Dialdehydes Knoevenagel reaction

The Knoevenagel reaction is a base-catalyzed condensation between a dialdehyde and an arene possessing two sites with relatively acidic protons. In this polymerization, shown schematically in Scheme 34, deprotonation affords a difunctional nucleophile that subsequently attacks the carbonyl functionalities present in the other monomers. Elimination is the final step in the Knoevenagel sequence, and the use of monomers with highly acidic protons drives the reaction to completion. A number of research groups have employed this method to obtain PPV and its substituted analogs 29 [126,140-146]. 

The second target, 4-oxo-4H-l-benzopyran-3-carboxylic acids (3) were obtained by Jones oxidation of or hydrolysis of the 3-carbonitrile derivatives ( ) described below (14). The third target, 3-(4-oxo-4H-1-benzopyran-3)acrylic acids (4) were synthesized generally by the Knoevenagel reaction of 3-carboxaldehydes (2) with malonic acid ( 1 ). In the meantime, it was found that the 3-carboxaldehydes ( ), which were able to function as P-dialdehyde compounds, were attacked by amide groups in some cases, to give 2(IH)-pyridone derivatives after condensation with malonic acid derivatives. Thus, condensation of 2 with malonodiamide in pyridine gave initially acrylamide derivatives which were converted into 3-carbamoyl-5-(2-hydroxybenzoyl)-2(IH)-pyridones ( ) (24) ... 

Poly(chalcones) (183), which themselves are the products of Knoevenagel condensation of aromatic dialdehydes and diacetyl compounds, have been transformed into polylpyrazo-lines) (185) by reaction with phenylhydrazine (184) (72MI11107). The reaction (Scheme 88) was conveniently conducted in excess phenylhydrazine and yielded polymers which were described as being brilliantly fluorescent in solution. The poly(pyrazolines) (185) exhibited glass transition temperatures between 150 and 210 °C and were stable, in some cases, up to 630 °C. 

Whereas cyclization of aldohexose and aldoheptose proceeded septanoside formation, implementing aldol-type condensation was also devised to derive septanoside systems. An early report by Baschang illustrated that a dialdehyde, such as 17, obtained by periodate oxidation of a pyranoside, upon Knoevenagel condensation afforded 3-deoxy-3-nitroseptanoside 18 (Scheme 13.5a) [16], On the contrary, such a reaction on dialdehyde 19 with ethyl nitroacetate afforded hij-nitro-septanoside derivatives 20 and 21 (Scheme 13.5b) [17]. 

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