Ethyl cyanoformate ketones

The photochemical addition of azirines to the carbonyl group of aldehydes, ketones, and esters is also completely regiospecific (77H(6)143). Besides the formation of the isomeric oxazolines (50) from (39) and ethyl cyanoformate, there is also formed the imidazole (51) from addition to C=N in the expected regioselective manner. Thioesters lead to thiazolines (52), while isocyanates and ketenes produce heterocycles (53). 

In addition to metal catalysts, organocatalysts could also be used in asymmetric cyanation reactions. Chiral Lewis bases, modified cinchona alkaloids, catalyzed asymmetric cyanation of ketones by using ethyl cyanoformate as the cyanide source (Scheme 5.34)." Similar to metal-catalyzed reactions, ethyl cyanoformate was first activated by chiral Lewis bases to form active nucleophiles. Various acyclic and cyclic dialkyl ketones were transformed into the desired products. Because of using... 

Triethyl carbinol has been prepared by the action of zinc on a mixture of ethyl iodide and diethyl ketone 1 by the action of magnesium on ethyl bromide in diethyl ketone solution 2 as a by-product in the reaction between ethylmagnesium bromide and carbon oxysulfide 3 by the action of ethylmagnesium bromide on ethyl propionate 4 by the action of ethylmagnesium bromide on ethyl chloroformate 5 and by the action of ethyl-magnesium bromide on ethyl cyanoformate.6... 

Considerable variation is also possible in the carbonyl function, and in addition to simple aldehydes and ketones, acetyl cyanide,292 diethyl oxomalonate,293 diethyl oxalate,294 and ethyl cyanoformate 295 [Eq. (77)] will all undergo cycloaddition to alkenes to form the corresponding oxetanes. Oxetanes are also formed in certain circumstances from both a,j8-unsaturated aldehydes298 and acetylenic ketones.297... 

It was mentioned at the beginning of this chapter that alkaloids were among the first catalysts to be used for asymmetric hydrocyanation of aldehydes. More recent work by Tian and Deng has shown that the pseudo-enantiomeric alkaloid derivatives 5/6 and 7/8 catalyze the asymmetric addition of ethyl cyanoformate to aliphatic ketones (Scheme 6.6) [50]. It is believed that the catalytic cycle is initiated by the alkaloid tertiary amine reacting with ethyl cyanoformate to form a chiral cyanide/acylammonium ion pair, followed by addition of cyanide to the ketone and acylation of the resulting cyanoalkoxide. Potentially, the latter reaction step occurs with dynamic kinetic resolution of the cyano alkoxide intermediate... 

Alkoxy-5(2i/)-oxazolones are available from ethyl cyanoformate via a simple albeit poor yielding route <89HCA825>. Imino esters (173), formed from the cyanoformate and an alcohol, are reacted with a ketone or aldehyde in the presence of BF3 etherate to give the oxazolone and a triazine triester (174) as the main product (Scheme 83). In a related synthesis, tosyloxyiminoacetates... 

Furan has been found to form oxetanes with a variety of carbonyl compounds, e.g., ketones,202-205 aldehydes,206 and ethyl cyanofor-mate.207 In most reactions the (2 + 2)-cycloaddition occurred specifically to give a 2,7 dioxabicyclo[3.2.0]hept-3-ene (175) rather than the 2,6-isomer (176). Only the addition of ethyl cyanoformate yielded mixtures of 175 and 176 (R = OEt and R2 = CN), in a ratio of 2 l.207 Two subsequent (2 + 2)-cycloadditions of benzophenone and furans have been reported to give two isomeric products, 177 and 178.205 Substituted furans yielded similar oxetanes.203 Benzo[ >]furans, furo-coumarins, and furochromones also proved to undergo (2 + 2)-cyclo-addition reactions with carbonyl compounds such as ketones, aldehydes, and quinones. Invariably one type of oxetane was formed (179).,37,u3 ,44 200-202 208,20, In the case of 2-methoxycarbonylbenzo[6)-furan, evidence has been provided that the oxetane was produced by addition of the excited triplet state of the olefinic reactant to the ground state of the ketone.208... 

Deng has reported a range of asymmetric cyanations of ketones with ethyl cyanoformate using cinchona alkaloid derivatives 285-288 as catalysts (Figure 2.11) [181]. The catalysts themselves are the ligands that were uti-... 

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