Elimination reactions alkene synthesis

Except for terpene chemistry, the Wagner-Meerwein rearrangement is of limited synthetic importance. It is rather found as an undesired side-reaction with other reactions, for example in the synthesis of alkenes by elimination reactions. 

Treatment of 51 with an excess of sodium benzoate in DMF resulted in substitution and elimination, to yield the cyclohexene derivative (228, 36%). The yield was low, but 228 was later shown to be a useful compound for synthesis of carba-oligosaccharides. <9-Deacylation of228 and successive benzylidenation and acetylation gave the alkene 229, which was oxidized with a peroxy acid to give a single epoxide (230) in 60% yield. Treatment of 230 with sodium azide and ammonium chloride in aqueous 2-methoxyeth-anol gave the azide (231,55%) as the major product this was converted into a hydroxyvalidamine derivative in the usual manner. On the other hand, an elimination reaction of the methanesulfonate of 231 with DBU in toluene gave the protected precursor (232, 87%) of 203. 

There are, however, serious problems that must be overcome in the application of this reaction to synthesis. The product is a new carbocation that can react further. Repetitive addition to alkene molecules leads to polymerization. Indeed, this is the mechanism of acid-catalyzed polymerization of alkenes. There is also the possibility of rearrangement. A key requirement for adapting the reaction of carbocations with alkenes to the synthesis of small molecules is control of the reactivity of the newly formed carbocation intermediate. Synthetically useful carbocation-alkene reactions require a suitable termination step. We have already encountered one successful strategy in the reaction of alkenyl and allylic silanes and stannanes with electrophilic carbon (see Chapter 9). In those reactions, the silyl or stannyl substituent is eliminated and a stable alkene is formed. The increased reactivity of the silyl- and stannyl-substituted alkenes is also favorable to the synthetic utility of carbocation-alkene reactions because the reactants are more nucleophilic than the product alkenes. 

Crozet and co-workers have used S l reactions for synthesis of new heterocycles, which are expected to be biologically active (see also Section 7.3, which discusses synthesis of alkenes). For example, 2-chloromethyl-5-nitroimidazole reacts with the anion of 2-nitropropane to give 2-isopropylidene-5-nitroimidazole. It is formed via C-alkylation of the nitronate ion followed by elimination of HN02 (Eq. 5.33).51a Other derivatives of nitroimidazoles are also good substrates for SrnI reactions.5113 0... 

Elimination reactions of this type can be useful in synthesis for the formation of carbon-carbon bonds. For example, if dibromocarbene is generated in the presence of an alkene, it will react by cycloaddition to give a cyclopropane derivative ... 

While carbon and oxygen radicals add irreversibly to carbon-carbon double bonds, the fragmentation reaction is rapid (and often reversible) for elements like tin, sulfur, selenium and the halogens (Scheme 36). This elimination reaction can be very useful in synthesis if the eliminated radical Y- can either directly or indirectly react with a radical precursor to propagate a chain. Given this prerequisite, an addition chain can be devised with either an allylic or a vinylic precursor, as illustrated in Scheme 37. Carbon radicals are generated by the direct or indirect reaction with Y- and are removed by the -elimination of Y-. Selectivity is determined by the concentration of the alkene acceptor and the rate of -elimination... 

It was indicated already in Section 4.1.5 that Het /HeE-eliminations offer possibilities for regio- and stereocontrol in the synthesis of alkenes that are quite different from those of H/Het-eliminations. It was also indicated that the value of these reactions for alkene synthesis depends on, among other things, how laborious it is to obtain the Het -and Het2-contain-ing substrates. Accordingly, in the next sections we will discuss such eliminations and the preparation of the elimination precursors as well. 

As we saw in Chapter 8, elimination reactions often compete with nucleophilic substitution reactions. Both reactions can be useful in synthesis if this competition can be controlled. This chapter discusses the two common mechanisms by which elimination reactions occur, the stereochemistry of the reactions, the direction of the elimination, and the factors that control the competition between elimination and substitution. Based on these factors, procedures are presented that can be used to minimize elimination if the substitution product is the desired one or to maximize elimination if the alkene is the desired product. 

Chapter 8 begins the treatment of organic reactions with a discussion of nucleophilic substitution reactions. Elimination reactions are treated separately in Chapter 9 to make each chapter more manageable. Chapter 10 discusses synthetic uses of substitution and elimination reactions and introduces retrosynthetic analysis. Although this chapter contains many reactions, students have learned to identify the electrophile, leaving group, and nucleophile or base from Chapters 8 and 9. so they do not have to rely as much on memorization. Chapter 11 covers electrophilic additions to alkenes and alkynes. The behavior of carbocations, presented in Chapter 8, is very useful here. An additional section on synthesis has been added to this chapter as well. 

As shown in Scheme 42, selenoxides are crucial intermediates in the selenoxide elimination reactions. These are syn-eliminations which proceed via an intramolecular mechanism to yield alkenes as reaction products. The regioselectivities of these eliminations are dependent on the nature of the substituent Y in the / -position as shown in Scheme 44.286 The mild reaction conditions for these elimination reactions make them highly useful in organic synthesis and theoretical studies on this reaction have been carried out as well.286... 

Because a carbon-carbon double bond is relatively reactive, it is considered to be a functional group, and alkenes are characterized by the reactions of their double bonds. In previous chapters, we saw alkene synthesis by elimination reactions and we... 

The acid or base elimination of a diastereoisomerically pure p-hydroxysilane, 1, (the Peterson olefination reaction4) provides one of the very best methods for the stereoselective formation of alkenes. Either the E- or Z-isomer may be prepared with excellent geometric selectivity from a single precursor (Scheme 1). The widespread use of the Peterson olefination reaction in synthesis has been limited, however, by the fact that there are few experimentally simple methods available for the formation of diastereoisomerically pure p-hydroxysilanes.56 One reliable route is the Cram controlled addition of nucleophiles to a-silyl ketones,6 but such an approach is complicated by difficulties in the preparation of (a-silylalkyl)lithium species or the corresponding Grignard reagents. These difficulties have been resolved by the development of a simple method for the preparation and reductive acylation of (a-chloroalkyl)silanes.7... 

Alkene synthesis is the most important and most widely used reaction in organic chemistry. Many review articles and research papers describe methods for the positioning and stereospecific introduction of carbon-carbon double bonds ". The three most important methods for the synthesis of alkenes described in this chapter are (1) elimination reactions, (2) aUcenation of carbonyl compounds and (3) reduction of alkynes. 

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