Enolate compounds processes

Each of our two much simpler starting materials needs to be made. The keto-ester is a 1,5-dicarbonyl compound so it can be made by a conjugate addition of an enolate, a process greatly assisted by the addition of a second ester group (Chapter 29). 

Carbonyl compounds rapidly equilibrate with their enols, a process called tautomerism. Although enol tautomers are normally present to only a small extent at equilibrium and can t usually be isolated in pure form, they nevertheless contain a highly nucleophilic double bond and react rapidly with electrophiles. For example, ketones and aldehydes are rapidly halogenated at the a position by reaction with CI2, Brg, or I2 in acetic acid solution. Alpha bromination of carboxylic acids can be similarly accomplished by the Hell-Volhard-Zelinskii (HVZ) reaction, in which an acid is treated with Br2 and PBrs. The w-halogenated products can then undergo base-induced E2 elimination to yield ar,j8-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. 

Despite high yield, the Rubottom oxidation is limited by the necessity for synthesis of the requisite silane ethers. The direct oxidation of enolates has thus emerged as the preferred method for the stereoselective formation of a-hydroxy carbonyl compounds because of the method s effectiveness for both acyclic and cyclic substrates. Davis s oxaziridine reagents have proved to be ideally suited for the one-step enolate hydroxylation process. The following chiral oxaziridine reagents have been utilized effectively in this protocol and will be showcased throughout the chapter. 

The Claisen condensation is the main method for synthesizing 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds. Analyze this reaction on the basis of its similarities to the aldol condensation (Section 18-5) It is an enolate + carbonyl process, so bond formation occurs between the a-carbon of one carbonyl compound (which may be cither an ester or a ketone) and the carbonyl carbon of another (an ester). Note the limitation Under the conditions given, the reaction works only when the 1,3-dicarbonyl product still possesses a hydrogen on the carbon between the two carbonyl groups. Dcprotnnation of this acidic H by excess base allows the equilibrium to shift to the product. 

In recent years it has become possible to generate enols by processes other than enolization of carbonyl compounds. " Kresge and co-workers found that the ketonization of photochemically generated acetophenone enol is... 

Watch out for the addition of nucleophiles to a,(i-unsaturated carhonyl compounds to give enolates.This process, called the Michael reaction, is very common in Nature, in organic synthesis, and in organic chemistry problems. 

The following acid-catalyzed cyclizations leading to steroid hormone precursors exemplify some important facts an acetylenic bond is less nucleophilic than an olelinic bond acetylenic bonds tend to form cyclopentane rather than cyclohexane derivatives, if there is a choice in proton-catalyzed olefin cyclizations the thermodynamically most stable Irons connection of cyclohexane rings is obtained selectively electroneutral nucleophilic agents such as ethylene carbonate can be used to terminate the cationic cyclization process forming stable enol derivatives which can be hydrolyzed to carbonyl compounds without this nucleophile and with trifluoroacetic acid the corresponding enol ester may be obtained (M.B. Gravestock, 1978, A,B P.E. Peterson, 1969). 

The key intermediate m this process the conjugate base of the carbonyl compound IS referred to as an enolate ion because it is the conjugate base of an enol The term... 

Hydroperoxides have been obtained from the autoxidation of alkanes, aralkanes, alkenes, ketones, enols, hydrazones, aromatic amines, amides, ethers, acetals, alcohols, and organomineral compounds, eg, Grignard reagents (10,45). In autoxidations involving hydrazones, double-bond migration occurs with the formation of hydroperoxy—azo compounds via free-radical chain processes (10,59) (eq. 20). 

Catalytic hydrogenation of the 14—15 double bond from the face opposite to the C18 substituent yields (196). Compound (196) contains the natural steroid stereochemistry around the D-ring. A metal-ammonia reduction of (196) forms the most stable product (197) thermodynamically. When R is equal to methyl, this process comprises an efficient total synthesis of estradiol methyl ester. Birch reduction of the A-ring of (197) followed by acid hydrolysis of the resultant enol ether allows access into the 19-norsteroids (198) (204). 

The acetoxy dienone (218) gives phenol (220). Here, an alternative primary photoreaction competes effectively with the dienone 1,5-bonding expulsion of the lOjS-acetoxy substituent and hydrogen uptake from the solvent (dioxane). In the case of the hydroxy analog (219) the two paths are balanced and products from both processes, phenol (220) and diketone (222), are isolated. In the formation of the spiro compound (222) rupture of the 1,10-bond in the dipolar intermediate (221) predominates over the normal electron transmission in aprotic solvents from the enolate moiety via the three-membered ring to the electron-deficient carbon. While in protic solvents and in 10-methyl compounds this process is inhibited by the protonation of the enolate system in the dipolar intermediate [cf. (202), (203)], proton elimination from the tertiary hydroxy group in (221) could reverse the efficiencies of the two oxygens as electron sources. 

Cleavage reactions of car bohydrates also occur on treatment with aqueous base for prolonged periods as a consequence of base-catalyzed retro-aldol reactions. As pointed out in Section 18.9, aldol addition is a reversible process, and (3-hydroxy carbonyl compounds can be cleaved to an enolate and either an aldehyde or a ketone. 

The overall process is the addition of a CH-acidic compound to the carbon-carbon double bond of an o ,/3-unsaturated carbonyl compound. The Michael reaction is of particular importance in organic synthesis for the construction of the carbon skeleton. The above CH-acidic compounds usually do not add to ordinary carbon-carbon double bonds. Another and even more versatile method for carbon-carbon bond formation that employs enolates as reactive species is the aldol reaction. 

The combination of silyl enol ethers and fluoride ion provides more reactive anions to give alkylated nitre compounds in good yields after oxidation v/ith DDQ, as shovm in Eq. 9.22. This process provides a new method for synthesis of indoles and oxyindoles fsee Chapter 10, Symhesis of Hatarocydic Compoioids). 

Aldol reactions, Like all carbonyl condensations, occur by nucleophilic addition of the enolate ion of the donor molecule to the carbonyl group of the acceptor molecule. The resultant tetrahedral intermediate is then protonated to give an alcohol product (Figure 23.2). The reverse process occurs in exactty the opposite manner base abstracts the -OH hydrogen from the aldol to yield a /3-keto alkoxide ion, which cleaves to give one molecule of enolate ion and one molecule of neutral carbonyl compound. 

Exactly the same kind of conjugate addition can occur when a nucleophilic enolate ion reacts with an ,j6-unsaturated carbonyl compound—a process known as the Michael reaction. 

Enamines behave in much the same way as enolate ions and enter into many of the same kinds of reactions. In the Stork reaction, for example, an enamine adds to an aqQ-unsaturated carbonyl acceptor in a Michael-like process. The initial product is then hydrolyzed by aqueous acid (Section 19.8) to yield a 1,5-dicarbonyi compound. The overall reaction is thus a three-step sequence of (11 enamine formation from a ketone, (2) Michael addition to an a,j3-unsaturated carbonyl compound, and (3) enamine hydrolysis back to a ketone. 

In an effort to make productive use of the undesired C-13 epimer, 100-/ , a process was developed to convert it into the desired isomer 100. To this end, reaction of the lactone enolate derived from 100-) with phenylselenenyl bromide produces an a-selenated lactone which can subsequently be converted to a,) -unsaturated lactone 148 through oxidative syn elimination (91 % overall yield). Interestingly, when 148 is treated sequentially with lithium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide and methanol, the double bond of the unsaturated lactone is shifted, the lactone ring is cleaved, and ) ,y-unsaturated methyl ester alcohol 149 is formed in 94% yield. In light of the constitution of compound 149, we were hopeful that a hydroxyl-directed hydrogenation52 of the trisubstituted double bond might proceed diastereoselectively in the desired direction In the event, however, hydrogenation of 149 in the presence of [Ir(COD)(py)P(Cy)3](PF6)53 produces an equimolar mixture of C-13 epimers in 80 % yield. Sequential methyl ester saponification and lactonization reactions then furnish a separable 1 1 mixture of lactones 100 and 100-) (72% overall yield from 149). 

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