Enones with organozinc compounds

There are a large number of reports on copper(I)-catalyzed conjugate additions, yet there is only scant information available about their reaction mechanisms. Recently, the conjugate addition of organozinc compounds to enones was found by Kitamura, Noyori, et al. to be catalyzed by N-benzylbenzenesulfonamide and CuCN, and the mechanism was scrutinized (Fig. 10.1). The kinetic rate was found to be first order in the concentrations of the catalyst that exist in equilibrium with R2Zn and enone [77]. 

To extend the scope of the carbometallative aldol cycloreduction, the feasibility of Cu-catalyzed conjugate addition-aldol cyclization process was examined. Cu-catalyzed addition of organozinc compounds to o ,jS-unsaturated carbonyl compounds has been well established (169-171,187-189). Trapping of the Zn-enolates using aldehydes (169,188,190) and acetals/ketals (191) has been reported however, the use of ketones as electrophiles to trap Zn-enolates failed in the absence of strong Lewis acids (191). Rrische and co-workers reported the first successful example of Cu-catalyzed tandem conjugate addition-aldol cyclization with ketones, esters, and nitriles as electrophiles (Scheme 107) (192). In this cyclization process, enone-ketones 237 and 239 afforded products in good to excellent... 

The more recent development of NHC ligands, such as those derived from the imidazolium salt L30, has allowed the addition of dialkylzinc (Scheme 63) and diarylzinc reagent (Scheme 64) to simple unactivated p-substituted cyclic enones [98]. Very good yields and enantioselectivities are obtained with a wide variety of organozinc compounds only the less reactive MeaZn does not provide any conversion. 

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