Ketones dissolving metal reduction

Reduction of Ketones and Enones. Although the method has been supplanted for synthetic purposes by hydride donors, the reduction of ketones to alcohols in ammonia or alcohols provides mechanistic insight into dissolving-metal reductions. The outcome of the reaction of ketones with metal reductants is determined by the fate of the initial ketyl radical formed by a single-electron transfer. The radical intermediate, depending on its structure and the reaction medium, may be protonated, disproportionate, or dimerize.209 In hydroxylic solvents such as liquid ammonia or in the presence of an alcohol, the protonation process dominates over dimerization. Net reduction can also occur by a disproportionation process. As is discussed in Section 5.6.3, dimerization can become the dominant process under conditions in which protonation does not occur rapidly. 

The stereochemistry of the photocycloadducts can be predicted from the result of a dissolving metal reduction of the same ,/)-unsaturated ketone. For example, sodium/ammonia reduction of 3,4-dimethylcydohexenone yielded trans- and cis-dimethylcyclohexanone 37 in a ratio of 84 16, which was similar to the ratio of the two photocycloadducts 38 (80 20) [33b, 42],... 

Dissolving metal reduction of camphor produces a mixture of bor-neol, isobomeol, and pinacol coupling products (Scheme 39). The ratios of the stereoisomers are affected profoundly by whether the starting ketone is enantiomerically pure or racemic, implying the chirality recognition at the stage of ketyl radical (65). 

An alternate route to 90 commenced with the Robinson annelation of the aryl pyruvic acid 97 with methylvinyl ketone followed by dehydration and dissolving metal reduction of the resulting mixture of unsaturated acids to provide the cis-keto acid 98 (Scheme 7) (112b). Transformation of 98 to the rrans-ketal ester 99... 

A 1,2-carbonyl transposition sequence based on the Woodward dithioacetalisa-tion reaction was used to relocate a carbonyl group in 95.1 [Scheme 2.95] to the adjacent position in 95 6.190 A total of 6 steps were required in which the key step was the dithioacetalisation of the a-hydroxymethylene derivative 95 2. After reduction of the carbonyl group, the dithiane was hydrolysed to the a-acetoxy ketone whence dissolving metal reduction removed the acetate function. 

The stereochemical course of these, and other similar reductions, led Barton to suggest that dissolving metal reductions of ketones and oximes to secondary alcohols and primary amines would lead to mixtures of products rich in the thermodynamically more stable product. However, in the early 1960s a number of reports appeared in which the reduction of ketones gave primarily the thermodynamically less stable epimeric alcohol. These observations have prompted a continuing series of investigations into the mechanism of these reductions. 

It was suggested in the 1950s that the reduction of aliphatic ketones by dissolving metals proceeded by two sequential one-electron additions to provide a dianion (equation 1). This mechanism was based on the observation that benzophenone affords a dianion on reaction with excess Na in liquid NH3, and it was inferred that aliphatic ketones would behave similarly. A number of workers presented mechanistic rationalizations for the stereochemical course of the dissolving metal reductions of cyclic aliphatic ketones based on this dianion concept. However, in a 1972 review, it was noted that the reduction potentials of alkali metals were not sufficient to effect the addition of two electrons to an aliphatic carbonyl group, and an alternative mechanism was suggested which with some modification is now generally accepted. ... 

Both disubstituted alkynes (Chapter 3.3, this volume) and isolated terminal double bonds may be reduced by alkali metals in NH3, but isolated double bonds are usually stable to these conditions. However, 16,17-secopregnanes (10 equation 8) afford mixtures of cyclization products (11) and (12) in 61% to 80% yield with Na naphthalenide-THF, Na-NHs-THF, Na-THF or Li-NHs-THF. With Na-NHa-THF-r-butyl alcohol, a 91% yield of a 72 28 mixture of (11) (12) (R = Me) is obtained. This type of radical cyclization of alkenes and alkynes under dissolving metal reduction conditions to form cyclopentanols in the absence of added proton donors is a general reaction, and in other cases it competes with reduction of the carbonyl group. Under the conditions of these reactions which involve brief reaction times, neither competitive reduction of a terminal double bond nor an alkyne was observed. However, al-lenic aldehydes and ketones (13) with Li-NHs-r-butyl alcohol afford no reduction products in which the diene system survives. ... 

Aromatic ketones represent a rather special case in dissolving metal reductions. Under many conditions pinacol formation is the predominent reaction path (see Volume 3, Chapter 2.6). Also, the reduction potentials of aromatic carbonyl compounds are approximately 1 V less negative than their aliphatic counterparts. The reductions of aromatic ketones by metals in ammonia are further complicated by the fact that hydrogenolysis of the carbon-oxygen bond can take place (Chapter 1.13, this volume) and Birch reduction may intervene (Chapter 3.4, this volume). 

It was originally believed that the dissolving metal reduction of cyclic ketones would invariably afford the more stable of a pair of epimeric ketones as the major product. Although it has since been established beyond reasonable doubt that these reactions are kinetically controlled and that the less stable epimeric alcohol frequently predominates, the belief persists that these reductions are under thermodynamic control. ... 

The reductions of 1- and 12-keto steroids and their 1-decalone derivatives graphically illustrate the fact that dissolving metal reductions of ketones do not necessarily afford the more stable of a pair of epimeric alcohols. As a corollary, while the reduction of cyclic ketones is a synthetically useful procedure for the stereoselective preparation of secondary alcohols, it cannot be assumed that the thermodynamically stable alcohol will be the product which is obtained stereoselectively. 

The reductions of two steroidal ketones, androstan-l7-one (63) and androst-5-en-16-one (64) under various conditions have been studied in some detail. In the case of 17-ketone (63) the -ol (65) is the stable epimer and for the 16-ol (66), the a-isomer is more stable. Dissolving metal reductions of both ketones in the presence of proton donors gave the more stable alcohol as the major product however, reduction of 17-keto steroid (63) is considerably more stereoselective as noted in Table 2. Although pina-cols are not usually obtained in dissolving metal reductions carried out in the presence of proton donors, ketone (63) gave from 6 to 34% of dimeric products under these conditions (Li, 6% Na, 34% K, 13%). 5... 

The reduction of a series of 1,3-diimines (76) has been investigated in which the dissolving metal reductions have been carried out both in the presence and absence of proton donors. These compounds exist as a tautomeric mixture of two enaminoimines (77) and (78) and the diimine (76). Reduction by Na-propan-2-ol of five examples (Ar = Ph, 3-tolyl R = Me R = Ph, p-tolyl, cyclohexyl) gave excellent (90-99%) yields of diastereomeric mixtures of three of the four possible fully reduced diamines in which no isomer comprised more than 50% of the reaction mixture. Diamines (79) were not observed, and their absence was attributed to steric factors. On reduction with Li-THF for several hours, followed by quenching with methanol, ethanol or water a number of these tautomeric mixtures (76, Ar = Ph, 3-tolyl R = H, Me, PhCH2, CH2==CH—CH2 R = Ph, 3-tolyl, Me, cyclohexyl) gave saturated ketones, (80) in 70 to 93% yield. ... 

DISSOLVING METAL REDUCTION AND RELATED REACTIONS OF NONCONJUGATED AND CONJUGATED ALDEHYDES AND KETONES... 

Dissolving metal reduction of a,(3-unsaturated ketones regiospecifically produces enolates that, on removal of ammonia, may be reacted with electrophiles. 

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