Ketones a-alkylation

Acyclic ketone a-Alkyl group 3-Alkyl group... 

As shown in Scheme 38, several primary alkyl-substituted cyclohexanones have been prepared by Lewis acid catalyzed phenylthioalkylation of the TMS enol ether of cyclohexanone followed by reductive removal of a phenylsulfenyl group. The two-step neopentylation sequence is particularly noteworthy. This methodology has been used to prepare numerous a-alkylated cyclic and acyclic ketones. a-Alkylated aldehydes can be produced in a like manner. a-Alkylidenation can also be accomplished by oxidative removal of sulfur. Lee and coworkers have found that TMS triflate-catalyzed reactions of silyl enol ethers of cyclic ketones and aldehydes with saturated and unsaturated l,l-dimethoxy-(i>-tri-methylstannanes, followed by addition of titanium tetrachloride, provide novel routes to fused and spiro-cyclic ring systems. Phenylthiomethylstannylations of silyl enol ethers have also been reported. ... 

FIGURE 15.3. Distribution data between water and sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles as a function of the solute McGowan volume for the entire database (a) and for categorized classes of solutes (b), data from Reference 25. Database labels in (a) as in Figure 15.2. (A) hexadecane-water partition data for alkanes, from Reference 16. Labels in (b) ( ) alkyl benzenes (O) alkyl phenyl ketones (A) alkyl phenols ( ) halo benzenes and ( ) halo phenols. 

The alcohol-alcohol coupling reaction involves the following steps (Schemes 3, 4) (1) the initial simultaneous transition-metal-catalyzed dehydrogenation of the two different alcohols to afford the corresponding carbonyl compounds and metal halide and (2) the aldol condensation of the carbonyl compounds and the subsequent hydrogenation of the resulting unsaturated carbonyl compounds in a similar manner to that described above for the ketone a-alkylation reaction (Schemes 3, 4) to give the C-alkylated ketone product. 

Because etiolate anions are sources of nucleophilic carbon one potential use m organic syn thesis IS their reaction with alkyl halides to give a alkyl denvahves of aldehydes and ketones... 

Acyl-pyrroles, -furans and -thiophenes in general have a similar pattern of reactivity to benzenoid ketones. Acyl groups in 2,5-disubstituted derivatives are sometimes displaced during the course of electrophilic substitution reactions. iV-Alkyl-2-acylpyrroles are converted by strong anhydrous acid to A-alkyl-3-acylpyrroles. Similar treatment of N-unsubstituted 2- or 3-acyIpyrroles yields an equilibrium mixture of 2- and 3-acylpyrroles pyrrolecarbaldehydes also afford isomeric mixtures 81JOC839). The probable mechanism of these rearrangements is shown in Scheme 65. A similar mechanism has been proposed for the isomerization of acetylindoles. 

Alkylations of enamines of a,)9-unsaturated ketones with alkyl halides often give very poor yields of C-alkylated products because of competing. -alkylation.In the type of transformation illustrated here, direct alkylations of enamines are completely unsuccessful, even in cases where hindered enamines are used. On the other hand, the metaUoenamine method can be applied generally with good success in the problem of monoalkylation of ,)3-unsaturated ketones. ... 

Acetylenedimagnesium bromide, 66, 84, 137 Acyl-alkyl diradical disproportionations, 299 Acyl-alkyl diradical recombination, 296 Alkaline hydrogen peroxide, 10, 12, 20 Alkylation of formyl ketones, 93 Alkylation via enolate anions, 86 17a-Alkynyl steroids from 17-ketones, 67 2a-Al]yl-17jS-hydroxy-5a-androstan-3 -one, 9 5 Allylic acetoxylation, 242 Allylmagnesium bromide, 64 17 -Aminoandrost-5-en-3 -ol, 145 17 a-Aminomethy 1-5 a-androstane-3, 1718-diol, 387... 

This reaction sequence is called the acetoacetic ester synthesis. It is a standard procedure for the preparation of ketones from alkyl halides, as the conversion of 1-bromobutane to 2-heptanone illustrates. 

Much more complicated is the course of the reaction if the oxazirane is derived instead of from benzaldehyde from an aliphatic ketone. Here the possibility of an H-transfer does not occur. Further complications are found if the A -alkyl group can be attacked by the radicals. 

The well-known reaction of a-alkyl-/3-ketoaldehydes and hydroxyl-amine has been applied to the elucidation of the structure of formyl-ation products of ketones the conclusions are, however, open to question. Some workers attempted to overcome the ambiguity of the reaction of j8-ketoaldehydes and hydroxylamine, which results in a mixture of 3- and 5-monosubstituted isoxazoles and thus considerably lowers the preparative value of the method, by using various derivatives of yS-ketoaldehydes, especially those of their enolic forms (jS-substituted vinylketones) investigated by Kochetkov et al. The use of readily available /3-chlorovinylketones (12) in the reaction with hydroxylamine represents a rather useful preparative method to synthesize monoalkylisoxazoles but again gives rise to a mixture of 3- (13) and 5-alkylisoxazoles (14). This is due to the attack... 

Differences in solubility of the reactants may for example be utilized as follows. Sodium iodide is much more soluble in acetone than are sodium chloride or sodium bromide. Upon treatment of an alkyl chloride or bromide with sodium iodide in acetone, the newly formed sodium chloride or bromide precipitates from the solution and is thus removed from equilibrium. Alkyl iodides can be conveniently prepared in good yields by this route. Alkyl bromides are more reactive as the corresponding chlorides. Of high reactivity are a-halogen ketones, a-halogen carboxylic acids and their derivatives, as well as allyl and benzyl halides. 

The familiar alkylation of -ketoesters followed by decarboxylation is still a useful route to a-alkyl ketones, although the alkylation of enamines is frequently the preferred route. Given below are two examples of alkylation of 2-carbethoxycycloalkanones (prepared in Chapter 10, Section I). In the first case, sodium ethoxide is the base employed to generate the enolate ion of 2-carbethoxycyclohexanone. In the second case, the less acidic 2-carbethoxycyclooctanone requires sodium hydride for the generation of the enolate ion. 

Isoxazoles are stable toward many reagents yet undergo alkylation and hydrogenolysis readily. These features make isoxazoles, which may be considered masked diketones, a useful grouping in synthesis (22). Alkylation of 3,5-dimethyllsoxazole, followed by hydrogenolysis and hydrolysis, have been used to prepare a number of diketones (44) and tetraones (4i). Isoxazoles can be opened readily lo the amino ketone, a vinylogous amide (9). 

Acetoacetic ester synthesis (Section 22.7) The synthesis of a methyl ketone by alkylation of an alkyl halide, followed by hydrolysis and decarboxylation. 

Dialkyl cuprates may also be added to aryl vinyl sulphoxides and the resulting a-sulphinyl carbanions can be treated with various electrophiles such as aldehydes, ketones and alkyl halides (equation 350)643. 

Dynamic kinetic resolution of racemic ketones proceeds through asymmetric reduction when the substrate does racemize and the product does not under the applied experimental conditions. Dynamic kinetic resolution of a-alkyl P-keto ester has been performed through enzymatic reduction. One isomer, out of the four possible products for the unselective reduction (Figure 8.38), can be selectively synthesized using biocatalyst, and by changing the biocatalyst or conditions, all of the isomers can be selectively synthesized [29]. 

Trialkylboranes react rapidly and in high yields with a-halo ketones,a-halo esters, a-halo nitriles, and a-halo sulfonyl derivatives (sulfones, sulfonic esters, sulfonamides) in the presence of a base to give, respectively, alkylated ketones, esters, nitriles, and sulfonyl derivatives. Potassium tert-butoxide is often a suitable base, but potassium 2,6-di-tert-butylphenoxide at 0°C in THF gives better results in most cases, possibly because the large bulk of the two tert-buXy groups prevents the base from coordinating with the R3B. The trialkylboranes are prepared by treatment of 3 mol of an alkene with 1 mol of BH3 (15-16). With appropriate boranes, the R group transferred to a-halo ketones, nitriles, and esters can be vinylic, or (for a-halo ketones and esters) aryl. " °... 

The alkylation of activated halogen compounds is one of several reactions of trialkylboranes developed by Brown (see also 15-16,15-25,18-31-18-40, etc.). These compounds are extremely versatile and can be used for the preparation of many types of compounds. In this reaction, for example, an alkene (through the BR3 prepared from it) can be coupled to a ketone, a nitrile, a carboxylic ester, or a sulfonyl derivative. Note that this is still another indirect way to alkylate a ketone (see 10-105) or a carboxylic acid (see 10-106), and provides an additional alternative to the malonic ester and acetoacetic ester syntheses (10-104). 

The imines are prepared by 16-12. The enamine salt method has also been used to give good yields of mono a alkylation of a,P-unsaturated ketones. Enamines prepared from aldehydes and butylisobutylamine can be alkylated by simple primary alkyl halides in good yields. N-alkylation in this case is presumably prevented by steric hindrance. 

Usually, after an enolate ion is generated from an ocP-unsaturated ketone, it is converted to the P-alkylated product as shown above. But it is often possible to have the enolate react with some other electrophile (tandem vicinal difunctionalization), in some cases at the O and in other cases at the C. For example, if an alkyl halide R X is present (R = primary alkyl or allylic), and the solvent is 1,2-dime-thoxyethane, the enolate (66) can be alkylated directly. Thus, by this method, both the a and p positions of a ketone are alkylated in one synthetic operation (see also 15-23). 

Such cyclohexadienes are easily oxidizable to benzenes (often by atmospheric oxygen), so this reaction becomes a method of alkylating and arylating suitably substituted (usually hindered) aryl ketones. A similar reaction has been reported for aromatic nitro compounds where 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene reacts with excess methyl-magnesium halide to give 2,4,6-trinitro-l,3,5-trimethylcyclohexane. Both... 

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