Enolates ester enolate reaction with esters Claisen

In a reaction related to the mixed Claisen condensation nonenolizable esters are used as acylatmg agents for ketone enolates Ketones (via their enolates) are converted to p keto esters by reaction with diethyl carbonate... 

For example, the Claisen reaction is a reaction of an ester enolate with an ester to produce a /3 ketoester. We learned this reaction earlier. 

B.I. The Claisen Condensation. A classical reaction is the condensation of an ester enolate with an ester, illustrated by the self-condensation of ethyl butanoate in the presence of sodium ethoxide to give 3-keto-ester 167. Initial reaction with the base, under thermodynamic control in this case, generates the enolate anion (165). This anion attacks the carbonyl of a second molecule of ethyl butanoate to give 166. Displacement of ethoxide generates ketone 167. As shown here, this reaction is known as the Claisen condensation. A synthetic example is taken from Lubell s synthesis of indolizidine alkaloids, in which diester 168 was treated with LiN(SiMe3)2 in THF at -78°C to give the self-condensation product 169, in 52% yield. 

In the late nineteenth century, Ludwig Claisen (Germany 1851-1930) treated an ester with a base the isolated product was a P-keto ester. This product results from the enolate anion of one molecule of the ester condensing with a second molecule via an acyl substitution reaction (Chapter 16, Section 16.8). In a typical experiment, ethyl 2-methyl propionate (60) is treated with a specialized base (sodium triphenylmethide, 19) in diethyl ether and stirred at room temperature for 60 hours. This reaction mixture is then acidified with glacial acetic acid (i.e., 100% acetic acid) the final isolated product is ethyl 2,2,4-tri-methyl-3-oxopentanone (61) in 74% yield. It is clear that when an ester enolate reacts with another ester, the product is a -keto ester and the reaction is now called the Claisen condensation. 

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 ... 

The mixed Claisen condensation of two different esters is similar to the mixed aldol condensation of two different aldehydes or ketones (Section 23.5). Mixed Claisen reactions are successful only when one of the two ester components has no a hydrogens and thus can t form an enolate ion. For example, ethyl benzoate and ethyl formate can t form enolate ions and thus can t serve as donors. They can, however, act as the electrophilic acceptor components in reactions with other ester anions to give mixed /3-keto ester products. 

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. 

A similar method has been described by Badia and co-workers who used chiral amides derived from pseudoephe-drine.139 Moreover, a zirconium-mediated Claisen-aldol tandem reaction of an a,cr-dialkylated ester with several aldehydes has been reported (Scheme 39).140 After the initial Claisen condensation, zirconium enolate intermediate 92 reacts with various types of aldehydes through aldol-type reaction and subsequent lactonization, providing the corresponding pyran-2,4-diones. 

The scope of the reaction has been successfully extended to a,p-ethylenic aldehydes,5 esters,6 and amides7 as well as to a,p-acetylenic ketones8 (see Table IV). With esters, the reaction must be performed in the presence of chlorotrimethylsilane (MeaSiCI) to avoid the Claisen reaction by trapping the intermediate enolate. In most cases the organomanganese procedure is simple and more efficient than the organocopper procedure. 

Rearrangement of allyl trimethylsilyl ketene acetal, prepared by reaction of allylic ester enolates with trimethylsilyl chloride, to yield Y,5-unsaturated carboxylic a-cids. The Ireland-Claisen rearrangement seems to be advantageous to the other variants of the Claisen rearrangement in terms of E/Z geometry control and mild conditions. 

Now let us look at the ease of forming the enolate anion nucleophiles. Ketones are more acidic than esters (see Section 10.7). Taken together, these factors mean the more favoured product is going to be the P-diketone (acetylacetone), formed from a ketone nucleophile by a Claisen reaction with an ester. This is the reaction observed. 

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). 

Ireland-Claisen rearrangement as an alternative approach to the syn isomer with a high degree of diastereoselectivity was also examined. This reaction might be similar to the system of ester-enolate [2,3]-Wittig shift in the case of OR (R=protective group). 

To avoid the formation of ketenes by alkoxide elimination, ester enolates are often prepared at low temperatures. If unreactive alkyl halides are used, the addition of BU4NI to the reaction mixture can be beneficial [134]. Examples of the radical-mediated a-alkylation of support-bound a-haloesters are given in Table 5.4. Further methods for C-alkylating esters on insoluble supports include the Ireland-Claisen rearrangement of O-allyl ketene acetals (Entry 6, Table 13.16). Malonic esters and similar strongly C,H-acidic compounds have been C-alkylated with Merrifield resin [237,238]. 

The chelated ester enolate Claisen rearrangement of allylic glycinates 9 is carried out with zinc(II) chloride, which is added to the enolate at — 78 C (Table 19). The rearrangement occurs as the reaction mixture is allowed to warm to room temperature over 1 hour. The 2-amino-3,3-difluoro-4-[(2-methoxyethoxy)methoxy] alk-4-enoic acids 10 arc converted directly into the corresponding methyl esters, which can be hydrolyzed to the methyl 2-amino-3,3-difluoro-4-oxoal-kanoates. 

The Claisen condensation is the reaction of the enolate of an ester with an ester electrophile. The product is a /3-keto ester since the tetrahedral intermediate collapses by expulsion of an alkoxide. 

A crossed Claisen is die reaction of an ester enolate with an aldehyde or ketone to produce a /3-hydroxy ester. This works well because aldehydes and ketones are more reactive electrophiles than esters thus the ester enolate reacts faster with die aldehyde or ketone than it condenses with itself, avoiding product mixtures. Moreover, die aldehyde or ketone should not have a hydrogens so that proton transfer to die more basic ester enolate is avoided. This would lead to the formation of an aldehyde or ketone enolate in the mixture, and an aldol reaction would be a major competing reaction. 

The Claisen rearrangement, Cope rearrangement, and associated variants are powerful tools that can be used to create a number of new chiral centers in an expeditious manner, but the use of heavy metals, such as mercury, should be avoided. Of these reactions, the Ireland-Claisen ester enolate reaction provides the most versatile synthetic pathway with minimal scale up problems. 

B as an ester- or lactone-substituted aldehyde enolate. Such enolates undergo condensations with all kinds of aldehydes, including paraformaldehyde. An adduct E is formed initially, acy-lating itself as soon as it is heated. The reaction could proceed intramolecularly via the tetrahedral intermediate D or intermolecularly as a retro-Claisen condensation. In both cases, the result is an acyloxy-substituted ester enolate. In the example given in Figure 13.50, this is the formyloxy-substituted lactone enolate C. As in the second step of an Elcb elimination, C eliminates the sodium salt of a carboxylic acid. The a,/)-unsaturated ester (in Figure 13.50 the 0J,/3-unsaturated lactone) remains as the aldol condensation product derived from the initial ester (here, a lactone) and the added aldehyde (here, paraformaldehyde). 

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