Hydroxy ketones, preparation

Table 1 -Hydroxy ketones prepared via the asymmetric disilylation of enones...

In a typical Knof procedure, 3jS-hydroxyandrost-5-en-17-one acetate is epoxidized with perbenzoic acid (or m-chloroperbenzoic acid ) to a mixture of 5a,6a- and 5)5,6)5-epoxides (75) in 99 % yield. Subsequent oxidation with aqueous chromium trioxide in methyl ethyl ketone affords the 5a-hydroxy-6-ketone (76) in 89% yield. Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of the hydroxy ketone (76) with perbenzoic acid (or w-chloroperbenzoic acid ) gives keto acid (77) in 96% yield as a complex with benzoic acid. The benzoic acid can be removed by sublimation or, more conveniently, by treating the complex with benzoyl chloride and pyridine to give the easily isolated )5-lactone (70) in 40% yield. As described in section III-A, pyrolysis of j5-lactone (70) affords A -B-norsteroid (71). Knof used this reaction sequence to prepare 3)5-hydroxy-B-norandrost-5-en-17-one acetate, B-noran-... 

The reaction of diketosulfides with 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds other than glyoxal is often not efficient for the direct preparation of thiophenes. For example, the reaction of diketothiophene 24 and benzil or biacetyl reportedly gave only glycols as products. The elimination of water from the P-hydroxy ketones was not as efficient as in the case of the glyoxal series. Fortunately, the mixture of diastereomers of compounds 25 and 26 could be converted to their corresponding thiophenes by an additional dehydration step with thionyl chloride and pyridine. 

In similar fashion, A-substituted-2(3fT)-oxazolones were prepared directly from the hydroxy-ketone by reaction with urethanes in the presence of pyridine and dimethylformamide or by using isocyanates. 

P-Hydroxy ketones can be prepared by treating the silyl ethers (53) of a,p-epoxy alcohols with TiCU- ... 

Alkenes have also been converted to more highly oxidized products. Examples are (1) Treatment with KMn04 in aqueous acetone containing acetic acid gives a-hydroxy ketones. (2) 1,2-Disubstituted and trisubstituted alkenes give a-chloro ketones when oxidized with chromyl chloride in acetone RCH=CR R"—> RCOCCIR R". (3) a-Iodo ketones can be prepared by treating alkenes with... 

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. 

Whereas condensation of a-hydroxy ketones such as benzoin and acetoin on heating with formamide [240] or ureas in acetic acid [239, 242] to form imidazoles such as 769 or 770 is a well known reaction, only two publications have yet discussed the amination of silylated enediols, prepared by Riihlmann-acyloin condensation of diesters [241], by sodium, in toluene, in the presence of TCS 14 [241, 242]. Thus the silylated acyloins 771 and higher homologues, derived from Riihl-... 

Preparation of the requisite side chain starts by alkylation of ethyl acetoacetate with 1,3-dibromopen-tane the initially formed bromoketone (shown as the enol 97) undergoes O-alkylation under the reaction conditions to give the dihydropyran 98. Reaction of that masked hydroxy ketone derivative with hydrogen... 

Primary nitro compounds are good precursors for preparing nitriles and nitrile oxides (Eq. 6.31). The conversion of nitro compounds into nitrile oxides affords an important tool for the synthesis of complex natural products. Nitrile oxides are reactive 1,3-dipoles that form isoxazolines or isoxazoles by the reaction with alkenes or alky nes, respectively. The products are also important precursors for various substrates such as P-amino alcohols, P-hydroxy ketones, P-hydroxy nitriles, and P-hydroxy acids (Scheme 6.3). Many good reviews concerning nitrile oxides in organic synthesis exist some of them are listed here.50-56 Applications of organic synthesis using nitrile oxides are discussed in Section 8.2.2. 

The 1,3-dipolar addition to terminal alkenes of nitrile oxides, generated from nitromethylene derivatives of bicycloheptane, provides 9,ll-ethano-13,15-isoxazolinoprostanoids, PGH analogs, with alkyl, phenyl, or additional heterocyclic fragment in the oo-chain (461). Chemical transformations of 9,11-ethano-13,15-isoxazolinoprostanoids furnish prostanoids with bifunctional fragments of P-hydroxyketone and a-aminoalcohol in the oo-chain. The reaction of P-hydroxy ketones with methanesulfonyl chloride gives rise to prostanoids with an enone component in the oo-chain. 9,ll-Ethano-16-thiaprostanoids have been prepared, for the first time, by nucleophilic addition of thiols to the polarized double bond in the oo-chain. The 1,3-dipolar addition to terminal alkenes of nitrile oxides, generated from nitromethylene derivatives of bicycloheptane provides 9,ll-ethano-13,15-isoxazolinoprostanoids with an alkyl, phenyl, or additional heterocyclic fragment in the oo-chain (462). 

Cyanohydrins are starting materials of widespread interest for preparing important compounds such as a-hydroxy acids/esters, a-amino acids, / -amino alcohols, a-hydroxy aldehydes, vicinal diols, and a-hydroxy ketones. Cyanohydrin compounds can be synthesized using various chiral catalysts such as cyclic... 

With a-hydroxy ketones and their related tosyloxy derivatives. The imidazo [2,T ]thiazole 364 was prepared by acetic acid-catalyzed cyclocondensation of 2-hydroxy-l,2-diphenyl-ethanone with thiophenyl-substituted 2-aminothiazole 363 (Equation 163) <2002MI110>. Under MW irradiation and in the presence of montmorillonite K-10 clay, a mixture of a-tosyloxyketones 365 and 2-imidazolidinethione led to the substituted 5,6-dihydro-imidazo[2,l- ]thiazoles 366 (Equation 164) <1998J(P1)4093>. When using a-tosyloxyacetophenone, prepared by reaction of acetophenone with [hydroxyl(tosyloxy)iodo]benzene (HTIB), 5-aminopyrazole 367 could be converted to imidazo[l,2- ]pyrazole 368 in basic medium (Equation 165) <2005JHC209>. 

Hydrosilylation of fi-hydroxy ketones.1 (3-Silyloxy ketones (2), prepared by silylation of (3-hydroxy ketones with 1 under the usual conditions (DMAP or Py), on treatment with a Lewis acid form a mixture of siladioxanes, 3a and 3b, which on desilylation with HF is converted into a mixture of anti- and syn-diols (4). The... 

Acyloxy-l-cyanoalkanes [45, 46], which can be used as precursors for ketones [47], a-hydroxy ketones [48] and 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds [47], are prepared in one pot from the appropriate aldehyde, sodium or potassium cyanide, and the acylating agent under phase-transfer catalytic conditions [47-49]. Attempts to synthesize chiral cyanhydrins using chiral phase-transfer catalysts have been unsuccessful (see Section 12.3). 

Preparation and phytochemical reduction of 2,2 -thenoin and 2,2 -thenil have been studied in the authors laboratory (20a). It has been shown that 2,2 -thenoin gives a color reaction similar to that shown by benzoin and other acyloin condensation products in- the presence of alcoholic alkali. The hydroxy ketone may be oxidized by iodine in the presence of sodium methoxide to give the diketone, 2,2 -thenil, in excellent yields. Phytochemical reduction was shown also to be applicable to both compounds. It is significant that thenoin differs from benzoin, since reduction products were not obtained enzymatically from the latter. 

Chiral cyanohydrins are versatile intermediates in the synthesis of a-hydroxy acids, /3-amino alcohols, amino nitriles, a-hydroxy ketones and aziridines. For the synthesis of enantiopure cyanohydrins, the use of hydroxynitrile lyases is currently the most effective approach.Application of an organic-solvent-free system allows thermodynamically hindered substrates to be converted with moderate to excellent yields. With the use of the highly selective hydroxynitrile lyase from Manihot esculenta, the syntheses of several acetophenone cyanohydrins with excellent enantioselectivities were developed (Figure 8.2). (5)-Acetophenone cyanohydrin was synthesized on a preparative scale. ... 

The ketone 73 was reduced chemo- and diastereoselectively and protected to provide the silyl ether 74. The ester function was then deprotonated to the corresponding ester enolate (75) that was alkylated with methyl iodide exclusively from the Re face of the enolate to afford the bicycle 76 (Scheme 11). The substrate for the retro-aldol reaction (77) was prepared by a sequence that consists of seven functional and protecting group transformations. The retro-aldol reaction converted the bicyclic yS-hydroxy ketone 77 into the 1,3-diketone 69 via the alkoxide (78) in very good yield. 

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