Hydroxide enolates

Dilute sodium hydroxide solution. Carboxylic acids (RCOOH), sulphonic acids (RSO3H), phenols (ArOH), thiophenols (ArSH), mer-captans (RSH), imides (RCONHCOR), aryl sulphonamides (AxSOjNHj), arylsulphonyl derivatives of primary amines (AxSOjNHR), oximes (RCH=NOH), primary and secondary nitro compounds (RCH=NOOH and RjC=NOOH-oci forms), and some enols (e.g., of 1 3-diketones... 

Suggestions as to the methods for identifying the above classes of compounds will be found under Class Reactiona in Section XI,7. Some fimther remarks upon enolic compounds (see Table IV,1I4A) may be made here. Enols may be divided into (a) p-keto esters and (b) 1 3-diketones. With 5 per cent, sodium hydroxide solution, a p-keto ester yields the salt of the corresponding acid, which when heated with dilute hydrochloric acid is decarboxylated to a ketone ... 

Separations based upon differences in the chemical properties of the components. Thus a mixture of toluene and anihne may be separated by extraction with dilute hydrochloric acid the aniline passes into the aqueous layer in the form of the salt, anihne hydrochloride, and may be recovered by neutralisation. Similarly, a mixture of phenol and toluene may be separated by treatment with dilute sodium hydroxide. The above examples are, of comse, simple apphcations of the fact that the various components fah into different solubihty groups (compare Section XI,5). Another example is the separation of a mixture of di-n-butyl ether and chlorobenzene concentrated sulphuric acid dissolves only the w-butyl other and it may be recovered from solution by dilution with water. With some classes of compounds, e.g., unsaturated compounds, concentrated sulphuric acid leads to polymerisation, sulphona-tion, etc., so that the original component cannot be recovered unchanged this solvent, therefore, possesses hmited apphcation. Phenols may be separated from acids (for example, o-cresol from benzoic acid) by a dilute solution of sodium bicarbonate the weakly acidic phenols (and also enols) are not converted into salts by this reagent and may be removed by ether extraction or by other means the acids pass into solution as the sodium salts and may be recovered after acidification. Aldehydes, e.g., benzaldehyde, may be separated from liquid hydrocarbons and other neutral, water-insoluble hquid compounds by shaking with a solution of sodium bisulphite the aldehyde forms a sohd bisulphite compound, which may be filtered off and decomposed with dilute acid or with sodium bicarbonate solution in order to recover the aldehyde. 

Sodium hydroxide extract. This will contain the acids and phenols (or enols) present. Acidify (litmus) with dilute sulphuric acid, d excess of solid NaHCOj. Extract with ether. 

The formation of the above anions ("enolate type) depend on equilibria between the carbon compounds, the base, and the solvent. To ensure a substantial concentration of the anionic synthons in solution the pA" of both the conjugated acid of the base and of the solvent must be higher than the pAT -value of the carbon compound. Alkali hydroxides in water (p/T, 16), alkoxides in the corresponding alcohols (pAT, 20), sodium amide in liquid ammonia (pATj 35), dimsyl sodium in dimethyl sulfoxide (pAT, = 35), sodium hydride, lithium amides, or lithium alkyls in ether or hydrocarbon solvents (pAT, > 40) are common combinations used in synthesis. Sometimes the bases (e.g. methoxides, amides, lithium alkyls) react as nucleophiles, in other words they do not abstract a proton, but their anion undergoes addition and substitution reactions with the carbon compound. If such is the case, sterically hindered bases are employed. A few examples are given below (H.O. House, 1972 I. Kuwajima, 1976). 

The proton transfer equilibrium that interconverts a carbonyl compound and its enol can be catalyzed by bases as well as by acids Figure 18 3 illustrates the roles of hydroxide ion and water m a base catalyzed enolization As m acid catalyzed enolization protons are transferred sequentially rather than m a single step First (step 1) the base abstracts a proton from the a carbon atom to yield an anion This anion is a resonance stabilized species Its negative charge is shared by the a carbon atom and the carbonyl oxygen... 

As noted earlier an aldehyde possessing at least one a hydrogen is partially converted to Its enolate anion by bases such as hydroxide ion and alkoxide 10ns... 

Deprotonation of enols of P-diketones, not considered unusual at moderate pH because of their acidity, is faciUtated at lower pH by chelate formation. Chelation can lead to the dissociation of a proton from as weak an acid as an aUphatic amino alcohol in aqueous alkaU. Coordination of the O atom of triethanolamine to Fe(III) is an example of this effect and results in the sequestration of iron in 1 to 18% sodium hydroxide solution (Fig. 7). Even more striking is the loss of a proton from the amino group of a gold chelate of ethylenediamine in aqueous solution (17). 

The unconjugated ketone can be isolated if the enolate salt (59) is quenched with ammonium chloride 6-dehydrotestosterone affords androst-5-en-I7-ol-3-one in 74% yield under such conditions. If the intermediate enolate salt is quenched with water, the hydroxide ion so formed may isomerize the 5-en-3-one to the corresponding 4-en-3-one before the product can be isolated. 

Addition of hydride ion from the catalyst gives the adsorbed dianion (15). The reaction is completed and product stereochemistry determined by protonation of these species from the solution prior to or concurrent with desorption. With the heteroannular enolate, (13a), both cis and trans adsorption can occur with nearly equal facility. When an angular methyl group is present trans adsorption (14b) predominates. Protonation of the latter species from the solution gives the cis product. Since the heteroannular enolate is formed by the reaction of A" -3-keto steroids with strong base " this mechanism satisfactorily accounts for the almost exclusive formation of the isomer on hydrogenation of these steroids in basic media. The optimum concentration of hydroxide ion in this reaction is about two to three times that of the substrate. 

Terminally unsaturated fluonnated alkenoic acids can be obtained from poly-fluorocycloalkenes by reaction with potassium hydroxide m rert-butyl alcohol [24] (equation 26) The use of a tertiary alcohol is critical because primary and secondar y alcohols lead to ethers of the cycloalkenes The use of a polar aprotic solvent such as diglyme generates enols of diketones [26] (equation 27) The compound where... 

In the presence of bases such as hydroxide, methoxide, and ethoxide, these p-diketones aie converted completely to their enolate ions. Notice that it is the methylene group flanked by the two caibonyl groups that is deprotonated. Both caibonyl groups paitici-pate in stabilizing the enolate by delocalizing its negative chaige. 

The addition (150-157) of Grignard reagents, alkoxides, hydroxide, sulfides, cyanide, and enolate anions to pyridinium and isoquinolinium salts again provides a variety of cyclic enamines of potential synthetic use. 

The reaction can be performed with base catalysis as well as acid catalysis. The former is more common here the enolizable carbonyl compound 1 is depro-tonated at the a-carbon by base (e.g. alkali hydroxide) to give the enolate anion 5, which is stabilized by resonance ... 

Base catalyzed nitrile hydrolysis involves nucleophilic addition of hydroxide ion to the polar C N bond to give an imine anion in a process similar to nucleophilic addition to a polar C=0 bond to give an alkoxide anion. Protonation then gives a hydroxy imine, which tautomerizes (Section 8.4) to an amide in a step similar to the tautomerization of an enol to a ketone. The mechanism is shown in Figure 20.4. 

As an example of enolate-ion reactivity, aldehydes and ketones undergo base-promoted o halogenation. Even relatively weak bases such as hydroxide ion are effective for halogenation because it s not necessary to convert the ketone completely into its enolate ion. As soon as a small amount of enolate is generated, it reacts immediately with the halogen, removing it from the reaction and driving the equilibrium for further enolate ion formation. 

An important task remaining is the stereocontrolled introduction of a methyl group at C-8. When a cold (-78 °C) solution of 14 in THF is treated successively with LDA and methyl iodide and then warmed to -45 °C, intermediate 24 admixed with minor amounts of the C-8 epimer is formed in a yield of 95 %. The action of LDA on 14 generates a lactone enolate which is alkylated on carbon in a diastereoselective fashion with methyl iodide to give 24. It is of no consequence that 24 is contaminated with small amounts of the unwanted C-8 epimer because hydrolysis of the mixture with lithium hydroxide affords, after Jones oxidation of the secondary alcohol, a single keto acid (13) in an overall yield of 80%. Apparently, the undesired diastereoisomer is epimerized to the desired one under the basic conditions of the saponification step. 

When a cold (-78 °C) solution of the lithium enolate derived from amide 6 is treated successively with a,/ -unsaturated ester 7 and homogeranyl iodide 8, intermediate 9 is produced in 87% yield (see Scheme 2). All of the carbon atoms that will constitute the complex pentacyclic framework of 1 are introduced in this one-pot operation. After some careful experimentation, a three-step reaction sequence was found to be necessary to accomplish the conversion of both the amide and methyl ester functions to aldehyde groups. Thus, a complete reduction of the methyl ester with diisobutylalu-minum hydride (Dibal-H) furnishes hydroxy amide 10 which is then hydrolyzed with potassium hydroxide in aqueous ethanol. After acidification of the saponification mixture, a 1 1 mixture of diastereomeric 5-lactones 11 is obtained in quantitative yield. Under the harsh conditions required to achieve the hydrolysis of the amide in 10, the stereogenic center bearing the benzyloxypropyl side chain epimerized. Nevertheless, this seemingly unfortunate circumstance is ultimately of no consequence because this carbon will eventually become part of the planar azadiene. 

Through a short sequence of functional group manipulations, compound 6 could be elaborated from allylic alcohol 7, the projected product of a Wharton fragmentation4 of epoxy ketone 8 (vide infra). In turn, compound 8 could be derived from enone 9. In the synthetic direction, a Michael addition5 of hydroperoxide anion to enone 9 would be expected to take place from the less hindered side of the molecule. Epoxy ketone 8 would fhen form upon collapse of the intermediate enolate with concomitant expulsion of hydroxide ion (see arrows, Scheme 2). 

When an enolate is forced to take the E configuration, e.g, the enolate derived from cyclohexanone, predominant formation of the anti-aldol might be expected. Surprisingly, early experiments gave more or less stereorandom results in that the reaction with benzaldehyde gave a ratio of. vvtt/ant/ -aldols of 48 521B 23, Contrarily, recent investigations24 reveal a substantial anti selectivity (16 84), which is lowered in a dramatic manner (50 50) by the presence of lithium salts. Thus, the low stereoselectivity in the early experiments may be attributed to impurities of lithium salts or lithium hydroxide. 

Compared to the lithium enolates of l and 5, the higher stereoselectivity obtained by the Mukaiyama variation is, in general, accompanied by reduced chemical yields. The chiral alcoholic moieties of the esters 3 and 7 can be removed either by reduction with lithium aluminum hydride (after protection of the earbinol group) or by aqueous alkaline hydrolysis with lithium hydroxide to afford the corresponding carboxylic acid. In both cases, the chiral auxiliary reagent can be recovered. 

Crystalline, diastereomerieally pure syn-aIdols are also available from chiral A-acylsultams. lhe outcome of the induction can be controlled by appropriate choice of the counterion in the cnolate boron enolates lead, almost exclusively, to one adduct 27 (d.r. >97 3, major adduct/ sum of all other diastereomers) whereas mediation of the addition by lithium or tin leads to the predominant formation of adducts 28. Unfortunately, the latter reaction is plagued by lower induced stereoselectivity (d.r. 66 34 to 88 12, defined as above). In both cases, however, diastereomerieally pure adducts are available by recrystallizing the crude adducts. Esters can be liberated by treatment of the adducts with lithium hydroxide/hydrogen peroxide, whereby the chiral auxiliary reagent can be recovered106. 

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