Halo ketones reduction

MeSiCls/Nal was found to dehalogenate a-halo ketones reduct-ively (eq 16). The conversion of 5-cyano-7-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]-hept-2-ene to 2-furanpropanenitrile was also reported (eq 17). ... 

Until recently, pyridine-type bases have been commonly used to produce conjugated enones from 2-halo ketones yields are usually poor °° and these reactions are frequently accompanied by rearrangement, reduction and salt formation. Thus, Warnhoff found that dehydrobromination of (28) with 2,4-lutidine gave a mixture of (29), (30) and (31) in the ratio 55 25 20. Collidine gave a ratio of 38 25 37, whereas pyridine gave mainly the salt (32). 

It is not possible to use zinc for reductive debromination in the presence of (x-halo ketones and for transformations involving these intermediates, sodium iodide has been used. ° In some instances, e.g. 5,6-dihalo-3-ketones, iodide does not always give a completely halogen-free product, and zinc does not give clean debromination. The use of chromous chloride has proved advantageous in such cases and is the reagent of choice for vicinal dichlorides, which are inert to iodide ... 

The reductive elimination of halohydrins provides a means of introduction of double bonds in specific locations, particularly as the halohydrin may be obtained from the corresponding a-halo ketone. This route is one way of converting a ketone into an olefin. (The elimination of alcohols obtainable by reduction has been covered above, and other routes will be discussed in sections IX and X.) An advantage of this method is that it is unnecessary to separate the epimeric alcohols obtained on reduction of the a-bromo ketone, since both cis- and tran -bromohydrins give olefins (ref. 185, p. 251, 271 cf. ref. 272). Many examples of this approach have been recorded. (For recent examples, see ref. 176, 227, 228, 242, 273.) The preparation of an-drost-16-ene (123) is illustrative, although there are better routes to this compound. 

Borohydrides reduce a-substituted ketones to the corresponding a-substituted alcohols, and such products can be further reduced to olefins (see section VIII). Other reagents serve, through participation of the carbonyl group, to remove the substituent while leaving the ketone intact. The zinc or chromous ion reduction of a-halo ketones is an example of this second type, which is not normally useful for double bond introduction. However, when the derivative being reduced is an a,jS-epoxy ketone, the primary product is a -hydroxy ketone which readily dehydrates to the a,jS-unsaturated ketone. Since... 

Formation of oxiranes on the sterically more hindered side of the steroid ring system is usually carried out via /raw -halohydrins which afford oxiranes on treatment with base (c -Halohydrins yield ketones on exposure to base). Two general methods are available for the synthesis of tm s-halohydrins (1) the reduction of a-halo ketones and (2) the addition of a hypohalous acid to unsaturated steroids. 

The success of the halo ketone route depends on the stereo- and regio-selectivity in the halo ketone synthesis, as well as on the stereochemistry of reduction of the bromo ketone. Lithium aluminum hydride or sodium borohydride are commonly used to reduce halo ketones to the /mm-halohydrins. However, carefully controlled reaction conditions or alternate reducing reagents, e.g., lithium borohydride, are often required to avoid reductive elimination of the halogen. 

Among other methods for the preparation of alkylated ketones are (1) the Stork enamine reaction (12-18), (2) the acetoacetic ester synthesis (10-104), (3) alkylation of p-keto sulfones or sulfoxides (10-104), (4) acylation of CH3SOCH2 followed by reductive cleavage (10-119), (5) treatment of a-halo ketones with lithium dialkyl-copper reagents (10-94), and (6) treatment of a-halo ketones with trialkylboranes (10-109). 

Another very recent development in the field of enzymatic domino reactions is a biocatalytic hydrogen-transfer reduction of halo ketones into enantiopure epoxides, which has been developed by Faber, Bornscheuer and Kroutil. Interestingly, the reaction was carried out with whole lyophilized microbial cells at pH ca. 13. Investigations using isolated enzymes were not successful, as they lost their activity under these conditions [26]. 

Poessl, T.M., Kosjek, B., Ellmer, U. et al. (2005) Non-racemic halohydrins via biocatalytic hydrogen-transfer reduction of halo-ketones and one-pot cascade reaction to enantiopure epoxides. Advanced Synthesis and Catalysis, 347 (14), 1827-1834. 

Another method for ketone reduction, BINAL-H asymmetric reduction, can also be used in co-side chain synthesis. An example of applying BINAL-H asymmetric reduction in PG synthesis is illustrated in Scheme 7-27. This has been a general method for generating the alcohol with (15. -configuration. The binaphthol chiral auxiliary can easily be recovered and reused. As shown in Scheme 7-27, when the chiral halo enone 91 is reduced by (S -BINAL-H at — 100°C, product (15S)-92 can be obtained with high enantioselectivity. 

Although lithium p-lithioalkoxides can also be generated from p halo alcohols by deprotonation and subsequent reductive lithiation of the carbon-halogen bond73 8 or from p-halo ketones by organolithium addition to the carbonyl group followed by reductive lithiation,8 the current method is more direct as well as more convenient, since epoxides are readily available either commercially or by a variety of procedures. 

Aqueous solutions of vanadous chloride (vanadium dichloride) are prepared by reduction of vanadium pentoxide with amalgamated zinc in hydrochloric acid [213], Reductions are carried out in solution in tetrahydrofuran at room temperature or under reflux. Vanadiiun dichloride reduces a-halo ketones to ketones [214], a-diketones to acyloins [215], quinones to hydroquinones [215], sulfoxides to sulfides [216] and azides to amines [217] (Procedure 40, p. 215). 

The acid chlorides have served as useful synthetic intermediates leading to ketones via the malonic acid synthesis and Friedel rafts reaction, thiadiazole acetic acid derivatives, and halo ketones via the Arndt Eistert synthesis and carbinols by hydride reduction <68AHC(9)107>. The dialkylcadmium conversion of acid chlorides into ketones fails in the 1,2,5-thiadiazole series. The major product is either a tertiary carbinol or the corresponding dehydration product, by virtue of the high reactivity of the intermediate ketone. 

Hydrolysis of enol esters 0-76 Reduction of halo ketones 0-78 Reduction of hydroxy ketones 0-82 Reduction of diazo ketones or nitro ketones... 

Reduction of a-halo ketones. a-Bromo and a-chloro ketones are reduced to the purent ketone hy this reagent in CM iC N at room temperature in 3 12 hours. Yields tre in I he range 75 )5" . 

Reduction ofa-halo ketones.5 a-Iodo and tt-bromo kelones are reduced by either PI3 or P2I4. at room temperature in yields of about 75-90%. 

Enantioselective reductions. The neat reagent (1), prepared from ( + )-< -pinene, reduces aryl a-halomethyl ketones slowly but in high chemical yield to (R)-halohydrins in 90-96% ee, but optical induction is mediocre in the case of aliphatic a-halo ketones (35-66% ee). The chiral halohydrins are useful precursors to chiral epoxides. 

In some circumstances, the production of a 2-halo alcohol by reduction of the carbonyl group of an a-halo ketone with metal hydrides is a useful synthetic reaction ... 

Selective reduction of ot,a-dihalo ketones." Reduction of a,a-dihalo ketones can he effected without hydrogenolysis of the halo groups with either DIBAH or borane dimethyl sulfide. Reactions with the former reagent are generally faster but work-up can be complicated by gelatinous aluminum salts. In general, the yields are roughly comparable. 

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