Ketones hydride addition

Nucleophilic addition reactions of aldehydes and ketones (a) Addition of hydride alcohols (Section 19.7)... 

Transfer hydrogenation of aldehydes with isopropanol without addition of external base has been achieved using the electronically and coordinatively unsaturated Os complex 43 as catalyst. High turnover frequencies have been observed with aldehyde substrates, however the catalyst was very poor for the hydrogenation of ketones. The stoichiometric conversion of 43 to the spectroscopically identifiable in solution ketone complex 45, via the non-isolable complex 44 (Scheme 2.4), provides evidence for two steps of the operating mechanism (alkoxide exchange, p-hydride elimination to form ketone hydride complex) of the transfer hydrogenation reaction [43]. 

In this latter hydridic route for hydrogen transfer from alcohols to ketones, two additional possibilities can be considered one involving a metal hydride arising purely from a C—11 (path 2a), and another in which it may originate from both the O—11 and C—I I (path 2b) in this case any of the hydrides on the metal may add to the carbonyl carbon. 

A mechanism has been proposed for this, and related transformations, involving a chelation assisted C-H bond functionalization. Following hydride addition to the solvent, acetone, and a transmetallation reaction, reductive elimination yields the ketimine. Hydrolysis of the latter affords the ketone (Equation (131)).114 114a... 

There is a rather important difference between chemical reductions using complex metal hydrides and enzymic reductions involving NADH, and this relates to stereospecificity. Thus, chemical reductions of a simple aldehyde or ketone will involve hydride addition from either face of the planar carbonyl group, and if reduction creates a new chiral centre, this will normally lead to a racemic alcohol product. Naturally, the aldehyde primary alcohol conversion does not create a chiral centre. 

The MacMillan laboratory has produced an interesting study on the reductive amination of a broad scope of aromatic and aliphatic methyl ketones catalyzed by ent-lk, utilizing Hantzsch ester as a hydride source (Scheme 5.26) [48]. Apphcation of corresponding ethyl ketones gave very low conversions. Computational studies indicated that while catalyst association with methyl ketones exposes the C=N Si face to hydride addition, substrates with larger alkyl groups are forced to adopt conformations where both enantiofaces of the iminium ir... 

The catalytic, asymmetric hydrogenations of alkenes, ketones and imines are important transformations for the synthesis of chiral substrates. Organic dihydropyridine cofactors such as dihydronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) are responsible for the enzyme-mediated asymmetric reductions of imines in living systems [86]. A biomimetic alternative to NADH is the Hantzsch dihydropyridine, 97. This simple compound has been an effective hydrogen source for the reductions of ketones and alkenes. A suitable catalyst is required to activate the substrate to hydride addition [87-89]. Recently, two groups have reported, independently, the use of 97 in the presence of a chiral phosphoric acid (68 or 98) catalyst for the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of imines. 

Isomerization of allylic alcohol to ketone has been extensively studied [13], and two different pathways have been established, including tt-allyl metal hydride and the metal hydride addition-elimination mechanisms [5,14]. McGrath and Grubbs [ 15] investigated the ruthenium-catalyzed isomerization of allyl alcohol in water and proposed a modified metal hydride addition-elimination mechanism through an oxygen-functionality-directed Markovnikov addition to the double bond. 

Sodium borohydride reduction of dienamines in the presence of a weak acid (acetic acid or methanol) results in kinetically favoured C-/ protonation followed by rapid hydride addition at C-a17. The method therefore provides a convenient method for converting an a,/ -unsaturated ketone into a y,<5-unsaturated amine as in the synthesis of con-nessine17 (Scheme 11). 

Applications of dihydrogen bonding have been reported. Jackson has shown how the attack of borohydride on a hydroxyketone shows a high selectivity for hydride addition from the same face of the ketone as the OH group is... 

Just as addition of a Grignard reagent to an aldehyde or ketone yields an alcohol, so does addition of hydride ion, H (Section 17.4). Although the details of carbonyl-group reductions arc complex, LiAll-14 and N aBH4 act as if they were donors of hydride ion in a nucleophilic addition reaction (Figure 19.7).. Addition of water or aqueous acid after the hydride addition step protonates the tetrahedral alkoxide intermediate and gives the alcohol product. 

In hydrogenolyses with HAICU, the dimethyl acetals of cyclobutanone and cyclohexanone are cleaved more slowly than that of 3-pentanone, while those of cyclopentanone and cycloheptanone are cleaved more rapidly (Table 1), as would be expected for a carbonium ion process. The differences in rate are small, suggesting that carbonium ion character is not strongly developed in the transition state. With the dimethyl acetal of 4-t-butylcyclohexanone, the hydride addition step occurs with strongly predominating axial addition when HAlCh is used Zn(BH4)2 with TMS-Cl, and TMS-H with TMSO-Tf are less selective (Table 2). Equatorial attack predominates, however, in the reduction of the ketone itself with TBDMS-H and TBDMS-OTf. ... 

Transition state for hydride addition to ketone Ando 1998... 

Key to method (A) exchange reaction with tin heterocycle (B) hydride addition to diyne (C) oxidation of saturated ketone (D) bromination-dehydrobromination by pyrolysis (E) reaction of RLi or ArLi with exocyclic M-Cl of preformed diene (F) ring expansion reaction from cyclopentadiene derivative (G) LiAlHi reduction of exocyclic M-Cl (H) carbene insertion into five-membered cyclo-pentadiene derivative. Doering-Hoffman method (I) 1,6-cycloaddition of GeCU. 

Any explanation of facial selectivity must account for the diastereoselection observed in reactions of acyclic aldehydes and ketones and high stereochemical preference for axial attack in the reduction of sterically unhindered cyclohexanones along with observed substituent effects. A consideration of each will follow. Many theories have been proposed [8, 9] to account for experimental observations, but only a few have survived detailed scrutiny. In recent years the application of computational methods has increased our understanding of selectivity and can often allow reasonable predictions to be made even in complex systems. Experimental studies of anionic nucleophilic addition to carbonyl groups in the gas phase [10], however, show that this proceeds without an activation barrier. In fact Dewar [11] suggested that all reactions of anions with neutral species will proceed without activation in the gas phase. The transition states for reactions such as hydride addition to carbonyl compounds cannot therefore be modelled by gas phase procedures. In solution, desolvation of the anion is considered to account for the experimentally observed barrier to reaction. 

---