Esters Butyllithium

Another o-aminobenzyl anion equivalent is generated by treatment of A-trimethylsilyl-o-toluidinc with 2.2 eq. of n-butyllithium. Acylation of this intermediate with esters gives indoles[2]. This route, for example, was used to prepare 6.2D, a precursor of the alkaloid cinchonamine. 

In a related procedure A -melhyl-o-loluidine can be A-lithiated, carboxylated and C-lithiated by sequential addition of n-butyllithium, CO2, and n-butyl-lithium[5]. The resulting dilithiated intermediate reacts with esters to give 1.2-disubstituted indoles. 

Van Leusen and co-workers also demonstrated the utility of dilithio-tosylmethyl isocyanide (dilithio-TosMIC) to extend the scope of the application. Dilithio-TosMIC is readily formed from TosMIC and two equivalents of n-butyllithium (BuLi) in THF at -70"C. Dilithio-TosMIC converts ethyl benzoate to oxazole 14 in 70% yield whereas TosMIC monoanion does not react. In addition, unsaturated, conjugated esters (15) react with dilithio-TosMIC exclusively through the ester carbonyl to provide oxazoles (16). On the other hand, use of the softer TosMIC-monoanion provides pyrroles through reaction of the carbon-carbon double bond in the Michael acceptor. 

Ethynyl derivatives of 2-aryl-4,5,6,7-tetrahydroindazole were prepared from the p-chlorophenyl hydrazone of cyclohexanone. The hydrazone was treated with two equivalents of -butyllithium at —78°C to generate the dianion, which was then quenched with the appropriate substituted ethyl ester (94MT29). 

One such compound, bropirimine (112), is described as an agent which has both antineo-plastic and antiviral activity. The first step in the preparation involves formation of the dianion 108 from the half ester of malonic acid by treatment with butyllithium. Acylation of the anion with benzoyl chloride proceeds at the more nucleophilic carbon anion to give 109. This tricarbonyl compound decarboxylates on acidification to give the beta ketoester 110. Condensation with guanidine leads to the pyrimidone 111. Bromination with N-bromosuccinimide gives bropirimine (112) [24]. 

Reaction of a-sulphinyl carboxylic esters 421 with carbonyl compounds has usually been performed using a Grignard reagent as a base. No condensation products are obtained using t-butyllithium or sodium hydride367,496,497 (equation 251). The condensation products formed are convenient starting materials for the synthesis of a, p-unsaturated esters and /1-ketones497. 

Benzoic acid, 1,1-dimethylethyl ester [Benzoic acid, fe/7-butyl ester] as impurity in /erV-butyllithium, 55, 125 Benzoic acid, 4 methoxy, methyl ester [Anisic acid, methyl ester], 55, 40, 41 3//-2-BENZOPYRAN-3-ONE, 1,4-dihydro-... 

Carbanions derived from optically active sulfoxides react with esters, affording generally optically active )S-ketoesters ° . Kunieda and coworkers revealed that treatment of (-t-)-(R)-methyl p-tolyl sulfoxide 107 with n-butyllithium or dimethy-lamine afforded the corresponding carbanion, which upon further reaction with ethyl benzoate gave (-l-)-(R)-a-(p-tolylsulfinyl)acetophenone 108. They also found that the reaction between chiral esters of carboxylic acids (R COOR ) and a-lithio aryl methyl sulfoxides gave optically active 3-ketosulfoxides The stereoselectivity was found to be markedly influenced by the size of the R group of the esters and the optical purity reached to 70.3% when R was a t-butyl group. 

Olefination Reactions Involving Phosphonate Anions. An important complement to the Wittig reaction involves the reaction of phosphonate carbanions with carbonyl compounds 253 The alkylphosphonic acid esters are made by the reaction of an alkyl halide, preferably primary, with a phosphite ester. Phosphonate carbanions are generated by treating alkylphosphonate esters with a base such as sodium hydride, n-butyllithium, or sodium ethoxide. Alumina coated with KF or KOH has also found use as the base.254... 

Preliminary investigations into the generality of this synthesis of lactate-derived ketones using other alkyl lithium reagents including butyllithium and phenyllithium have not been as successful. Product mixtures were typically contaminated with significant amounts of both the tertiary alcohol and the starting ester. 

While it is important for all ester substrates that lithium hexamethyldisilazide be added before warming in order to avoid yield loss, the addition of lithium ethoxide (LiOEt) Is specific for the naphthyl ester and is not generally necessary (see Discussion). Thus for other esters the ethanol can be omitted in this step and the amount of butyllithium can be reduced to 0.20 mol. 

Parts A and B of the procedure correspond to preparation of lithium tetramethylpiperidide, and its use in the in situ preparation and addition of dibromomethyllithium to the ester 1 producing tetrahedral intermediate 2. In Part C a mixture of lithium hexamethyldisilazide and lithium ethoxide is prepared for addition in Part D to the solution of 2. The silazide base serves to deprotonate the mono and dibromo ketones that are formed on initial warming of the reaction to -20°C, thus protecting them as the enolate anions 4 and 3. Addition of the sec-butyllithium in Part... 

Solutions of butyllithium in hexanes and sec-butyllithium in cyclohexane were purchased from the Aldrich Chemical Company, Inc. It Is recommended that only freshly opened bottles or extremely well protected solutions be used as the presence of lithium butoxide in partially decomposed bottles results in formation of the corresponding butyl ester as an undesired by-product. 

Use of butyllithium in place of sec-butyllithium at this point results in formation of some a-butylated ester by-product later upon warming, while use of sec-butyllithium in greater excess results in tormation of methyl ketone Id (X, Y = H) in the final product. 

For non-aromatic esters, this addition can be carried out more conveniently by adding the butyllithium over 5-10 min (without cooling) once the internal... 

Upon treatment with n-butyllithium at — 78 °C, 1-methylbenzotriazole 380 is lithiated on the methyl group to give l-(lithiomethyl)benzotriazole 381. Rapid addition of a carboxylic ester to the solution provides a-(benzotriazol-l-yl)alkyl ketone 382 in high yield (Scheme 61) <1997JOC4142>. This easy access to ketones 382 and their reactivity makes them valuable intermediates in several syntheses. Their chemistry is discussed separately in Section 5.01.8.4. 

Electrophilic substitution of the ring hydrogen atom in 1,3,4-oxadiazoles is uncommon. In contrast, several reactions of electrophiles with C-linked substituents of 1,3,4-oxadiazole have been reported. 2,5-Diaryl-l,3,4-oxadiazoles are bromi-nated and nitrated on aryl substituents. Oxidation of 2,5-ditolyl-l,3,4-oxadiazole afforded the corresponding dialdehydes or dicarboxylic acids. 2-Methyl-5-phenyl-l,3,4-oxadiazole treated with butyllithium and then with isoamyl nitrite yielded the oxime of 5-phenyl-l,3,4-oxadiazol-2-carbaldehyde. 2-Chloromethyl-5-phenyl-l,3,4-oxadiazole under the action of sulfur and methyl iodide followed by amines affords the respective thioamides. 2-Chloromethyl-5-methyl-l,3,4-oxadia-zole and triethyl phosphite gave a product, which underwent a Wittig reation with aromatic aldehydes to form alkenes. Alkyl l,3,4-oxadiazole-2-carboxylates undergo typical reactions with ammonia, amines, and hydrazines to afford amides or hydrazides. It has been shown that 5-amino-l,3,4-oxadiazole-2-carboxylic acids and their esters decarboxylate. 

Fries rearrangement.1 Rearrangement of phenyl esters with Lewis acids results in a mixture of ortho- and para-phenolic ketones. In contrast, reaction of an o-bromophenyl ester with sec-butyllithium results in exclusive formation of the orf/jo-phenolic ketone by an intramolecular acyl rearrangement.2... 

Conjugate addition to unsaturated esters.13 The mixed cuprate formed from butyllithium and copper(I) trimethylsilylacetylide, (CH3)3SiC=CCu, is more efficient than BuCu/BFj or Bu2CuLi for conjugate addition to a, p-unsaturated esters. Yields of the adduct are markedly improved by addition of CISi(CH3)3 (1.3 equiv.) to the reaction. 

A more recent application of this chemistry was reported by Oestreich and Hoppe [74] and involved the enantioselective deprotonation of the enyne carbamate ester 125 with sec-butyllithium in the presence of (-)-sparteine (Scheme 2.41). Removal of the pro-S hydrogen atom led to the corresponding organolithium intermediate, which then underwent a highly enantioselective intramolecular 1,4-addition to the enyne. Protonation of the resulting allenyllithium species 126 provided a 70 30 mixture of the two diastereomeric allenes 127. 

Ethyl pyridine-2-acetate and ethyl 6-methylpyridine-2-acetate have previously been prepared by carboxylation of the lithio derivatives of a-picoline and lutidine, respectively. Use of ethyl carbonate to acylate the organometallic derivative avoids the intermediacy of the (unstable) carboxylic acid, and the yields are better. In the present procedure potassium amide is used as the metalating agent the submitters report that the same esters may be formed by metalation with sodium amide (43% yield) or with w-butyllithium (39% yield). The latter conditions also yield an appreciable amount of the acid (which decarboxylates). 

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