Esters, enolate anions condensations reactions

An ester enolate is formed by reaction with a strong base, and the resulting enolate anion can condense with an aldehyde, a ketone, or another ester. Ester enolates react with aldehydes or ketones to form P-hydroxy esters. Aldehyde or ketone enolate anions react with esters to form p-hydroxy esters, 1,3-diketones, or p-keto aldehydes. 

Malonic esters can be converted to the enolate anion and condensed with aldehydes, ketones, or acid derivatives. The reaction of malonic acid with an aldehyde using pyridine as a base is called the Knoevenagel condensation. 

An ester enolate is formed by reaction with a strong base, and the resulting enolate anion can condense with an aldehyde, a ketone, or another ester. Ester enolates react with aldehydes or ketones to form p-hydroxy esters. Aldehyde or ketone enolate anions react with esters to form p-hydroxy esters, 1,3-diketones, or p-keto aldehydes 56,57,84,99,100,102,108,110,114,115. Enolate anions react as nucleophiles. They give nucleophilic acyl substitution reactions with acid derivatives. The condensation reaction of one ester with another is called a Claisen condensation and it generates a P-keto ester. A mixed Claisen condensation under thermodynamic conditions leads to a mixture of products, but kinetic control conditions can give a single product 52, 53, 54, 55, 59, 68, 69,98,99,101,125. 

The intra-molecular Claisen condensation is called a Dieckmann condensation, and it generates a cyclic compound 58,99,101,118. Malonic esters can be converted to the enolate anion and condensed with aldehydes, ketones, or add derivatives. The reaction of malonic acid with an aldehyde using pyridine as a base is called the Knoevenagel condensation 59, 60, 61, 62, 69, 99,108,110,112, 113,119,124. 

This section will describe reactions of ester enolates that are generated using "modem enolate anion technology. The use of lithium diisopropylamide and related "non-nucleophilic bases allows a measure of control in ester condensation reactions that is unmatched by the more traditional techniques described in previous sections. 

Reaction of Enolate Anions. In the presence of certain bases, eg, sodium alkoxide, an ester having a hydrogen on the a-carbon atom undergoes a wide variety of characteristic enolate reactions. Mechanistically, the base removes a proton from the a-carbon, giving an enolate that then can react with an electrophile. Depending on the final product, the base may be consumed stoichiometricaHy or may function as a catalyst. Eor example, the sodium alkoxide used in the Claisen condensation is a catalyst ... 

Thus the reactions of cyclic or acyclic enamines with acrylic esters or acrylonitrile can be directed to the exclusive formation of monoalkylated ketones (3,294-301). The corresponding enolate anion alkylations lead preferentially to di- or higher-alkylation products. However, by proper choice of reaction conditions, enamines can also be used for the preferential formation of higher alkylation products, if these are desired. Such reactions are valuable in the a substitution of aldehydes, which undergo self-condensation in base-catalyzed reactions (117,118). Monoalkylation products are favored in nonhydroxylic solvents such as benzene or dioxane, whereas dialkylation products can be obtained in hydroxylic solvents such as methanol. The difference in products can be ascribed to the differing fates of an initially formed zwitterionic intermediate. Collapse to a cyclobutane takes place in a nonprotonic solvent, whereas protonation on the newly introduced substitutent and deprotonation of the imonium salt, in alcohol, leads to a new enamine available for further substitution. 

In the presence of a strong base, the ot carbon of a carboxylic ester can condense with the carbonyl carbon of an aldehyde or ketone to give a P-hydroxy ester, which may or may not be dehydrated to the a,P-unsaturated ester. This reaction is sometimes called the Claisen reaction,an unfortunate usage since that name is more firmly connected to 10-118. In a modem example of how the reaction is used, addition of tert-butyl acetate to LDA in hexane at -78°C gives the lithium salt of ferf-butyl acetate, " (12-21) an enolate anion. Subsequent reaction a ketone provides a simple rapid alternative to the Reformatsky reaction (16-31) as a means of preparing P-hydroxy erf-butyl esters. It is also possible for the a carbon of an aldehyde or ketone to add to the carbonyl carbon of a carboxylic ester, but this is a different reaction (10-119) involving nucleophilic substitution and not addition to a C=0 bond. It can, however, be a side reaction if the aldehyde or ketone has an a hydrogen. 

Besides ordinary esters (containing an a hydrogen), the reaction can also be carried out with lactones and, as in 16-38, with the y position of a,p-unsaturated esters (vinylogy). There are also cases, where the enolate anion of an amide was condensed with an aldehyde. ... 

The Claisen reaction can now proceed smoothly, but nature introduces another little twist. The carboxyl group introduced into malonyl-CoA is simultaneously lost by a decarboxylation reaction during the Claisen condensation. Accordingly, we now see that the carboxylation step helps to activate the a-carbon and facilitate Claisen condensation, and the carboxyl is immediately removed on completion of this task. An alternative rationalization is that decarboxylation of the malonyl ester is used to generate the acetyl enolate anion without any requirement for a strong base (see Box 10.17). 

Undesirable intermolecular reactions can be avoided during certain synthetic conversions. Thus it is often useful to carry out C-alkylation and C-acylation of compounds that form enolate anions, for example, esters with a-hydrogens. Such reactions are often complicated by self-condensation since the enolate anion can attack the carbonyl group of a second ester molecule. Attachment of the enolizable ester to a polymer support at low loading levels allows the alkylation and acylation reactions (Eq. 9-79) to be performed under... 

Another important reaction of esters is the Claisen condensation. In this reaction, an enolate anion is formed from the reaction between an ester and a strong base, e.g. sodium ethoxide (NaOEt in EtOH). The enolate anion reacts with another molecule of ester to produce (3-ketoester (see Section 5.5.5). 

When two molecules of ester undergo a condensation reaction, the reaction is called a Claisen condensation. Claisen condensation, like the aldol condensation, requires a strong base. However, aqueous NaOH cannot be used in Claisen condensation, because the ester can be hydrolysed by aqueous base. Therefore, most commonly used bases are nonaqueous bases, e.g. sodium ethoxide (NaOEt) in EtOH and sodium methoxide (NaOMe) in MeOH. The product of a Claisen condensation is a P-ketoester. As in the aldol condensation, one molecule of carbonyl compound is converted to an enolate anion when an a-proton is removed by a strong base, e.g. NaOEt. 

The enolate anion attacks the carbonyl carbon of a second molecule of ester and gives a P-ketoester. Thus, the Claisen condensation is a nucleophilic acyl substitution reaction. Eor example, two molecules of ethyl acetate condense together to form the enolate of ethyl acetoacetate, which upon addition of an acid produces ethyl acetoacetate (P-ketoester). 

Phosphoenolpyruvate, a key metabolic intermediate. A compound of central importance in metabolism is the phosphate ester of the enol form of pyruvate, commonly known simply as phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP).249 It is formed in the glycolysis pathway by dehydration of 2-phosphoglycerate (Eq. 13-15) or by decarboxylation of oxaloacetate. Serving as a preformed enol from which a reactive enolate anion can be released for condensation reactions,250 251 PEP... 

There are certain difficulties in achieving this type of aldol reaction. First, alkali-induced ester hydrolysis would compete with addition. Second, a Claisen condensation of the ester might intervene, and third, the ester anion is a stronger base than the enolate anions of either aldehydes or ketones, which means reaction could be defeated by proton transfer of the type... 

So far, we have seen that an enolate anion is able to act as a nucleophile in an SN2 reaction (Sections 20.3 and 20.4) and also in an addition reaction to the carbonyl group of an aldehyde in the aldol condensation (Section 20.5). It also can act as a nucleophile in a substitution reaction with the carbonyl group of an ester as the electrophile. When an ester is treated with a base such as sodium ethoxide, the enolate ion that is produced can react with another molecule of the same ester. The product has the a-carbon of one ester molecule bonded to the carbonyl carbon of a second ester molecule, replacing the alkoxy group. Examples of this reaction, called the Claisen ester condensation, are provided by the following equations ... 

A similar process is described in the Focus On box titled The Reverse Aldol Reaction in Metabolism on page 880. The Claisen ester condensation also has an equilibrium step in which an enolate anion leaves in the reverse of the step (see Figure 20.4). 

A more generally useful reaction is the self-condensation of simple substituted acetates RCH2C02Et. These work well under the same conditions (EtO- in EtOH), The enolate anion is formed first in low concentration and in equilibrium with the ester. It then carries out a nucleophilic attack on the more abundant unenolized ester molecules. 

This difference affects each stage of the CLaisen ester condensation in the same way. Thiol esters are more easily converted to enolate anions, they are more easily attacked by nucleophiles, and RS is a better leaving group than RO. In each case the reaction is better (faster or equilibrium further towards product), the Claisen thiol ester condensation... 

Enolate anions are an important class of carbanions that appear in a variety of important reactions, including alkylation a- to a carbonyl group and the aldol (reaction 16-34) and Claisen condensation (reaction 16-85) reactions. Metal enolate anions of aldehydes, ketones, esters, and other acid derivatives exist as aggregates in ether solvents, and there is evidence that the hthium enolate of... 

When carboxylic esters containing an a hydrogen are treated with a strong base, such as sodium ethoxide, a condensation occurs to give a p-keto ester via an ester enolate anion. ° This reaction is called the Claisen condensation. When it is carried out with a mixture of two different esters, each of which possesses an a hydrogen (this reaction is called a mixed Claisen or a crossed Claisen condensation), a mixture of all four products is generally obtained and the reaction is seldom useful synthetically. However, if only one of the esters has an... 

As with ketone enolate anions (see 16-34), the use of amide bases under kinetic control conditions (strong base with a weak conjugate acid, aprotic solvents, low temperatures), allows the mixed Claisen condensation to proceed. Self-condensation of the lithium enolate with the parent ester is a problem when LDA is used as a base, ° but this is minimized with LICA (lithium isopropylcyclohexyl amide).Note that solvent-free Claisen condensation reactions have been reported. ° ... 

Knochel and Seebach similarly converted 239 to 242 by condensation with 241. The successful reaction of the thiol ester enolate anion of 239 with electrophiles seems to result from the higher kinetic acidity of the thiol ester as compared to the acidity of the normal ester . 

Further persuasive evidence in support of the expectation that the mechanism of the ECH-catalyzed reaction involves an Elcb mechanism with a stabilized thioester enolate anion intermediate is obtained from the membership of ECH in the mechanistically diverse enoyl-CoA hydratase superfamily [70]. Such superfamilies are derived from a common ancestor by divergent evolution the members of these share a partial reaction, usually formation of a common intermediate, e.g., an enolate anion. The reactions catalyzed by members of the enoyl-CoA hydratase superfamily (almost) always utilize acyl esters of CoA as substrates the reactions invariably can be rationalized with mechanisms that involve the formation of a thioester enolate anion intermediate, e.g., 1,3-proton transfer, 1,5-proton transfer, Dieckman and reverse Dieckman condensations, and yS-decarboxylation. Although mechanisms with thioester enolate anion intermediates are plausible for each of these reactions, as in the ECH-catalyzed reaction, evidence for their existence on the reaction coordinate is circumstantial because the intermediates do not accumulate, thereby avoiding spectroscopic detection. 

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