Ketones synthetic utility

While the oxidation of ketones by peracids (Baeyer-Villiger reaction) has been used in steroids mainly for ring cleavage, it has occasionally been applied to 20-ketopregnanes for conversion to 17-acetoxy- or hydroxyandros-tanes. The synthetic utility of this method is limited since reactive double bonds and other ketones are incompatible with the reagent. 

The synthetic utility of enamines presupposes their general accessibility. In most cases, ketones are readily converted to enamines by condensation of the carbonyl compound with a secondary amine such as pyrrolidine, morpholine, or piperidine and azeotropic removal of water with a solvent such as benzene (3-19). 

The reaction described is of general synthetic utility for the preparation of a variety of cyclic /3-keto esters from the corresponding ketones. Using this procedure the 2-carbethoxy-cycloalkanones have been prepared from cyclononanone, cyclo-decanone, and cyclododecanone in yields of 85%, 95%, and 90%, respectively. The procedure is simpler and gives much higher yields than other synthetic routes to these systems. 

The aziridine aldehyde 56 undergoes a facile Baylis-Hillman reaction with methyl or ethyl acrylate, acrylonitrile, methyl vinyl ketone, and vinyl sulfone [60]. The adducts 57 were obtained as mixtures of syn- and anfz-diastereomers. The synthetic utility of the Baylis-Hillman adducts was also investigated. With acetic anhydride in pyridine an SN2 -type substitution of the initially formed allylic acetate by an acetoxy group takes place to give product 58. Nucleophilic reactions of this product with, e. g., morpholine, thiol/Et3N, or sodium azide in DMSO resulted in an apparent displacement of the acetoxy group. Tentatively, this result may be explained by invoking the initial formation of an ionic intermediate 59, which is then followed by the reaction with the nucleophile as shown in Scheme 43. 

The pioneering work of Denney et ai19 on the synthetic utility of oxyphosphoranes has been thoroughly exploited by Evans et al. in demonstrating that diethoxytriphenylphosphorane promotes mild and efficient cyclodehydration of diols (e.g. 11) to cyclic ethers (e.g. 13) via the cyclic phosphorane (12)20>21. Simple 1,2-, 1,4-, and 1,5- diols afford good yields of the cyclic ethers but 1,3-propanediol and 1,6-hexandiol give mainly 3-ethoxy-l-pro-panol and 6-ethoxy-l-hexanol respectively whereas tri- and tetra-substituted 1,2-diols afford the relatively stable 1,3,2- diox-phospholanes. In some instances (e.g. 14), ketones (e.g. 16) are formed by a synchronous 1,2-hydride shift within (15). The synthetic utility has been extended to diethoxyphosphoranes supported on a polystyrene backbone22. 

Crossed aldol condensations, where both aldehydes (or other suitable carbonyl compounds) have a-H atoms, are not normally of any preparative value as a mixture of four different products can result. Crossed aldol reactions can be of synthetic utility, where one aldehyde has no a-H, however, and can thus act only as a carbanion acceptor. An example is the Claisen-Schmidt condensation of aromatic aldehydes (98) with simple aliphatic aldehydes or (usually methyl) ketones in the presence of 10% aqueous KOH (dehydration always takes place subsequent to the initial carbanion addition under these conditions) ... 

The synthetic utility of the Henry reaction is shown in Scheme 3.1, where (3-nitro alcohols are converted into (3-amino alcohols, amino sugars, ketones and other important compounds. 

The facile nitration of a wide variety of ketones with TNM in Table 2 is illustrative of the synthetic utility of enol silyl ethers in facilitating a-substitution of carbonyl derivatives. It is necessary to emphasize here that the development of a strong charge-transfer (orange to red) coloration immediately upon the mixing of various ESEs with TNM invariably precedes the actual production of a-nitroketones in the thermal nitration (in the dark). The increasing conversion based on the time/yields listed in Table 2 qualitatively follows a trend in which electron-rich ESE from 6-methoxy-a-tetralone reacts faster than the relatively electron-poor ESE from cyclohexanone. 

The photocycloaddition of an aldehyde or ketone with an olefin to yield an oxetane was reported by Paterno and Chieffi in 1909. 58> Contemporary studies on the synthetic utility and mechanistic features were initiated nearly 50 years later by Biichi et al. 59) Two review articles summarizing synthetic aspects of Paterno-Biichi reactions have been published 6.12)) and mechanistic studies have been reviewed several times. 6,38,60-62) The reaction involves the addition to olefin of a photo-excited carbonyl moiety. This circumstance makes it advantageous to review this reaction before a discussion of olefin-olefin additions, because the solution photochemistry of carbonyl compounds is probably better understood than any other aspect of organic photochemistry. Many of the reactions of carbonyl compounds have been elucidated during studies of the important phenomena of energy transfer and photosensitization. 63-65)... 

The synthetic utility of the carbonylation of zirconacycles was further enhanced by the development of a pair of selective procedures producing either ketones or alcohols [30] and has been extensively applied to the synthesis of cyclic ketones and alcohols, most extensively by Negishi [22—27,29—33,65,87,131—134], as detailed below in Section I.4.3.3.4. The preparation of unsaturated aldehydes by carbonylation with CO is not very satisfactory. The use of isonitriles in place of CO, however, has provided a useful alternative [135], and this has been applied to the synthesis of curacin A [125]. Another interesting variation is the cyanation of alkenes [136]. Further developments and a critical comparison with carbonylation using CO will be necessary before the isonitrile reaction can become widely useful. The relevant results are shown in Scheme 1.35. 

Enantioselective borane reduction of prochiral ketones catalysed by chiral oxabor-olidines is of considerable synthetic utility, but the catalytic cycle has to compete with direct borane reduction of the ketone. Accordingly, precise kinetic data on the latter would help optimize conditions for the former. Such a study has been... 

From the foregoing discussion, it is clear that DPM rearrangements are very general for a variety of 1,4-unsaturated systems, such as, 1,4-dienes, (3,7-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones, and different 1-aza-1,4-diene derivatives. Surprisingly, the literature was devoid of studies describing the photoreactivity of the closely related 2-aza-1,4-diene derivatives. For many years, the only studies in this area were carried out by Mariano and his co-workers [60] on the photochemistry of iminium salts derived from 2-aza-1,4-dienes. The results obtained demonstrated the synthetic utility of the photocyclizations of iminium salts to different heterocycles, in reactions that are initiated by intramolecular single electron transfer [60]. 

In conjunction with the chiral anion TRIP (156) (10 mol%), diamine 157 (10 mol%) can be used in the catalytic asymmetric epoxidation of a,p-unsaturated ketones (>90% ee) [196], while the secondary amine 158 (10 mol%) can be used for the epoxidation of both di- and trisubstituted a,P-unsaturated aldehydes (92-98% ee) (Fig. 15) [211], The facile nature of these reactions, using commercially available peroxides as the stoichiometric oxidant, together with the synthetic utility of the epoxide products suggests application in target oriented synthesis. 

Asymmetric catalytic hydrogenation is unquestionably one of the most significant transformations for academic and industrial-scale synthesis. The development of tunable chiral phosphorous ligands, and of their ability to control enantioselectivity and reactivity, has allowed asymmetric catalytic hydrogenation to become a reaction of unparalleled versatility and synthetic utility. This is exemplified in the ability to prepare en-antiomerically enriched intermediates from prochiral olefins, ketones, and imines through asymmetric hydrogenation, which has been exploited in industry for the synthesis of enantiomerically enriched drugs and fine chemicals. 

However, the stereochemistry of the oxime cannot be easily controlled and this may be a drawback for the synthetic utility of the Beckmann rearrangement. When a mixture of oximes is obtained from the ketone and when the isomerization of the oxime cannot be prevented during the rearrangement reaction, a mixture of amides is obtained. In other less favourable cases, the intended oxime cannot be obtained and the wrong amide will result from the rearrangement reaction. 

Although this reaction is used mainly for structure elucidation, it has synthetic utility when methyl ketones are readily prepared and halides are not. 

O-alkylation reduces the yield of the more usually desired C-alkylation product. Other drawbacks to the synthetic utility of this reaction are (1) di- and tri-alkylation produces mixtures if more than a single H is present on the a C (2) ketones with H s on more than one a C will give a mixture of alkylation products. 

The synthetic utility of these derivatives towards the preparation of condensed heterocycles has been demonstrated. Thus, treatment of 252 with cyclohexanone under acidic conditions (66JOC3852) (Friedlander reaction) and molten urea affords the naphthyridine 253 and pyridopy-rimidinone 251, respectively (Scheme 76) (89JHC105). Application of these reactions on the isomeric iV-pivaloylamino pyridine ketones affords analogue heterocycles 254-257. 

The synthetic utility of many of the substitution reactions described so far is limited because there are well-established thermal routes to the same products. However, a third group of photochemical nucleophilic substitutions involves aryl halides and nucleophiles based on sulfur, phosphorus or, of particular importance, carbon. Two examples are the reaction of bromobenzene with the anion of t-butyl methyl ketone 13.12), and the replacement of bromine by cyanomethyl in 2-bromopyridine (3.13). This type of reaction offers a clear advantage over lengthy thermal alternatives, and intramolecular versions have been used in the synthesis of indoles (e.g. 3.14) or benzofurans from o-iodoaniline or o-iodoanisole respectively. 

The reaction of furans with ammonia and its derivatives is of considerable synthetic utility (B-73MI31 too). Substituted furan-2-carbaldehydes and 2-acylfurans on heating with ammonia and ammonium salts, often under pressure, yield 3-hydroxypyridines. The mechanism of this reaction is thought to involve nucleophilic attack of ammonia at the 2-position. Ring opening affords an amino aldehyde or ketone and thence, by reclosure, the 3-hydroxy-pyridine (Scheme 29). A wide range of substitutents is tolerated. Primary amines with furan-2-carbaldehydes yield A-substituted pyrroles, the closure of the intermediate... 

The reaction, which is known as the Baeyer-Villiger oxidation, has synthetic utility, particularly for the oxidation of ketones to esters because ketones... 

The great synthetic utility of the reaction of alkyllithium and Grignard reagents with ketonic functions has been well documented.105 These reactions take place via the intermediacy of alkoxy derivatives formed by addition of the M—C bond across the C=0 function. Hence ketones, aldehydes and formaldehyde will lead to tertiary, secondary and primary alkoxides, respectively. This type of reactivity is known for a number of other carbanionic metal alkyl derivatives, both main group and transition metals, although the synthetic utility of the reactivity has in most cases not been well documented. 

A somewhat arbitrary selection of areas is based on their perceived synthetic utility. P-Diketone and a-amino acid chelate reactions have received much attention over the years and the latter are still at the forefront of current activity. Finally, some reactions of simple ketones are affected by metal coordination and this subject will also be considered. 

The stability of an a-silyl carbanion is responsible for the unproved synthetic utility of the Stork annulation over other annulations195,196. These reactions involve the Michael addition of an enolate ion to an enone, and in the absence of a a-silyl substituent suffer drawbacks due to the reversibility of the Michael reaction. However, the addition of enolate ions to a-trimethylsilylvinyl ketones is not reversible, owing to a-silicon stabilization of the canonical form 152 shown in equation 122. 

Dehalogenation of a-substituted ketones and esters via radical anions has also been examined for its synthetic utility. As reported by Molander, Sml2 is an especially effective reagent for this transformation (equation l)44. Yields are typically high (70-100%) for X = Cl, OAc, OSiMe3, OCOCH2PI1, OTs, etc.). A mechanism for the reduction of esters (Scheme 10) has been suggested. 

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