Ketenes, preparation from diazoketones

One method for the synthesis of hydroxyalkyl-substituted P-lactams is by the Staudinger reaction, the most frequently used method for the synthesis of P-lactams.86 This method for the preparation of 4-acetoxy- and 4-formyl-substituted P-lactams involves the use of diazoketones prepared from amino acids. These diazoketones are precursors for ketenes, in a diastereoselective, photochemically induced reaction to produce exclusively tram-substituted P-lactams. The use of cinnamaldimines 96, considered as vinylogous benzaldimines, resulted in the formation of styryl-substituted P-lactams. Ozonolysis, followed by reductive workup with dimethyl sulfide, led to the formation of the aldehyde 97, whereas addition of trimethyl orthoformate permitted the production of the dimethyl acetal 98 (Scheme 11.26). 

In 2004 Xu et al. investigated the preparation of yS-lactams by reaction of ketenes generated from a-diazoketones with a series of acyclic and cyclic imines under the action of either microwaves in dichlorobenzene (DCB) or photoirradiation in CH2CI2 by (Scheme 11.58) [116. ... 

Fig. 14.29. Preparation of an a-diazoketone (compound E) from a ketone (A) and subsequent Wolff rearrangement of the a-diazoketone. Initially, A is transformed to give the enolate B of its a-formyl derivative. In a Regitz diazo group transfer reaction, this will then be converted into the a-diazoketone E. Ring contraction via Wolff rearrangement occurs and the 10-membered cyclic diazoketone C rearranges in aqueous media to give the nine-membered ring carboxylic acid E via the ketene D.

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