Deprotonation aluminum enolates

The fi-kcto ester trans-140 undergoes deprotonation by Lewis base NaH, followed by reduction with AIH3 to an intermediate aluminum enolate (141), which on subsequent protonation with f-BuOH yields the /3-hydroxy ketone cis-142 in good yield and configurational purity (equation 37) . Diastereoselective protonation to the cis product allows both the 2-(hydroxymethyl) and the 4-methyl groups to be in axial positions for minimal steric interaction. 

DIBAL was used for the conjugate reduction to produce aluminum enolates in the presence of MeCu catalyst [39]. Unlike strong bases fhat readily deprotonate the a-hydrogen of carbonyl compounds, fhis mefhod tolerates a ketone carbonyl and its a hydrogen, and was fhus chemoselective as well as quantitatively reducing fhe a,/ -unsaturated ester (Scheme 6.19). 

An early reference teaches us that even trimethylaluminum can cause deprotonation of a specialized ketone to generate the aluminum enolate under rather drastic conditions (toluene, reflux) [42]. As expected, the reaction proceeded under thermodynamic control, in which aldol and retro-aldol reactions occurred reversibly, to give a high level of anti diastereoselectivity, with concomitant removal of chelation complex 46 from the solvent (Scheme 6.22). 

Nozaki and coworkers reported that diethylaluminum 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine (DATMP) is capable of producing diethylaluminum enolates by deprotonation of ketones or esters at -23°C in THF (Scheme 6.23) [43]. Unlike the instabih-ty of the corresponding lithium enolate, the aldol reaction of the aluminum enolate of t-butyl acetate prevails over the alkoxy ehmination that produces the ketene species, even at -23 °C. 

Whereas a lower temperature is essential to mediate deprotonation with DATMP, diisobutyl aluminum phenoxide requires quite a high temperature (THF, reflux) to generate the aluminum enolates, with the aid of a shght excess of pyridine (Scheme 6.24) [44], Self aldol condensation of ketone 47 proceeded with acceptable yield under these conditions. An efficient synfhesis of tfl-muscone was achieved by way of an intramolecular aldol reaction by use of these reagents. 

Examination of electronic and thermodynamic factors in the aforementioned conventional enolate formation revealed that steric factors were of fundamental importance in fhe reaction. One alternative is to complex a carbonyl compound with a bulky Lewis acid (Fig. 6.13). Bulky aluminum reagents usually form relatively stable 1 1 complexes irreversibly wifh carbonyl compounds. We first hypothesized that even in the presence of a strong base (LDA or LTMP), a steric environment applied in the aluminum-carbonyl complex would kinetically adjust site-selective deprotonation of carbonyl compounds which offer multiple sites for enohzation and kinetically stabilize fhe resulting bulky enolates by retarding the rate of proton transfer or other undesirable side reactions. These fundamental considerations found particular application in fhe formation and reaction of novel aluminum enolates. 

The deprotonation of chiral iron acyl complexes, which can be obtained as enantiomerically pure compounds, leads to the corresponding enolates, as shown by the research groups of Davies and Liebeskind [112-115]. The lithium enolate 67a, however, which originates from propanoate 66a, reacts stereoselectively with aldehydes or ketones only if it has been transmetalated into the corresponding copper or aluminum enolate (Eq. (30)) [116]. 

Deprotonation has only rarely been applied for the formation of aluminum enolates, for example, by treatment of trityl-ethyl or mesityl-ethyl ketones with trimethylaluminum [124]. In general, however, this reaction is plagued by side reactions, in particular addition to the carbonyl group. Concerning zinc enolates, in situ deprotonation of aryl-alkyl ketones occurs when they are... 

Next, the mechanism of the Type II reactions is discussed. To discriminate one of the enantiofaces of the acceptor it is desirable to place and to activate the electrophiles in a chiral environment. At the same time, effective activation of the Michael donor is required. In Shibasaki s ALB-catalyzed reaction (Scheme 3), it was proposed that the aluminum cation functioned as a Lewis acid to activate enones at the center of the catalyst, and that the Li-naphthoxide moiety deproton-ated the a-hydrogen of malonate to form the Li enolate (Scheme 9). Such simultaneous activation of both reactants at precisely defined positions became feasible by using multifunctional heterobimetallic complexes the mechanism is reminiscent of that which is operative in the active sites of enzymes. The observed absolute stereochemistry can be understood in terms of the proposed transition state model 19. Importantly, addition of a catalytic amount of KOt-Bu (0.9equiv. to ALB) was effective in acceleration of the reaction rate with no deterioration of the... 

Menthol [(—)-l] has been used as a chiral ligand for aluminum in Lewis acid catalyzed Diels-Alder reactions with surprising success2 (Section D.l.6.1.1.1.2.2.1). The major part of its application is as a chiral auxiliary, by the formation of esters or ethers. Esters with carboxylic acids may be formed by any convenient esterification technique. Esters with saturated carboxylic acids have been used for the formation of enolates by deprotonation and subsequent addition or alkylation reactions (Sections D.l.1.1.3.1. and D.l.5.2.3.), and with unsaturated acids as chiral dienes or dienophiles in Diels-Alder reactions (Section D. 1.6.1.1.1.), as chiral dipolarophiles in 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions (Section D.l.6.1.2.1.), as chiral partners in /(-lactam formation by [2 + 2] cycloaddition with chlorosulfonyl isocyanate (SectionD.l.6.1.3.), as sources for chiral alkenes in cyclopropanations (Section D.l.6.1.5.). and in the synthesis of chiral allenes (Section B.I.). Several esters have also been prepared by indirect techniques, e.g.,... 

The auxiliaries R) and (S)-triphenylglycol 172 were also applied to achieve anti-selective propionate aldol additions, as shown by Braun and coworkers. It turned out that, for this purpose, the tertiary hydroxyl group of the propionate (R)-204 had to be protected by silylation. This was easily accomplished by a one-pot procedure that delivered the ester (R)-205. After deprotonation with LICA, the lithium enolate was transmetallated with dichloro(dicyclopentadienyl)zirconium and reacted with aliphatic aldehydes to give predominantly anti-diastereomers 206, the diastereomeric ratio surpassing 95 5. Reduction with lithium aluminum hydride finally led to diols 207 under the release of the chiral auxiliary R)-172. After its removal by chromatography, diastereomerically pure diols 207 were isolated with >95% ee (Scheme 4.45) [107]. For the benzaldehyde adduct 206 (R = Ph), alkaline hydrolysis was also performed and found to lead to epimerization to only a small degree. 

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