Kishner reduction

Wolff - Kishner reduction of aldehydes and ketones. Upon heating the hydrazoiie or semicarbazone of an aldehyde or ketone with potassium hydroxide or with sodium ethoxide solution (sealed tube), the corresponding hydrocarbon is obtained ... 

The disadvantages associated with the Clemmensen reduction of carbonyl compounds (see 3 above), viz., (a) the production of small amounts of carbinols and unsaturated compounds as by-products, (h) the poor results obtained with many compounds of high molecular weight, (c) the non-appUcability to furan and pyrrole compounds (owing to their sensitivity to acids), and (d) the sensitivity to steric hindrance, are absent in the modified Wolff-Kishner reduction. 

Method B (Huang - Minion modification of Wolff - Kishner reduction)... 

Williamson synthesis Wohl-Ziegler reaction Wolff rearrangement Wolff Kishner reduction Wurtz reaction Wurtz-Fittig reaction... 

Both the Clemmensen and the Wolff-Kishner reductions are designed to carry out a specific functional group transformation the reduction of an aldehyde or ketone carbonyl to a methylene group Neither one will reduce the carbonyl group of a carboxylic acid nor... 

The key here is to recognize that an ethyl substituent can be introduced by Fnedel-Crafts acylation followed by a Clemmensen or Wolff-Kishner reduction step later in the syn thesis If the chlorine is introduced prior to reduction it will be directed meta to the acetyl group giving the correct substitution pattern... 

Friedel-Crafts acylation followed by Clemmensen or Wolff-Kishner reduction is a standard sequence used to introduce a primary alkyl group onto an aromatic ring... 

Table 17 2 summarizes the reactions of aldehydes and ketones that you ve seen m ear her chapters All are valuable tools to the synthetic chemist Carbonyl groups provide access to hydrocarbons by Clemmensen or Wolff-Kishner reduction (Section 12 8) to alcohols by reduction (Section 15 2) or by reaction with Grignard or organolithmm reagents (Sections 14 6 and 14 7)... 

Two methods for converting carbonyl groups to methylene units are the Clem mensen reduction (zinc amalgam and con centrated hydrochloric acid) and the Wolff-Kishner reduction (heat with hydra zine and potassium hydroxide in a high boiling alcohol)... 

Wolff-Kishner reduction (Section 12 8) Method for reducing the carbonyl group of aldehydes and ketones to a methylene... 

Common catalyst compositions contain oxides or ionic forms of platinum, nickel, copper, cobalt, or palladium which are often present as mixtures of more than one metal. Metal hydrides, such as lithium aluminum hydride [16853-85-3] or sodium borohydride [16940-66-2] can also be used to reduce aldehydes. Depending on additional functionahties that may be present in the aldehyde molecule, specialized reducing reagents such as trimethoxyalurninum hydride or alkylboranes (less reactive and more selective) may be used. Other less industrially significant reduction procedures such as the Clemmensen reduction or the modified Wolff-Kishner reduction exist as well. 

Carbonyl deductions. The classical Wolff-Kishner reduction of ketones (qv) and aldehydes (qv) involves the intermediate formation of a hydrazone, which is then decomposed at high temperatures under basic conditions to give the methylene group, although sometimes alcohols may form (40). 

Several methods are available to supplement the phenol alkylations described above. Primary alkylphenols can be produced using the more traditional Friedel-Crafts reaction. Thus an -butylphenol can be synthesized direcdy from a butyl haUde, phenol, and mild Lewis acid catalyst. Alternatively, butyryl chloride can be used to acylate phenol producing a butyrophenone. Reduction with hydrazine (a Wolff-Kishner reduction) generates butylphenol. 

Aryl-4,5-dihydropyridazine-3(2//)-one undergoes ring opening when submitted to Wolff-Kishner reduction, while with lithium aluminum hydride the corresponding 2,3,4,5-tetrahydro product is obtained. 

H-l-Benzazepin-4-one, 2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-2-phenyl-Wolff-Kishner reduction, 7, 525... 

Beckmann rearrangement, 4, 292 pyrolysis, 4, 202 synthesis, 4, 223 Wittig reaction, 4, 294 Wolff-Kishner reduction, 4, 291 Indole, 1-acyl-2,3-disubstituted photoisomerization, 4, 204 photo-Fries rearrangement, 4, 204 photoisomerization, 4, 42 synthesis, 4, 82 Indole, 2-acyl acidity, 4, 297 synthesis, 4, 337, 360 Indole, 3-acyl-acidity, 4, 297 cleavage, 4, 289 reduction, 4, 289 synthesis, 4, 360 Indole, 7-acyl-synthesis, 4, 246... 

The tritylone ether is used to protect primary hydroxyl groups in the presence of secondary hydroxyl groups. It is prepared by the reaction of an alcohol with 9-phenyl-9-hydroxyanthrone under acid catalysis (cat. TsOH, benzene, reflux, 55-95% yield).It can be cleaved under the harsh conditions of the WolfT-Kishner reduction (H2NNH2, NaOH, 200°, 88% yield), " and by electrolytic reduction (-1.4 V, LiBr, MeOH, 80-85% yield). It is stable to 10% HCl, 55 h. ... 

Deuterium labeling of C-18 has also been accomplished by an alternate procedure adapted from the Nagata steroid synthesis. During the course of the total synthesis of pregnanolone, thevC-18 function is introduced in the form of a nitrile group. Reduction of this function in intermediate (247) with lithium aluminum deuteride leads to a deuterated imine (248), which upon Wolff-Kishner reduction and acid-catalyzed hydrolysis... 

Both the Wolff-Kishner and Clemmensen reductions of a, -unsaturated ketones give olefins. There has been considerable confusion concerning the exact product composition in the case of A -3-ketones. Wolff-Kishner reduction gives A" -, 5a-A - and 5 -A -olefins, and, depending on the substrate reaction conditions and work-up, any one or more of these may be isolated. (See ref. 287 for a recent review of the Wolff-Kishner reduction.)... 

A third type of reduction of a-substituted ketones is typified by the expulsion of the substituent and the reduction of the keto function to form an olefin. Wolff-Kishner reductions of a-hydroxy, a-acetoxy, " a-halo, °° and a-epoxy (see below) ketones are the most frequently encountered steroid examples of this general class. ... 

Wohf-Kishner reductions of a,jS-epoxy ketones give allylic alcohols, thus providing a means of reversing the arrangement in a,jS-unsaturated ketones or allylic alcohols. The reaction as first described by Wharton proceeds very readily (at room temperature in some instances) and the addition of strong base is unnecessary for example, the reduction of the epoxy ketone 143. 

The nitrate group is stable to the dilute alkaline conditions required for saponification of secondary acetates although it is cleaved during Wolff-Kishner reduction.Nitrates are stable to chromic acid oxidation in acetic acid, to organic peracids, and to lead tetraacetate.This group is readily split by reduction with zinc in acetic acid. 

The stereochemistry of the product resulting from the reaction of a 17-keto steroid with ethylidenetriphenylphosphorane is different from that of the 17-ethylidene steroids obtained by dehydration of 17a-ethyl-17/ -hydroxy compounds, Wolff-Kishner reduction of A -20-keto steroids or by sodium-alcohol or sodium-ammonia " reductions of 17-ethynyl carbinols. These latter products have generally been assumed to possess the trans configuration (C-21 methyl away from the bulk of the ring system) because of anticipated greater stability. The cis configuration for... 

The latter compound can be isolated from the reaction mixture by chromatography on acid-washed alumina. Similar treatment of the trans-ketone (117a) followed by isolation and chromatography on alumina gives the same equilibrium mixture. The structure of the thermodynamically more stable ketone (116a) was proved by its conversion by Wolff-Kishner reduction to the hydrocarbon (118) independently synthesized from the known... 

B-norketone (119) by enlarging ring A with diazomethane to give A-homo-B-norketone (120). Wolff-Kishner reduction of (120) gave hydrocarbon (118) identical to the product from ketone (116a). 

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