In the conjugate addition

House investigated the role of cuprous ions in the conjugate addition of organometallic reagents. He found that the catalytic effect can be explained by the intervention of a methyl copper derivative, which reacts rapidly with the carbon-carbon double bonds of the conjugated system. 

A Michael reaction involves the conjugate addition of a stable enolate ion donor to an o,/3-unsaturated carbonyl acceptor, yielding a 1,5-dicarbonyl product. Usually, the stable enolate ion is derived from a /3-diketone, jS-keto ester, malonic ester, or similar compound. The C—C bond made in the conjugate addition step is the one between the a carbon of the acidic donor and the (3 carbon of the unsaturated acceptor. 

Similar results are observed in the conjugative addition of CH-acidic methylene compounds with the metal derivatives of 2-nitro-5,10,15.20-tetraphenylporphyrin (6). The nickel porphyrin 6 (M = Ni) yields with an excess of dimethyl malonate the cyclopropane derivative 7 whereas the copper porphyrin 6 (M — Cu) forms with two equivalents of malononitrile the bisadduct 8.111... 

However, the configuration of the major isomer obtained in the conjugate addition to methyl ( )-3-[(35,)-3-tot-butoxycarbonyl-2,2-dimcthyl-4-oxazolidinyl]-2-propenoate (entry 3) did not depend on the cuprate type alkyl-, vinyl-, 2-methylpropenyl-, phenyl-, and benzvl-cuprates induced the same sense of asymmetry, although the absolute configuration was not determined5. Here also, the stereochemical outcome was not dependent upon the geometry of the double bond. 

The effect of the solvent on the product distribution is observed in the conjugate addition of amines to 1-bromo-l-(phenylsulfonyl)alkenes (54) (equation 54)46. When the reaction is conducted in benzene at room temperature for 4 days, the adduct 55 is formed in good yield. On the other hand, the reaction in DMSO at 80-90 °C for 2.5 h affords 2-(phenylsulfonyl)aziridines (56) and no adduct (55) is isolated. 

Deprotonation of the vinylic proton is a serious side-reaction in the conjugate addition of organometallic reagents to y-siloxy-a, /J-unsaturated sulfones (89)63b. The use of the... 

Nickel catalysts can be used instead of copper catalysts to promote the conjugate addition reaction, providing, in some cases, better results than the corresponding copper catalysts. In 2000, Yang et al. discovered a series of (li ,25, 3i )-3-mercaptocamphan-2-ol derivatives, which proved to be efficient ligands in the conjugate addition of ZnEt2 to chalcone upon catalysis with Ni(acac)2 (Scheme 2.29). 

The role of the trimethylsilyl group is to stabilize the enolate formed in the conjugate addition. The silyl group is then removed during the dehydration step. Methyl 1-trimethylsilylvinyl ketone can be used under aprotic conditions that are compatible with regiospecific methods for enolate generation. The direction of annulation of unsymmetrical ketones can therefore be controlled by the method of enolate formation. 

Cyanide ion acts as a carbon nucleophile in the conjugate addition reaction. The pK of HCN is 9.3, so addition in hydroxylic solvents is feasible. An alcoholic solution of potassium or sodium cyanide is suitable for simple compounds. 

Another enantioselective synthesis, shown in Scheme 13.18, involves a early kinetic resolution of the alcohol intermediate in Step B-2 by lipase PS. The stereochemistry at the C(7) methyl group is controlled by the exo selectivity in the conjugate addition (Step D-l). 

The use of strongly stabilized nucleophiles, for example, of [(EtO)2P(0)CHX] Li+ 58a-d, where X is a powerful EWG group, such as Me02C, CN, S02Me, or P(O) (OEt)2, in the conjugated addition with a-nitroolefins gives rise to more complex processes (201b) (Scheme 3.58). 

In 1994, lithium amide 23 was used in the conjugate addition of 2-cyclohexenone to afford optically active adduct with up to 97% ee (Scheme 13).28-29 A dimeric structure was proposed as the intermediate, where the phenyl group in 23 blocked the bottom face and the cyclohexenone substrate approached from the upper face. 

Recently, the use of chiral carbanionic ligands as non-transferable ligands has received attention. Gais and BoBhammer have successfully applied cyclic ct-sulfonimidoyl carbanion 24 in the conjugate addition of alkylcuprates to cycloalkenones (Scheme 14).30... 

Simple acyclic a,/ -unsaturated esters are not reactive in the conjugate addition of dialkylzincs. In contrast, nitro-substituted unsaturated esters68 and malonates69 are applicable for this reaction. Using peptide-based chiral phosphine 66, Hird and Hoveyda realized the Cu-catalyzed conjugate addition of Et2Zn to iV-acyloxazolidinones with excellent enantioselectivity (Scheme 21).70... 

Feringa and co-workers applied chiral phosphoramidite ligand (S,R,R)-67 in the conjugate addition of dimethylzinc to acyclic unsaturated malonates 68 and obtained up to 98% ee (Scheme 22).71... 

In the conjugate addition of diethylzinc to enones catalyzed by copper reagent CuOTf or Cu(OTf)2 in the presence of 90, an ee of over 60% has been obtained. Study also shows that the actual catalyst in the reaction may be a Cu(I) species formed via in situ reduction of Cu(II) complexes. 

Zhou and Pfaltz (149) note that complex 215 mirrors the behavior of van Koten s complex 210. The catalyst is trimeric in solution and solid state and displays an intricate nonlinear effect (78, 146) in the conjugate addition reaction, Fig. 19 (149). It seems likely that these ligand-metal complexes are structurally related. 

Tomioka and co-workers (175) showed that monodentate aminophosphines are moderately effective in mediating the conjugate addition of diethylzinc to enones. The precatalyst is generated from Cu(OTf)2 and 2 equiv of phosphine 240. Optimal selectivities are obtained in the conjugate addition of diethylzinc to dimethylcyclo-hexenone, affording the adduct in 70% ee and 80% yield, Eq. 141. 

Scheme 10.12. Proposed mechanism of BF3 activation in the conjugate addition.

Other types of conjugate additions with chiral thioureas were also explored by Connon. P-Substituted nitro-olefms were used in the conjugate addition reaction with dimethyl chloromalonate 115 to generate chiral, functionalized nitrocyclopro-panes [73]. Utility of the nitrocyclopropanes was demonstrated in the one-step modification towards other functionalized chiral building blocks (Scheme 24). 

Dicarbonyl donors are excellent Michael donors in asymmetric conjugate addition to a,p-nnsatnrated ketones. Wang and co-workers [79] applied chiral Cinchona-thiourea catalyst 131 to various carbon donors in the addition to aromatic enones. A diverse array of nucleophiles, mainly 1,3-dicarbonyls proceeded smoothly in the conjugate addition to a,p-unsaturated enone 132 (Scheme 29). 

Simultaneous publication of the iminium ion catalysed hydrophosphination of a,p-unsaturated aldehydes by Melchiorre and Cordova showed diarylprolinol silyl ether 55 was effective in the conjugate addition of diphenylphosphine 74 [117, 118], Direct transformation of the products allowed for one-pot methods for the preparation of P-phosphine alcohols 75 (72-85% yield 90-98% ee), P-phosphine oxide acids 76 (65% yield 92% ee) and 3-amino phosphines 77 (71% yield 87% ee) (Scheme 34). These reports represent the first examples of the addition of P-centred nucleophiles and the resulting highly functionalised products may well have further use in asymmetric catalysis. 

Jprgensen has shown that phosphites also act as effective phosphorous based nucleophiles in the conjugate addition to a range of a,P-unsaturated aldehydes... 

MacMillan reported a short and effective synthesis of spiculisporic acid which elegantly exemplified his Mukaiyama-Michael addition of silyloxyfurans to a,P-unsatu-rated aldehydes [88], Robichaud and Tremblay augmented this in a formal synthesis of compactin [224], Within this report it was shown that low enantioselectivities were obtained in the conjugate addition to aCTolein. Use of p-silyl acrolein 177 circumvented this and gave butenohde 178 in 95% yield and 82% ee. Conversion of adduct 178 to the decaUn (179) in eight steps resulted in a formal synthesis (Scheme 71). 

---