Enones Lewis-acid activation

D-Camphorsulfonic acid (d-CSA) was identified as catalyst for the enantioselec-tive Michael-type Friedel-Crafts reactions of indoles with aromatic enones ArCH= CHCOAr to afford the corresponding /i-indolyl ketones in excellent yields and moderate enantioselectivities. A surprising synergistic effect was discovered between [Bmim] Br and d-CSA, which may originate from the catalytic Lewis acid activation of the Brpnsted acid.162... 

The cycloadditions of (Ti -allyl)Fp complexes to alkenes proceed with high chemoselectivity. Only highly activated alkenes such as methylenemalonates, benzylidenemalononitrile, TCNE or I,2-di-cyano-4,5-dichloroquinone will participate in the reaction. With the less electrophilic a,p-unsaturated systems, cycloaddition can only be effected with Lewis acid activation. Thus the cycloadduct (6) is formed in reasonable yield (as a mixture of stereoisomers) from (3) and cyclohexenone using freshly sublimed AlBn (equation 4). The same reaction gives only a 8% yield with Aids. The exclusive formation of a ci.r-hydrindanone system can be explained by suprafacial attack of the enone on the allyl unit, which is then followed by another suprafacial ring closure of the dipolar intermediate, affording the thermodynamically preferi cyclic system (7a) and (7b). ... 

Scheme 9 outlines the synthesis of a prostanoid intermediate (99) that relies on an intermolecular Nozaki process. It is important to note that unlike the intramolecular case described above, the intermolecular version of this protocol requires an aldehyde as the electrophilic trap however, it is interesting to note that there have been no reports of the addition of Lewis acid activated ketones (presumably, as a preformed complex which would be added via cannula at low temperature) to the preformed aluminum enolate. Finally, in this example, the conversion of enone (96) to adduct (98) is promoted by the less reactive dimethylaluminum phenyl thiolate and not the corresponding ate complex. 

Finally, the Lewis acid activation of a,)6-unsaturated carbonyl compounds and Q -nitroalkenes is sufficient to induce productive Sr reactions with allenylstannanes (Scheme 5.2.70). Haruta and Kita have successfully achieved condensation reactions with 326 and 328 in the presence of TiCU, and cyclo-hexenones 330 and 332 also serve as synthetically effective substrates for the 1,4-conjugate addition. In the case of enone 332, activation with TBSOTf led to the isolation of silyl enol ether 333. ... 

P, P] Tin(II) enolates of propionyl imides do not undergo uncatalyzed reactions with enones. Lewis acid catalysis results in the construction of 1,4-addition products. The stereoselectivity of this reaction has been examined by Mukaiyama and co-workers (87,88) and is summarized in Scheme 41 and Table 14. The tin(II) enolates were generated by the action of tin(II) triflate with N-ethylpiperidine on the propionyl imide. Although not examined, it is likely that this procedure results in the generation of a Z enolate (89). A process can be envisioned whereby transmetallation occurs to yield a silyl ether and a tin(II) species capable of Lewis acidic behavior. Hence, either direct conjugate addition of the tin enolate to a silyl-activated acceptor or transmetallation to... 

About 15 years ago, Aube et al. reported that alkyl azides undergo Lewis acid-mediated reactions with ketones 76 to give the corresponding lactams 78 via 77 (Azido-Schmidt reaction Scheme 14A) [44-48]. However, this reaction pathway does not proceed when a,/3-unsaturated ketones are used. It was recently shown that Lewis acid-activated enones like 79 undergo a [3-P2] cycloaddition with alkylazides, likely via an 1,2,3-triazoline intermediate 80, to give the corresponding enaminone 80 (Scheme 14B) [49]. 

Mechanistically, these processes involve Lewis-acid activation of the enone, subsequent 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of the enone with azide, and ring opening of the nnstable triazoline (Scheme 7.30). In the case of exocyclic enaminone formation, antiperiplanar arrangement of the methylene gronp (path a) with the diazoninm ion facilitated ring contraction a 1,3-H shift nltimately provided product via path a. On the other hand, migration of an axially oriented R gronp led to the observed endocyclic enaminones (path b). 

Therefore, in order to obtain a 1,4-addition of an allyl residue to an enone, two activation modes can be used reactions take place either under electrophilic conditions with Lewis acid promotion, or in the presence of fluoride ions. This is important as the stereochemical outcome often depends on the activation mode selected. 

Furthermore, intramolecular cyclization of acyclic chiral imines, in which the imine and the enone groups are separated by alkyl chains, yield optically active cyclohexane and cyclopentane derivatives. /ra .v-l,2-Disubstitutcd carbocyclic compounds are exclusively or predominantly formed with diastereomeric ratios in the range 80 20 100 0, strongly dependent on the conditions used to induce cyclization, i.e. heat, pressure or Lewis acid (MgBr2) catalysis227. 

Ferrocen-l,l -diylbismetallacycles are conceptually attractive for the development of bimetal-catalyzed processes for one particular reason the distance between the reactive centers in a coordinated electrophile and a coordinated nucleophile is self-adjustable for specific tasks, because the activation energy for Cp ligand rotation is very low. In 2008, Peters and Jautze reported the application of the bis-palladacycle complex 56a to the enantioselective conjugate addition of a-cyanoacetates to enones (Fig. 31) [74—76] based on the idea that a soft bimetallic complex capable of simultaneously activating both Michael donor and acceptor would not only lead to superior catalytic activity, but also to an enhanced level of stereocontrol due to a highly organized transition state [77]. An a-cyanoacetate should be activated by enolization promoted by coordination of the nitrile moiety to one Pd(II)-center, while the enone should be activated as an electrophile by coordination of the olefinic double bond to the carbophilic Lewis acid [78],... 

This finding is also in agreement with another three-component Michael/aldol addition reaction reported by Shibasaki and coworkers [14]. Here, as a catalyst the chiral AlLibis[(S)-binaphthoxide] complex (ALB) (2-37) was used. Such hetero-bimetallic compounds show both Bronsted basicity and Lewis acidity, and can catalyze aldol [15] and Michael/aldol [14, 16] processes. Reaction of cyclopentenone 2-29b, aldehyde 2-35, and dibenzyl methylmalonate (2-36) at r.t. in the presence of 5 mol% of 2-37 led to 3-hydroxy ketones 2-38 as a mixture of diastereomers in 84% yield. Transformation of 2-38 by a mesylation/elimination sequence afforded 2-39 with 92 % ee recrystallization gave enantiopure 2-39, which was used in the synthesis of ll-deoxy-PGFla (2-40) (Scheme 2.8). The transition states 2-41 and 2-42 illustrate the stereochemical result (Scheme 2.9). The coordination of the enone to the aluminum not only results in its activation, but also fixes its position for the Michael addition, as demonstrated in TS-2-41. It is of importance that the following aldol reaction of 2-42 is faster than a protonation of the enolate moiety. 

The Nazarov cyclization of vinyl aryl ketones involves a disruption of the aromaticity, and therefore, the activation barrier is significantly higher than that of the divinyl ketones. Not surprisingly, the Lewis acid-catalyzed protocols [30] resulted only in decomposition to the enone derived from 46,47, and CO. Pleasingly, however, photolysis [31] readily delivered the desired annulation product 48 in 60 % yield. The photo-Nazarov cyclization reaction of aryl vinyl ketones was first reported by Smith and Agosta. Subsequent mechanistic studies by Leitich and Schaffner revealed the reaction mechanism to be a thermal electrocyclization induced by photolytic enone isomerization. The mildness of these reaction conditions and the selective activation of the enone functional group were key to the success of this reaction. 

In the next step of the sequence, the authors sought to introduce a hydroxy-methylene substituent at the unsubstituted 7-position of the enone. This bond construction can be carried out by conducting a Baylis-Hillman reaction with formaldehyde. In this instance, the authors used a modification of the Baylis-Hillman reaction which involves the use of a Lewis acid to activate the enone [26]. Under these conditions, the enone 42 is treated with excess paraformaldehyde in the presence of triethylphosphine (1 equiv), lanthanum triflate (5 mol%), and triethanolamine (50 mol%). It is proposed that the lanthanum triflate forms a complex with the triethanolamine. This complex is able to activate the enone toward 1,4-addition of the nucleophilic catalysts (here, triethylphosphine). In the absence of triethanolamine, the Lewis acid catalyst undergoes nonproductive complexation with the nucleophilic catalyst, leading to diminution of catalysis. Under these conditions, the hydroxymethylene derivative 37 was formed in 70 % yield. In the next step of the sequence, the authors sought to conduct a stereoselective epoxidation of the allylic... 

Cycloadditions and cyclization reactions are among the most important synthetic applications of donor-substituted allenes, since they result in the formation of a variety of carbocyclic and heterocyclic compounds. Early investigations of Diels-Alder reactions with alkoxyallenes demonstrated that harsh reaction conditions, e.g. high pressure, high temperature or Lewis acid promotion, are often required to afford the corresponding heterocycles in only poor to moderate yield [12b, 92-94]. Although a,/3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds have not been used extensively as heterodienes, considerable success has been achieved with activated enone 146 (Eq. 8.27) or with the electron-deficient tosylimine 148 (Eq. 8.28). Both dienes reacted under... 

For these and similar reactions recently a variety of Lewis acidic aluminium, rare earth metals, and titanium alkoxides have been applied. Alkoxides have the additional advantage that they can be made as enantiomers using asymmetric alcohols which opens the possibility of asymmetric catalysis. Examples of asymmetric alcohols are bis-naphtols, menthol, tartaric acid derivatives [28], Other reactions comprise activation of aldehydes towards a large number of nucleophiles, addition of nucleophiles to enones, ketones, etc. 

Lewis acid-catalyzed cycloaddihon is also a powerful synthehc method, and various types of cycloaddihon have been reported. In parhcular, enantioselective variants using chiral Lewis acids have been comprehensively studied some of these were used as key reactions for natural product syntheses [5]. However, they generally require one or more heteroatoms in the substrates, such as enones or enoates, to which (chiral) Lewis acids can coordinate. In conhast, in the case of transition-metal-catalyzed cycloadditions, the metals coordinate direchy to the tt-electron and activate unsaturated motifs, which means that the heteroatom(s) are unnecessary. Moreover, the direct coordinahon to the reachon site can realize highly enantioselechve reachon using chiral transihon-metal complexes. 

The authors also investigated the mode of activation of these BINOL-derived catalysts. They proposed an oligomeric structure, in which one Ln-BINOL moiety acts as a Brpnsted base, that deprotonates the hydroperoxide and the other moiety acts as Lewis acid, which activates the enone and controls its orientation towards the oxidant . This model explains the observed chiral amplification effect, that is the ee of the epoxide product exceeds the ee of the catalyst. The stereoselective synthesis of cw-epoxyketones from acyclic cw-enones is difficult due to the tendency of the cw-enones to isomerize to the more stable fraw5-derivatives during the oxidation. In 1998, Shibasaki and coworkers reported that the ytterbium-(f )-3-hydroxymethyl-BINOL system also showed catalytic activity for the oxidation of aliphatic (Z)-enones 129 to cw-epoxides 130 with good yields... 

The addition of the electrophilic silyl reagent strongly activates the enone. It has also been found that Lewis acids, such as AICI3, accelerate the reaction of dialkylzincs with... 

Hydroamination of Alkenes Kobayashi et at. found that several transition metal salts displayed high catalytic activity in aza-Michael reactions of enones with carbamates, while conventional Lewis acids (BF3-OEt2, A1C13, TiCl4...) were much less active. 

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