Lithium aluminum hydride reaction with amides

A number of organic species, including amides, oximes, and nitriles, undergo reductive amination, a variety of reduction reactions that produce cimines. In general, these processes involve imines, R=N-R, or related species. Reduction processes include hydrogenation using Raney nickel as the catalyst (for nitriles), the reaction with sodium/EtOH (for oximes), and the use of lithium aluminum hydride, LiAlH (for amides or nitriles). Figure 13-16 illustrates the preparation of amphetamine by reductive amination. 

A key reaction of amides is that they can be reduced, using lithium aluminum hydride, to amines. Amides are readily synthesized from other acid derivatives and are non-nucleophilic because of the electron-withdrawing effect of the carbonyl group, so that there is no further reaction with electrophiles. Figure 22.9 shows an example in the first step, the esters are converted into amides, then dimethylsulfate methylates the hydroxyl groups. Lithium aluminum hydride then reduces the amides to amines. It s useful to remember that amides can also be prepared by Beckman rearrangements (Figure 22.10). 

Synthesis by high-dilution techniques requires slow admixture of reagents ( 8-24 hrs) or very large volumes of solvents 100 1/mmol). Fast reactions can also be carried out in suitable flow cells (J.L. Dye, 1973). High dilution conditions have been used in the dilactam formation from l,8-diamino-3,6-dioxaoctane and 3,6-dioxaoctanedioyl dichloride in benzene. The amide groups were reduced with lithium aluminum hydride, and a second cyclization with the same dichloride was then carried out. The new bicyclic compound was reduced with diborane. This ligand envelops metal ions completely and is therefore called a cryptand (B. Dietrich, 1969). 

A substituted benzoic acid serves as precursor for the nontricyclic antidepressant bipena-mol (175). Selective. saponification of ester 171 afford.s the half-acid 172. Reaction of the acid chloride derived from this intermediate (173) with ammonia gives the amide 174. Reduction of the last by means of lithium aluminum hydride gives bipenamol (175) [44]. 

A thio-substituted, quaternary ammonium salt can be synthesized by the Michael addition of an alkyl thiol to acrylamide in the presence of benzyl trimethyl ammonium hydroxide as a catalyst [793-795]. The reaction leads to the crystallization of the adducts in essentially quantitative yield. Reduction of the amides by lithium aluminum hydride in tetrahydrofuran solution produces the desired amines, which are converted to desired halide by reaction of the methyl iodide with the amines. The inhibitor is useful in controlling corrosion such as that caused by CO2 and H2S. 

In this series, too, replacement of the N-methyl by a group such as cyclopropylmethyl leads to a compound with reduced abuse potential by virtue of mixed agonist-antagonist action. To accomplish this, reduction of 24 followed by reaction with tertiary butylmagnesium chloride gives the tertiary carbinol 27. The N-methyl group is then removed by the classic von Braun procedure. Thus, reaction with cyanogen bromide leads to the N-cyano derivative (28) hydrolysis affords the secondary amine 29. (One of the more efficient demethylation procedures, such as reaction with ethyl chloroformate would presumably be used today.) Acylation with cyclopropylcarbonyl chloride then leads to the amide 30. Reduction with lithium aluminum hydride (31) followed by demethylation of the phenolic ether affords buprenorphine (32).9... 

A similar sequence starting with the acylation product (76) from metachlorophenylacetonitrile gives the halogenated tricyclic ketone 83. Condensation of that intermediate with ethyl bromoacetate in the presence of zinc (Reformatsky reaction) gives the hydroxyester 84. This product is then in turn dehydrated under acid conditions (85), saponified to the corresponding acid (86), and converted to the dimethyl-amide (87) by way of the acid chloride. The amide function is then reduced to the amine (88) with lithium aluminum hydride catalytic hydrogenation of the exocyclic double bond completes the synthesis of closiramine (89). This compound also exhibits antihistaminic activity. 

Because direct glycosidation of 4 with phenols is not possible, indirect methods must be used for the preparation of aryl D-glucofuranosidurono-6,3-lactones (29). In addition, aryl 2,5-di-O-acetyl-D-glucofuranosidurono-6,3-lactones (30), obtained35-37 from the reaction of 1,2,5-tri-0-acetyl-D-glucofuranurono-6,3-lactones with phenols, can only be deacetylated by such multi-step procedures as (1) ammonolysis of 30 to afford aryl D-glucofuranosiduronamides (31), followed by amide hydrolysis and lactonization, 35,37 or (2) reduction of 30 with lithium aluminum hydride, and subsequent oxidation of the intermediate aryl D-glucofuranosides38 (32) (see Scheme 1). 

A carboxylic acid group may be introduced into the 2-position of dibenzofuran by Friedel-Crafts reaction with 2,2-dichloro-l,3-benzodioxole (catechol dichloromethylene ether) and hydrolysis of the resultant ester. Similarly, reaction with methylphenylcarbamoyl chloride produces the 2-(N-methyl-yV-phenylcarboxamide) or the 2,8-disubstituted derivative under more stringent conditions. Controlled reduction of these amides with lithium aluminum hydride supplies the corresponding aldehydes. ... 

An efficient synthesis of ( )-quebrachamine is based on the construction of a suitable precursor via ring cleavage of an a-diketone monothioketal (810) (80JCS(P1)457). This monothioketal, available from 4-ethoxycarbonylcyclohexanone ethylene ketal, was fragmented to the dithianyl half ester (811) with sodium hydride in the presence of water. Reaction of (811) with tryptamine and DCC provided an amide which was converted to the stereoisomeric lactams (812) on hydrolysis of the dithiane function. Reduction of either the a- or /3-ethyl isomer with lithium aluminum hydride followed by conversion of the derived amino alcohol to its mesylate produced the amorphous quaternary salt (813). On reduction with sodium in liquid ammonia, the isomeric salts provided ( )-quebrachamine (814 Scheme 190). 

The only new compound produced in these studies was LiAlF4 however, this work is significant because control was achieved even with the highly exothermic reactions of lithium aluminum hydride, alkali metal borohydrides, and alkali metal hexahydroaluminated with elemental fluorine. The reactions of alkali metal amides with fluorine have also been successfully controlled. These reactions provide extremely clean routes to the fluoride analogues. 

Even unactivated C-F bonds in jV,Ar-bis(2-fluoroethyl)piperonylamide (6) are reduced by a sufficiently active reagent. Although lithium aluminum hydride itself is found not to be sufficiently active, its combination with aluminum(III) chloride readily hydrogenolyzes the C-F bonds in the amide at low temperature.130 It is surprising that this reagent was not able to reduce the C-Cl bond in a similar position during this reaction. 

Lithium aluminum hydride is a convenient reagent for reduction of nitro compounds, nitriles, amides, azides, and oximes to primary amines. Catalytic hydrogenation works also. Aromatic nitro compounds are reduced best by reaction of a metal and aqueous acid or with ammonium or sodium polysulfides (see Section 23-12B). Reduction of /V-substituted amides leads to secondary amines. 

Horner-Emmons reaction of N-terminal blocked aldehyde 1 with sulfonylphosphonates in the presence of sodium hydride gives the amino acid vinyl sulfone 2, which is deprotected with acid and converted into its chloride or tosylate salt 3 and coupled by the mixed anhydride method with an N-terminal protected peptide or amino acid to give the desired peptide vinyl sulfones 4 (Scheme 2). 4 5 N-Terminal protected aldehydes 1 are obtained from reduction of Boc amino acid V-methoxy-A-methylamides (Weinreb amides, see Section 15.1.1) by lithium aluminum hydride. 9 The V-methoxy-V-methylamide derivatives are prepared by reaction of Boc amino acids with N,O-dimethylhydroxylamine hydrochloride in... 

If free base mescaline is brought into reaction with ethyl formate (to produce the amide, N-formylmescaline) and subsequently reduced (with lithium aluminum hydride) it is converted to the N-methyl homologue. This base has also bees, found as a trace component in the Peyote cactus. And the effects of N-methylation of other psychedelic drugs have been commented upon elsewhere in these recipes, all with consistently negative results (with the noteworthy exception of the conversion of MDA to MDMA). Here, too, there is no obvious activity in man, although the levels assayed were only up to 25 milligrams. 

Reactions of Esters Esters are much more stable than acid chlorides and anhydrides. For example, most esters do not react with water under neutral conditions. They hydrolyze under acidic or basic conditions, however, and an amine can displace the alkoxyl group to form an amide. Lithium aluminum hydride reduces esters to primary alcohols, and Grignard and organolithium reagents add twice to give alcohols (after hydrolysis). 

Reactions of Nitriles Nitriles undergo acidic or basic hydrolysis to amides, which may be further hydrolyzed to carboxylic acids. Reduction of a nitrile by lithium aluminum hydride gives a primary amine, and the reaction with a Grignard reagent gives an imine that hydrolyzes to a ketone. 

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