Enol carbonates, synthesis

When 2-lithio-2-(trimethylsilyl)-l,3-dithiane,9 formed by deprotonation of 9 with an alkyllithium base, is combined with iodide 8, the desired carbon-carbon bond forming reaction takes place smoothly and gives intermediate 7 in 70-80% yield (Scheme 2). Treatment of 7 with lithium diisopropylamide (LDA) results in the formation of a lactam enolate which is subsequently employed in an intermolecular aldol condensation with acetaldehyde (6). The union of intermediates 6 and 7 in this manner provides a 1 1 mixture of diastereomeric trans aldol adducts 16 and 17, epimeric at C-8, in 97 % total yield. Although stereochemical assignments could be made for both aldol isomers, the development of an alternative, more stereoselective route for the synthesis of the desired aldol adduct (16) was pursued. Thus, enolization of /Mactam 7 with LDA, as before, followed by acylation of the lactam enolate carbon atom with A-acetylimidazole, provides intermediate 18 in 82% yield. Alternatively, intermediate 18 could be prepared in 88% yield, through oxidation of the 1 1 mixture of diastereomeric aldol adducts 16 and 17 with trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA) in... 

Unsymmetrical ketones can yield two different enolates, and in some cases the one that is the less stable thermodynamically is formed faster.148 Scheme 24 illustrates the example of 2-methylcyclopentanone. When this ketone is added slowly to excess f-butyllithium, the proton is removed preferentially from the less substituted carbon. If excess ketone is added, it can serve as a proton donor to allow equilibrium to be established, and nearly all the enolate is then the more highly substituted one.149 It may be possible in some cases to take advantage of such a selective formation of one of two possible enolates in synthesis. A more general procedure is to use a compound in which the desired position is activated... 

Recently, a general synthesis of a-formyloxycarbonyl compounds was reported. Yields ranging from 35-90% were achieved via electrochemical generation of enol carbonate cation radicals in DMF156. The cation radicals are trapped by the solvent, and the resulting formiminium ion is hydrolyzed during workup. The mechanism is shown in Scheme 62. 

In DMF containing lithium perchlorate, reduction of o -bromopropiophenone at mercury gives l,4-diphenyl-2,3-dimethylbutan-l,4-dione in 65% yield [236]. However, electrolysis of a-bromopropiophenone in the presence of benzoyl chloride affords only l,3-diphenyl-2-methylpropan-l,3-dione. Other studies involving reduction of phenacyl bromides include the electrosynthesis of 4-aryl-2-methylfurans [237] and the regioselective synthesis of enol carbonates [238] semicarbazones of phenacyl bromide can be converted into 3,7-diaryl-2/7-imidazo[2,l-Z>][l,3,4]oxadiazines [239]. Reduction of 1,2-dibenzoyl-chloroethane at mercury in DMF containing lithium perchlorate affords mixtures of phenyl tribenzoyl cyclopentanols and diphenyl dibenzoyl butanediones [240]. 

An efficient synthesis of enol carbonates, including methyl 5a-cholest-2-en-3-yl carbonate (126) was reported by treatment of the 3-ketone with lithium... 

D. Caine, Alkylation and Related Reactions of Ketones and Aldehydes via Metal Enolates , Carbon-Carbon Bond Formation (Techniques and Applications in Organic Synthesis Series, Vol. 1, ed. R. L. Augustine), Marcel Dekker, New York, 1979. 

To overcome the limitation of the high stability of the aluminum enolates, the oxygen atom has been transformed to silyl enol ethers, enol acetates, and allyl enol carbonates. Silyl enol ethers and enol acetates are precursors to lithium enolates. Enol acetates and allyl enol carbonates are precursors of cx-allylated adducts via the Tsuji-Trost rearrangement [75-77]. The silylation of aluminum enolates using TMSOTf is well established [78], although in some cases the isolation is difficult [33]. Silyl enol ethers allow further modification to be performed as they behave as lithium enolates (Scheme 15). A recent application can be found in the silylation of the conjugate addition adduct (/ )-((3-(but-3-en-l-yl)-3-methylcyclopent-l-en-l-yl)oxy)triethylsilane which allows aldol condensation to form an intermediate in the synthesis of Clavirolide C [79], a diterpene with a trans-bicyclo[9.3.0] tetradecane structure (Scheme 16) [80]. 

Silyl Enol Ethers A disadvantage of the aforementioned enantioselective Tsuji allylations was that they were performed in an intramolecular fashion, requiring the need to synthesize the allyl enol carbonate starting materials. Although their synthesis is not overly cumbersome, the... 

The formation of the above anions ("enolate type) depend on equilibria between the carbon compounds, the base, and the solvent. To ensure a substantial concentration of the anionic synthons in solution the pA" of both the conjugated acid of the base and of the solvent must be higher than the pAT -value of the carbon compound. Alkali hydroxides in water (p/T, 16), alkoxides in the corresponding alcohols (pAT, 20), sodium amide in liquid ammonia (pATj 35), dimsyl sodium in dimethyl sulfoxide (pAT, = 35), sodium hydride, lithium amides, or lithium alkyls in ether or hydrocarbon solvents (pAT, > 40) are common combinations used in synthesis. Sometimes the bases (e.g. methoxides, amides, lithium alkyls) react as nucleophiles, in other words they do not abstract a proton, but their anion undergoes addition and substitution reactions with the carbon compound. If such is the case, sterically hindered bases are employed. A few examples are given below (H.O. House, 1972 I. Kuwajima, 1976). 

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