Lewis Acid Catalyzed Reactions

For the reaction of carbonyl compounds with conjugated dienes two mechanistic pathways have generally been taken into account when Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions are considered ... 

Nitrones are a rather polarized 1,3-dipoles so that the transition structure of their cydoaddition reactions to alkenes activated by an electron-withdrawing substituent would involve some asynchronous nature with respect to the newly forming bonds, especially so in the Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions. Therefore, the transition structures for the catalyzed nitrone cydoaddition reactions were estimated on the basis of ab-initio calculations using the 3-21G basis set. A model reaction indudes the interaction between CH2=NH(0) and acrolein in the presence or absence of BH3 as an acid catalyst (Scheme 7.30). Both the catalyzed and uncatalyzed reactions have only one transition state in each case, indicating that the reactions are both concerted. However, the synchronous nature between the newly forming 01-C5 and C3-C4 bonds in the transition structure TS-J of the catalyzed reaction is rather different from that in the uncatalyzed reaction TS-K. For example, the bond lengths and bond orders in the uncatalyzed reaction are 1.93 A and 0.37 for the 01-C5 bond and 2.47 A and 0.19 for the C3-C4 bond, while those in... 

The Lewis acid-catalyzed reaction of nitrone 21 with ethyl vinyl ether 22 (Scheme 8.8) was also investigated for BH3 and AlMe3 coordinated to 21 [32]. The presence of BH3 decreases the activation energy for the formation of 23 by 3.1 and 4.5 kcal mol to 9.6 kcal mol for the exoselective reaction and 11.6 kcal-mol for the endo-selective reaction, respectively, while the activation energy for the formation of 24 increases by >1.4 kcal mol , compared to those for the uncatalyzed reaction. The transition-state structure for the BH3-exo-selective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of nitrone 21 with ethyl vinyl ether 22 is shown in Fig. 8.19. 

This section deals with Bronsted acid and Lewis acid catalyzed reactions, excluding Friedel-Crafts reactions, but including reactions such as nitrations, halogenations, and Claisen rearrangements. Friedel-Crafts reactions are discussed in the subsequent Sections 5.1.2.2 and 5.1.2.3. 

Diallyldialkylstannanes with chiral alkyl substituents on the tin, show variable asymmetric induction in their Lewis acid catalyzed reactions with aldehydes. Using bis-(/f)-2-phenylbutyl-(di-2-propenyl)stannane, enantiomeric excesses of up to 54% were obtained via attack on the / e-face of the aldehyde96. 

Once again, excellent selectivity for formation of the j3-methyl isomer is observed in the case of the Lewis acid catalyzed reaction of the boron enolate of (4S )-4-isopropyl-3-(l-oxopropyl)-2-oxazolidinone 4177 (see Appendix). 

The Lewis acid catalyzed reactions of silyl enol ethers with nitroalkenes have been reviewed, however the diastereoselectivity of these reactions has not been addressed17. 

Optically active norbornene derivatives [26] have been prepared by cycloaddition of hexachlorocyclopentadiene with /-menthylacrylate and /-menthylallyl-ether (Equation 2.9). Low levels of enantiomeric excess have been obtained in the thermal processes, whereas Lewis acid catalyzed reactions (BF3, BBr3, AICI3, SnCU, DCM, 40-80 °C) gave better results. 

Scheme 30 Lewis acid catalyzed reaction of a 1,4-DHP, aldehyde and aniline...

Danshefsky s diene [19] is the 1,3-butadiene with amethoxy group at the 1-position and a trimethylsiloxy group at the 3-position (Scheme 18). This diene and Lewis acids extended the scope of hetereo-Diels-Alder reactions with aldehydes [20], This diene reacts with virtually any aldehyde in the presence of Lewis acids whereas dienes usually react with only selected aldehydes bearing strongly electron accepting a-substituents. There are two (Diels-Alder and Mukaiyama aldol) reaction pathways (Scheme 18) identified for the Lewis acids catalyzed reactions of Danishefsky diene with aldehydes [21, 22]. The two pathways suggest that these reactions occur on the boundary between the delocahzation band (the pericyclic... 

Trialkylsilyl cations may play a key role in other Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions.59 For example, trimethylsilyl triflate can be formed by intermolecular transfer of the silyl group. When this occurs, the trimethylsilyl triflate can initiate a catalytic cycle that does not directly involve the Lewis acid. 

The highly ordered cyclic TS of the D-A reaction permits design of diastereo-or enantioselective reactions. (See Section 2.4 of Part A to review the principles of diastereoselectivity and enantioselectivity.) One way to achieve this is to install a chiral auxiliary.80 The cycloaddition proceeds to give two diastereomeric products that can be separated and purified. Because of the lower temperature required and the greater stereoselectivity observed in Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions, the best diastereoselectivity is observed in catalyzed reactions. Several chiral auxiliaries that are capable of high levels of diastereoselectivity have been developed. Chiral esters and amides of acrylic acid are particularly useful because the auxiliary can be recovered by hydrolysis of the purified adduct to give the enantiomerically pure carboxylic acid. Early examples involved acryloyl esters of chiral alcohols, including lactates and mandelates. Esters of the lactone of 2,4-dihydroxy-3,3-dimethylbutanoic acid (pantolactone) have also proven useful. 

Kobayashi has found that scandium triflate, Sc(OTf)3,36 and lanthanide triflate, Ln(OTf)3, are stable and can be used as Lewis catalysts under aqueous conditions. Many other Lewis acids have also been reported to catalyze Diels-Alder reactions in aqueous media. For example, Engberts reported37 that the cyclization reaction in Eq. 12.7 in an aqueous solution containing 0.010 M Cu(N03)2 is 250,000 times faster than that in acetonitrile and about 1,000 times faster than that in water alone. Other salts, such as Co2+, Ni2+, and Zn2+, also catalyze the reaction, but not as effectively as Cu2+. However, water has no effect on the endo-exo selectivity for the Lewis-acid catalyzed reaction. 

Lewis-acid-catalyzed reactions often occur with unique reactivity and selectivity, and the reactions proceed under mild conditions. Many Lewis-acid-mediated reactions are now used not only in laboratories but also in industry. This chapter summarizes these Lewis acid-mediated reactions successfully used in organic synthesis they are organized mainly by the element of the Lewis-acid catalyst. Due to limitations of space, the focus is on more recent publications.1-3... 

Indium trichloride349-351 is a mild Lewis acid that is effective for various kinds of Lewis-acid-catalyzed reactions such as Diels-Alder reactions (Scheme 85), aldol reactions, and Friedel Crafts reactions. Since indium trichloride is stable in water, several aqueous reactions have been investigated (Scheme 85) indium(III) triflate is also used as a Lewis acid. 

Antimony pentachloride is a reactive Lewis acid that can be used for Friedel-Crafts reactions and some other Lewis-acid-catalyzed reactions. The HF-SbF5 system is known as magic acid, and carbocations are stabilized in this medium.353 By using the HF-SbF5 system, alkylation of acetophenone (a relatively unreactive aromatic compound) has been achieved (Scheme 87). 

Related halomethylzinc alkoxides, which are monomeric in solution, were studied for their effectiveness in cyclopropanation reactions. The Lewis acid-catalyzed reaction is the only reaction pathway at low temperature and... 

Carreira and Kruger reported facile transmetallation of silicon enolates to other soft metal enolates including Gu derivatives.499 They reasoned that the use of soft metal fluoride complexes enabled silyl metal transmetallation with catalytic use of a soft metal source. The concept is illustrated in Scheme 103. Normal Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions of silicon enolates with aldehydes proceed via activation of aldehydes by carbonyl oxygen coordination to Lewis acids, as shown in the upper equation of Scheme 103. A key step for catalytic turnover is the desilyation of 233 by the... 

The product possesses a homoallylic stannane moiety, which can be utilized as a useful synthon for cyclopropane formation (Scheme 68). Upon treatment of the homoallylstannane with HI, destannative cyclization takes place to give cyclopropylmethylsilane.271,272 A Lewis acid-catalyzed reaction with benzaldehyde dimethyl acetal affords vinylcyclopropane.273... 

When a tetravalent ion, such as Ti4+, replaces, the Si4+ in a silicate lattice isomorphously, the generation of Brpnsted acidity is not anticipated. In fact, no experimental evidence exists for a purely Brpnsted acid-catalyzed reaction in a well-synthesized and pure sample of TS-1 and in the absence of H202. Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions can, of course, occur because of the coordinatively unsaturated Ti ions, as mentioned above (Section II.B). 

Judging from these findings, the mechanism of Lewis acid catalysis in water (for example, aldol reactions of aldehydes with silyl enol ethers) can be assumed to be as follows. When metal compounds are added to water, the metals dissodate and hydration occurs immediatdy. At this stage, the intramolecular and intermolecular exchange reactions of water molecules frequently occur. If an aldehyde exists in the system, there is a chance that it will coordinate to the metal cations instead of the water molecules and the aldehyde is then activated. A silyl enol ether attacks this adivated aldehyde to produce the aldol adduct. According to this mechanism, it is expected that many Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions should be successful in aqueous solutions. Although the precise activity as Lewis acids in aqueous media cannot be predicted quantitatively... 

Since our first paper181 on Lewis add catalysis in aqueous media appeared, many investigations and results in this area have been reported. Water-stable Lewis adds are now becoming common and useful catalysts in organic synthesis. These catalysts have been applied to various types of Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions. 

Because of their previous findings that a,/l-unsaturated thioesters were more reactive than their ester counterparts in Diels-Alder reactions85, Hart and coworkers86 performed a systematic study of the cycloaddition reactions of a,/l-unsaturated thioesters and a,ft-unsaturated selenoesters with several dienes. Thermal reactions were compared with Lewis acid catalyzed reactions at room temperature (equation 28 and Table 2). The results clearly demonstrated that use of a Lewis acid enhanced the regioselectivity (entries 1 vs 2, 3 vs 4, 5 vs 6 and 7 vs 8) as well as the endo (with respect to the thioester or selenoester group) selectivity (entries 5 vs 6 and 7 vs 8). 

The Lewis acid catalyzed reaction of furan (169) with ketovinylphosphonate 170 produced a mixture of adducts, both of which slowly underwent retro Diels-Alder reactions at room temperature121. When diethylaluminum chloride was used as the catalyst, the endo selectivity (with respect to the keto functionality) was enhanced from 171/172 = 58/42 to 78/22 by raising the reaction temperature from — 25 °C to 0°C (equation 47). This is in agreement with the FMO theory, since initial Lewis acid complexation is with the phosphonate group. 

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