In the Claisen reaction

Tire mechanism of the Claisen condensation is similar to that of the aldol condensation and involves the nucleophilic addition of an ester enolate ion to the carbonyl group of a second ester molecule. The only difference between the aldol condensation of an aldeiwde or ketone and the Claisen condensation of an ester involves the fate of the initially formed tetrahedral intermediate. The tetrahedral intermediate in the aldol reaction is protonated to give an alcohol product—exactly the behavior previously seen for aldehydes and ketones (Section 19.4). The tetrahedral intermediate in the Claisen reaction, however, expels an alkoxide leaving group to yield an acyl substitution product—exactly the behavior previously seen for esters (Section 21.6). The mechanism of the Claisen condensation reaction is shown in Figure 23.5. 

The Claisen reaction is the second general reaction of enolates with other carbonyl compounds. In the Claisen reaction, two molecules of an ester react with each other in the presence of an alkoxide base to form a P-keto ester. For example, treatment of ethyl acetate with NaOEt forms ethyl acetoacetate after protonation with aqueous acid. 

Because the p-keto ester formed in Step [3] has especially acidic protons between its two carbonyl groups, a proton is removed under the basic reaction conditions to form an enolate (Step [4]). The formation of this resonance-stabilized enolate drives the equilibrium in the Claisen reaction. 

In all the examples of basic catalysis considered above, the characteristic effect of the basic catalyst is the increase in concentration of the basic group involved in the reaction. This is accomplished by the familiar displacement of one base by another for example, the displacement of the ester anion from ethyl acetate by the ethoxide ion catalyst in the Claisen reaction. In some reactions, however, displacement apparently does not result, but the combination of the basic catalyst with the reacting substance merely localizes the electron excess on one atom, which can then act as a base. An example is the shifting of the electron pair of the C—H linkage toward the hydrogen in the base-catalyzed Cannizzaro reaction, thus enabling a second molecule of aldehyde to remove a hydride ion. 

Other reactions similar to the aldol addition include the Claisen and Perkin reactions. The Claisen reaction, carried out by combining an aromatic aldehyde and an ester in the presence of metallic sodium, is useful for obtaining a,P-unsaturated esters. 

Reaction of Enolate Anions. In the presence of certain bases, eg, sodium alkoxide, an ester having a hydrogen on the a-carbon atom undergoes a wide variety of characteristic enolate reactions. Mechanistically, the base removes a proton from the a-carbon, giving an enolate that then can react with an electrophile. Depending on the final product, the base may be consumed stoichiometricaHy or may function as a catalyst. Eor example, the sodium alkoxide used in the Claisen condensation is a catalyst ... 

The carbon-car bon bond-fonrring potential inherent in the Claisen and Dieckmann reactions has been extensively exploited in organic synthesis. Subsequent transfonnations of the p-keto ester products permit the synthesis of other functional groups. One of these transformations converts p-keto esters to ketones it is based on the fact that p-keto acids (not esters ) undergo decarboxylation readily (Section 19.17). Indeed, p-keto acids, and their- conesponding carboxylate anions as well, lose carbon dioxide so easily that they tend to decarboxylate under the conditions of their formation. 

Problem 23.12 As shown in Figure 23.5, the Claisen reaction is reversible. That is, a /3-keto ester can be cleaved by base into two fragments. Using curved arrows to indicate electron flow, show the mechanism by which this cleavage occurs. 

In the presence of a strong base, the ot carbon of a carboxylic ester can condense with the carbonyl carbon of an aldehyde or ketone to give a P-hydroxy ester, which may or may not be dehydrated to the a,P-unsaturated ester. This reaction is sometimes called the Claisen reaction,an unfortunate usage since that name is more firmly connected to 10-118. In a modem example of how the reaction is used, addition of tert-butyl acetate to LDA in hexane at -78°C gives the lithium salt of ferf-butyl acetate, " (12-21) an enolate anion. Subsequent reaction a ketone provides a simple rapid alternative to the Reformatsky reaction (16-31) as a means of preparing P-hydroxy erf-butyl esters. It is also possible for the a carbon of an aldehyde or ketone to add to the carbonyl carbon of a carboxylic ester, but this is a different reaction (10-119) involving nucleophilic substitution and not addition to a C=0 bond. It can, however, be a side reaction if the aldehyde or ketone has an a hydrogen. 

A. Claisen Rerrangements of Ketene Aminats and Imidates. A reaction that is related to the orthoester Claisen rearrangement utilizes an amide acetal, such as dimethylacetamide dimethyl acetal, in the exchange reaction with allylic alcohols.257 The products are y, 8-unsaturated amides. The stereochemistry of the reaction is analogous to the other variants of the Claisen rearrangement.258... 

The scope of the reaction has been successfully extended to a,p-ethylenic aldehydes,5 esters,6 and amides7 as well as to a,p-acetylenic ketones8 (see Table IV). With esters, the reaction must be performed in the presence of chlorotrimethylsilane (MeaSiCI) to avoid the Claisen reaction by trapping the intermediate enolate. In most cases the organomanganese procedure is simple and more efficient than the organocopper procedure. 

In Box 10.12 we saw that nature employs a Claisen reaction between two molecules of acetyl-CoA to form acetoacetyl-CoA as the first step in the biosynthesis of mevalonic acid and subsequenfiy cholesterol. This was a direct analogy for the Claisen reaction between two molecules of ethyl acetate. In fact, in nature, the formation of acetoacetyl-CoA by this particular reaction using the enolate anion from acetyl-CoA is pretty rare. 

The nucleophile in biological Claisen reactions that effectively adds on acetyl-CoA is almost always malonyl-CoA. This is synthesized from acetyl-CoA by a reaction that utilizes a biotin-enzyme complex to incorporate carbon dioxide into the molecule (see Section 15.9). This has now flanked the a-protons with two carbonyl groups, and increases their acidity. The enzymic Claisen reaction now proceeds, but, during the reaction, the added carboxyl is lost as carbon dioxide. Having done its job, it is immediately removed. In contrast to the chemical analogy, a carboxylated intermediate is not formed. Mechanistically, one could perhaps write a concerted decarboxylation-nucleophilic attack, as shown. An alternative rationalization is that decarboxylation of the malonyl ester is used by the enzyme to effectively generate the acetyl enolate anion without the requirement for a strong base. 

Mechanistically, we can consider it as attack of an enolate anion equivalent from acetyl-CoA on to the ketone group of oxaloacetate. However, if we think carefully, we come to the conclusion that this is not what we would really predict. Of the two substrates, oxaloacetate is the more acidic reagent, in that two carbonyl groups flank a methylene. According to the enolate anion chemistry we studied in Chapter 10, we would predict that oxaloacetate should provide the enolate anion, and that this might then attack acetyl-CoA in a Claisen reaction (see Box 10.4). The product expected in a typical base-catalysed reaction would, therefore, be an acetyl derivative of oxaloacetate. 

Therefore, we could consider using the Claisen reaction in fatty acid synthesis. 

In this case, we formulate the Claisen reaction between two ester molecules as enolate anion formation, nucleophilic attack, then loss of the leaving group. Now reverse it. Use hydroxide as the nucleophile to attack the ketone carbonyl, then expel the enolate anion as the leaving group. All that remains is protonation of the enolate anion, and base hydrolysis of its ester function. 

The Claisen condensation is one method of synthesizing (3-dicarbonyl compounds, specifically a (3-keto ester. This reaction begins with an ester and occurs in two steps. In the first step, a strong base, such as sodium ethoxide, removes a hydrogen ion from the carbon atom adjacent to the carbonyl group in the ester. (Resonance stabilizes the anion formed from the ester.) The anion can then attack a second molecule of the ester, which begins a series of mechanistic steps until the anion of the (3-dicarbonyl compound forms, which, in the second reaction step (acidification), gives the product. 

In the Claisen-Schmidt condensation at the same temperature and with ethanol solvent present, lower yields of a-enones were observed. The best yield corresponds to condensation of the most reactive furfural with acetophenone, giving 95% a-enone after 1 h in a batch reactor. A comparison of the results characterizing the two reactions led to the conclusion that the W-H reaction provides the more efficient and selective synthesis of a-enones however, the CS condensation provides the more economic approach. 

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