Structure lithium amides

In this chapter the focus is on a few structures that serve to highlight the key factors controlling the structures of chiral lithium amides in general. For a complete review on structures of lithium amides there are a number of excellent articles5-10. The structures of the chiral lithium amides discussed herein have been determined either by X-ray analysis or by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy of isotopically labelled compounds. The basics of lithium amide structures and in particular the structures and dynamics of chiral lithium amides will be presented. 

In each of the following reactions an amine or a lithium amide derivative reacts with an aryl halide Give the structure of the expected product and specify the mechanism by which it is formed... 

A priori borataethenes would be expected to be much more stable than the corresponding boraethenes because, as Rundle presciently noted about organometallic structures,50 all low-lying atomic orbitals are involved in the bonding. In fact, the stabilization of 52 is the driving force for the acidity of C—H bonds of proper orientation a to tricoordinate boron. Such acidity was first detected by Rathke and Kow through the treatment of B-methyl-9-borabicyclo[3.3.1] nonane (53) with hindered lithium amides, such as lithium 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidide51 (Eq. 18) ... 

Diboratacarbazole heterocycles 137 are obtained in 60% isolated yield by heating the phosphine-stabilized 2,2 -diborabiphenyl derivative 138 with primary amines in toluene for 20h (Scheme 55). Further double deprotonation of the heterocycle 137 (Ar = Ph) with a lithium amide leads to the dianionic 9,11-diboratacarbazole derivative 139 (98%, S nB 31.71 ppm). Structures 137 (Ar = Ph) and 139 were characterized by X-ray crystallography <20040M3085>. 

In 1994, lithium amide 23 was used in the conjugate addition of 2-cyclohexenone to afford optically active adduct with up to 97% ee (Scheme 13).28-29 A dimeric structure was proposed as the intermediate, where the phenyl group in 23 blocked the bottom face and the cyclohexenone substrate approached from the upper face. 

Scheme 3.6-2. Homo-aggregation of lithium amide rings showing the general preference for ladder, as opposed to stack, structures.

Considering the importance of alkali metal phosphanides it is not surprising that numerous review articles have dealt with this subject [34-36]. The solid state and solution structures vary from dimers with central M2 P2 cycles to larger rings and from chain to ladder structures as described for the lithium amides (see Sections 3.6.1 and 3.6.2). Cage compounds in the field of lithium phosphanides are unusual... 

In contrast to the lithium amides and phosphanides, dimeric alkaline-earth metal bis(phosphanides) of the heavier group 2 metals show bicyclic structures of the... 

Detailed investigations indicate that the enolization process (LDA, THF) affords enolates 37 and 38 with at/east 97% (Z)-stereoselection. Related observations have recently been reported on the stereoselective enolization of dialkylthioamides (38). In this latter study, the Ireland-Claisen strategy (34) was employed to assign enolate geometry. Table 10 summarizes the enolization stereo selection that has been observed for both esters and amides with LDA. Complementary kinetic enolization ratios for ketonic substrates are included in Table 7. Recent studies on the role of base structure and solvent are now beginning to appear in the literature (39,40), and the Ireland enolization model for lithium amide bases has been widely accepted, A tabular survey of the influence of the ester moiety (ORj) on a range of aldol condensations via the lithium enolates is provided in Table 11 (eq. [24]). Enolate ratios for some of the condensations illustrated may be found in Table 10. It is apparent from these data that ( )-enolates derived from alkyl propionates (Rj = CH3, t-C4H9) exhibit low aldol stereoselectivity. In contrast, the enolates derived from alkoxyalkyl esters (Rj = CHjOR ) exhibit 10 1 threo diastereo-... 

Among other enantioselective alkylations, a series of 3-aminopyrrolidine lithium amides (67 derived from 4-hydroxy-L-proline) have been used to induce high ee% in the addition of alkyllithiums to various aldehydes. Structure-activity relationships are identified, and the role of a second chiral centre (in the R group) in determining the stereochemistry of the product is discussed. 

Irradiation of matrix-isolated imidazole-2-carboxylic acid gave the 2,3-dihydro-imidazol-2-ylidene-C02 complex (31) characterized by IR spectroscopy and calculated to lie 15.9 kcal mol above the starting material. A series of non-aromatic nucleophilic carbenes (32) were prepared by desulfurization of the corresponding thiones by molten potassium in boiling THF. The most hindered of the series (32 R = Bu) is stable indefinitely under exclusion of air and water and can be distilled without decomposition. The less hindered carbenes slowly dimerize to the corresponding alkenes. Stable aminoxy- and aminothiocarbenes (33 X = O, S) were prepared by deprotonation of iminium salts with lithium amide bases. The carbene carbon resonance appears at 260-297 ppm in the NMR spectrum and an X-ray structure determination of an aminooxycarbene indicated that electron donation from the nitrogen is more important than that from oxygen. These carbenes do not dimerize. 

On this basis, information about the aggregation state and the solid state structure of lithium amides becomes available. A similar relationship is known for x( O) and the Si-O-Si angle in silicates . ... 

SCHEME 4. Structures of lithium amides with different N-Li-N angles... 

The reaction depicted in equation 43 between a nitrile and a lithium amide takes place as a 1,2-addition to the cyano group. The product crystallizes as a dimer (236) in which the lithium atoms are solvated by nitrile molecules and differently bonded to the amidine moieties, as shown by XRD analysis. Low-temperature H NMR spectrum in solution points to uniform chemical environments for both the aryl groups and for the Me—Si groups, and to rapid rearrangement of the Li—N coordination structures. Acidolysis of the dimer in solution yields the corresponding amidine (237) . The crystal structure of the THF-solvated analog of 236 shows dissimilar N—Li bond lengths for the two Li atoms... 

As seen above, /3-deprotonation implies a six-center transition state. Recent computational studies show an important variation of the H —C—C—O dihedral angle from reactant to transition state . Thus, the ground state geometry of the oxirane cannot be used to predict its reactivity. However, for structural reasons, some oxiranes cannot adopt a suitable conformation for -deprotonation and furnish exclusively a-deprotonation products. This concept is well illustrated by the norbornene oxide 17, which gives exclusively the transannular 1,3 insertion product 18 in the presence of lithium amide (Scheme 5) . 

Nonstabiiized lithiooxiranes can be prepared by the reaction of strong bases such as alkylithium reagents or lithium amides. However, as already discussed in a preceding section (Section II), the competition between a- and /3-deprotonation has to be adressed, and the issue of this competition is highly dependent on the structure of the starting oxirane as well as on the nature of the base used. These lithiooxiranes are very reactive species. In order to prevent their decomposition, they can be stabilized by a diamine ligand. Further stabilization can be obtained by a remote functionality. 

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