Keto esters conjugate additions

Thus, the asymmetric catalysis of cyanoethoxycarbonylation, cyanophosphoryla-tion, epoxidation of electron-deficient olefins, Michael reactions of malonates and (3-keto-esters, Strecker reaction of keto-imines, conjugate addition of cyanide to a, (3-unsaturated pyrrole amides, ring opening of meso aziridines with TMSCN and cyanosilylation of ketones (example shown below) have been successfully carried out using these complexes as asymmetric catalysts. 

These reversible reactions are cataly2ed by bases or acids, such as 2iac chloride and aluminum isopropoxide, or by anion-exchange resias. Ultrasonic vibrations improve the reaction rate and yield. Reaction of aromatic aldehydes or ketones with nitroparaffins yields either the nitro alcohol or the nitro olefin, depending on the catalyst. Conjugated unsaturated aldehydes or ketones and nitroparaffins (Michael addition) yield nitro-substituted carbonyl compounds rather than nitro alcohols. Condensation with keto esters gives the substituted nitro alcohols (37) keto aldehydes react preferentially at the aldehyde function. 

The best Michael reactions are those that take place when a particularly stable enolate ion such as that derived from a /i-keto ester or other 1,3-dicarbonyl compound adds to an unhindered a,/3-unsaturated ketone. Tor example, ethyl acetoacetate reacts with 3-buten-2-one in the presence of sodium ethoxide to yield the conjugate addition product. 

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. 

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). 

The conjugate addition of a carbon nucleophile to an a./3-unsiituratcd acceptor is known as the Michael reaction. The best Michael reactions take place between unusually acidic donors (/3-keto esters or /3-diketones) and unhindered n,/3-unsaturated acceptors. Knamines, prepared by reaction of a ketone with a disu Instituted amine, are also good Michael donors. 

An example for synthesis of the chiral [l-keto ester 69 is illustrated in equation 64. It involves conjugate addition of the dipotassium / -keto ester 68 to vinyl sulfone 67 followed by in situ quenching with allyl bromide54. The method provides a new procedure to sevenring annulation product 70 that is a potential precursor for (l)-(-)-cytochalasin C. 

Lavallee, J.-F. Berthiaume, G. Deslongchamps, P. Grein, F. Intramolecular Michael addition of cyclic P-keto esters onto conjugated acetylenic ketones. Tetrahedron Lett. 1986, 27, 5455-5458. 

Based on our previous results on the nucleophilic alkenoylation of aldehydes via metallated a, 3-unsaturated aminonitriles [50], we now envisaged an enanti-oselective variant. Thus, the enantiopure a-aminonitriles 60 were metallated with LDA and by reaction with aldehydes the adducts 61 could be obtained. Subsequent cleavage of the aminonitrile function with silver nitrate led to the desired a -hydroxyenones 62 in overall yields of 29-80% and enantiomeric excesses ee of 50-69%. Alternatively, the conjugate addition of the lithiated aminonitrile 63 to t-butyl crotonate led to the y-keto ester 63 in 35% yield and an enantiomeric excess ee of >90% (Scheme 1.1.18). 

Reformatsky first introduced electron-withdrawing substituents on the a-carbon of an organozinc halide, leading to the more reactive and thermally stable a-(alkoxycarbonyl)alkylzinc halides (123).107 Typically these reagents react with aldehydes or ketones to afford 3-hydroxy esters while nitriles afford 3-keto esters (Blaise reaction),l07b>c but 1,4-conjugate additions to select a,3 unsaturated ketones are precedented (Section 1.2.2.2.2). 

The conjugate addition of cyclic or acyclic a-substituted ft-keto esters to cy,/3-unsaturated ketones can be achieved with good diastereo- and enantio-selectivity (<98% ee) by using derivatives of Cinchona alkaloids, such as (104), a chiral organo-catalysts.155... 

The conjugate addition of carbonyl anions catalysed by thiazolium salts (via umpol-ung) that is fully operative under neutral aqueous conditions has been accomplished. The combination of a-keto carboxylates (157) and thiazolium-derived zwitterions (e.g. 160) in a buffered protic environment (pH 7.2) generates reactive carbonyl anions that readily undergo conjugate additions to substituted o /3-unsaturated 2-acylimidazoles (158) to produce (159). The scope of the reaction has been examined and found to accommodate various a-keto carboxylates and /3-aryl-substituted unsaturated 2-acylimidazoles. The optimum precatalyst for this process is the commercially available thiazolium salt (160), a simple analogue of thiamine diphosphate. In this process, no benzoin products from carbonyl anion dimerization were observed. The resulting 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds (159) can be efficiently converted into esters and amides by way of activation of the A-methylimidazole ring via alkylation.181... 

Conjugation has a great influence on the structure of aliphatic and alicyclic compounds. Thus, the existence of an amino form has been established (in addition to the extreme case of aromatic amines17) for all compounds where the double bond is conjugated with a carbonyl group (or its equivalent),12 with esters12,18 and nitriles of a,/8-un-saturated /8-amino acids,519,20 and with /8-amino-ketones. The /3-keto-esters ethyl 2-cyclopentanone- 1-carboxylate and ethyl 2-cyclo-hexanone-l-carboxylate exist as mixtures containing 95% of the keto... 

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