Grignard, addition, aldehyde ketone

Titanium tetrakis(diethylamide) selectively adds to aldehydes in the presence of ketones and to the least hindered ketone in compounds containing more than one ketone. The protection is in situ, which thus avoids the usual protection-deprotec-tion sequence. Selective aldol and Grignard additions are readily performed employing this protection methodology. ... 

Addition of Grignard reagents to ketones and aldehydes was one of the reactions which led to the formulation of Cram s rule. Many ketones and aldehydes have subsequently been examined to determine the degree of stereoselectivity. Cram s rule is obeyed when no special complexing functional groups are present near the reaction site. One series of studies is summarized in Table 8.2. 

The addition of Grignard reagents to aldehydes, ketones, and esters is the basis for the synthesis of a wide variety of alcohols, and several examples are given in Scheme 7.3. Primary alcohols can be made from formaldehyde (Entry 1) or, with addition of two carbons, from ethylene oxide (Entry 2). Secondary alcohols are obtained from aldehydes (Entries 3 to 6) or formate esters (Entry 7). Tertiary alcohols can be made from esters (Entries 8 and 9) or ketones (Entry 10). Lactones give diols (Entry 11). Aldehydes can be prepared from trialkyl orthoformate esters (Entries 12 and 13). Ketones can be made from nitriles (Entries 14 and 15), pyridine-2-thiol esters (Entry 16), N-methoxy-A-methyl carboxamides (Entries 17 and 18), or anhydrides (Entry 19). Carboxylic acids are available by reaction with C02 (Entries 20 to 22). Amines can be prepared from imines (Entry 23). Two-step procedures that involve formation and dehydration of alcohols provide routes to certain alkenes (Entries 24 and 25). 

The ketone 15 was eventually prepared by Grignard addition to Weinreb amide 21, as shown in Scheme 5.5. The Weinreb amide 21 was prepared from p-iodobenzoic acid (20). The phenol of readily available 3-hydroxybenzaldehyde (22) was first protected with a benzyl group, then the aldehyde was converted to chloride 24 via alcohol 23 under standard conditions. Preparation of the Grignard reagent 25 from chloride 24 was initially problematic. A large proportion of the homo-coupling side product 26 was observed in THF. The use of a 3 1 mixture of toluene THF as the reaction solvent suppressed this side reaction [7]. The iodoketone 15 was isolated as a crystalline solid and this sequence was scaled up to pilot plant scale to make around 50 kg of 15. 

In situ magnesiation of an allenyl iodide with isopropylmagnesium bromide gives rise to a transient allenyl Grignard reagent, which adds to aldehydes and ketones to afford mainly homopropargylic alcohol adducts (Table 9.8) [18]. The anti diastereo-mers are favored, especially with sterically demanding aldehydes. Additions to ketones are less selective. 

The addition of Grignard reagents to aldehydes, ketones, and esters is the basis for synthesis of a wide variety of alcohols. A number of examples are given in Scheme 7.3. 

Precursor y-halogeno alcohols are frequently prepared by the classic sequence of addition of hydrogen halide to a,/3-unsaturated aldehydes, ketones, acids or esters, followed by Grignard reaction or hydride reduction. Recently a novel and general synthesis of 3-methoxyoxetanes from 3-phenylseleno-2-propenal was reported. This method comprises a sequence of Grignard addition to the aldehyde function, treatment with two equivalents of MCPBA, and then reaction with methanolic sodium hydroxide (equation 78) (80JOC4063). 

Compared with aldehydes, ketones and esters are less reactive electrophiles in the addition of dialkylzincs. This makes it possible to perform a unique reaction that cannot be done with alkyllithium or Grignard reagents, which are too reactive nucleophiles. For example, Watanabe and Soai reported enantio- and chemoselective addition of dialkylzincs to ketoaldehydes and formylesters using chiral catalysts, affording enantiomerically enriched hydroxyketones 30 (equation 12)43 and hydroxyesters 31 in 91-96% , respectively (equation 13). The latter are readily transformed into chiral lactones 3244. 

The great synthetic utility of the reaction of alkyllithium and Grignard reagents with ketonic functions has been well documented.105 These reactions take place via the intermediacy of alkoxy derivatives formed by addition of the M—C bond across the C=0 function. Hence ketones, aldehydes and formaldehyde will lead to tertiary, secondary and primary alkoxides, respectively. This type of reactivity is known for a number of other carbanionic metal alkyl derivatives, both main group and transition metals, although the synthetic utility of the reactivity has in most cases not been well documented. 

Alcohols can also be obtained from epoxides, aldehydes, ketones, esters, and acid chloride as a consequence of C-C bond formation. These reactions involve the addition of carbanion equivalents through the use of Grignard or organolithium reagents. 

We have seen at least two examples of nucleophilic addition to ketones and aldehydes. A Grignard reagent (a strong nucleophile resembling a carbanion, R= ) attacks the electrophilic carbonyl carbon atom to give an alkoxide intermediate. Subsequent protonation gives an alcohol. 

This reaction is more limited than the Grignard addition to aldehydes and ketones, because only 3° alcohols having two identical alkyl groups can be prepared. Nonetheless, it is still a valuable reaction because it forms two new carbon-carbon bonds. 

The newly formed Grignard reagent can be trapped regioselectively with a variety of electrophiles, such as aldehydes, ketones, carbon dioxide, orthoesters, silyl chloride, and oxygen. Tables 2 and 3 summarize the results of these and several additional examples. 

In a similar vein, De Lucchi and co-workers [24] prepared precursors to anti-inflammatory atrolactic acid derivatives. They used l,r-binaphthalene-2,2 -diol as an auxiliary for hydroxy aldehydes [Eq. (9)]. The symmetry of the diol ensures that only one isomer can be formed. Reaction of the diol with dibromoacelophenone produced the ketone (65 % yield). Grignard addition and hydrolysis gave only the R-hydroxyaldehyde. 

The addition of lithium and Grignard reagents to isocyanides which do not contain a-hydrogens proceeds by an a-addition to produce a metalloaldimine (7, an acyl anion equivalent). The lithium aldimines are versatile reagents which can be used as precursors for the preparation of aldehydes, ketones, a-hy-droxy ketones, a-keto acids, a- and 3-hydroxy acids, silyl ketones and a-amino acids (Scheme 5). - ... 

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