Enolate equivalents for ketones

The enol content of simple ketones is much lower than that of /1-ketoesters or /3-diketones. For a number of electrophiles it is often too low. Hence, functionalizations with the respective electrophile via the enol form do not succeed in these cases. This problem can be managed, though, by converting the ketone (Formula A in Figure 12.16) into an enamine D with the aid of a condensation with a secondary amine that is in line with Figure 9.29 and the mechanism given there. Enamines are common synthetic equivalents for ketonic and aldehyde enols. 

Among the enolates of carboxylic acid derivatives, esters are the most widely used. Ester enolates cannot be used in crossed aldols with aldehydes because the aldehyde is both more enolizable and more electrophilic than the ester. It will just condense with itself and ignore the ester. The same is true for ketones. A specific enol equivalent for the ester will therefore be needed for a successful ester aldol reaction. 

The second amine can be made by reductive amination of a ketone so we need to think how - -ketone might he made by enolate alkylation. It is ideal for alkylation of an enol or enolate wit . benzyl electrophile. You could have chosen a number of specific enol equivalents for this, we use r -c.iaiLiuic. 

The enol content of simple aldehydes and ketones is low under standard acid-catalyzed conditions. Silyl enol ethers, often available free of regioisomers, are an important source of enol equivalents for nucleophilic addition reactions. The reaction of silyl enol ethers with carbonyl compounds in the presence of BF3 Et20, SnCl4, TiCl4 or InCl3 proceeds through an open transition state instead of a closed transition state and leads, after hydrolytic workup, to aldol products. 

The best specific enol equivalents for aldehydes are enamines (75) and these are also very useful for ketones. They are easily made from the carbonyl compound and a secondary amine, are stable isolable compounds, and react... 

Summary specific enol equivalents for aldehydes and ketones ... 

Silyl enol ethers are other ketone or aldehyde enolate equivalents and react with allyl carbonate to give allyl ketones or aldehydes 13,300. The transme-tallation of the 7r-allylpalladium methoxide, formed from allyl alkyl carbonate, with the silyl enol ether 464 forms the palladium enolate 465, which undergoes reductive elimination to afford the allyl ketone or aldehyde 466. For this reaction, neither fluoride anion nor a Lewis acid is necessary for the activation of silyl enol ethers. The reaction also proceed.s with metallic Pd supported on silica by a special method[301j. The ketene silyl acetal 467 derived from esters or lactones also reacts with allyl carbonates, affording allylated esters or lactones by using dppe as a ligand[302]... 

This is a l,4 diketone and disconnection of the central bond separates the two rings. We require a specific enol equivalent lor (4) - they used activated ketone (6) - and a reagent for unnatural synthon (5) -they used a-chloroketone (7). 

The enolates of other carbonyl compounds can be used in mixed aldol reactions. Extensive use has been made of the enolates of esters, thiol esters, amides, and imides, including several that serve as chiral auxiliaries. The methods for formation of these enolates are similar to those for ketones. Lithium, boron, titanium, and tin derivatives have all been widely used. The silyl ethers of ester enolates, which are called silyl ketene acetals, show reactivity that is analogous to silyl enol ethers and are covalent equivalents of ester enolates. The silyl thioketene acetal derivatives of thiol esters are also useful. The reactions of these enolate equivalents are discussed in Section 2.1.4. 

As noted in Chapter 1, this is one of the best methods for generating a specific enolate of a ketone. The enolate generated by conjugate reduction can undergo the characteristic alkylation and addition reactions that are discussed in Chapters 1 and 2. When this is the objective of the reduction, it is important to use only one equivalent of the proton donor. Ammonia, being a weaker acid than an aliphatic ketone, does... 

Palladium-Catalyzed Arylation of Enolates. Very substantial progress has been made in the use of Pd-catalyzed cross coupling for arylation of enolates and enolate equivalents. This reaction provides an important method for arylation of enolates, which is normally a difficult transformation to accomplish.171 A number of phosphine ligands have been found to promote these reactions. Bulky trialkyl phosphines such as /n. v-(/-butyl)phosphinc with a catalytic amount of Pd(OAc)2 results in phenylation of the enolates of aromatic ketones and diethyl malonate.172... 

Similar effects are also seen with enolates of simple ketones. For isopropyl phenyl ketone, the inclusion of one equivalent of 12-crown-4 in a DME solution of the lithium enolate changes the C/O-alkylation ratio from 1.2 1 to 1 3, with methyl sulfate as the alkylating agent.50 With methyl iodide as the alkylating agent, C-alkylation is strongly favored with or without 12-crown-4. 

Casey and coworicers have shown that ketone etiolates add efficiently to a,3-unsaturated vinyl carbene complexes (164), irrespective of 3,3-disubstitution on the complex or high substitution on the enol-ate 133 thus, contiguous 3 and y quaternary centers are easily assembled. When coupled with the ease of release of the carbene ligand from the complexes by either oxidation to the ester functionality1331 or elimination to the corresponding enol ether,133 the vinyl carbene complexes are synthetic equivalents for a,3-unsaturated esters or a,3-unsaturated aldehydes, respectively (Scheme 63). 

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