Ketones and boranes

Oxazaborolidine catalysts behave like an enzyme in the sense of binding with both ketone and borane, bringing them close enough to undergo reaction and releasing the product after the reaction. Thus these compounds are referred to as chemzymes by Corey.78 The oxazaborolidines listed in Figure 6-6 are representative catalysts for the asymmetric reduction of ketones to secondary alcohols. 

Chiral C2-symmetric boron bis(oxazolines) act as enantioselective catalysts in the reduction of ketones promoted by catecholborane.321 DFT calculations indicate that the stereochemical outcome is determined by such catalysts being able to bind both the ketone and borane reducing agent, activating the latter as a hydride donor, while also enhancing the electrophilicity of the carbonyl. X-ray structures of catalyst-catechol complexes are also reported. 

This high activity of the catalyst 19 can be explained by its amphoteric properties since it is able to activate simultaneously both ketone and borane. This assumption led to a mechanistic proposal rationalizing the hydride transfer from the borane on the phosphorus atom to a ketone coordinated to the other boron atom acting as a Lewis acid. 

Istuno and coworkers reported an enantioselective reduction ofketones using a flow reactor, in which polymer-supported amino alcohol was fixed (Scheme 7.7). As butyl phenyl ketone and borane (1.2 equiv.) in THF were separately and continuously pumped into the reactor (overflow type), the desired alcohol was obtained in 84% yield with 83-93% ee. With analogous batch reactions, ee values were 81%-92%. Thus, with this reaction, both the flow and batch procedures gave similar results [41]. 

CBS (Corey, Bakshi, and Shtbata) Catalyst Itsuno [67] paved the way for the discovery of oxazaborolidines as chiral catalysts for the borane-mediated enantioselective reduction of a wide variety of achiral ketones, the so-called CBS reduction. Scheme 2.139 summarizes some of these results and the proposed transition state [68], These data show that the CBS reduction process results in exceUent enanti-oselectivities and leads to a product whose absolute configuration can be predicted from the relative effective steric bulk of the two carbonyl appendages. It is noteworthy that the oxazaborolidine catalyst behaves like an enzyme in the sense that it binds with both ketone and borane and brings... 

Boranes also reduce ketones and aldehydes to the corresponding alcohols. 

Trialky I boranes react rapidly with methyl vinyl ketone (and other a,j8-unsaturated ketones) to yield, after hydrolysis, methyl ketones of the indicated structure 4). The reaction with acrolein is analogous to give jS-alkylpropionaldehydes (5). The process is inefficient in that only one of the three alkyl groups of the borane is converted into product, but the rapidity and ease of carrying out the reaction may be adequate... 

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. " °... 

Formation of Alkynes, Alkenes, and Ketones from Boranes and Acetylides... 

Other S/N ligands have been investigated in the enantioselective catalytic reduction of ketones with borane. Thus, Mehler and Martens have reported the synthesis of sulfur-containing ligands based on the L-methionine skeleton and their subsequent application as new chiral catalysts for the borane reduction of ketones." The in situ formed chiral oxazaborolidine catalyst has been used in the reduction of aryl ketones, providing the corresponding alcohols in nearly quantitative yields and high enantioselectivities of up to 99% ee, as shown in Scheme 10.60. 

The organic analogues of the reactions to be discussed here are the borane reductions of aldehydes and ketones and the addition of metal alkyls across ketonic carbonyls, equation 15. In contrast to the ease of these organic reactions, qualitative data which has accumulated in our laboratory over the last decade demonstrates that the carbonyl group in organometallies is fairly resistant to addition across CO. For example, many stable adducts of organometallie carbonyls with aluminum alkyls are known, eq. lc, but under similar conditions a ketone will quickly react by addition of the aluminum alkyl across the CO bond. A similar reactivity pattern is seen with boron halides. 

New chiral oxazaborolidines that have been prepared from both enantiomers of optically active inexpensive a-pinene have also given quite good results in the asymmetric borane reduction of prochiral ketones.92 Borane and aromatic ketone coordinate to this structurally rigid oxazaborolidine (+)- or (—)-94, forming a six-membered cyclic chair-like transition state (Scheme 6-41). Following the mechanism shown in Scheme 6-37, intramolecular hydride transfer occurs to yield the product with high enantioselectivity. With aliphatic ketones, poor ee is normally obtained (see Table 6-9). 

A modified version of the Brown-Negishi reaction using B-alkylcatechol-boranes was reported (Scheme 32). This novel method is based on a simple one-pot procedure involving the hydroboration of various substituted alkenes with catecholborane, followed by treatment with catalytic amount of oxygen/DMPU/water and a radical trap. Efficient radical additions to a,ft-unsaturated ketones and aldehydes have been reported. Primary alkyl radicals are efficiently generated by this procedure and the reaction has been applied to a 300 mmol scale synthesis of the y-side chain of (-)-perturasinic... 

In the hydroboration of terminal alkenes, carrying a ketone or aldehyde group, with a variety of borane reagents, dicyclohexylborane has been identified as the most efficient reagent. Analogous hydroboration of alkynyl ketones and alkynyl aldehydes with dicyclohexylborane yields the corresponding olefinic carbonyl compounds after protonation, or dicarbonyl compounds after oxidation. ... 

Borane reduction catalyzed by chiral oxazaborolidines (CBS reduction, CBS = Corey, Bakshi, and Shibata) exhibits excellent enantio- and chemoselectiv-ity for a wide variety of ketonic substrates (Figure 1.27). This reaction was originally developed as a stoichiometric system consisting of diphenylvalinol and borane, ° but was later extended to a useful catalytic method. Because of the high efficiency of this reaction, many chiral oxazaborolidines have been synthesized from p-amino alcohols.Among them the prolinol-derived oxazaboro-lidine is one of the most widely used catalysts. ... 

High stereoselectivities (94-100 %) are attained in the reduction of aromatic ketones by use of a new chiral borane complex with (S)-2-amino-3-methyl-l,l-diphenylbutan-l-ol,(S-68) readily prepared in two steps from (S)-valine, in an experimentally convenient procedure961. (S)-Valine methyl ester hydrochloride was converted with excess of phenylmagnesium bromide into (S-68). The same treatment of (R)-valine gave (R-68). In a typical asymmetric reduction the reagent, prepared from (S-68) and borane, and the ketone (69) in tetrahydrofuran were kept at 30 °C for some hours. The corresponding alcohols were obtained in high optical purity. (S-68) could be recovered to more than 80% without racemization 96). 

Heteroatoni groups such as boron or silicon can activate or direct synthetic reactions. Use of such activation has become of major importance in organic syntheses. Examples in this volume are BORANES IN FUNCTIONALIZATION OF DIENES TO CYCLIC KETONES BICYCLO[3.3.1]NONAN-9-ONE and BORANES IN FUNCTIONALIZATION OF OLEFINS TO AMINES 3-PINANAMINE. Use of trimethylsilyl or trimethyl-silyloxy groups to activate a 2-butenone or a butadiene are illustrated by the preparations 3-TRIMETHYLSILYL-3-BUTEN-... 

With appropriate boranes, the R group transferred to a-halo ketones, nitriles, and esters can be vinylic,1555 or (for a-halo ketones and esters) aryl.1556... 

Reaction of halo ketones or diazo ketones with boranes 0-102 Carbonylation of alkyl halides 0-104 Reaction between acyl halides and organometallic compounds 0-105 Reaction between other acid derivatives and organometallic compounds... 

Borane and aluminum hydrides modified by chiral diols or amino alcohols are well-known, effective reagents for the stoichiometric enan-tioselective reduction of prochiral ketones and related compounds (34). Reduction of prochiral aromatic ketones with the Itsuno reagent, which is prepared from a chiral, sterically congested /3-amino alcohol and borane, yields the corresponding secondary alcohols in 94-100% ee... 

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