Enolate compounds formation

Figure 22.5 Mechanism of enolate ion formation by abstraction of an a proton from a carbonyl compound. The enolate ion is stabilized by resonance, and the negative charge (red) is shared by the oxygen and the a carbon atom, as indicated by the electrostatic potential map.

Because carbonyl compounds are only weakly acidic, a strong base is needed for enolate ion formation. If an alkoxide such as sodium ethoxide is used as base, deprotonation takes place only to the extent of about 0. l% because acetone is a weaker acid than ethanol (pKa - 16). If, however, a more powerful base such as sodium hydride (NaH) or lithium diisopropylamide ILiNO -CjHy ] is used, a carbonyl compound can be completely converted into its enolate ion. Lithium diisopropylamide (LDA), which is easily prepared by reaction of the strong base butyllithium with diisopropylamine, is widely used in the laboratory as a base for preparing enolate ions from carbonyl compounds. 

The enolates of ketones can be acylated by esters and other acylating agents. The products of these reactions are [Tdicarbonyl compounds, which are rather acidic and can be alkylated by the procedures described in Section 1.2. Reaction of ketone enolates with formate esters gives a P-ketoaldehyde. As these compounds exist in the enol form, they are referred to as hydroxymethylene derivatives. Entries 1 and 2 in Scheme 2.16 are examples. Product formation is under thermodynamic control so the structure of the product can be predicted on the basis of the stability of the various possible product anions. 

Alkylation of enolates with a-halo carbonyl compounds. (Formation of 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds)... 

These compounds ionize and act as sources of hydride and amide ions respectively, which are able to remove a-protons from carbonyl compounds. These ions are actually the conjugate bases of hydrogen and ammonia respectively, compounds that are very weak acids indeed. What becomes important here is that enolate anion formation becomes essentially irreversible the enolate anion formed is insufficiently basic to be able to remove... 

The acyclic, enolic compounds 7 and 9 may exist in either cis or trans forms. Methyl ethers of 7 have been isolated in the cis form,8 but it is not known whether the trans forms, which must be acyclic, exist. The relative proportion of isomers is controlled by the geometry of the parent sugar enediol. Although the acyclic forms are readily interconvertible tautomers, it appears that, in acidic medium, further reaction occurs much more rapidly than any equilibrating reactions. Compound 7 undergoes rapid elimination of a second hydroxyl group to give 11. This acyclic product, also, may exist as either a cis or a trans isomer, both forms of which have been isolated.8 The loss of a third molecule of water per molecule occurs after, or simultaneously with, the cyclization of 11 (see Section II, 3 p. 171), and results in formation of 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-furaldehyde (5). 

A Dieckmann reaction of 7 and enol etherification provided trans-octalone 6 in 90% yield. An additional 10% of the transposed /3-ethoxy -enone 24 was also isolated. Compound 24 could easily be removed chromatographically (the first chromatography of the synthesis) and could be isomerized back to the 9 1 mixture in favor of 6 by resubjection to the etherification conditions. Compound 7 had three different CC Et groups, yet only the one adjacent to the CN group was attacked by the nascent ketone enolate. This selectivity, attributed to the effect of the powerfully electron-withdrawing CN group, was expected, as it was observed previously in the preparation of 3c.3 The selectivity of the enol ether formation was also expected from previous work. 

Krapcho decarbomethoxylation of diester 216 provided monoester 217 (06SL1691). Chemoselective Swern oxidation of 3-(3-hydroxypropyl)-1,2,3,4,11, 1 lrt-hexahydro-6/T-pyrazino[l,2-fr]isoquinolin-4-ones 203 followed by silyl enol ether formation with TIPSOTf and Et3N in Et20 for 12 h at room temperature gave compounds 218 as a single isomer in excellent yields (08JA7148,09JOC2046). 

The tricarbonyl compound 113 reacts cleanly with formaldehyde to give the lactone 115 as the first adduct 114 rapidly cyclises to the five-membered ring. The conditions are weak base and piperidine, the last of the three most popular secondary amines used in this chapter. Control is a mixture of intramolecular reaction, stable enol(ate) formation and steric hindrance.23... 

In chapter 21 we mentioned nitro compounds as promoters of conjugate addition they also stabilise anions strongly but do not usually act as electrophiles so that self-condensation is not found with nitro compounds. The nitro group is more than twice as good as a carbonyl group at stabilising an enolate anion. Nitromethane (p/ a 10) 1 has a lower pKa than malonates 4 (pKa 13). In fact it dissolves in aqueous NaOH as the enolate anion 3 formed in a way 2 that looks like enolate anion formation. 

Similarly, 144 has been obtained from the reaction of 1-trimethylsilylcyclopropyl methyl selenide with n-BuLi The a-bromosilane 147 underwent lithiation with n-BuLi in THF at —78 °C to provide 144 with superior efficiency to any other method, Eq. (46))81). 147 was prepared in large quantities by the Hunsdiecker degradation of the 1-trimethylsilylcyclopropanecarboxylic acid 146, obtained by successively reacting the commercially available cyclopropanecarboxylic acid with -BuLi (2 equivalents) and ClSiMe3 82). Uneventfully, 144 added to carbonyl compounds, except for cyclopentanone where enolate anion formation competed the 1-trimethylsilylcyclo-propylcarbinols 148 underwent acid-induced dehydration to the expected 1-trimethyl-silylvinylcyclopropanes 149 79-81) while base induced elimination (KH, diglyme, 90 °C) led to cyclopropylidenecycloalkanes 150 77), Eq. (47). 

Typical experimental conditions for reactions of kinetic enolates involve formation of the enolate at very low temperature (-78°C) in THF. Remember, the strong base LDA is used to avoid self-condensation of the carbonyl compound but, while the enolate is forming, there is always a chance that self-condensation will occur. The lower the temperature, the slower the self-condensation reaction, and the fewer by-products there are. Once enolate formation is complete, the electrophile is added (still at -78°C the lithium enolates may not be stable at higher temperatures). The reaction mixture is then usually allowed to warm up to room temperature to speed up the rate of the S 2 alkylation. 

Different competitive processes are dependent on the diazo compound, on the unsaturated system, and on the solvent. With 1,1,1-trifluorobutan-2-one and diazomethane, the corresponding oxirane is formed almost exclusively. While methyl trifluoropyruvatc reacts with diazomethane to provide a mixture of the oxiranes, reaction of the pyruvate with ethyl diazoacetate provides a stable [3-1-2] cycloadduct.Chiral fluoroalkyl-substituted /i-oxo sulfoxide (e.g., 1) readily react with diazomethane to provide the corresponding chiral epoxides. Use of methanol as solvent favors oxirane formation over the competitive enol ether formation. 

There is little to choose between the two routes to the first compound. Both unsatu xn( compounds are easy to make and enol(ate) formation is easy in both cases. Perhaps the unsatu . ester will be more reliable at conjugate addition. 

---