Ketones benzoin condensation

In the laboratory of K. Suzuki, a cataiytic crossed aidehyde-ketone benzoin condensation was developed and applied to the synthesis of stereochemically defined functionalized preanthraquinones. ... 

LAPWORTH (BENZOIN) Condensation Condensation of two molecules of aryl aldehydes fo an alpha-hydroxy ketone catalysed by CN (via cyanohydnns). 

Upon heating of a carboxylic ester 1 with sodium in an inert solvent, a condensation reaction can take place to yield a a-hydroxy ketone 2 after hydrolytic workup. " This reaction is called Acyloin condensation, named after the products thus obtained. It works well with alkanoic acid esters. For the synthesis of the corresponding products with aryl substituents (R = aryl), the Benzoin condensation of aromatic aldehydes is usually applied. 

Aromatic aldehydes 1 can undergo a condensation reaction to form a-hydroxy ketones 2 (also called benzoins) upon treatment with cyanide anions.This reaction, which is called benzoin condensation, works by that particular procedure with certain aromatic aldehydes and with glyoxals (RCOCHO). 

In a cross-coupling benzoin condensation of two different aldehydes, usually a mixture of products is obtained, with the ratio being determined by the relative stabilities of the four possible coupling products under thermodynamic control. If, however, an acyl silane, e.g. 5, is used as the donor component, the a-silyloxy-ketone 6 is obtained as a single product " ... 

Acyloins (a-hydroxy ketones) are formed enzymatically by a mechanism similar to the classical benzoin condensation. The enzymes that can catalyze reactions of this type arc thiamine dependent. In this sense, the cofactor thiamine pyrophosphate may be regarded as a natural- equivalent of the cyanide catalyst needed for the umpolung step in benzoin condensations. Thus, a suitable carbonyl compound (a -synthon) reacts with thiamine pyrophosphate to form an enzyme-substrate complex that subsequently cleaves to the corresponding a-carbanion (d1-synthon). The latter adds to a carbonyl group resulting in an a-hydroxy ketone after elimination of thiamine pyrophosphate. Stereoselectivity of the addition step (i.e., addition to the Stand Re-face of the carbonyl group, respectively) is achieved by adjustment of a preferred active center conformation. A detailed discussion of the mechanisms involved in thiamine-dependent enzymes, as well as a comparison of the structural similarities, is found in references 1 -4. 

The addition of HCN to aldehydes or ketones produces cyanohydrins. This is an equilibrium reaction. For aldehydes and aliphatic ketones the equilibrium lies to the right therefore the reaction is quite feasible, except with sterically hindered ketones such as diisopropyl ketone. However, ketones ArCOR give poor yields, and the reaction cannot be carried out with ArCOAr since the equilibrium lies too far to the left. With aromatic aldehydes the benzoin condensation (16-54) competes. With oc,p-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones, 1,4 addition competes (15-33). Ketones of low reactivity, such as ArCOR, can be converted to cyanohydrins by treatment with diethylaluminum cyanide (Et2AlCN see OS VI, 307) or, indirectly, with cyanotrimethylsilane (MesSiCN) in the presence of a Lewis acid or base, followed by hydrolysis of the resulting O-trimethylsilyl cyanohydrin (52). The use of chiral additives in this latter reaction leads to cyanohydrins with good asymmetric... 

Dicarbonyl derivatives from aldehydes and a,P-unsaturated ketones. The thi-azolium catalyst serves as a safe surrogate for CN. Also known as the Mi-chael-Stetter reaction. Cf. Benzoin condensation. 

A novel and more general method to enable biocatalyzed conversion and synthesis of hydrophobic compounds involves the use of gel-stabilized aqueous-organic two-phase systems [8], Features, advantages, disadvantages, and perspectives of this method in asymmetric synthesis will be discussed in this chapter, illustrated for the stereoselective benzoin condensation and the reduction of ketones catalyzed by thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP)-dependent lyases and NAD(P)H-dependent alcohol dehydrogenases, respectively. 

Benzamido-cinnamic acid, 20, 38, 353 Benzofuran polymerization, 181 Benzoin condensation, 326 Benzomorphans, 37 Benzycinchoninium bromide, 334 Benzycinchoninium chloride, 334, 338 Bifiinctional catalysts, 328 Bifiinctional ketones, enantioselectivity, 66 BINAP allylation, 194 allylic alcohols, 46 axial chirality, 18 complex catalysts, 47 cyclic substrates, 115, 117 double hydrogenation, 72 Heck reaction, 191 hydrogen incorporation, 51 hydrogen shift, 100 hydrogenation, 18, 28, 57, 309 hydrosilylation, 126 inclusion complexes, oxides, 97 ligands, 19, 105 molecular structure, 50, 115 mono- and bis-complexes, 106 NMR spectra, 105 olefin isomerization, 96... 

In the benzoin condensation, a new stereogenic center is formed, as the product is an a-hydroxy ketone. Consequently, many chemists aspired to develop heterazolium-catalyzed asymmetric benzoin condensations and, later, other nucleophilic acylation reactions [9]. For example, Sheehan et al. presented the first asymmetric benzoin condensation in 1966, with the chiral thiazolium salt 7 (Fig. 9.2) as catalyst precursor [10]. 

In order to develop a general method, the present authors began investigations on the use of simple aldehyde ketones as substrates for the carbene-catalyzed crossed intramolecular benzoin condensation. Synchronously to the studies of... 

The precatalyst 20 led to excellent results in the enantioselective intramolecular crossed benzoin condensation of the aldehyde ketones 24, as shown in Scheme 9.6. The quaternary stereocenter of the acyloins 25 was created with good to very good yields and excellent ee-values. (For experimental details see Chapter 14.20.1). The precatalyst 19 proved to be even more active, and the yields were consistently excellent, albeit accompanied by lower ee-values (63-84%). 

Applying (S)-102 in the asymmetric benzoin condensation hS i-ben-zoin (6, R = Ph) was produced in very good enantioselectivity (90% ee, 83% yield) (Enders and Kallfass 2002). The condensation of numerous other aromatic aldehydes 6 yielded the corresponding a-hydroxy ketones 85 with excellent enantiomeric excesses up to 99%. As previously observed, electron-rich aldehydes gave higher asymmetric inductions than the electron-deficient ones. Lower reaction temperatures (0°C instead of room temperature) or lower amounts of catalyst caused decreased yields but slightly enhanced enantiomeric excesses (Scheme 27). 

Enders D, Kallfass U (2002) An efficient nucleophilic carbene catalyst for the asymmetric benzoin condensation. Angew Chem Int Ed 41 1743-1745 Enders D, Niemeier O (2004) Thiazol-2-ylidene catalysis in intramolecular crossed aldehyde-ketone benzoin reactions. Synlett 2004 2111-2114 Enders D, Niemeier O, Balensiefer T (2006) Asymmetric intramolecular crossed-benzoin reactions by N-heterocyclic carbene catalysis. Angew Chem Int Ed 45 1463-1467... 

The mechanism of this reaction was hrst described by Breslow as early as 1958 [4], Subsequently, the natural enzyme thiamine, found in yeast, was replaced by related nucleophiles like thiazole [5,6], triazole [7] and imidazole [8], Reactions that follow this mechanism include the very important Stetter reaction (the benzoin condensation of aliphatic aldehydes), the Michael-Stetter reaction (a variant of the Stetter reaction where the aldehyde reacts with an a,P-unsaturated ketone) [1], transesteriflcations [9] or the acylation of alcohols [9,10], All four reactions are carbene catalysed nucleophilic acylation processes. 

Note The Michael-Stetter reaction is a benzoin condensation between an aliphatic aldehyde and an a, jd-unsaturated ketone. 

It is only a small step from the asymmetric benzoin condensation to the asymmetric Stetter reaction, the aliphatic variant of the benzoin condensation. The literatnre refers to the Stetter reaction when at least one of the two reactants is an aliphatic aldehyde. Normally, the reaction is performed as a cross-coupling reaction with two different reactants, one of which is not an aldehyde, bnt an a, 3-unsaturated ketone. Strictly speaking, most thiazole catalysed reactions referred to as Stetter reactions are in fact Michael-Stetter reactions [21,22] (see Fignre 6.4). The reaction received the name because Stetter used a Michael reagent, an acceptor with an activated double bond, as the second component of a cross-coupled Stetter reaction [11]. 

The dithiane anion 1.9 also reacts with acyl halides, ketones and aldehydes to give the corresponding dioxygenated compounds. Schemes 1.4 and 1.5 show the reaction of dithiane anions 1.11 and 1.12 with ketones. The most common example of umpolung reactivity of a carbonyl group is the benzoin condensation (Scheme 1.6). 

Aromatic aldehydes generally do not produce cyanohydrins on reaction with hydrogen cyanide, but undergo the benzoin condensation (Scheme 6.12). The initial product from nucleophilic attack by cyanide ion is depro-tonated to form a resonance-stabilized carbanion, which attacks a second molecule of the aldehyde. Elimination of HCN leads to an a-hydroxy ketone, benzoin (2-hydroxy-1,2-diphenylethanone). The benzoin condensation is catalysed specifically by cyanide ion, which assists in both the formation and stabilization of the carbanion. The reaction is limited to aromatic aldehydes, since the aryl ring also stabilizes the anion. 

Aromatic a-hydroxy ketones (benzoins) are best obtained by the condensation of aromatic aldehydes by alkali cyanides. An aqueous-alcoholic solution of the aldehyde and sodium cyanide is refluxed for a short time. ... 

When urea (or thiourea) reacts with a-hydroxy ketones or a-diketones the products are imidazolin-2-ones (or -thiones) (70AHC(12)103,66RCR122). The reaction is limited to the preparation of 4,5-alkyl(or aryl)- or l,4,5-trialkyl(or triaryl)-imidazoles since an oxygen or sulfur function appears at C-2. Benzoin condenses with iV-phenylthiourea in hexanol in the presence of catalytic quantities of HCl to give l,4,5-triphenylimidazoline-2-thione (131) in 50-60% yield (Scheme 69). While 1-methylurea can also take part in the reaction. 

The eyanohydrins of aromatic aldehydes participate in the benzoin condensation- The carbon-bound hydrogen (formerly the aldehydic hydrogen) of the cyanohydrin is made weakly acidic by the adjacent nitrile. The related carbanion may condense with a second molecule of the aldehyde. The resultant cyanohydrin is that of a ketone which is less stable and collapses to give benzoin (Scheme 3.51). 

Treatment of a-phenylquinazolin-4-ylmethanols 4 with potassium cyanide in dimethylform-amide results in C—C bond cleavage to give quinazolines 5 and ketones 6. This reaction proceeds through a retro-benzoin condensation in which the N3 —C4 double bond of quinazolines behaves like a carbonyl group. 

A Michael-type addition has been used to insert suitable Michael acceptors (47 R = CN, COMe, C02Me/Et) between the carbonyls of benzils (48), to give a range of 1,4-diketones (49). The reaction is catalysed by cyanide (typically as B114NCN), and the aryl rings can bear substituents such as chloro or methoxy. Reminiscent of the Benzoin condensation, the reaction proceeds through an O-aroylmandelonitrile anion (50). The reaction has also been extended to C—O rather than C—C insertion benzaldehyde inserts into benzil under the same conditions to give an a-aroyloxy-ketone (51). 

Rather than direct reaction with an aldehyde or ketone, the bisulfite addition product is often treated with cyanide. The addition is nucleophilic and the actual nucleophile is CN, so the reaction rate is increased by the addition of base. " " This was demonstrated by Lap worth in 1903, and consequently this was one of the first organic mechanisms to be known. This method is especially useful for aromatic aldehydes, since it avoids competition from the benzoin condensation. If desired, it is possible to hydrolyze the cyanohydrin in situ to the corresponding a-hydroxy acid. This reaction is important in the Kiliani-Fischer method of extending the carbon chain of a sugar. 

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