Ketones deuteration

Their complete failure to achieve asymmetric reduction is interpreted as evidence that the steric requirements of CH3 and CD3 are the same. The reaction is, however, relatively insensitive to alkyl substituents much bulkier than CH3, and it is possible that nonsteric influences are also involved. A more straightforward test of the steric requirements of CHs vs. CDs would be the relative rate of reduction, by any means, of the ketone deuterated in the two methyl groups the repulsions between which are responsible for the molecular asymmetry. 

Table 7.8. Relative Rates and of Base-Catalyzed Deuteration of Some Ketones"...

Complete exchange of protons in a sterically unhindered position a to a carbonyl group can be achieved by heating a solution of the ketone in O-deuterated solvents in the presence of an acid or base catalyst, the latter being the more effective. The most commonly used solvents are methanol-OD, ethanol-OD, and the aprotic solvent anhydrous tetrahydrofuran or dioxane mixed with deuterium oxide. Under alkaline conditions the exchange rate in 153 2 14,164 stcroids, for example, is usually... 

Enolizalion of conjugated or /3,y-unsatiirated enones and dienones in O-deiiterated solvents facilitates the introduction of deuterium labels into positions as far as three and five carbon atoms away from a given ketone function. Exchange of the activated hydrogens in androst-4-en-3-one (12) provides a good illustration of the potential of this method. Saturation of the double bond (section V) in the deuterated enone (13) followed by back exchange of the a-deuteriums (section II-B) proves to be an excellent method for the preparation of 6,6-d2-5a-androstan-3-one (15). ... 

During the course of base-catalyzed exchange in O-deuterated alcohols, the vinylic hydrogen in the a position to the ketone is replaced by deuterium, in addition to the hydrogens activated by enolization. Thus, under these conditions the exchange of androst-l-en-3-one (16, R = H) gives a trideuterio derivative (18) instead of the expected 4,4-d2 analog (16, R = D). " (For other examples see compounds 13, 19, 21, 23, 26 and 27.) Incorporation of this deuterium is due to rapidly reversible alcohol addition (16 -+17) and elimination (17 18) which competes with the enolization step. " ... 

There are ample precedents for reductions of double bonds in conjugated enones with lithium in deuterioammonia (see section V-C). Examples of the reduction of saturated ketones in deuterated media appear only as side reactions (over reductions) during the above mentioned conversions. For experimental details, therefore, one should consult the literature for the analogous reductions in protic medium (see also chapter 1). The use of deuterioammonia is essential for labeling purposes since by using liquid ammonia and methanol-OD the resulting alcohol contains no deuterium. For the preparation of deuterioammonia see section IX-D. 

Deuteration by Electrochemical Reduction of a Steroidal Ketone in the Presence of Deuterium Oxide-10% Deuterio-sulfuric Acid... 

Two techniques, electrochemical reduction (section IIl-C) and Clem-mensen reduction (section ITI-D), have previously been recommended for the direct reduction of isolated ketones to hydrocarbons. Since the applicability of these methods is limited to compounds which can withstand strongly acidic reaction conditions or to cases where isotope scrambling is not a problem, it is desirable to provide milder alternative procedures. Two of the methods discussed in this section, desulfurization of mercaptal derivatives with deuterated Raney nickel (section IV-A) and metal deuteride reduction of tosylhydrazone derivatives (section IV-B), permit the replacement of a carbonyl oxygen by deuterium under neutral or alkaline conditions. 

In section V-A it has been pointed out that catalytic reduction of conjugated enones is usually a good method for the preparation of p- or y-labeled ketones. To overcome certain stereochemical problems, however, it is occasionally necessary to use the lithium-ammonia reduction. In this case deuteration takes place at the / -carbon and generally leads to the thermodynamically more stable product (see chapter 1). 

Site-specificity of the reaction is established in the first step since enolate formation involves the carbonyl carbon and the former halide bearing carbon, while the stereospecificity of the incoming deuterium is determined during the second step. It appears that the ketonization in deuterioacetic acid yields mainly the kinetic product (axial attack) although deuteration is... 

The isotopic purity of the product is usually about 48-62%, the rest of the material being mainly undeuterated. (An alternate preparation of a-mono-deuterio ketones of high configurational and isotopic purity is the mild oxidation of cis- or tra 5-deuterated alcohols under Jones conditions, see sections V-D and VII-A.) Treatment with zinc in acetic acid-OD has also been applied to the deiodination of 2a-iodoandrost-4-ene-3,17-dione. In a slightly modified version the iodine in 19-iodocholesterol acetate has been replaced with tritium by using tritium oxide as the isotope source/... 

Deuteration at C-8 by reduction of a A -6-ketone with lithium and deuterio-ammonia, 190... 

Deuteration by electrochemical reduction of a steroidal ketone in the presence of deuterium oxide-10% deuterio-sulfuric acid, 168... 

Deuteration with metal deuteride complexes reduction of steroidal ketones with lithium aluminum deuteride, 164 Dimethyl sulfoxide dicyclohexylcarbo-... 

Bromination of 3 -hydroxy-B-homo-5a-cholestan-7-one acetate (54b) in the presence of hydrobromic acid gives a single thermodynamically stable monobromo ketone. To determine the position of the bromine atom, the sequence of reactions was repeated with compounds selectively deuterated in the 5a-position. 

Malhotra and Johnson (70) have further shown that 2-methylcyclo-hexanone on treatment with 1 equivalent of pyrrolidine and 1.5 equivalents of 50% deuterioacetic acid-deuterium oxide in diglyme solution for 1 hr gave a mixture of 6c-deuterated and 6,6 -dideuterated ketones. The formation of these deuterated species was explained by the mechanistic sequence outlined in Scheme 2. 

The concentrations of the different intermediates are determined by the equilibrium constants. The observation of immonium ions [Eq. (5)] in strongly acidic solutions by ultraviolet and NMR spectroscopy also Indicates that these equilibria really exist (23,26). The equilibria in aqueous solutions are of synthetic interest and explain the convenient method for the preparation of 2-deuterated ketones and aldehydes by hydrolysis of enamines in heavy water (27). 

Enamines have also found use in the preparation of a-deuterated ketones (236). 

The fact that the rate law of hydrogen bromide elimination is first order with respect to the base may be interpreted by an E2 mechanism. The antiperiplanar position of the hydrogen and the bromine atoms in Ih also makes this mechanism very likely. Earlier the same mechanism was proposed for the elimination reaction of some tertiary a-halo ketones (ref. 19). Other mechanism, such as ElcB or El, seems to be very improbable considering the lack of any deuteration at C-2 or the lack of any rearrangement and the fact that the generation of a-keto cations requires acidic conditions (ref. 20). 

To verify that the ketone is enolized under the reaction conditions, reactions were carried out with and without HMDS quenching both with AcOH-d4.13C NMR and MS analysis of the product mixtures showed complete mono-deuteration at... 

The addition of 1-alkynes to a,/3-unsaturated ketones in water is catalyzed by a palladium(n)/phosphine combination. Deuteration studies suggest that this reaction proceeds via carbometallation of the olefinic moiety by an alkynylpalladium intermediate (Equation (193)).1... 

To select between these two alternative structures it was necessary to synthesize a labeled analog. Three hydrogen atoms of the methyl moiety of the ester group were substituted for deuterium. One of the principal pathways of fragmentation of [M N2]+ ions involves the loss of CH3 radical. Since all R substitutes in diazo ketones 4-1 were also methyls it was important to detect what group exactly is eliminated from the [M N2]+ ion. The spectrum of deuterated sample has confirmed that the methyl radical of the ester moiety leaves the parent ion. As a result the cyclic structure 4-2 was selected as the most probable. The ketene structure 4-3 is hardly able to trigger this process, while for heterocyclic ion 4-2 it is highly favorable (Scheme 5.22). 

The aforementioned deuterated derivatives were prepared by way of reduction of a ketone, aldehyde, or ester with sodium borodeu-teride, or by deuteroboration of an alkene. An interesting reaction, perhaps eventually applicable to direct deuteration of polysaccharides, was reported by Koch and Stuart413 and by them and their coworkers,41b who found that treatment of methyl a-D-glucopyranoside with Raney nickel catalyst in deuterium oxide results in exchange of protons attached to C-2, C-3, C-4, and C-6. In other compounds, some protons of CHOH groups are not replaced, but the spectra may nevertheless be interpreted with the aid of a- and /3-deuterium effects. 

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