Ketones, reaction with malonate enolates

More impressive and more important is the performance of these lithium enolates in aldol reactions. Ester enolates are awkward things to use in reactions with enolisable aldehydes and ketones because of the very efficient self-condensation of the aldehydes and ketones. The traditional solutions involve such devices as Knoevenagel-style reactions with malonates.11 Lithium enolates of esters, e.g. 76, react cleanly with enolisable aldehydes and ketones to give high yields of aldols,12 e.g. 79 in a single step also involving a six-membered cyclic transition state 77. 

The reaction of malonate enolates with cyclohexane epoxides leads to mixtures of the two possible lactones (87) and (88)," convertible into the corresponding a-methylene-lactones by now relatively standard procedures. In a similar vein, the bis-spirolactone (90) can be obtained from epoxide (89). Spirolactones can also be prepared from cyclic ketones by condensation with ethyl a-bromomethylacrylate in the presence of zinc, and cyclization of the adduct in cold, dilute acid." ... 

A classical way to achieve regioselectivity in an (a -i- d -reaction is to start with a-carbanions of carboxylic acid derivatives and electrophilic ketones. Most successful are condensations with 1,3-dicarbonyl carbanions, e.g. with malonic acid derivatives, since they can be produced at low pH, where ketones do not enolize. Succinic acid derivatives can also be de-protonated and added to ketones (Stobbe condensation). In the first example given below a Dieckmann condensation on a nitrile follows a Stobbe condensation, and selectivity is dictated by the tricyclic educt neither the nitrile group nor the ketone is enolizable (W.S. Johnson, 1945, 1947). 

Palladium-Catalyzed Arylation of Enolates. Very substantial progress has been made in the use of Pd-catalyzed cross coupling for arylation of enolates and enolate equivalents. This reaction provides an important method for arylation of enolates, which is normally a difficult transformation to accomplish.171 A number of phosphine ligands have been found to promote these reactions. Bulky trialkyl phosphines such as /n. v-(/-butyl)phosphinc with a catalytic amount of Pd(OAc)2 results in phenylation of the enolates of aromatic ketones and diethyl malonate.172... 

The use of /i-ketocstcrs and malonic ester enolates has largely been supplanted by the development of the newer procedures based on selective enolate formation that permit direct alkylation of ketone and ester enolates and avoid the hydrolysis and decarboxylation of ketoesters intermediates. Most enolate alkylations are carried out by deprotonating the ketone under conditions that are appropriate for kinetic or thermodynamic control. Enolates can also be prepared from silyl enol ethers and by reduction of enones (see Section 1.3). Alkylation also can be carried out using silyl enol ethers by reaction with fluoride ion.31 Tetraalkylammonium fluoride salts in anhydrous solvents are normally the... 

The carbonyls Fe(CO)5 and [CpFe(CO)2]+ (2) form stable cationic complexes with alkenes, which are used for both protection and activation of alkenes [1]. [CpFe(CO)2]+ (2 abbreviated as Fp+) is prepared by the reaction of cyclopentadienyl anion (1) with Fe(CO)5, followed by oxidative cleavage with bromine, and used for the protection of alkenes. The electron density of the double bond is decreased by the coordination of [CpFe(CO)2]+ and hence this bond is activated to nucleophilic attacks. Introduction of nucleophiles, such as the carbon nucleophile of malonate, to cyclopentene becomes possible via the formation of the complex 3, and the stable tftmv-er-alkyliron complex 4 of cyclopentane is prepared. The vinyl ether complex 6 is obtained easily from the a-bromoacetal 5, and reacts with an enolate of ketone 7 as an... 

Among common carbon-carbon bond formation reactions involving carbanionic species, the nucleophilic substitution of alkyl halides with active methylene compounds in the presence of a base, e. g., malonic and acetoacetic ester syntheses, is one of the most well documented important methods in organic synthesis. Ketone enolates and protected ones such as vinyl silyl ethers are also versatile nucleophiles for the reaction with various electrophiles including alkyl halides. On the other hand, for the reaction of aryl halides with such nucleophiles to proceed, photostimulation or addition of transition metal catalysts or promoters is usually required, unless the halides are activated by strong electron-withdrawing substituents [7]. Of the metal species, palladium has proved to be especially useful, while copper may also be used in some reactions [81. Thus, aryl halides can react with a variety of substrates having acidic C-H bonds under palladium catalysis. 

The second classical reaction mentioned above is the acetoacetic ester synthesis. this reaction, an ester of acetoacetic acid (3-oxobutanoic acid) such as ethyl acetoacetate is treated with base under thermodynamic control conditions and alkylated, as with the malonic ester synthesis. Reaction with sodium ethoxide in ethanol (since an ethyl ester is being used) generated the enolate and quenching with benzyl bromide led to 84. Saponification and decarboxylation (as above) gave a substituted ketone (85). Although the malonic ester synthesis and the acetoacetic ester synthesis are fundamentally similar, the different substrates lead to formation of either a highly substituted acid or a ketone. The reaction is not restricted to acetoacetate derivatives, and any p-keto-ester can be used (ethyl 3-oxopentanoate for example). ... 

The Knoevenagel Condensation. Another classical reaction called the Knoevenagel condensation involves malonate enolates in a condensation reaction with aldehydes, usually a non-enolizable aldehyde. An aldehyde or ketone can be condensed with an active methylene compounds such as a malonic... 

The step marked with an asterisk is reversible and, in fact, is an unfavorable equilibrium, because the product (a simple ketone enolate) is a less stable anion than is the doubly stabilized malonate anion. However, the next step, reaction with more malonic ester to make a new malonate anion, drives the equilibrium to product. The reaction is catalytic in base because malonate is regenerated in this last step. 

Malonic esters can be converted to the enolate anion and condensed with aldehydes, ketones, or acid derivatives. The reaction of malonic acid with an aldehyde using pyridine as a base is called the Knoevenagel condensation. 

The reaction of diethyl malonate (90) with sodium hydride generates enolate anion 91 as the conjugate base, and hydrogen gas is the conjugate acid. It has the three resonance contributors shown in the illustration, although 91A has the highest concentration of electron density, and 91 will react as a carbanion nucleophile. There is one extra resonance form in the malonate enolate anion relative to a simple ester due to the second carbonyl unit, and it means that 91 is more stable than the enolate derived from a monoester. In part, this accounts for the enhanced acidity and easier formation of the enolate anion using a weaker base. Once formed, 91 is a carbon nucleophile and it will react with both aldehydes and ketones, as well as with other esters. 

Aqueous acid workup of 92 gives the alcohol, 93. With malonic ester derivatives, loss of water to form 94 occurs very easily, with dilute acid or with gentle heating because the C=C unit is conjugated to two carbonyl groups, facilitating dehydration. Although it is possible to isolate 83, it is more usually difficult. The enolate anion of malonate esters also reacts with ketones and may be condensed with other esters in acyl substitution reactions. When 90 is treated with NaOEt in ethanol and then with ethyl butanoate, the final product after mild hydrolysis is a keto-diester, 95. 

A variation of the malonic ester synthetic uses a P-keto ester such as 116. In Section 22.7.1, the Claisen condensation generated P-keto esters via acyl substitution that employed ester enolate anions. When 116 is converted to the enolate anion with NaOEt in ethanol, reaction with benzyl bromide gives the alkylation product 117. When 117 is saponified, the product is P-keto acid 118, and decarboxylation via heating leads to 4-phenyl-2-butanone, 119. This reaction sequence converts a P-keto ester, available from the ester precursors, to a substituted ketone in what is known as the acetoacetic acid synthesis. Both the malonic ester synthesis and the acetoacetic acid synthesis employ enolate alkylation reactions to build larger molecules from smaller ones, and they are quite useful in synthesis. 

When an ester enolate reacts with an aldehyde or a ketone, the product is a hydroxy-ester. This disconnection is shown for both partners. If the reaction is turned around, the reaction of an enolate derived from an aldehyde or a ketone and then with an ester gives a keto-aldehyde or a diketone. Both disconnections are shown. The enolate alkylation reaction involves disconnection of an alkyl halide fragment from an aldehyde, ketone, or ester. In addition, the malonic acid and acetoacetic acid syntheses have unique disconnections. 

The intra-molecular Claisen condensation is called a Dieckmann condensation, and it generates a cyclic compound 58,99,101,118. Malonic esters can be converted to the enolate anion and condensed with aldehydes, ketones, or add derivatives. The reaction of malonic acid with an aldehyde using pyridine as a base is called the Knoevenagel condensation 59, 60, 61, 62, 69, 99,108,110,112, 113,119,124. 

Also in 1986, intermolecular versions of the reaction of putative acylpalladium derivatives with the enolates derived from malonic esters and a few ketones were independently reported, Two different courses of reaction were observed with malonate esters (Scheme 3). However, both involve selective C-acylation. In cases where the C-acylation products, which are /S-keto diesters, still contain an acidic /3 C—H bond, they will further react with acylpalladium derivatives as 0-enolates rather than C-enolates, as detailed in the following section. 

The acid moiety of an amino acid can be activated for acyl substitution rather than converted to an aldehyde for acyl addition. Boc-alanine was converted to an acyl imidazole by reaction with carbonyl diimidazole (CDI see chapter two, section 2.4), and then condensed with the magnesium enolate of the mono ethyl ester of malonic acid to give keto-ester 5.9. Subsequent catalytic hydrogenation of the ketone moiety gave ethyl 3-hydroxy-5-(N-Boc amino)penlanoate, 5.10 Once the o... 

Isopropenyl Acetate as a Source of Acetone. Under certain reaction conditions, isopropenyl acetate reacts to deliver an equivalent of acetone for acetonide formation or for oxidative addition to an enol. Under acidic conditions, isopropenyl acetate has been used to generate isopropylidene derivatives of malonic acids. Isopropenyl acetate also undergoes an oxidative addition reaction with ketones in the presence of Manganese(IlI) Acetate An acetone subunit is added to the a-position of a ketone to give a 1,4-diketone. 

Alpha hydrogen atoms of carbonyl compounds are weakly acidic and can be removed by strong bases, such as lithium diisopropylamide (LDA), to yield nucleophilic enolate ions. The most important reaction of enolate ions is their Sn2 alkylation with alkyl halides. The malonic ester synthesis converts an alkyl halide into a carboxylic acid with the addition of two carbon atoms. Similarly, the acetoacetic ester synthesis converts an alkyl halide into a methyl ketone. In addition, many carbonyl compounds, including ketones, esters, and nitriles, can be directly alkylated by treatment with LDA and an alkyl halide. 

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