Esters, conjugated, reaction with ammonia

The bicyclic tropane ring of cocaine of course presented serious synthetic difficulties. In one attempt to find an appropriate substitute for this structural unit, a piperidine was prepared that contained methyl groups at the point of attachment of the deleted ring. Condensation of acetone with ammonia affords the piperidone, 17. Isophorone (15) may well be an intermediate in this process conjugate addition of ammonia would then give the aminoketone, 16. Further aldol reaction followed by ammonolysis would afford the observed product. Hydrogenation of the piperidone (18) followed then by reaction with benzoyl chloride gives the ester, 19. Ethanolysis of the nitrile (20) affords alpha-eucaine (21), an effective, albeit somewhat toxic, local anesthetic. 

An important synthetic route to conjugated esters involves a Wittig reaction with an aldehyde or ketone. Phenylacetaldehyde was converted to 3.6 in one example, allowing the synthesis of J. 7.4 This reaction involves conjugate addition of ammonia... 

The Hantsch pyridine synthesis provides the final step in the preparation of all dihydrop-yridines. This reaction consists in essence in the condensation of an aromatic aldehyde with an excess of an acetoacetate ester and ammonia. Tlie need to produce unsymmetrically subsrituted dihydropyridines led to the development of modifications on the synthesis. (The chirality in unsymmetrical compounds leads to marked enhancement in potency.) Methyl acetoacetate foniis an aldol product (30) with aldehyde 29 conjugate addition of ethyl acetoacetate would complete assembly of the carbon skeleton. Ammonia would provide the heterocyclic atom. Thus, application of this modified reaction affords the mixed diester felodipine 31 [8]. 

The attack of ammonia at the ester is rather improbable, given the presence of the two ketone functions. Reaction at the PhCO group will be disfavored by loss of conjugation. Hence we see attack at the acetyl group, with subsequent elimination of the strongest conjugate base. 

Many other examples of chemoselective enone reduction in the presence of other reducible functionalities have been reported. For instance, the C—S bonds of many sulfides and thioketals are readily cleaved by dissolving metals. " Yet, there are examples of conjugate reduction of enones in the presence of a thioalkyl ether group." " Selective enone reduction in the presence of a reducible nitrile group was illustrated with another steroidal enone. While carboxylic acids, because of salt formation, are not reduced by dissolving metals, esters" and amides are easily reduced to saturated alcohols and aldehydes or alcohols, respectively. However, metal-ammonia reduction of enones is faster than that of either esters or amides. This allows selective enone reduction in the presence of esters"" and amides - -" using short reaction times and limited amounts of lithium in ammonia. 

This adduct is in equilibrium with the stable enolate from the keto-ester and elimination now gives an unsaturated carbonyl compound. Such chemistry is associated with the aldol reactions we discussed in Chapter 27. The new enone has two carbonyl groups at one end of the double bond and is therefore a very good Michael acceptor (Chapter 29). A second molecule of enolate does a conjugate addition to complete the carbon skeleton of the molecule. Now the ammonia attacks either of... 

Ammonia, a soft nucleophile for being neutral, reacts with methyl acrylate 100 in methanol in conjugate manner to give the primary amine 101. The reaction continues in the same sense and the secondary amine 102 and the tertiary amine 103 are formed successively [39]. It is to be noted that ammonia, and other primary and secondary amines, do not react with simple esters to form amides. Combine this with the known observation that attack at the carbonyl group is irreversible and also rate determining [40], the above conjugate addition must necessarily be a product of kinetic control, supported by HOMO-LUMO interaction. 

The reaction of the methyl ester of the racemic epoxide 101 with acetone and aluminum chloride gave a 4,S-0-isopropylidene derivative 108. Michael addition of ammonia to the conjugated double bond of 108 with concomitant ammonolysis of the ester group afforded a mixture of 3-amino-2,3,6-trideoxy-4,5-0-isopro-pylidene-OL-arabino- and -r/Z o-hexonamides (109). For the purpose of isolation the mixture was N-acetylated. Acidic hydrolysis of the amide groupings gave a mixture of y- and 8-aminolactone hydrochlorides (110 and 111). Careful N-acetylation and reduction of the lactone carbonyl groups in 112 and 113 afforded N-acetyl-DL-acosamine (115) in 36% yield. The stereoisomeric potential partner of 115, N-acetyl-DL-ristosamine (116), was not isolated in this procedure. 

So far we have shown you conjugate additions mainly of a,P-unsaturated aldehydes and unsaturated a,P-ketones. You won t be at all surprised to learn, however, that unsaturated acids, esters, amides, and nitriles—in fact all carboxylic acid derivatives—can also take part in conjugate addition reactions. Two examples, an amide and an ester, are shown on the right below. But notice how the selectivity of these reactions depends on the structure of the unsaturated compound compare the way butyllithium adds to this a,P-unsaturated aldehyde and a,P-unsaturated amide. Both additions are irreversible, and BuLi attacks the reactive carbonyl group of the aldehyde, but prefers conjugate addition to the less reactive amide. Similarly, ammonia reacts with this acyl chloride to give an amide product that derives from direct... 

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