Kinetic control enolate formation

In the case of 3-pentanone, evidence has been presented27-28 for thermodynamic control during formation of the (Z)-enolates and for kinetic control during formation of the ( )-eno-lates in the presence or absence of HMPA. Ester enolates are preferentially ( ), when prepared with LDA (THF), and (Z) when prepared with LDA in the presence of HMPA. In contrast, dialkylamides are deprotonated (LDA/THF) preferentially to give the (Z)-enolates. The role of HMPA in the above case is still not quite clear6-29. 

A diird strategy for controlling enolate formation is to convert the carbonyl group to a jV,jV-dimediylhydrazone. The hydrazone is less reactive than die carbonyl group, and removal of an a proton by a strong base takes place at the least hindered a position. Alkylation followed by hydrolysis gives back carbonyl product that is die same as die result of kinetic control of enolate... 

The most important feature of the enolate-trapping method is its ability to define the regiochemistry of the enol triflate, as exemplified by the selective formation of either the thermodynamically or the kinetically controlled enol triflate from 2-methylcyclohexanone by choice of the reaction conditions77 (equation 52). 

The last two ketones have two different a-positions so there is a good chance of controlling enol formation from the parent ketone. But the first ketone has two primary a-positions and the difference appears only in the two p-positions. The obvious solution is conjugate addition and trapping (described in the textbook on p. 603). The thermodynamic enol is needed from the second ketone and direct silylation is a good bet. The third requires kinetic enolate formation and LD A is a good way to do that. 

Scheme 2.24 Regioselective formation of boron enolates according to Mukaiyama s protocols transition-state model 91 for kinetically controlled enolate generation.

Protonation of the a-carbanion (50), which is formed both in the reduction of enones and ketol acetates, probably first affords the neutral enol and is followed by its ketonization. Zimmerman has discussed the stereochemistry of the ketonization of enols and has shown that in eertain cases steric factors may lead to kinetically controlled formation of the thermodynamically less stable ketone isomer. Steroidal unsaturated ketones and ketol acetates that could form epimeric products at the a-carbon atom appear to yield the thermodynamically stable isomers. In most of the cases reported, however, equilibration might have occurred during isolation of the products so that definitive conclusions are not possible. 

In the absence of steric factors e.g. 5 ), the attack is antiparallel (A) (to the adjacent axial bond) and gives the axially substituted chair form (12). In the presence of steric hindrance to attack in the preferred fashion, approach is parallel (P), from the opposite side, and the true kinetic product is the axially substituted boat form (13). This normally undergoes an immediate conformational flip to the equatorial chair form (14) which is isolated as the kinetic product. The effect of such factors is exemplified in the behavior of 3-ketones. Thus, kinetically controlled bromination of 5a-cholestan-3-one (enol acetate) yields the 2a-epimer, (15), which is also the stable form. The presence of a 5a-substituent counteracts the steric effect of the 10-methyl group and results in the formation of the unstable 2l5-(axial)halo ketone... 

The fundamental aspects of the structure and stability of carbanions were discussed in Chapter 6 of Part A. In the present chapter we relate the properties and reactivity of carbanions stabilized by carbonyl and other EWG substituents to their application as nucleophiles in synthesis. As discussed in Section 6.3 of Part A, there is a fundamental relationship between the stabilizing functional group and the acidity of the C-H groups, as illustrated by the pK data summarized in Table 6.7 in Part A. These pK data provide a basis for assessing the stability and reactivity of carbanions. The acidity of the reactant determines which bases can be used for generation of the anion. Another crucial factor is the distinction between kinetic or thermodynamic control of enolate formation by deprotonation (Part A, Section 6.3), which determines the enolate composition. Fundamental mechanisms of Sw2 alkylation reactions of carbanions are discussed in Section 6.5 of Part A. A review of this material may prove helpful. 

Scheme 1.1 shows data for the regioselectivity of enolate formation for several ketones under various reaction conditions. A consistent relationship is found in these and related data. Conditions of kinetic control usually favor formation of the less-substituted enolate, especially for methyl ketones. The main reason for this result is that removal of a less hindered hydrogen is faster, for steric reasons, than removal of a more hindered hydrogen. Steric factors in ketone deprotonation are accentuated by using bulky bases. The most widely used bases are LDA, LiHMDS, and NaHMDS. Still more hindered disilylamides such as hexaethyldisilylamide9 and bis-(dimethylphenylsilyl)amide10 may be useful for specific cases. 

The preparation of ketones and ester from (3-dicarbonyl enolates has largely been supplanted by procedures based on selective enolate formation. These procedures permit direct alkylation of ketone and ester enolates and avoid the hydrolysis and decarboxylation of keto ester intermediates. The development of conditions for stoichiometric formation of both kinetically and thermodynamically controlled enolates has permitted the extensive use of enolate alkylation reactions in multistep synthesis of complex molecules. One aspect of the alkylation reaction that is crucial in many cases is the stereoselectivity. The alkylation has a stereoelectronic preference for approach of the electrophile perpendicular to the plane of the enolate, because the tt electrons are involved in bond formation. A major factor in determining the stereoselectivity of ketone enolate alkylations is the difference in steric hindrance on the two faces of the enolate. The electrophile approaches from the less hindered of the two faces and the degree of stereoselectivity depends on the steric differentiation. Numerous examples of such effects have been observed.51 In ketone and ester enolates that are exocyclic to a conformationally biased cyclohexane ring there is a small preference for... 

Conditions for kinetic control of enolate formation can be applied to the Robinson annulation to control the regiochemistry of the reaction. Entries 5 and 6 of Scheme 2.11 are cases in which the reaction is carried out on a preformed enolate. Kinetic... 

In addition to the asymmetric induction mentioned above, sultam 53 can also be used to prepare enantiomerically pure amino acids (Scheme 2-29 and Table 2-10).55 Me AI-mediated acylation of 53 with methyl A-[bis(methylthio)-methylene]glycinate 56 provided, after crystallization, glycinate 57, which can serve as a common precursor for various a-amino acids. In agreement with a kinetically controlled formation of chelated (Z)-enolates, alkylation happened from the SZ-face of the a-C, opposite to the lone pair electrons on the sultam nitrogen atom. High overall yield for both the free amino acid 58 and the... 

By adjusting the conditions under which an enolate mixture is formed from a ketone, it is possible to establish either kinetic or thermodynamic control. Ideal conditions for kinetic control of enolate formation are those in which deprotonation is rapid, quantitative,... 

For many ketones, stereoisomeric as well as regioisomeric enolates can be formed, as is illustrated by entries 6, 7, and 8 of Scheme 1.3. The stereoselectivity of enolate formation, under conditions of either kinetic or thermodynamic control, can also be controlled to some extent. We will return to this topic in more detail in Chapter 2. 

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... 

Because of their usefulness in aldol additions and other synthetic methods (see especially Section 6.5.2), there has been a good deal of interest in the factors that control the stereoselectivity of enolate formation from esters. For simple esters such as ethyl propanoate, the /r-enolate is preferred under kinetic conditions using a strong base such as LDA in THF solution. Inclusion of a strong cation solvating co-solvent, such as HMPA or tetrahydro-1,3 -dimethyl-2(1 Z/)p y r i m i d o nc (DMPU) favors the Z-enolate.13... 

Kinetic control can be achieved by slow addition of the ketone to an excess of strong base in an aprotic solvent. Kinetic control requires a rapid, quantitative and irreversible deprotonation reaction 2-6. The use of a very strong, sterically hindered base, such as lithium diisopropylamide or triphenylmethyllithium (trityllithium), at low temperature (— 78 °C) in an aprotic solvent in the absence of excess ketone has become a general tool for kinetic control in selective enolate formation. It is important to note that the nature of the counterion is sometimes important for the regioselectivity. Thus, lithium is usually better than sodium and potassium for the selective generation of enolates by kinetic control. 

Under conditions for thermodynamic control, the major regioisomer formed is usually the enolate Carrying most substituents at the double bond. This can be attributed to the fact that the stability of C-C double bonds increases with increasing substitution6. Conditions for kinetic control in enolate formation usually favor formation of the enolate with the least substituents at the double bond. The rational for this is based on steric reasons, i.e., the less hindered proton is abstracted more rapidly than the hindered proton, giving the less substituted enolate. 

In the first step the acetal of compound 10 is cleaved under acid catalysis. Kinetic control (-78 C) in the second reaction leads to selective formation of the stcncally less hindered enolate.12 which is trapped as the enol tnflatc 11. 

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