Ketones reduction with boranes

The aziridine carbinols are also effective ligands in the preparation of oxazaborolidine catalysts for the asymmetric ketone reduction with borane (Fig. 4) [551. 

Instead of amino alcohols, enantiopure P-hydroxysulfoximines are also efficient chiral auxiliaries for the ketone reduction with borane [110]. Treatment of P-hydroxysulfoximine 72 with borane would form a boron-containing six-mem-bered heterocycle as a catalyst as shown in Scheme 16. The mechanism may be analogous to that for the oxazaborolidine reduction. a-Haloacetophenone and... 

Long-range mediation by achiral boronate (IJ-asymmetric induction) in ketone reduction by borane is feasible. Enantioselective reduction of imines with stoichiometric quantities of a cyclic dialkoxyborane prepared from tartaric acid has been reported. 

Pyridine-substituted nicotines, nornicotines, and anabasines are available from a-cyano-amines by a new synthesis. The syntheses of ( )-[l - N]nornicotine and ( )-[l - N]nicotine have been described, from cyclopropyl 3-pyridyl ketone and [ N]formamide. 4-Methylnicotine has been prepared it shows no nicotine-like pharmacological activity. " An investigation into the stereochemical factors involved in the behaviour of nicotine and related compounds in the Menschutkin reaction has been conducted.A bridged nicotine , 1,2,3,5,6,10b-hexahydropyrido[2,3-g]indolizine (44), has been synthesized by carboxylation of the dilithium derivative of 2-methylnornicotine followed by cyclisation and reduction with borane in tetrahydrofuran. Several 5-halogeno-nicotines have been prepared and their pK values and biological activities measured. ... 

The reduction of the unsaturated ketone succeeds with boranate, or by the Meerwein-Pondorf method. Dehydration with acidic clay catalyst [163], or more conventionally with acids, acidic salts or FeCl3 [165] leads to the product. 

In conclusion, hydrogenation of the intermediary ketone 15 with borane derived from (—)-a-pinene proved to be highly site- and enantioselective, confirming the practical value of this non-catalytic reduction protocol. 

The milder metal hydnde reagents are also used in stereoselective reductions Inclusion complexes of amine-borane reagent with cyclodexnins reduce ketones to opucally active alcohols, sometimes in modest enantiomeric excess [59] (equation 48). Diisobutylaluminum hydride modified by zmc bromide-MMA. A -tetra-methylethylenediamme (TMEDA) reduces a,a-difluoro-[i-hydroxy ketones to give predominantly erythro-2,2-difluoro-l,3-diols [60] (equation 49). The three isomers are formed on reduction with aluminum isopropoxide... 

Other S/N ligands have been investigated in the enantioselective catalytic reduction of ketones with borane. Thus, Mehler and Martens have reported the synthesis of sulfur-containing ligands based on the L-methionine skeleton and their subsequent application as new chiral catalysts for the borane reduction of ketones." The in situ formed chiral oxazaborolidine catalyst has been used in the reduction of aryl ketones, providing the corresponding alcohols in nearly quantitative yields and high enantioselectivities of up to 99% ee, as shown in Scheme 10.60. 

Alkynes are reactive toward hydroboration reagents. The most useful procedures involve addition of a disubstituted borane to the alkyne, which avoids complications that occur with borane and lead to polymeric structures. Catechol borane is a particularly useful reagent for hydroboration of alkynes.212 Protonolysis of the adduct with acetic acid results in reduction of the alkyne to the corresponding cw-alkene. Oxidative workup with hydrogen peroxide gives ketones via enol intermediates. 

They were applied as effective reagents for the asymmetric reduction of ketones with borane. 

In the asymmetric reduction of ketones, stereodifferentiation has been explained in terms of the steric recognition of two substituents on the prochiral carbon by chirally modified reducing agents40. Enantiomeric excesses for the reduction of dialkyl ketones, therefore, are low because of the little differences in the bulkiness of the two alkyl groups40. In the reduction of ketoxime ethers, however, the prochiral carbon atom does not play a central role for the stereoselectivity, and dialkyl ketoxime ethers are reduced in the same enantiomeric excess as are aryl alkyl ketoxime ethers. Reduction of the oxime benzyl ethers of (E)- and (Z)-2-octanone with borane in THF and the chiral auxiliary (1 R,2S) 26 gave (S)- and (R)-2-aminooctane in 80 and 79% ee, respectively39. 

L-699,392, Merck s drug for the treatment of chronic asthma, is an example of asymmetric amplification on an industrial scale (see Figure 13.19). The ketone reduction can be carried out stoichiometrically with a borane-(-)-a-pinene reagent. The terpene natural products are often mixtures of isomers and enantiomers. A reagent prepared from 98% optically pure (-)-a-pinene gives a product e.e. of 97%, but a reagent prepared from less expensive 70% optically pure (-)-a-pinene yields a product e.e. of 95%, which can be pushed to >99.5% by using an excess [30]. 

Table 11.2 summarises a number of examples of the enantioselective reduction of achiral ketones with borane in the presence of 0.1-0.2 equiv. of catalyst 3. 

Figure 1.27. Asymmetric reduction of ketones with borane catalyzed by oxazaborolidines.

The domain of hydrides and complex hydrides is reduction of carbonyl functions (in aldehydes, ketones, acids and acid derivatives). With the exception of boranes, which add across carbon-carbon multiple bonds and afford, after hydrolysis, hydrogenated products, isolated carbon-carbon double bonds resist reduction with hydrides and complex hydrides. However, a conjugated double bond may be reduced by some hydrides, as well as a triple bond to the double bond (p. 44). Reductions of other functions vary with the hydride reagents. Examples of applications of hydrides are shown in Procedures 14-24 (pp. 207-210). 

For the reduction of aliphatic ketones to hydrocarbons several methods are available reduction with triethylsilane and boron trifluoride [772], Clemmensen reduction [160, 758] (p. 28), Wolff-Kizhner reduction [280, 281, 759] (p. 34), reduction of p-toluenesulfonylhydrazones with sodium borohydride [785], sodium cyanoborohydride [57i] or borane [786] (p. 134), desulfurization of dithioketals (jaeicaipioles) [799,823] (pp. 130,131) and electroreduction [824]. 

However, most frequently used methods for reduction of aromatic ketones to hydrocarbons are, as in the case of other ketones, Clemmensen reduction [160, 161, 758, 843, 844] Procedure 31, p. 213), Wolff-Kizhner reduction [280,281,282, 759, 774,845] Procedure 45, p. 216), or reduction of p-toluene-sulfonylhydrazones of the ketones with lithium aluminum hydride [811, 812] or with borane and benzoic acid [786]. 

Reduction of a, -acetylenic ketones with chiral borane NB-Enanthrane prepared by addition of 9-borabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane to the benzyl ether of nopol yielded optically active acetylenic alcohols in 74-84% yields and 91-96% enantiomeric excess [770]. Another way to optically active acetylenic alcohols is reduction with a reagent prepared from lithium aluminum hydride and (2S, 3R)-( -I- )-4-dimethylamino-3-methy 1-1,2-dipheny 1-2-butanol. At —78° mainly R alcohols were obtained in 62-99% yield and 34-90% enantiomeric excesses [893]. 

Asymmetric reduction of prochiral aromatic ketones with borane cat-... 

The asymmetric reduction of ketones with borane or with NaBH4/Me3SiCl, catalysed by P-hydroxysulfoximines, afforded secondary alcohols in high yields with good enantioselectivities [241,242],... 

The enantioselective reduction of ketones using oxazaborolidine-borane complexes is a useful synthetic route to chiral alcohols (equation 63). Additives such as simple alcohols have been found to enhance the enantioselectivity of the process, and the reaction has been used in the large-scale synthesis of an important drug with anti arrhythmic properties249. 

Selective reduction of ot,a-dihalo ketones." Reduction of a,a-dihalo ketones can he effected without hydrogenolysis of the halo groups with either DIBAH or borane dimethyl sulfide. Reactions with the former reagent are generally faster but work-up can be complicated by gelatinous aluminum salts. In general, the yields are roughly comparable. 

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