Enone , conjugate carbonyl from aldehydes

More recently, using the cyclometallated iridium C,(7-benzoate derived from allyl acetate, 4-methoxy-3-nitrobenzoic acid and BIPHEP, catalytic carbonyl crotylation employing 1,3-butadiene from the aldehyde, or alcohol oxidation was achieved under transfer hydrogenation conditions [274]. Carbonyl addition occurs with roughly equal facility from the alcohol or aldehyde oxidation level. However, products are obtained as diastereomeric mixtures. Stereoselective variants of these processes are under development. It should be noted that under the conditions of ruthenium-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation, conjugated dienes, including butadiene, couple to alcohols or aldehydes to provide either products of carbonyl crotylation or p,y-enones (Scheme 16) [275, 276]. 

Conjugate additions predominate with bulky anions or with an enone containing a hindered carbonyl function. Anions deriv from protected cyanohydrins of a,3-unsaturated aldehydes favor 1,4-additions. Anions derived from aryl aldehydes, especially if substituted with electron-withdrawing substituents, give predominantly conjugate addition. Increas bulk at the 3-position of the enone, such as in 3,3-di-substituted enones, leads to increased amounts of 1,2-addition. ... 

The electrophile E+ can be an alkyl halide or sulfate, an aldehyde to give aldol products, or an a,P-unsatunited ester when conjugate addition is preferred. Examples from simple alkylation show that the alkyl halide can be primary alkyl, allylic 33, and even an a-bromoester or y-bromo-a,P-unsaturated ester 31. The original carbonyl compound that forms the chiral imine with SAMP or RAMP can be an aldehyde 27 or 29, a ketone (symmetrical 32 or blocked on one side 35), or an enone. Only the reagents and products are shown with oxidative [O] or hydrolytic [H20] workup. Notice that SAMP is used for the formation of either enantiomer of 28 by using different starting materials but that RAMP is used to enter the other enantiomeric series from 32. 

The preparation of silyl enol ethers from carbonyl compounds represents one of the major uses of TMSOTf. Recently, the stereochemistry and regiospeciflcity of such transformation has been addressed for aldehydes and Q -(lV-alkoxycarbonylamino) ketones, respectively. On the other hand, enantiopure silyl enol ethers can be formed by addition of TMSOTf to zinc enolates, which are obtained from the copper-catalyzed enantioselective conjugate addition of dialkyIzinc reagents to cyclic (eq 36) and acyclic enones. ... 

The conjugate reduction of enones is easier than that for enal (39, 40), because aldehyde carbonyl is softer than the ketone counterpart. Alkyl substituents in the a and positions of the enones interfere with conjugate reduction (39). However, treatment of a-alkylthiocyclohexenones with NaBH4 successfully gives saturated alcohols (41). It has been proposed that intramolecular H delivery from a S-coordinated borohydride is involved. A marked increase in the 1,4-reduction of enones by LiAlH(SR)3 is observed (42) (see Table 7.1). Symbiotic softening of the reagents by the thio substituents is responsible for the reversal of the alkoxy effects. 

A metal-free conjugate addition of PhMe Si-BCpin) to o. y -unsaturated carbonyls (137) has been reported to be catalysed by the NHC, generated from (136) and l,8-diazabicycloundec-7-ene (DBU) in HjO/THF (3 1). This new method represents a simpler variant of the NHC-Cu-catalysed reaction and gives rise to (138) with <96% ee. Acyclic enones or lactones and acyclic -unsaturated ketones, esters, and aldehydes can also be used as substrates. ... 

Knoevenagel condensation is the addition of a nucleophile from active methylene compound to a carbonyl group followed by dehydration to form a P-conjugated enone. The Knoevenagel condensation between different aldehydes (15), including various aliphatic, aromatic, and heterocyclic aldehydes with active methylene compounds (119) in the presence of nano-ZnO under solvent-free conditions (Scheme 9.37) has been reported (Hosseini-Sarvari et al. 2008). Most of the aldehydes investigated reacted smoothly to afford the corresponding products in excellent yields (90%-98%) in a reaction time of 5 min to 3 h. 

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