1.3- Dicarbonyl compounds from aldehydes

The triazolium catalysts discussed above do not efficiently promote the Stetter reaction, i.e. the formation of 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds from aldehydes and a,/ -... 

Substituted imidazole 1-oxides 228 can be prepared by N-oxidation of imidazoles 248, by N-alkylation of 1-hydroxyimidazoles 249, or by cycliza-tion using suitable starting materials derived from a 1,2-dicarbonyl compound, an aldehyde, an amine, and hydroxyamine. The substituents at the three first starting materials are transferred to the product and make control over the substituents in the imidazole 1-oxide 228 possible depending on the protocol used by the synthesis. The synthesis of 3-hydroxyimidazole 1-oxides is presented in Section 3.1.6. 

Oxazole IV-oxides cannot be made by oxygenation of oxazoles. The only method of synthesis remains the condensation of monooximes of 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds with aldehydes in the presence of hydrogen chloride (equation 132) (15CB897). The aldehyde may be aromatic or aliphatic (including formaldehyde) and the oxime may be derived from an aromatic diketone or it may be an a-keto aldoxime, leading to a 2,5-disubstituted oxazole IV-oxide. It may also contain an additional carbonyl group as in equation (133). 

Nitrosobenzene, CjHsNO, which is obtained by the oxidation of phenylhydroxylamine, and p>nitrosodimethylaniline, p-(CH3)2NCjH4NO, which is easily prepared by the nitrosation of dimethylaniline, are fairly specific oxidizing agents for the preparation of aromatic aldehydes from benzyl halides or tosylates and of a-dicarbonyl compounds from from a-halo ketones [984, 985]. Also, a methylene group flanked by two carbonyls can be oxidized to a carbonyl group by nitrosodimethylaniline [986]. Pyridine is frequently used to form quaternary pyridinium salts from reactive halides prior to their oxidation to aromatic aldehydes, a-ketoaldehydes, or a-diketones [984] (equations 22 and 23). 

Nitro groups can be added to organic molecules through an aldol reaction between the anion of a nitroalkane and an aldehyde or ketone carbonyl. Intramolecular aldol reactions can be used to create five- or six-membered rings from dicarbonyl compounds (either aldehydes or ketones), which form in preference to smaller or larger rings that may be possible. 

In the case of systems where the carbonyl group is conjugated with a series of double bonds, a shift of multiple bonds is possible in the course of a multistep reduction process. The rate of such isomerization of the intermediate products can limit the height of the first of the succeeding waves on the polarograms. In the reduction of aromatic dicarbonyl compounds (terephthalic aldehyde, p-diben-zoylbenzene, p-diacetylbenzene, p-dibenzoyldiphenyl, trans-diben-zoylethylene) in buffered aqueous ethanolic solutions the first wave corresponds under certain conditions to a reversible two-electron and two-proton process to form a diol structure with a quinoid double bond system [56]. The next wave which appears after this wave arises [56] from reduction of the corresponding monocarbonyl compound, formed by rearrangement of the diol ... 

The procedure described illustrates a general method for the preparation of o ,j3-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones from the enol ethers of 3-dicarbonyl compounds. 

The Hantzsch pyridine synthesis involves the condensation of two equivalents of a 3-dicarbonyl compound, one equivalent of an aldehyde and one equivalent of ammonia. The immediate result from this three-component coupling, 1,4-dihydropyridine 1, is easily oxidized to fully substituted pyridine 2. Saponification and decarboxylation of the 3,5-ester substituents leads to 2,4,6-trisubstituted pyridine 3. 

The synthesis of imidazoles is another reaction where the assistance of microwaves has been intensely investigated. Apart from the first synthesis described since 1995 [40-42], recently a combinatorial synthesis of 2,4,5-trisubstituted and 1,2,4,5-tetrasubstituted imidazoles has been described on inorganic solid support imder solvent-free conditions [43]. Different aldehydes and 1,2 dicarbonyl compounds 42 (mainly benzil and analogues) were reacted in the presence of ammonium acetate to give the trisubstituted ring 43. When a primary amine was added to the mixture, the tetrasubstituted imidazoles were obtained (Scheme 13). The reaction was done by adsorption of the reagent on a solid support, such as silica gel, alumina, montmorillonite KIO, bentonite or alumina followed by microwave irradiation for 20 min in an open vial (multimode reactor). The authors observed that when a non-acid support was used, addition of acetic acid was necessary to obtain good yields of the products. 

The obvious Vfittig disconnection gives stabilised ylid (5fi) and keto-aldehyde (57). We have used many such long-chain dicarbonyl compounds in this Chapter and they are mostly produced from available alkenes by oxidative cleavage (e.g. ozonolysis). In this case, cyclic alkene (58) is the right starting material, and this can be made from alcohol (59) by elimination,... 

Eaone disconnection (8a) reveals 1,4-dicarbonyl compound S)best disconnected at the central bond (a) to sever the longer chain from the ring. Aldehyde (11) is a D els-Alder product. d - ysis... 

A mixture of 1,4-dioxane and water is often used as the solvent for the conversion of aldehydes and ketones by H2Se03 to a-dicarbonyl compounds in one step (Eq. 8.117).331 Dehydrogenation of carbonyl compounds with selenium dioxide generates the a, (i-unsaturated carbonyl compounds in aqueous acetic acid.332 Using water as the reaction medium, ketones can be transformed into a-iodo ketones upon treatment with sodium iodide, hydrogen peroxide, and an acid.333 Interestingly, a-iodo ketones can be also obtained from secondary alcohol through a metal-free tandem oxidation-iodination approach. 

Officially, the history of MCRs dates back to the year 1850, with the introduction of the Strecker reaction (S-3CR) describing the formation of a-aminocyanides from ammonia, carbonyl compounds, and hydrogen cyanide [4]. In 1882, the reaction progressed to the Hantzsch synthesis (H-4CR) of 1,4-dihydropyridines by the reaction of amines, aldehydes, and 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds [5], Some 25 years later, in 1917, Robinson achieved the total synthesis of the alkaloid tropinone by using a three-component strategy based on Mannich-type reactions (M-3CR) [6]. In fact, this was the earliest application of MCRs in natural product synthesis [7]. 

What is described as a domino Knoevenagel-hetero-Diels-Alder reaction , involving the reaction of the glucose-derived aldehyde 93 with a 1,3-dicarbonyl compound in presence of either proline or ethylenediammonium acetate, leads to the doubly annulated 5 6 6-fused compound 94 (Scheme 30) <2004S1150>. If the dicarbonyl compound is Meldmm s acid, however, the sequence is completed by spontaneous elimination of acetone and carbon dioxide from the Diels-Alder adduct, to give compound 95 <2005ASC1353>. 

The reaction, formally speaking a [3 + 2] cycloaddition between the aldehyde and a ketocarbene, resembles the dihydrofuran formation from 57 a or similar a-diazoketones and alkenes (see Sect. 2.3.1). For that reaction type, 2-diazo-l,3-dicarbonyl compounds and ethyl diazopyruvate 56 were found to be suited equally well. This similarity pertains also to the reactivity towards carbonyl functions 1,3-dioxole-4-carboxylates are also obtained by copper chelate catalyzed decomposition of 56 in the presence of aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes as well as enolizable ketones 276). No such products were reported for the catalyzed decomposition of ethyl diazoacetate in the presence of the same ketones 271,272). The reasons for the different reactivity of ethoxycarbonylcarbene and a-ketocarbenes (or the respective metal carbenes) have only been speculated upon so far 276). 

General procedures for the synthesis of the imidazole core have been published in 2000. Solvent-free microwave assisted synthesis of 2,4,5-substituted imidazoles 64 from aldehydes 62 and 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds 63 in the presence of ammonium acetate and alumina has been reported <00TL5031>. V-protected a-amino glyoxals 65 were utilized as potential chiral educts for the synthesis of amino acid-derived imidazoles 66 <00TL1275>. 

Catalyst 329, prepared from trimethylaluminum and 3,3/-bis(triphenylsily 1)-1,1 /-bi-2-naphthol, allowed the preparation of the endo cycloadduct (2S )-327 with 67% ee. The use of non-polar solvents raised the ee, but lowered the chemical yield213. Recently, it was reported that the reaction to form 327 exhibited autoinduction when mediated by catalyst 326214. This was attributed to a co-operative interaction of the cycloadduct with the catalyst, generating a more selective catalytic species. A wide variety of carbonyl ligands were tested for their co-operative effect on enantioselectivity. Sterically crowded aldehydes such as pivaldehyde provided the best results. Surprisingly, 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds were even more effective than monocarbonyl compounds. The asymmetric induction increased from 82 to 92% ee when di(l-adamantyl)-2,2-dimethylmalonate was added while at the same time the reaction temperature was allowed to increase by 80 °C, from -80 °C to 0°C. 

Acyloxy-l-cyanoalkanes [45, 46], which can be used as precursors for ketones [47], a-hydroxy ketones [48] and 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds [47], are prepared in one pot from the appropriate aldehyde, sodium or potassium cyanide, and the acylating agent under phase-transfer catalytic conditions [47-49]. Attempts to synthesize chiral cyanhydrins using chiral phase-transfer catalysts have been unsuccessful (see Section 12.3). 

Nifedipin Nifedipine, dimethyl ether l,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-4-(2 -nitrophenyl)-3,5-piridindicarboxylic acid (19.3.16), is synthesized by a Hantsch synthesis from two molecules of a j3-dicarbonyl compound—methyl acetoacetate, using as the aldehyde component—2-nitrobenzaldehyde and ammonia. The sequence of the intermediate stages of synthesis has not been completely established [20-23]. 

Cyclic stannylenes formed from activated tin and a-dicarbonyl compounds undergo a specific addition reaction (Scheme 34) with aldehydes to give ketodiols in high yields <83CL1825). 

It is not customary to attempt the isolation of ketone or aldehyde intermediates (121) the formula serves merely as a reminder that once hydrolysis of the protecting enol ether or acetal occurs, the same type of structure is formed from any given dicarbonyl compound. Cyclization has been carried out in refluxing ethanolic picric acid or acetic anhydride with a few drops of sulfuric acid, but Hansen and Amstutz (63JOC393) offered excellent theoretical reasons for avoiding an excess of acid, and reported that best results (Table 3) can be obtained by refluxing the dry hydrobromide in acetic anhydride containing no sulfuric acid. 

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