Imines formation, mechanism

The mechanism of imine formation (Mechanism 21.5) can be divided into two distinct parts nucleophilic addition of the 1° amine, followed by elimination of HgO. Each step involves a reversible equilibrium, so that the reaction is driven to completion by removing HgO. 

FIGURE 17 10 The mechanism of imine formation from benzaldehyde and methylamine... 

Two possible mechanisms exist for the Friedlander reaction. The first involves initial imine formation followed by intramolecular Claisen condensation, while the second reverses the order of the steps. Evidence for both mechanisms has been found, both... 

Skraup proposed a simple mechanism involving imine formation followed by an acid-mediated cyclization. Unfortunately the observed regioselectivity is not consistent with the proposed mechanism when, for example, electron-rich aniline 4 reacts with a, 3-unsaturated aldehyde 5 to give quinoline 6. ... 

Mechanism of imine formation by reaction of an aldehyde or ketone with a primary amine. 

We can explain the observed pH dependence of imine formation by looking at the individual steps in the mechanism. As indicated in Figure 19.8, an acid catalyst is required in step 3 to protonate the intermediate carbinolamine, thereby converting the —OH into a better leaving group. Thus, reaction will be slow if not enough acid is present (that is, at high pH). On the other hand, if too much acid is present (low pH), the basic amine nucleophile is completely protonated, so the initial nucleophilic addition step can t occur. 

The deamination of primary amines such as phenylethylamine by Escherichia coli (Cooper et al. 1992) and Klebsiella oxytoca (Flacisalihoglu et al. 1997) is carried out by an oxidase. This contains copper and topaquinone (TPQ), which is produced from tyrosine by dioxygenation. TPQ is reduced to an aminoquinol that in the form of a Cu(l) radical reacts with O2 to form H2O2, Cu(ll), and the imine. The mechanism has been elucidated (Wihnot et al. 1999), and involves formation of a Schiff base followed by hydrolysis in reactions that are formally analogous to those involved in pyridoxal-mediated transamination. 

This approach to the five-membered pyrrole ring reacts an a-aminoketone with a P-ketoester. The mechanism will probably involve imine formation then cyclization via an aldol-type reaction using the enamine nucleophile. Dehydration leads to the pyrrole. Only the key parts of this sequence are shown below. 

The mechanism of imine formation is standard, as seen in the other examples. The cyclization reaction is then like the Mannich reaction, attack of an enol on to the iminium cation. This time though, the nucleophile is provided by the resonance effect from the phenol system. 

We shall consider the sequence as firstly imine formation (an abbreviated form of this mechanism is shown), followed by imine-enamine tautomerism. This provides a nucleophilic centre and allows a subsequent aldol-type reaction with enamine plus ketone. The pyrrole ring is produced by proton loss and a dehydration. 

The Lewis acid-catalyzed three-component reaction of dihydropyridines, aldehydes, and />-substituted anilines efficiently yields highly substituted tetrahydroquinolines in a stereoselective manner, through a mechanism believed to be imine formation followed by formal [4-1-2] cycloaddition (Scheme 41). The 1,4-dihydropyridine starting materials were also prepared in situ by the nucleophilic addition of cyanide to pyridinium salts, creating in effect a one-pot four-component reaction <20030L717>. 

Shu and co-workers (35) identified 2-isobutyl-3,5-diisopropylpyridine, 2-pentyl-3,5-dimethylpyridine, and its dihydro derivative obtained under similar conditions. Sultan (29) confirmed the presence of 3,5-diethyl-2-propylpyridine in a model system consisting of butyraldehyde and ammonium sulfide. Our proposed mechanism of their formation (20) consists of three steps 1) aldol condensation of the starting aldehydes to 2,4-alkadienals, 2) imine formation with ammonia, and 3) subsequent cyclization and oxidation to corresponding pyridines. An alternate mechanism, suggested by Shu and co-workers (33), takes into consideration the isolated dihydro derivatives. Hwang and co-workers described another dihydro derivative (19, R = Bu, R = R" = Pr, R= H) (37). 

Secondary amine reacts with aldehyde and ketone to produce enamine. An enamine is an a,P-unsaturated tertiary amine. Enamine formation is a reversihle reaction, and the mechanism is exactly the same as the mechanism for imine formation, except the last step of the reaction. 

One of the most spectacular and useful template reactions is the Curtis reaction , in which a new chelate ring is formed as the result of an aldol condensation between a methylene ketone or inline and an imine salt. The initial example of this reaction was the formation of a macrocyclic nickel(II) complex from tris(l,2-diaminoethane)nickel(II) perchlorate and acetone (equation 53).182 The reaction has been developed by Curtis and numerous other workers and has been reviewed.183 In mechanistic terms there is some circumstantial evidence to suggest that the nucleophile is an uncoordinated aoetonyl carbanion which adds to a coordinated imine to yield a coordinated amino ketone (equation 54). If such a mechanism operates then the template effect is largely, if not wholly, thermodynamic in nature, as described for imine formation. Such a view is supported by the fact that the free macrocycle salts can be produced by acid catalysis alone. However, this fact does not... 

High enantioselectivity (ca. 95-99% ee) is observed in this system, better than that revealed in previous reports of the hydrosilylation of imines. The mechanism is as yet unclear however, the authors propose that an active catalyst may be formed by cleavage of the Ti-F bond and generation of a Ti(III) hydride species. Insertion of an imine into the Ti-H bond, followed by a (r-bond metathesis with the silane in a four-centered transition state, may lead to the observed products. Another report on the activity of titanocene complexes as catalysts for the hydrosilylation of aid- and keti-mines also indicates formation of a Ti-H species as catalyst.188 Hydrosilylation proceeds to yield silylamines, with dependence on substitution at nitrogen and on the nature of the ligand bound to the metallocene precursor. 

The design of polydentate ligands containing imines has exercised many minds over many years, and imine formation is probably one of the commonest reactions in the synthetic co-ordination chemist s arsenal. Once again, the chelate effect plays an important role in stabilising the co-ordinated products and the majority of imine ligands contain other donor atoms that are also co-ordinated to the metal centre. The above brief discussion of imine formation will have shown that the formation of the imine from amine and carbonyl may be an intra- or intermolecular process. In many cases, the detailed mechanism of the imine formation reaction is not fully understood. In particular, it is not always clear whether the nucleophile is metal-co-ordinated amine or amide. Some intramolecular imine formation reactions at cobalt(m) are known to proceed through amido intermediates. A particularly useful intermediate (5.24) in metal-directed amino acid chemistry is... 

The mechanism for imine formation proceeds through the following steps ... 

Pyrazines are formed from transamination reactions, in addition to carbon dioxide and formaldehyde. A requirement is that the carbonyl compound contains a dione and the amino group is alpha to the carboxyl group (16). If the hydrogen on the ct-carbon oI the amino acid is substituted, a ketone is produced. Newell (17) initially proposed a pyrazine formation mechanism between sugar and amino acid precursors. (See Figure 3). The Schiff base cation is formed by addition of the amino acid to the anomeric portion of the aldo-hexose, with subsequent losses of vater and a hydroxyl ion. Decarboxylation forms an imine which can hydrolyze to an aldehyde and a dienamine. Enolization yields a ketoamine, vhich dissociates to amino acetone and glyceraldehyde. 2,5-Dimethylpyrazine is formed by the condensation of the tvo molecules of amino acetone. 

Hupe, D. J. Imine Formation in Enzymatic Reactions. In Enzyme Mechanisms, Page, M. I., Williams, A. Eds., The Royal Society of Chemistry London, 1987, p. 317. 

Click Mechanisms in Motion to view the Mechanisms of Imine Formation. 

NR II ch3ch Imine formation proceeds to stage 2 with primary amines. Addition follows the basic conditions mechanism, but acid... 

Shemin, 1972 Horecker et al., 1972). In these enzymatic reactions, the mechanism involves initial SchifFs base (imine) formation and subsequent tautomerisation leading to the enamine (C02 elimination in the process of acetoacetate decarboxylase). 

The mechanism of imine formation (Key Mechanism 18-5) begins with an acid-catalyzed nucleophilic addition of the amine to the carbonyl group. Attack by the amine, followed by deprotonation of the nitrogen atom, gives an unstable intermediate called a carbinolamine. 

The proper pH is crucial to imine formation. The second half of the mechanism is acid-catalyzed, so the solution must be somewhat acidic. If the solution is too acidic, however, the amine becomes protonated and non-nucleophilic, inhibiting the first step. Figure 18-7 shows that the rate of imine formation is fastest around pH 4.5. 

Imine formation is one of the important mechanisms in this chapter. It is more easily remembered as consisting of two simple mechanisms ... 

Imine formation is reversible, and most imines can be hydrolyzed back to the amine and the ketone or aldehyde. The principle of microscopic reversibility (Section 8-4A) states that the reverse reaction taking place under the same conditions should follow the same pathway but in reverse order. Therefore, the mechanism for hydrolysis of an imine is simply the reverse of the mechanism for its formation. 

Ketones and aldehydes also condense with other ammonia derivatives, such as hydroxyl amine and substituted hydrazines, to give imine derivatives. The equilibrium constants for these reactions are usually more favorable than for reactions with simple amines. Hydroxylamine reacts with ketones and aldehydes to form oximes hydrazine and its derivatives react to form hydrazones and semicarbazide reacts to form semicarbazones. The mechanisms of these reactions are similar to the mechanism of imine formation. 

The mechanism for formation of the hydrazone is the same as the mechanism for imine formation (Key Mechanism 18-5 in Section 18-15). The actual reduction step involves two tautomeric proton transfers from nitrogen to carbon (Mechanism 18-7). In this strongly basic solution, we expect a proton transfer from N to C to occur by loss of a proton from nitrogen, followed by reprotonation on carbon. A second deprotonation sets up the intermediate for loss of nitrogen to form a carbanion. This carbanion is quickly reprotonated to give the product. 

Notice that an acid catalyst is normally added for imine formation. Without an acid catalyst, the reaction is veiy slow, though in some cases it may still take place (oximes, for example, will form without acid catalysis, but form much faster with it). It s important to notice that acid is not needed for the addition step in the mechanism (indeed, protonation of the amine means that this step is very slow in strong acid), but is needed for the elimination of water later on in the reaction. Imine formation is in fact fastest at about pH 4-6 at lower pH, too much amine is protonated and the rate of the first step is slow above this pH the proton concentration is too low to allow protonation of the OH leaving group in the dehydration step, Imine formation is like a biological reaction it is fastest near neutrality. 

Let s return to the mechanism of imine formation, and compare it for a moment with that of acetal formation. The only difference to begin with is that there is no need for acid catalysis for the addition of the amine but there is need for acid catalysis in the addition of the alcohol, a much weaker nucleophile. 

Imines are susceptible to hydrolysis and they are best not stored but used at once. To understand fully these reactions you should ensure you are familiar with the mechanisms of imine formation and hydrolysis from Chapter 14. 

The mechanism is similar to that of imine formation, except a proton from the a carbon is lost in the dehydration step. 

In the early 1960s, seminal work by Jencks and coworkers demonstrated that formation and hydrolysis of C=N bonds were proceeding via a carbinolamine intermediate, thus leading to a more general mechanism of addition reactions on carbonyl groups [17-19]. The dynamic nature of the reaction of imine formation can be exploited to drive the equilibrium either forward or backwards. Since the reaction involves the loss of a molecule of water, adding or removing water from the reaction mixture proved an efficient way to shift the equilibrium in either direction. The responsive behavior of imines to external stimuli makes the reversible reaction of imine formation perfectly suited for DCC experiments [20], Thermodynamically controlled reactions based on imine chemistry include (1) imine condensation/hydrolysis, (2) transiminations, and (3) imine-metathesis reactions... 

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