Intramolecular reactions Robinson annulation

In addition to these intermolecular processes, intramolecular versions of the Claisen (Dieckmann) reaction and the mixed Claisen and the aldol reaction (Robinson annulation) are also well known. In all cases the same structural classes of products are formed. 

The Wacker reaction provides a method for the preparation of 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds, by formation of an enolate, allylation with an allyl halide, followed by palladium-catalysed oxidation of the terminal alkene. The product 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds can be treated with base to promote intramolecular aldol reaction (Robinson annulation - see Section 1.1.2) to give cyclopentenones. Thus, in a synthesis of pentalenene, Wacker oxidation of the 2-aUyl ketone 115 gave the 1,4-diketone 116, which was converted to the cyclopentenone 117 (5.115). ... 

The Robinson annulation is a two-step process that combines a Michael reaction with an intramolecular aldol reaction. It takes place between a nucleophilic donor, such as a /3-keto ester, an enamine, or a /3-diketone, and an a,/3-unsaturated ketone acceptor, such as 3-buten-2-one. The product is a substituted 2-cyclohexenone. 

The first step of the Robinson annulation is simply a Michael reaction. An enamine or an enolate ion from a jS-keto ester or /3-diketone effects a conjugate addition to an a-,/3-unsaturated ketone, yielding a 1,5-diketone. But as we saw in Section 23.6,1,5-diketones undergo intramolecular aldol condensation to yield cyclohexenones when treated with base. Thus, the final product contains a six-membered ring, and an annulation has been accomplished. An example occurs during the commercial synthesis of the steroid hormone estrone (figure 23.9). 

In this example, the /3-diketone 2-methyJ-l,3-cyclopentanedione is used to generate the enolate ion required for Michael reaction and an aryl-substituted a,/3-unsaturated ketone is used as the acceptor. Base-catalyzed Michael reaction between the two partners yields an intermediate triketone, which then cyclizes in an intramolecular aldol condensation to give a Robinson annulation product. Several further transformations are required to complete the synthesis of estrone. 

Robinson annulation reaction (Section 23.12) A synthesis of cyclohexenones by sequential Michael reaction and intramolecular aldol reaction. 

A particularly important example of the intramolecular aldol reaction is the Robinson annulation, a procedure that constructs a new six-membered ring from a ketone.171 The reaction sequence starts with conjugate addition of the enolate to methyl... 

Aldol addition and related reactions of enolates and enolate equivalents are the subject of the first part of Chapter 2. These reactions provide powerful methods for controlling the stereochemistry in reactions that form hydroxyl- and methyl-substituted structures, such as those found in many antibiotics. We will see how the choice of the nucleophile, the other reagents (such as Lewis acids), and adjustment of reaction conditions can be used to control stereochemistry. We discuss the role of open, cyclic, and chelated transition structures in determining stereochemistry, and will also see how chiral auxiliaries and chiral catalysts can control the enantiose-lectivity of these reactions. Intramolecular aldol reactions, including the Robinson annulation are discussed. Other reactions included in Chapter 2 include Mannich, carbon acylation, and olefination reactions. The reactivity of other carbon nucleophiles including phosphonium ylides, phosphonate carbanions, sulfone anions, sulfonium ylides, and sulfoxonium ylides are also considered. 

Strategies based on two consecutive specific reactions or the so-called "tandem methodologies" very useful for the synthesis of polycyclic compounds. Classical examples of such a strategy are the "Robinson annulation" which involves the "tandem Michael/aldol condensation" [32] and the "tandem cyclobutene electrocyclic opening/Diels-Alder addition" [33] so useful in the synthesis of steroids. To cite a few new methodologies developed more recently we may refer to the stereoselective "tandem Mannich/Michael reaction" for the synthesis of piperidine alkaloids [34], the "tandem cycloaddition/radical cyclisation" [35] which allows a quick assembly of a variety of ring systems in a completely intramolecular manner or the "tandem anionic cyclisation approach" of polycarbocyclic compounds [36]. 

Another key event in the history of organocatalytic reaction was the discovery of efficient r-proline-mediated asymmetric Robinson annulation reported during the early 1970s. The so-called Hajos-Parrish-Eder-Sauer-Wiechert reaction (an intramolecular aldol reaction) allowed access to some of the key intermediates for the synthesis of natural products (Scheme 1.4) [37, 38], and offered a practical and enantioselective route to the Wieland-Miescher ketone [39]. It is pertinent to note, that this chemistry is rooted in the early studies of Langenbeck and in the extensive investigations work of Stork and co-workers on enamine chemistry... 

The Michael reaction in combination with an aldol condensation provides a useful method for the construction of six-membered rings in a process termed the Robinson annulation. In the following example a tertiary amine is used as the base to catalyze the conjugate addition. Then, treatment with sodium hydroxide causes an intramolecular aldol condensation to occur. 

On the basis of distribution of products obtained in these reactions with the change of solvents, temperature and molar ratio of reactants, a mechanism has been suggested for the anomalous annulation which does not involve an initial attack of the tetrasub-stituted isomer of the enamine (equation 16)51. Alkylation of the more stable cis isomer of the enamine (80) with methyl vinyl ketone (MVK) would afford zwitterion 81 (attack by the other side of the enamine leads to strong steric interactions in the transition state). Reaction of the thermodynamically less favorable trans isomer 83 gives rise to zwitterions 84 and 89 (both without axial-axial interactions), and ion 84 is sterically able to undergo intramolecular proton shift to afford enamine 85. Zwitterionic intermediates 81 and 89 can be stabilized by conversion to dihydropyrans 82 and 90, or protonated to immonium ions. The pair 81-82 will lead to enamine 85, while the pair 89-90 will afford enamine 91. Then, cyclization of 85 or 91 will afford the enone expected from the normal enamine version of the Robinson annulation. 

The Robinson annulation reaction combines a Michael reaction with an intramolecular aldol condensation to synthesize substituted ring systems. 

In 1971, Yamada et al. published their preliminary smdies toward dendrobine (82) 173). Their starting material was the cheap, commercially available arene thymol, and the key step was an intramolecular Robinson annulation also known as Johnson s tandem reaction. After unexpected rearrangements within an ozoifization, their protocol was modified and in 1972 Yamada et al. were able to present the first S3mthesis of ( )-dendrobine (82) 146). 

Carbonyl condensation reactions are widely used in synthesis. One example of their versatility is the Robinson annulation reaction, which leads to the formation of substituted cyclohexanones. Treatment of a i dikotone or -keto ester u-itb an o,fi-unsaturated ketone leads first tu a Mie nael addition, which is followed by intramolecular aldol cycUaatinn. Condensation reactions are also used widely in nature for the bionyntbesis of such molecules as fats and steroids. 

The Michael addition of enamines to a,p-unsaturated ketones may be coupled with intramolecular aldol condensations to produce cyclic ketones. This sequence of reactions is an alternative approach to traditional Robinson annulations (Scheme 3.22). 

In essence, the ideology of this synthesis is similar to that employed in the Robinson annulation. In fact, here again the carbanionic intermediate 99 (formed upon the initial addition of arylmagnesium cuprate reagent 100 at the double bond of Michael acceptor 98) is treated with a carbon electrophile (allyl bromide) to give the final adduct 97 with two new C-C bonds. The only essential difference lies in the fact that the quenching of the enolate intermediate 99 with the electrophile occurs as an intermolecular reaction (in contrast to the Robinson annulation where this step proceeds intramolecularly). 

The intramolecular interaction between an enolate and a carbonyl electrophile to form a six-membered ring is a well-known and general method (e.g. the Robinson annulation, see Section 2.3.3). This and related cyclization reactions involving interactions between 1,5-dicarbonyl moieties proceeds with high selectivity (A), and the alternative option, the formation of a four-membered ring (B), is much less favorable and rarely observed (Scheme 2.108). The usefulness of this method for the preparation of compounds containing the cyclohexenone moiety is abundantly documented in the literature. 

Since both oxidative splitting of the double bond and aldol condensation represent reliable and general reactions, their sequence serves as an efficient route for the transformation of readily available cyclohexene systems e.g. formed via the Diels-Alder reaction or Robinson annulation) into functionalized cyclopentene derivatives. This standard operational mode is extensively used in total syntheses. One of the numerous examples, the synthesis of helminthosporal 463, the sesquiterpenoid toxin of fungi, is shown in Scheme 2.150. In the initial phases of the synthesis, commercially available (—)-carvomenthone 464 was transformed into 465 via Michael reaction with methyl vinyl ketone to give 466 and subsequent intramolecular aldol condensation. 

The Robinson annulation is a ring-forming reaction that combines a Michael reaction with an intramolecular aldol reaction. Like the other reactions in Chapter 24, it involves enolates and it forms carbon-carbon bonds. The two starting materials for a Robinson annulation are an a,P-unsaturated carbonyl compound and an enolate. 

The mechanism of the Robinson annulation consists of two parts a Michael addition to the a,p-unsaturated carbonyl compound to form a 1,5-dicarbonyl compound, followed by an intramolecular aldol reaction to form the six-membered ring. The mechanism is written out in two parts (Mechanisms 24.7 and 24.8) for Reaction [2] between methyl vinyl ketone and 2-methyl-1,3-cyclohexanedione. 

The Robinson Annulation—Part [2] Intramolecular Aldol Reaction to Form a 2-Cyclohexenone ... 

---