Enolate anions, chloro-esters, reaction with

The enolates (48) and (49) of the transition metals tungsten, rhenium and molybdenum can be successfully prepared by the nucleophilic displacement of a-chloro ketones and a-chloro esters with the appropriate transition metal anion (Scheme 6). They are isolated as C-bound enolate derivatives and, except for the rhenium enolate (49), do not undergo thermal aldol additions to benzaldehyde. However, Bergman and Heathcock et al. have found that an aldol reaction of complex (48) with benzaldehyde can occur on irradiation via the rearranged q -oxaallyl derivative (50), where the metal aldolate (51) can then be... 

The reaction of anionic metal complexes 162 with a-chloro ketones, esters, or tertiary amides occurring under chloro-metal exchange is an appropriate method for the preparation of molybdenum and tungsten enolates. The reaction fails with the corresponding a-bromo compounds. In order to obtain tungsten enolates, which are substituted in a-position, a-methanesulfonyloxy-substituted esters are suitable starting materials. The tungsten and molybdenum complexes 163 were fully characterized as C-bound // -enolates (Scheme 2.47) [162]. 

The search for endothelin antagonists as potential compounds for treating cardiovascular disease was noted in Chapter 5 (see atrasentan). A composed with a considerably simpler structure incorporates a pyrimidine ring in the side chain. Condensation of benzophenone (94) with ethyl chloro-acetate and sodium methoxide initially proceeds to addition of the enolate from the acetate to the benzophenone carbonyl. The aUcoxide anion on the first-formed quaternary carbon then displaces chlorine on the acetate to leave behind the oxirane in the observed product (95). Methanolysis of the epoxide in the product in the presence of boron triflor-ide leads to the ether-alcohol (96). Reaction of this with the pyrimidine (97) in the presence of base leads to displacement of the methanesulfonyl group by the aUcoxide from 96. Saponification of the ester group in that product gives the corresponding acid, ambrisentan (98). " ... 

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