Ethers lithiation

Other alkyl aryl ethers lithiate cleanly—for instance, benzoxepine 139. Lithiation of a fluoroacetal forms the first step in a route to the drug fludioxinU (Scheme 68). 

Whereas carbenoid character is definitely present in metalated alkyl vinyl ethers, lithiated alkyl and aryl vinyl sulfides and thioesters, which are easily available by hydrogen-lithium exchange, do not display carbenoid-typical reactions . They rather behave like nucleophilic reagents, so that their discussion is beyond the scope of this overview despite their utility in synthesis The same appiies to various derivatives of enamines, deprotonated in the vinyiic a-nitrogen position - . 

Another type of lithiated allenic ether or sulfide is obtained from 2-alkynyl... 

The stability of the various cumulenic anions depends to a large extent upon the nature of the groups linked to the cumulenic system. Whereas solutions of lithiated allenic ethers and sulfides in diethyl ether or THF can be kept for a limited period at about O C, the lithiated hydrocarbons LiCH=C=CH-R are transformed into the isomeric lithium acetylides at temperatures above about -20 C, probably via HC C-C(Li )R R Lithiated 1,2,4-trienes, LiCH=C=C-C=C-, are... 

The lithiation of allene can also be carried out with ethyllithium or butyl-lithium in diethyl ether (prepared from the alkyl bromides), using THF as a cosolvent. The salt suspension which is initially present when the solution of alkyllithium is cooled to -50°C or lower has disappeared almost completely when the reaction between allene and alkyllithium is finished. 

Note 1. If the lithiation of the allenic ether is performed with butyllithium in hexane and THF as a co-solvent, subsequent alkylation (in the presence of a small amount of HMPT) is much faster. The separation of the volatile product from the hexane and THF is difficult, however. 

Note 1. This relatively low yield is probably due to the difficult separation of hexane and the product. Better results can presumably be obtained if the lithiation of methoxyallene is performed with ethyllithium in diethyl ether (see Chapter 11, Exp. 1). 

A solution of 0.10 mol of lithiated methoxyallene in about 70 ml of hexane and 50 ml of THF (see Chapter II, Exp. 15) was cooled to -40°C. Ory, pure acetone (0.12 mol) was added dropwise during 10 min, while keeping the temperature at about -30°. Five minutes after the addition 100 ml of saturated NHi,Cl solution, to which 5 ml of aqueous ammonia had been added (note 1), were run in with vigorous stirring. The product was extracted three times with diethyl ether. The combined organic solutions were dried over potassium carbonate and subsequently... 

The reaction of lithiated cumulenic ethers with ethylene oxide, trimethyl-chlorosilane and carbonyl compounds shows the same regiosnecificity as does the alkylation. 

Note i. If only one equivalent of ethyl 1ithium is used, the conversion of the bis--ether is not complete. The necessity for two equivalents can be explained by assumin g that the rates of 1,4-elimination of ethanol and subsequent 1-lithiation are comparable. 

Oq 1.4783, yield 84 ) was prepared by lithiating propargyl chloride with ethyllithium (see Chapter 11, Exp. 1 and 16) in diethyl ether and subsequently adding pivalyl aldehyde. 

Note 1. Prepared by lithiating HC CCH2C1 at -80°Cwith BuLi in hexane-ether (1 1) and subsequently adding freshly distilled acetaldehyde (compare Ref. 1). 

Competitive metallation experiments with IV-methylpyrrole and thiophene and with IV-methylindole and benzo[6]thiophene indicate that the sulfur-containing heterocycles react more rapidly with H-butyllithium in ether. The comparative reactivity of thiophene and furan with butyllithium depends on the metallation conditions. In hexane, furan reacts more rapidly than thiophene but in ether, in the presence of tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA), the order of reactivity is reversed (77JCS(P1)887). Competitive metallation experiments have established that dibenzofuran is more easily lithiated than dibenzothiophene, which in turn is more easily lithiated than A-ethylcarbazole. These compounds lose the proton bound to carbon 4 in dibenzofuran and dibenzothiophene and the equivalent proton (bound to carbon 1) in the carbazole (64JOM(2)304). 

Finally, the nucleophile to a lithiated epoxide need not be the base originally used to generate it, or even one that has been externally added, but can be another lithiated epoxide. This disproportionation/carbenoid dimerization of (enantio-pure) lithiated epoxides provides 2-ene-l,4-diols (Scheme 5.33) [53]. Syntheses of D-mannitol and D-iditol in three steps from (S) -tritylglycidyl ether were achieved with this method. 

This lithiated epoxysulfone cyclisation strategy has been iteratively applied in the total synthesis of hemibrevitoxin B, a polycyclic ether marine toxin from the red tide organism Gymnodinium breve (Scheme 5.41) [64]. 

Furthermore, the molecular size of the Li+ -solvating solvents may affect the tendency for solvent co-intercalation. Crown ethers [19, 152-154, 196, 197] and other bulky electrolyte additives [196] are assumed to coordinate Li+ ions in solution in such a way that solvent co-intercalation is suppressed. The electrochemical formation of binary lithiated graphites Li tC6 was also reported for the reduction... 

Among the a-hetero-substituted chiral organometallic reagents, a-lithio ethers 2 are an important class of compounds. A general route to these compounds is the reductive lithiation of a-(phcnylthio) ethers 1 with lithium (dimethylamino)naphthalenide (I.DMAN)4,5. The generality of this method lies in the ready availability of various types of a-(phenylthio) ethers. 

For the deprotonation of less acidic precursors, which do not lead to mesomerically stabilized anions, butyllithium/TMEDA in THF or diethyl ether, or the more reactive, but more expensive,. seobutyllithium under these conditions usually are the most promising bases. Het-eroatomic substitution on the allylic substrate, which docs not contribute to the mesomeric or inductive stabilization often facilitates lithiation dramatically 58. In lithiations, in contrast to most other metalations, the kinetic acidity, caused by complexing heteroatom substituents, may override the thermodynamic acidity, which is estimated from the stabilization of the competing anions. These directed lithiations59 should be performed in the least polar solvent possible, e.g.. diethyl ether, toluene, or even hexane. 

Stannylation of lithiated allyl ethers gives (Z)-3-alkoxyallylstannanes (1)115,116, whereas mixtures of (Z)- and ( )-tributyl(3-methoxy-2-propenyl)stannanes (2) were obtained from free-radical addition of tributyltin hydride to l-methoxy-l,2-propadienel16. 

Notes, fa) Rate of metallation with t-BuLi varies from case to case. Lithiation of ally] alcohol trimethylsilyl ether proceeds to completion in 2 h at -78 °C, whereas the corresponding methallyl derivative requires 3.5 h at -33°C. 

Lewis acids, 15,72,106,108-11,112,116,128 Lithiation, 84 reductive, 68 o-Lithiation, 40 a-Lithiosilanes, 65, 68 o-Lithiosilyl enol ethers, 77 a-Lithiovinylsilanes, 69 Lithium bis(phenyldimethylsilyl)cuprate, 8,53... 

The oxidative dimerization of the anion of methyl phenyl sulfone (from a Grignard reagent) in ethereal solution in the presence of cupric chloride in 5% yield has been reported47. Despite the reported48 poor stability of the a-sulfonyl C-centered radicals, Julia and coworkers49 provoked the dimerization (in 13 to 56% yields) of the lithiated carbanion of alkyl phenyl sulfones using cupric salts as oxidants. The best results are obtained with cupric triflates in THF-isobutyronitrile medium (56% yield for R = H). For allyl phenyl sulfones the coupling in the 3-3 mode is predominant. 

Recendy, Guiver et al. reported a number of derivatives of polysulfone and poly(aryl sulfone).172 188 Polysulfones were activated either on the ortho-sulfone sites or the ortho-ether sites by direct lithiation or bromination-lithiation. The lithiated intermediates were claimed to be quantitatively converted to azides by treatment with tosyl azides. Azides are thermally and photochemically labile groups capable of being transformed readily into a number of other useful derivatives. 

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