Ivanov reaction

A completely different dipolar cycloaddition model has been proposed39 in order to rationalize the stereochemical outcome of the addition of doubly deprotonated carboxylic acids to aldehydes, which is known as the Ivanov reaction. In the irreversible reaction of phenylacetic acid with 2,2-dimethylpropanal, metal chelation is completely unfavorable. Thus simple diastereoselectivity in favor of u f/-adducts is extremely low when chelating cations, e.g., Zn2 + or Mg- +, are used. Amazingly, the most naked dianions provide the highest anti/syn ratios as indicated by the results obtained with the potassium salt in the presence of a crown ether. 

From a historical standpoint, the Zimmerman-Traxler study on the stereochemical aspects of the Ivanov reaction is of considerable significance (22). Their investigation revealed that the magnesium enediolate 19a, upon condensation with benzaldehyde (Et2 O, reflux 5 hr), afforded the erythro and threo acids 20E and 20T, respectively, in a 24 76 ratio (eq. [13]). In the analysis of plausible transition states, both chair A and boat B geometries were considered. Zimmerman and Traxler concluded that the major diastereomer 20T could... 

The bis-deprotonation of arylacetic acids by Grignard reagents is known and the resulting bis(bromomagnesinm) salts (equation 49) have been nsed for preparing / -hydroxy acids (Ivanov reaction). 

Chim. Ital. 1974, 104. 625. When the nucleophile is PhC COO , the reaction is known as the Ivanov reaction. For a discussion of the mechanism, see Toullec Mladcnova Gaudcmar-Bardonc Blagoev J. Org. Chem. 1985, 50. 2563. 

The simple diastereoselectivity of aldol reactions was first studied in detail for the Ivanov reaction (Figure 13.45). The Ivanov reaction consists of the addition of a carboxylate enolate to an aldehyde. In the example of Figure 13.45, the diastereomer of the /1-hydroxycarboxylic acid product that is referred to as the and-diastereomer is formed in a threefold excess in comparison to the. vy/j-diastereoisomer. Zimmerman and Traxler suggested a transition state model to explain this selectivity, and their transition state model now is referred to as the Zimmer-man-Traxler model (Figure 13.46). This model has been applied ever since with good success to explain the simple diastereoselectivities of a great variety of aldol reactions. 

The application of the Zimmerman-Traxler model to the specific case of the Ivanov reaction of Figure 13.45 is illustrated in Figure 13.46. The reaction proceeds preferentially through... 

Fig. 13.46. Explanation of the anti-selectivity of the Ivanov reaction of Figure 13.45 by means of the Zimmerman-Traxler model. The stereodescriptors Re and Si are defined as follows. Suppose you are looking down on the plane of an alkene, in which an sp2-hybridized C atom is connected to three different substituents. You are on the Re side of the double bond if the Cahn-Ingold-Prelog priorities of these substituents decrease going clockwise, and on the Si side otherwise.

Fig. 10.40. The Ivanov reaction. For the generation of the carboxylate enolate, see Figure 10.8.

The key idea of the Zimmerman-Traxler model is that aldol additions proceed via six-membered ring transition state structures. In these transition states, the metal (a magnesium cation in the case of the Ivanov reaction) coordinates both to the enolate oxygen and to the O atom of the carbonyl compound. By way of this coordination, the metal ion guides the approach of the electrophilic carbonyl carbon to the nucleophilic enolate carbon. The approach of the carbonyl and enolate carbons occurs in a transition state structure with chair conformation. C—C bond formation is fastest in the transition state with the maximum number of quasi-equatorially oriented and therefore sterically unhindered substituents. 

Fig. 10.41. Explanation of the anh-selectivity of the Ivanov reaction of Figure 10.40 by means of the Zimmerman-Traxler model. The...

The Ivanov reaction is the preparation of a 3-hydroxy acid by reaction of the magnesium dianion of a carboxylic acid with an aldehyde or ketone." In a seminal paper, Zimmerman and Traxler investigated the Ivanov reaction of phenylacetic acid and benzaldehyde and obtained anti and syn 3-hydroxy acids (127) and (128) in 69% and 22% yields, respectively (equation 85). The observed stereochemistry was rationalized with a cyclic, chair-like transition state in which a magnesium cation is chelated by one oxygen each of the carboxylate enolate and the aldehyde (the Zimmerman-Traxler transition state ). 

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