Knoevenagel reaction acidity

The formation of ethyl isopropylidene cyanoacetate is an example of the Knoevenagel reaction (see Discussion before Section IV,123). With higher ketones a mixture of ammonium acetate and acetic acid is an effective catalyst the water formed is removed by azeotropic distillation with benzene. The essential step in the reaction with aqueous potassium cyanide is the addition of the cyanide ion to the p-end of the ap-double bond ... 

Knoevenagel reaction. The condensation of an aldehyde with an active methylene compound (usually malonic acid or its derivatives) in the presence of a base is generally called the Knoevenagel reaction. Knoevenagel found that condensations between aldehydes and malonic acid are effectively catalysed by ammonia and by primary and secondary amines in alcoholic solution of the organic amines piperidine was regarded as the best catalyst. 

Examples of the Knoevenagel reaction with aldehydes are given under crotonic acid (111,145), P-n-hexylacrylic acid (111,144), sorbic acid (111,145) and furylacryUc acid (V,10). 

In the above reaction one molecular proportion of sodium ethoxide is employed this is Michael s original method for conducting the reaction, which is reversible and particularly so under these conditions, and in certain circumstances may lead to apparently abnormal results. With smaller amounts of sodium alkoxide (1/5 mol or so the so-called catal3rtic method) or in the presence of secondary amines, the equilibrium is usually more on the side of the adduct, and good yields of adducts are frequently obtained. An example of the Michael addition of the latter type is to be found in the formation of ethyl propane-1 1 3 3 tetracarboxylate (II) from formaldehyde and ethyl malonate in the presence of diethylamine. Ethyl methylene-malonate (I) is formed intermediately by the simple Knoevenagel reaction and this Is followed by the Michael addition. Acid hydrolysis of (II) gives glutaric acid (III). 

Phenyl-7-aminocoumarin is obtained by a Knoevenagel reaction of substituted saUcylaldehydes with phenylacetic acid or ben2yl cyanide. Further synthesis of the individual end products is carried out by usual procedures. 

Knoevenagel reaction is the synthesis of a, p-unsaturated acids by reaction of aldehydes and compounds with active methylene groups in the presence of an organic base... 

Literature articles, which report the formation and evaluation of difunctional cyanoacrylate monomers, have been published. The preparation of the difunctional monomers required an alternative synthetic method than the standard Knoevenagel reaction for the monofunctional monomers, because the crosslinked polymer thermally decomposes before it can revert back to the free monomer. The earliest report for the preparation of a difunctional cyanoacrylate monomer involved a reverse Diels-Alder reaction of a dicyanoacrylate precursor [16,17]. Later reports described a transesterification with a dicyanoacrylic acid [18] or their formation from the oxidation of a diphenylselenide precursor, seen in Eq. 3 for the dicyanoacrylate ester of butanediol, 7 [6]. 

The term Knoevenagel reaction however is used also for analogous reactions of aldehydes and ketones with various types of CH-acidic methylene compounds. The reaction belongs to a class of carbonyl reactions, that are related to the aldol reaction. The mechanism is formulated by analogy to the latter. The initial step is the deprotonation of the CH-acidic methylene compound 2. Organic bases like amines can be used for this purpose a catalytic amount of amine usually suffices. A common procedure, that uses pyridine as base as well as solvent, together with a catalytic amount of piperidine, is called the Doebner modification of the Knoevenagel reaction. 

Virtually any aldehyde or ketone and any CH-acidic methylene compound can be employed in the Knoevenagel reaction however the reactivity may be limited due to steric effects. Some reactions may lead to unexpected products from side-reactions or from consecutive reactions of the initially formed Knoevenagel product. 

Because of the mild reaction conditions, and its broad applicability, the Knoevenagel reaction is an important method for the synthesis of a ,/3-unsaturated carboxylic acids. Comparable methods are the Reformatsky reaction, the Perkin reaction, as well as the Claisen ester condensation. The Knoevenagel reaction is of greater versatility however the Reformatsky reaction permits the preparation of a ,/3-unsaturated carboxylic acids that are branched in a-position. 

The aldol-like reaction of an aromatic aldehyde 1 with a carboxylic anhydride 2 is referred to as the Perkin reaction. As with the related Knoevenagel reaction, an o ,/3-unsaturated carboxylic acid is obtained as product the /3-aryl derivatives 3 are also known as cinnamic acids. 

The preparation of resin-bound nitroalkenes via a microwave-assisted Knoevenagel reaction of resin-bound nitroacetic acid with aryl and alkyl substituted aldehydes is reported. The potential of these resin-bound nitroalkenes for application in combinatorial chemistry is demonstrated by a Diels-Alder reaction with 2,3-dimethylbutadiene (Scheme 8.9). It is also used for one-pot three-component tandem [4+2]/[3+2] reactions with ethyl vinyl ether and styrene 46... 

The tandem-Knoevenagel-ene reaction is a powerful tool to synthesize five-and six-membered carbocycles.2 5 The process is exemplified by the diastereoselective synthesis of 4a. Compound 4a has been obtained In both enantiomeric forms and as a racemate according to the procedure described here. The sequence includes the Knoevenagel reaction of citronellal, 1, and dimethyl malonate, 2, followed by the intramolecular ene cyclization of the chiral 1,7-diene 3 to yield the trans 1,2-disubstituted products 4a and 4b. Whereas the thermal cyclization of 3 at 160°C provides 4a and 4 b in a ratio of only 89.7 10.3, the Lewis acid... 

Microwave-assisted Knoevenagel reactions have also been utilized in the preparation of resin-bound nitroalkenes [56], The generation of various resin-bound nitroalkenes employing resin-bound nitroacetic acid has been described the latter was condensed with a variety of aldehydes under microwave conditions (Scheme 7.40). 

Hayashi et al. have reported a novel Knoevenagel-type reaction with titanium enolate 70 derived from diketene 69 as the C4 unit source (Scheme 26).76 In contrast to the conventional Knoevenagel reaction (basic conditions), this transformation proceeds under mildly acidic conditions and provides higher yields and better E Z ratios. 

Knoevenagel reaction org chem The condensation of aldehydes with compounds containing an activated methylene (=Cff2) group. ka ne va.nag al re.ak shan ) Knorr synthesis orgchem Acondensation reaction carried out In either glacial acetic acid or an aqueous alkali in which an a-aminoketone combines with an a-carbonyl compound to form a pyrrole possibly the most versatile pyrrole synthesis. nor, sin-th3-s3s ... 

The Knoevenagel reaction consists in the condensation of aldehydes or ketones with active methylene compounds usually performed in the presence of a weakly basic amine (Scheme 29) [116], It is well-known that aldehydes are much more reactive than ketones, and active methylene substrates employed are essentially those bearing two electron-withdrawing groups. Among them, 1,3-dicarbonyl derivatives are particularly common substrates, and substances such as malonates, acetoacetates, acyclic and cyclic 1,3-diketones, Meldrum s acid, barbituric acids, quinines, or 4-hydroxycoumarins are frequently involved. If Z and Z groups are different, the Knoevenagel adduct can be obtained as a mixture of isomers, but the reaction is thermodynamically controlled and the major product is usually the more stable one. 

Trimethoprim has also been synthesized by condensing 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzaldehyde with malonic acid dinitrile in a Knoevenagel reaction, which forms the derivative (33.1.53), which is partially reduced to the enamine (33.1.54) by hydrogen using a palladium on carbon catalyst, which upon being reacted with guanidine is transformed into trimethoprim [52,53]. 

The present review is focused on the Knoevenagel reaction applied to unprotected sugars. It has been divided into two parts (acidic and basic conditions) in which the arguments are treated in chronological order. 

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