Lithium aluminum hydride selective ketone reduction

The success of the halo ketone route depends on the stereo- and regio-selectivity in the halo ketone synthesis, as well as on the stereochemistry of reduction of the bromo ketone. Lithium aluminum hydride or sodium borohydride are commonly used to reduce halo ketones to the /mm-halohydrins. However, carefully controlled reaction conditions or alternate reducing reagents, e.g., lithium borohydride, are often required to avoid reductive elimination of the halogen. 

Facial selectivities in the nucleophilic addition of bicyclic ketones have recently been examined comprehensively [71, 72]. Mehta and his colleagues studied the facial selectivities of 2,3-exo,exo-disubstituted 7-norbomanones 14a and 14b [73-75]. In the reduction of 14a and 14b with sodium borohydride, lithium aluminum hydride. 

The stereoselective total synthesis of both ( )-corynantheidine (61) (170,171) (alio stereoisomer) and ( )-dihydrocorynantheine (172) (normal stereoisomer) has been elaborated by Szdntay and co-workers. The key intermediate leading to both alkaloids was the alio cyanoacetic ester derivative 315, which was obtained from the previously prepared ketone 312 (173) by the Knoevenagel condensation accompanied by complete epimerization at C-20 and by subsequent stereoselective sodium borohydride reduction. ( )-Corynantheidine was prepared by modification of the cyanoacetate side chain esterification furnished diester 316, which underwent selective lithium aluminum hydride reduction. The resulting sodium enolate of the a-formyl ester was finally methylated to racemic corynantheidine (171). 

Reduction of a-methyl-fi-hydroxy ketones,2 The r-butyldimethylsilyl ethers of these ketones, in which chelation is difficult, are reduced by lithium aluminum hydride with a high degree of 1,2-anri-selectivity. This reaction can therefore afford either aM ,a/iri-l,3-diols or anti,syn- 1,3-diols with high selectivity. 

Conversion of the keto ketoxime 1 to the exo-exo-amino alcohol 2 has been accomplished by hydrogenation over Adams catalyst and by reduction with lithium aluminum hydride. Amino alcohol 2 has also been prepared from 1 by a two-stage process in which selective reduction of the ketone is carried out with sodium borohydride, and the resultant hydroxy oxime is reduced with lithium aluminum hydride or by hydrogenation over Adams catalyst. ... 

The main methods of reducing ketones to alcohols are (a) use of complex metal hydrides (b) use of alkali metals in alcohols or liquid ammonia or amines 221 (c) catalytic hydrogenation 14,217 (d) Meerwein-Ponndorf reduction.169,249 The reduction of organic compounds by complex metal hydrides, first reported in 1947,174 is a widely used technique. This chapter reviews first the main metal hydride reagents, their reactivities towards various functional groups and the conditions under which they are used to reduce ketones. The reduction of ketones by hydrides is then discussed under the headings of mechanism and stereochemistry, reduction of unsaturated ketones, and stereochemistry and selectivity of reduction of steroidal ketones. Finally reductions with the mixed hydride reagent of lithium aluminum hydride and aluminum chloride, with diborane and with iridium complexes, are briefly described. 

A very extensive investigation of the reaction of pyridine and lithium aluminum hydride has been made by Lansbury and Peterson.60-82 These authors found that an aged solution of LAH in pyridine possessed unusual and selective reductive properties. Ketones and aldehydes were reduced while carboxylic acids were not, and diaryl ketones were reduced more readily than dialkyl ketones. These distinctive properties were found to result from a dihydropyridine-aluminum complex formed by the reaction of LAH and pyridine. 

Asymmetric reduction of ketones.1 Lithium aluminum hydride, after partial decomposition with 1 equiv. of 1 and an amine additive such as N-benzylmethylamine, can effect asymmetric reduction of prochiral ketones at temperatures of — 20°. The highest selectivity is observed with aryl alkyl ketones (55-87% ee), but dialkyl ketones can be reduced stereoselectively if the two groups are sterically different. Thus cyclohexyl methyl ketone can be reduced with 71% ee. 

Hydroxyketones are versatile intermediates in the synthesis of pharmaceutical intermediates and heterocyclic molecules. a-Aryl hydroxyketones have been prepared by reaction of aryl aldehydes with 1,4-dioxane followed by reduction with lithium aluminum hydride (LAH) and by the selective LAH reduction of a-silyloxy a,P-unsaturated esters." WissneC has shown that treatment of acid chlorides with tris(trimethylsilyloxy)ethylene affords alkyl and aryl hydroxymethyl ketones. 1-Hydroxy-3-phenyl-2-propanone (3) has been generated by the osmium-catalyzed oxidation of phenylpropene and by the palladium-catalyzed rearrangement of phenyl epoxy alcohoP both in 62% yield. 

Lithium aluminum hydride (LAH) reductions are carried out in aprotic solvents and give rise to the dihydro- and tetrahydropyridine derivatives. LAH reacts with both pyridines and pyridinium salts. It has been known for some time that aged ( 24 h) pyridine and LAH solutions form complexes of lithium tetrakis(A -dihydropyridinyl)aluminate (40, LDPA), - which is believed to consist of a mixture of the 1,2- and 1,4-dihydropyridines (by NMR). Indeed, LDPA itself has been used as a selective reducing agent for ketones and affords 3-substituted pyridines (41) on reaction with alkyl halides. 2,5-Dihydropyridines have been identified as intermediates in similar reactions. Kuthan and co-workers have shown that for 3,5-dicyan-... 

After hydrogen evolution has subsided, the solution is refluxed for 2 hrs. The complex has been shown to eifect asymmetric reduction of ketones optically active alcohols of up to 40% optical purity have been obtained and they all have the (S)-configuration. On the other hand, if increasing quantities of ethanol are added to the lithium aluminum hydride complex, the configuration of the secondary alcohol formed changes from (S) to (R). Thus the stereoselectivity increases to a maximum and then decreases as more ethanol is added. Furthermore, maximum selectivities are substantially increased... 

A significant improvement was the introduction of zinc borohydride, which has become the reagent of choice for a variety of chelation-controlled reductions. With a-hydroxy ketones as substrates (Table 3)15,16 the zinc-based reagent is reliably superior to lithium aluminum hydride, presumably because of the increased tendency of zinc(II) ions, compared with lithium ions, to form chelated complexes. The results arc not uniformly excellent, but in many cases the selectivity is highly satisfactory. The method can give useful results with relatively complex substrates, e.g., the reduction of. sv w-3-hydroxy-4-mcthyl-5-triphenylmethoxy-2-pentanone. 

Table 3. anti-, 2-Diols by Selective Reduction of a-Hydroxy Ketones with Zinc Borohydride (Method A)15 16 or Lithium Aluminum Hydride (Method B)13 14... 

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