes and ketones with activated halomethyl compounds is an effective route to oxiranes under phase-transfer catalytic conditions and the catalyst has a profound stereochemical control of the substituents (see Chapter 12). The reaction has been conducted in high yield under liquidtliquid and solidrliquid two-phase conditions with a range of halomethyl compounds [e.g. 25-30], Ketones tend to be much slower in their reaction and benzylic ketones undergo alkylation with chloroacetonitrile in preference to the Darzens reaction [25]. 

Although the effect of quaternary ammonium salts on the stereochemistry of the two-phase condensation reaction of a-chloroacetonitrile with acrylonitriles to form cyclopropanes [4, 7] is not as pronounced as with the Darzens reaction, it can be rationalized in an analogous manner (Scheme 12.2). In the absence of the catalyst, the more highly stabilized anion (4a) is favoured leading to the preferential production of the cis isomer (5). As with the Darzens reaction, addition of the catalyst causes diffusion of the anions (4a) and (4b), as ion-pairs, into the bulk of the organic phase where their relative stabilities are similar and a more equal ratio of the two isomeric cyclopropanes (5) and (6) results (Table 12.2). 

Deschamps, B., Seyden-Penne, J. Solvent effects on the stereochemistry of the Darzens reaction. III. Condensation of chloroacetonitrile and aromatic aldehydes in a basic medium. Tetrahedron 1971, 27, 3959-3964. 

Darzens reactions of aromatic aldehydes and a-chloroacetonitriles, oc-chloroalkyl sulfones, or phenacyl halides with ephedrine or quinine derivatives as catalysts afforded epoxides in low optical yields... 

A degree of stereoselective control of the course of a reaction, which is absent or different from that prevalent when the reaction is conducted in the absence of quaternary ammonium salts, may be achieved under standard phase-transfer catalysed reaction conditions. The reactions, which are influenced most by the phase-transfer catalyst, are those involving anionic intermediates whose preferred conformations or configurations can be controlled by the cationic species across the interface of the two-phase system. For example, in the base-catalysed Darzens condensation of aromatic aldehydes with a-chloroacetonitriles to produce oxiranes (Section 6.3), the intermediate anion may adopt either of the two conformations, (la) or (lb) which are stabilized by interaction across the interface by the cations (Scheme 12.1) [1-4]. 

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