Henry condensation reaction

A two-step synthesis of indoles from o-nitrobenzaldehydes proceeds by condensation with nitromcthanc followed by reductive cyclization. Like the Leim-gruber Batcho method, the principal application of the reaction is to indoles with only carbocyclic substituents. The forniation of the o,p-dinitrostyrenes is usually done under classical Henry condensation conditions but KF/18-crown-6 in propanol was found to be an advantageous reaction medium for acetoxy-substituted compounds[1]. The o,p-dinitrostyrenes can also be obtained by nitration of p-nitrostyrenes[2]. 

Nitromethylation of aldehydes has been carried out in a one pot procedure consisting of the Henry reaction, acetylation, and reduction with sodium borohydride, which provides a good method for the preparation of l-nitroalkanes.16b 79 It has been improved by several modifications. The initial condensation reaction is accelerated by use of KF and 18-crown-6 in isopropanol. Acetylation is effected with acetic anhydride at 25 °C and 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) as a catalyst. These mild conditions are compatible with various functional groups which are often... 

The condensation reaction of neat carbonyl compounds with nitroalkanes to afford nitroalkenes, Henry reaction, also proceeds rapidly via this MW approach in the presence of only catalytic amounts of ammonium acetate, thus avoiding the use of a large excess of polluting nitrohydrocarbons normally employed (Scheme 6.22) [72],... 

Nitroalkanols are intermediate compounds that are used extensively in many important syntheses 142). They can be converted by hydrogenation into / -aminoalcohols, which are intermediates for pharmacologically important chemicals such as chloroamphenicol and ephedrine. They are obtained by Henry s reaction by the condensation of nitroalkanes with aldehydes. The classical method for this transformation involves the use of bases such as alkali metal hydroxides, alkoxides, Ba(OH)2, amines, etc. 142-144). However, these catalysts give predominantly dehydrated products—nitroalkenes— which are susceptible to polymerization (Scheme 16). The reaction proceeds by the nucleophilic addition of the carbanion formed by the abstraction of a proton from the nitro compound to the carbon atom of the carbonyl group, finally forming the nitroaldol by abstraction of a proton from the catalyst. 

Fluoromethyl ketones are one of the most widely used classes of peptidyl a-fluoroalkyl ketones, second only to trifluoromethyl ketones. Peptidyl fluoromethyl ketones are very effective as irreversible inhibitors of cysteine proteases the first reported use of a fluoromethyl ketone compound was the use of Z-Phe-Ala-CH2F as an irreversible inhibitor of cathepsin BJ2,31 Today, many lysine and arginine derivatives have been synthesized as potential inhibitors for trypsin and trypsin-like enzymesJ3 There are four basic methods for the synthesis of peptide fluoromethyl ketones (1) the reaction of HF with peptide diazomethyl ketones (Section 15.1.4.1.1), (2) a halogen-exchange reaction with a chloro-, bromo-, or iodomethyl ketone (Section 15.1.4.1.2), (3) a Henry nitro-aldol condensation reaction (Section 15.1.4.1.3), and (4) a modified Dakin-West acylation reaction (Section 15.1.4.1.4). 

Similar to the Dakin-West procedure previously mentioned, the Henry nitro-aldol condensation reaction is most widely used to synthesize trifluoromethyl ketones, although there are many examples of a,a-difluoroalkyl ketones synthesized by this method (Table 6)JU 12271 The method for a,a-difluoroalkyl and trifluoromethyl ketone synthesis is identical except for the final oxidation although fluoroalkyl and a,a-difluoroalkyl ketones are easily oxidized by the Sarett method (Cr03/pyridine),[12 the corresponding trifluoromethyl ketones can only be oxidized under basic conditions (0.3 M NaOH) with KMn04Jul Also, in some of the syntheses of a,a-difluoroalkyl ketones, the nitro alcohol intermediate was protected by si-lylation with /ert-butylchlorodimethylsilane. The silyl group was later removed by TosOH prior to oxidation. The full details of this method are given in Section 15.1.4.3.2. 

In this section the synthesis of fluoroalkyl (Section 15.1.4.1.3), a,a-difluoroalkyl (Section 15.1.4.2.3), and trifluoromethyl- and perfluoroalkyl ketones are discussed collectively. The second most widely used method for synthesizing peptide fluoromethyl ketones is the Henry nitro-aldol condensation reaction, which involves the use of (3-nitro alcohols to build the fluoromethyl ketones. As with the modified Dakin-West procedure, the Henry reaction has also been used to synthesize mono-, di-, tri-, and extended fluoromethyl ketones, making it another extremely versatile synthetic method.19 12 19 27 29 33 341 However, similar to the Dakin-West procedure, the products of the Henry reaction are not chiral, since an achiral carbanion is involved in the crucial carbon bond forming step. 

Nitroalkanols are intermediate compounds of /1-amino alcohols that are used extensively in many important syntheses. They are obtained by Henry s reaction through the condensation of nitroalkanes with aldehydes. Different nitro compounds have been reacted with carbonyl compounds in reactions catalysed by alkaline earth metal oxides and hydroxides/621 Among the catalysts examined, MgO, CaO, Ba(OH)2, and Sr(OH)2, exhibited high activity for the reaction of nitromethane with propionaldehyde. The yields were between 60 % (for MgO) and 26 % [for Sr(OH)2] at 313 K after 1 h in a batch reactor. The study of the influence of the pretreatment temperature of the solid showed that for MgO and CaO a... 

The nitroaldol condensation with nitromethane (Henry s reaction), followed by Nef decomposition of the resultant nitronate under strongly acidic conditions, has been used to elongate aldehydes. For instance, A-acetyl-D-mannosamine has been converted into A-acetylneuraminic acid applying this method iteratively [69]. Chikashita and coworkers [70] have reported good levels of anti diastereoselectivity better than 99% in an iterative homologation sequence using 2-lithio-l,3-dithiane [71] with 2,3-O-cyclohexylidene-D-glyceraldehyde R)-62. In the case of the BOM-protected tetrose derivative, the addition of 2-lithio-l,3-dithiane was syn selective (synlanti 82 18) (Scheme 13.30). 

The syntheses of d- and L-2-amino-2-deoxy-arabinose and of l,4-dideoxy-l,4-imino-D-lyxitol 94 have been achieved via the nitro-aldol condensation (Henry s reaction) of 2-O-benzyl-D-glyceraldehyde (R)-25 and the diethyl acetal of nitroacetaldehyde (Scheme 13.39), which gives a 88 12 mixture of the arahino and nZ 6>-adducts. Their reduction and subsequent protection of the amines thus obtained, and then selective tosylation of the primary alcohol and hydrogenolysis, gives 93, which is subsequently converted into 94 [80]. 

The nitroaldol condensation with nitromethane (Henry s reaction), followed by Nef decomposition of the resultant nitronate under strongly acidic conditions has been used to elongate aldehydes. For instance, A-acetyl-D-mannosamine has been converted into A-acetylneu-... 

Since silica is such a common support for immobilization, the effect of the weakly acidic silanol groups has been studied. A cooperative silanol effect is thought to improve the catalytic activity of mesoporous silica-supported amines in base-catalyzed reactions such as the nitroaldol (Henry) condensation [6, 7], Knoevenagel condensation [6, 8,9], and Michael addition [6]. Thus immobilizing amines onto supports with stronger acid groups could be expected to further increase the catalytic activity. 

Condensation reactions. The triisopropyl base is an efficient promoter for the nitroaldol (Henry) reaction, and condensation between alkanonitriles and carbonyl compounds. ... 

The formation of trisubstituted cyclohexenecarbaldehyde is a result of subsequent Michael addition, Henry condensation, Michael addition, and aldol condensation. Under classical conditions, at room temperature, the product was obtained in 25% of yield and >99% ee after 7 days. In comparison, when the reaction was performed with microwave irradiation at 60 °C for 5h the yield increased to 45% and the ee was still very high (>99% ee). Other aromatic nitroalkenes were also tested under the MW conditions, giving 25-40% yields and high enantioselectivi-ties (89-99% ee). 

A similar organocatalytic quadruple domino Friedel-Crafts/Michael/Michael/ aldol condensation reaction initiated by Friedel-Crafts reaction of indole to acrolein was also developed by Enders et al. [48], as well as a microwave-assisted qnadruple cascade organocatalytic Michael/Henry condensation/Michael/aldol condensation anploying acetaldehyde and nitroalkenes as substrates [49]. 

Thus, various kmds of bases are effective in inducing the Henry reaction The choice of base and solvent is not crucial to carry out the Henry reaction of simple nitroalkanes v/ith aldehydes, as summarized in Table 3 1 In general, sterically hindered carbonyl or nitro compounds are less reactive not to give the desired ni tro-aldol products in good yield In such cases, self-condensation of the carbonyl compound is a serious side-reaction Several mochfied procedures for the Henry reaction have been developed... 

The condensation of nitro compounds and imines, the so-called aza-Henry or nitro-Mannich reaction, has recently emerged as a powerful tool for the enantioselective synthesis of 1,2-diamines through the intermediate /3-amino nitro compounds. The method is based on the addition of a nitronate ion (a-nitro carbanion), generated from nitroalkanes, to an imine. The addition of a nitronate ion to an imine is thermodynamically disfavored, so that the presence of a protic species or a Lewis acid is required, to activate the imine and/or to quench the adduct. The acidic medium is compatible with the existence of the nitronate anion, as acetic acid and nitromethane have comparable acidities. Moreover, the products are often unstable, either for the reversibility of the addition or for the possible /3-elimination of the nitro group, and the crude products are generally reduced, avoiding purification to give the desired 1,2-diamines. Hence, the nitronate ion is an equivalent of an a-amino carbanion. 

Recently, enantioselective organo-catalytic procedures for the aza-Henry reaction have been disclosed. The presence of either an acidic or a basic function appears to be a requisite of the catalyst. In fact, the condensation of ni-tromethane with M-phosphinoyl arylimines 72 is catalyzed by the chiral urea 85 derived from (R,R)-l,2-diaminocyclohexane and gives the product (R)-74 with good yield and moderate enantioselectivity (Scheme 15) [50]. The N-phosphinoyl substituent is determinant, as the addition of nitromethane to the N-phenyl benzaldimine failed and the reaction of the N-tosyl ben-zaldimine gave the expected adduct with quantitative yield but almost no... 

Silyl Nitronates in Henry Reactions Topologically, condensations of SENAs with carbonyl and nitroso groups, as well as with an imino fragment, belongs to Henry reactions. 

Henry reactions of nitro sugars can be promoted by catalytic amounts of mild bases and it has widely extended the use of triethylamine. A recent example involves the condensation of sugar derived a,p-unsaturated aldehyde 15 with nitromethane in the presence of triethylamine, to give... 

Kambe and Yasuda19 discovered the effectiveness of the fluoride as a Henry reaction catalyst. Since then, the use of diverse fluorides is a common method to catalyze nitro aldol condensations, since they provide mild conditions that are particularly convenient for sensitive products as carbohydrates. The most common fluorides are potassium fluoride20 and tetrabutyl ammonium fluoride.21 A recent example relates to the TBAF catalyzed addition of nitroethanol to the D-glucose derivative 18, to give nitro sugars 19 (Scheme 8).22... 

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