Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reagent preparation

Shibasaki made several improvements in the asymmetric Michael addition reaction using the previously developed BINOL-based (R)-ALB, (R)-6, and (R)-LPB, (R)-7 [1]. The former is prepared from (R)-BINOL, diisobutylaluminum hydride, and butyllithium, while the latter is from (R)-BINOL, La(Oz -Pr)3, and potassium f-butoxide. Only 0.1 mol % of (R)-6 and 0.09 mol % of potassium f-butoxide were needed to catalyze the addition of dimethyl malonate to 2-cy-clohexenone on a kilogram scale in >99% ee, when 4-A molecular sieves were added [15,16]. (R)-6 in the presence of sodium f-butoxide catalyzes the asymmetric 1,4-addition of the Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reagent [17]. (R)-7 catalyzes the addition of nitromethane to chalcone [18]. Feringa prepared another aluminum complex from BINOL and lithium aluminum hydride and used this in the addition of nitroacetate to methyl vinyl ketone [19]. Later, Shibasaki developed a linked lanthanum reagent (R,R)-8 for the same asymmetric addition, in which two BINOLs were connected at the 3-positions with a 2-oxapropylene... 

Fig. 6.48. Preparation of Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reagents (synthetic applications Section 11.3) by chemoselective acylation of a phosphonatestabilized "carb-anion" with an ester.

Fig. 11.14. Preparation of tmns- or f-configured a,/3-unsaturated esters by the Horner-Wadsworth-Em mons reaction (left) or preparation of their cis- or Z-isomers by the Still-Gennari variant of it (right). 18-Crown-6 is a so-called crown ether containing a saturated 18-membered ring that is made up from six successive —CH2—0—CH2-units. 18-Crown-6 dissociates the K ions of the Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reagent by way of complexation.

The Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reagent 735 (Scheme 180) prepared through Michaelis-Becker reaction of 4-(chloromethyl)-l-tritylimidazole 734 with lithium diethyl phosphonate reacts with aldehydes or ketones to give 4-vinylimidazoles 736 <2002S1072>. 

The Fukuyama indole synthesis involves the intramolecular radical cyclization of 2-alkenylisocyanides, the availability of which often limits the utility of this process. In order to access a wider variety of such substrates, the author prepared the versatile Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reagent 131 using the Pudovik reaction <01SL1403>. Reaction of 131 with a variety of aldehydes thus provides a convenient and general route to diverse alkenyl precursors 132. Additionally, instead of the standard radical conditions using tri-n-butyltin hydride, Fukuyama now finds that excess thiols arc quite effective for inducing cycliz.ation, whereupon desulfurization of the indoles 133 can be effected with Raney-Ni if desired. 

Important and widely used variants of the Wittig reaction are based on carbanionic organophosphorus reagents, and are known as the Wadsworth-Emmons reaction, Wittig-Horner reaction or Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction. As first reported by Horner, carbanionic phosphine oxides can be used today carbanions from alkyl phosphonates 13 are most often used. The latter are easily prepared by application of the Arbuzov reaction. The reactive carbanionic species—e.g. 14 —is generated by treatment of the appropriate phosphonate with base, e.g. with sodium hydride ... 

Protocol 2 produces the protected fi-formylphosphonate 12 f)-ketophospho-nates may also be synthesized by other methods,23 however, they may not be prepared in unprotected form by the Michaelis-Arbuzov reaction because the Perkow reaction, in which an a-haloaldehyde or ketone and a trialkyl phosphite yield an enol phosphate (e.g. 13, Scheme 5,24 i.e. [P—O] bond formation), competes and frequently dominates (see Section 4). Conversely halocarboxylic acid derivatives (e.g. see Table 7.1, entry 3) and acyl halides (see Protocol 3) react well in the Michaelis-Arbuzov reaction to yield useful functionalized phosphonates. fi-Ketophosphonates are useful reagents for the synthesis of a,fi-unsaturated carbonyl compounds by the Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction,3,4 25 and have other applications.23... 

A simple procedure for the preparation of trifluoromethylated vinyl- and dienyl-phosphonates with y-alkoxycarbonyl moiety of exclusively or predominantly (Z)-configuration (201) has been described. It involves acylation of ethyl-1,1-bisphosphonate (202) with trifluoroacetic anhydride, addition of selected Reformatsky reagents to the resulting 1-trifluoroacetyl-1,1-ethyl bisphos-phonates (203) and finally spontaneous Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons (HWE) olefination of the adducts (Scheme 55). " ... 

Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons Reactions of Phosphonate Anions. - As with the Horner modification of the Wittig reaction, the principal focus of papers that mention the Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction relate to synthetic applications. The use of pressure to induce the synthesis of P-amino esters, p-thioesters and P-thionitriles via tandem Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons and Michael reactions has been reported. The reagent (l-tritylimidazol-4-yl)methylphosphonate (99) has been prepared and, when treated with aldehydes and ketones, affords (E)-vinylimidazoles in high yields. ... 

By far the main interest in the reaction of halo [ C] acetates with phosphorus nucleophiles is for the preparation of phosphoryl-stabilized carbanions for use in Wittig and related reactions. The presence of the additional electron-withdrawing ester group provides additional stabilization, significantly modifying the reactivity of the ylide species and the stereochemical course of its reactions. The two phosphorus reagents discussed here include the triphenylphosphonium salt type 158. precursors of Wittig methylenetriphe-nylphosphoranes, and the trialkylphosphonoacetate type 159. applied in the Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons family of reactions . ... 

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