Ketones indirectly, from carboxylic esters

Indirect replacement of the a-hydrogen atom of carboxylic esters by the nitroso group is remarkable. This procedure uses ketene 0-alkyl O -silyl acetals (1), generated from carboxylic esters, which are treated with nitric oxide or isopentyl nitrite in the presence of titanium(IV) chloride. In the absence of an a-hydrogen a-nitroso esters (2) are obtained. a-Nitroso esters with an a-hydrogen undergo isomerization to oximes of a-keto esters (3 equation 1). Similarly, silyl enol ethers of aldehydes or ketones can be used instead of the carbonyl compound itself for nitrosation. Thus, treatment of enol ether (4) with nitro-syl chloride gives the a-nitroso aldehyde (5 equation 2), which is quite stable at 0 C, but dimerizes at room temperature. 

The alkylation of activated halogen compounds is one of several reactions of trialkylboranes developed by Brown (see also 15-16,15-25,18-31-18-40, etc.). These compounds are extremely versatile and can be used for the preparation of many types of compounds. In this reaction, for example, an alkene (through the BR3 prepared from it) can be coupled to a ketone, a nitrile, a carboxylic ester, or a sulfonyl derivative. Note that this is still another indirect way to alkylate a ketone (see 10-105) or a carboxylic acid (see 10-106), and provides an additional alternative to the malonic ester and acetoacetic ester syntheses (10-104). 

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