Hydroxy ketones formation

Needless to say that the absolute stereochemistry of each chiral center of vicinal diols 34 as well as the diastereomeric and enantiomeric excess is very important. For example, diol 34a was a mixture of four stereoisomers, as ilR S) lS,2R) (lR,2R) (lS 2S) = 89 0 6 (or 5) 5 (or 6) [81]. The hydroxy ketone formation occurred in a highly enantioselective manner [79,80] as described in Eq. (23). Equation (24) explains the whole results initially formed (/f)-33a was reduced predominantiy by an enzyme ( L-enzyme ) to afford (i/ ,25)-34a (89% of the total mixture), while another minor enzyme ( D-en-zyme ) seemed to be responsible for the formation of the (IR R) isomer (5-6%). The (/ )-33a would be partially racemized in whole cells of ye t [79] to give the (5)-33a, and this would be further reduced in a similar manner by the two enz5mes to give the (1S,2S) (5-6%) and (1S,2R) isomers, the formation of the latter t ing almost undetectable. In this case, single recrystallization of the corresponding dibenzoate of 3 provided the diaste-reomerically and enantiomerically pure (1R,2S) compound [69,72,81]. In other cases also, recrystallization was very effective to obtain diastereomerically and enantiomerically pure materials [69,84,88]. 

The ester and catalj st are usually employed in equimoleciilar amounts. With R =CjHs (phenyl propionate), the products are o- and p-propiophenol with R = CH3 (phenyl acetate), o- and p-hydroxyacetophenone are formed. The nature of the product is influenced by the structure of the ester, by the temperature, the solvent and the amount of aluminium chloride used generally, low reaction temperatures favour the formation of p-hydroxy ketones. It is usually possible to separate the two hydroxy ketones by fractional distillation under diminished pressure through an efficient fractionating column or by steam distillation the ortho compounds, being chelated, are more volatile in steam It may be mentioned that Clemmensen reduction (compare Section IV,6) of the hj droxy ketones affords an excellent route to the substituted phenols. 

Treatment of a-hydroxy-ketones or -aldehydes with ammonium acetate (65BSF3476, 68BSF4970) results in the formation of dihydropyrazines, presumably by direct amination of the hydroxyketone followed by self-condensation (79AJC1281). Low yields of pyrazines have been noted in the electrolysis of ketones in admixture with KI and ammonia, and again it appears probable that the a-aminoketone derived by way of the a-iodoketone is the intermediate (69CI(L)237>. 

The thermal lead tetraaeetate method has no practical value for the substitution of the angular methyl groups from 11/5-hydroxy steroids. The major product is either the 11-ketone" or the lla,l-ether formed by rearrangement if ketone formation is suppressed. " ... 

The predominant, if not exclusive, formation of 5/7-fused hydroxy ketones was observed in the case of 4-alkylated dienones [(204) (205) (R = CH3) 6 1 from (201) (R = CH3)] ° and of prednisone 21-acetate [(206)-> (207)]. It appears therefore likely that intermediates which represent the conjugate acids of the postulated zwitterionic intermediates in the dienone photoisomerizations [c/. (202), (203)] participate both in the acid-catalyzed transformations of (200) and in the dienone photochemistry in protic solvents. 

N-acyl enaminc (104, R = CHjCHj) gave an unstable enamine (106) which decomposed readily to 3-cholestanone. The steroidal N-acetyl enamines (107 and 108, R = C HjCHj) can be reduced by lithium aluminum hydride in tctrahydrofuran to the corresponding enamines (109, R = CJH5CH2) in 90 and 68% yield, respectively 100). Attempts to reduce the enamide (107, R = CH3) led to the formation of the impure enamine (109, R = CHj), which decomposed to the hydroxy ketone (110). 

X0 to hydroxy compounds. Lower temperatures favor ketone formation and sterically hindered carbonyls, such as 2-thienyl t-butyl ketone, are not reduced. The sensitivity of desulfurization to steric factors is evident by the failure to desulfurize 2,5-di-i-butyl-3-acetylthiophene. The carbonyl groups of both aldehydes and ketones can be protected by acetal formation, as particularly cyclic acetals are stable during desulfurization in methanol at room temperature. " The free aldehydes give primary alcohols on desulfurization. Another method to obtain only keto compounds is to oxidize the mixtures of ketone and secondary alcohol with CrOs after the desulfurization. - Through the desulfurization of 5,5 -diacetyl-2,2, 5, 2"-terthienyl (228), 2,15-hexadecandione (229) has been obtained, which... 

The addition of the a-carbon of an enolizable aldehyde or ketone 1 to the carbonyl group of a second aldehyde or ketone 2 is called the aldol reaction It is a versatile method for the formation of carbon-carbon bonds, and is frequently used in organic chemistry. The initial reaction product is a /3-hydroxy aldehyde (aldol) or /3-hydroxy ketone (ketol) 3. A subsequent dehydration step can follow, to yield an o ,/3-unsaturated carbonyl compound 4. In that case the entire process is also called aldol condensation. 

The rather unsclective formation of certain anti-p-hydroxy ketones from E)-cnolates (see above) also underlines the low (E)-anti correlation. 

The enantiomeric /1-hydroxy ketones are available in an analogous way using the corresponding enantiomeric borinates. The reaction is plagued by low regioselectivity in the formation of the boron enolates, except when R1 is phenyl or isobutyl53,57. 

Nitrile oxides are usually prepared via halogenation and dehydrohalogenation of aldoximes [11] or via dehydration of primary nitro alkanes (Scheme 1) [12]. However, it is important to note that nitrile oxides are relatively unstable and are prone to dimerization or polymerization, especially upon heating. 1,3-Dipolar cycioaddition of a nitrile oxide with a suitable olefin generates an isoxazoline ring which is a versatile synthetic intermediate in that it provides easy access to y-amino alcohols, )5-hydroxy ketones, -hydroxy nitriles, unsaturated oximes, and a host of other multifunctional molecules (Scheme 1) [5a]. Particularly for the formation of )5-hydroxy ketones, nitrile oxide-olefin cycioaddition serve as an alternative to the Aldol reaction. 

In aqueous acid cross-conjugated cyclohexadienones are principally photoconverted to one or more hydroxy ketones. In the case of a-santonin (1), isophotosantonic lactone (5) is formed in about 50% yield. A series of papers by Kropp and co-workers has aided in understanding this reaction/32-39-411 They have shown that the presence of a 4-methyl group (steroid numbering) results in the preferential formation of the 5-7 fused ring system (isophoto-... 

The cyclization of y -hydroxy ketones is useful for the formation of pyrans,306,403 both directly and via rearrangement, as illustrated in Eq. 231.153 As with their acyclic counterparts, these cyclizations also occur with the silyl ethers of the hydroxy ketones where Et3SiH/BiBr3 is used with the TBS and TES ethers.342,404 A methyl thiomethyl ether is also capable of undergoing the reductive cyclization 405 In like manner, 1,4-diols and e-hydroxy ketones provide oxepanes, with I ds Si H or PhMe2SiH/TMSOTf being especially effective (Eqs. 232 and 233).336,406 The trimethylsilyl ether of the alcohol also provides the oxepane.306... 

Palladium-catalyzed bis-silylation of methyl vinyl ketone proceeds in a 1,4-fashion, leading to the formation of a silyl enol ether (Equation (47)).121 1,4-Bis-silylation of a wide variety of enones bearing /3-substituents has become possible by the use of unsymmetrical disilanes, such as 1,1-dichloro-l-phenyltrimethyldisilane and 1,1,1-trichloro-trimethyldisilane (Scheme 28).129 The trimethylsilyl enol ethers obtained by the 1,4-bis-silylation are treated with methyllithium, generating lithium enolates, which in turn are reacted with electrophiles. The a-substituted-/3-silyl ketones, thus obtained, are subjected to Tamao oxidation conditions, leading to the formation of /3-hydroxy ketones. This 1,4-bis-silylation reaction has been extended to the asymmetric synthesis of optically active /3-hydroxy ketones (Scheme 29).130 The key to the success of the asymmetric bis-silylation is to use BINAP as the chiral ligand on palladium. Enantiomeric excesses ranging from 74% to 92% have been attained in the 1,4-bis-silylation. 

The high enantioselectivity shown in the above reactions can be attributed to two important factors. First, coordination of the Lewis acid with the a-hydroxy ketone moiety of dienophile 17 or 19 leads to the formation of a rigid five-membered chelate 21. This chelate causes the differentiation of the two dia-stereotopic faces of the enone system. Second, arising from the established absolute configuration of 17 and 19, within 21, the Diels-Alder reaction proceeds with the enone fragment at its cisoid position (yyu-planar). 

It is also possible to oxidize allenes 89 and 92 to unsaturated hydroxy ketones 91 and 93 via the spirodioxide intermediate 90 [29]. In this case the terminating step is a 1,5-proton shift. In the examples shown in Scheme 17.26, the formation of the spirodioxide intermediate is diastereoselective, as is the rearrangement to the unsaturated hydroxy ketone. 

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