Lithium enolates addition with

Another example of a [4S+1C] cycloaddition process is found in the reaction of alkenylcarbene complexes and lithium enolates derived from alkynyl methyl ketones. In Sect. 2.6.4.9 it was described how, in general, lithium enolates react with alkenylcarbene complexes to produce [3C+2S] cycloadducts. However, when the reaction is performed using lithium enolates derived from alkynyl methyl ketones and the temperature is raised to 65 °C, a new formal [4s+lcj cy-clopentenone derivative is formed [79] (Scheme 38). The mechanism proposed for this transformation supposes the formation of the [3C+2S] cycloadducts as depicted in Scheme 32 (see Sect. 2.6.4.9). This intermediate evolves through a retro-aldol-type reaction followed by an intramolecular Michael addition of the allyllithium to the ynone moiety to give the final cyclopentenone derivatives after hydrolysis. The role of the pentacarbonyltungsten fragment seems to be crucial for the outcome of this reaction, as experiments carried out with isolated intermediates in the absence of tungsten complexes do not afford the [4S+1C] cycloadducts (Scheme 38). 

In spite of the apparent difference between conjugate addition and carbocupra-tion reactions (Sect. 10.3.2), the similarities between the key organometallic features of the two reactions are now evident. In both reactions, inner sphere electron-transfer converts the stable C-Cu bond into an unstable C-Cu bond, and the cluster-opening generates a nucleophilic, tetracoordinated alkyl group. The difference is that the product of conjugate addition (PD) remains as a lithium enolate complexed with RCu (Scheme 10.5), while the initial product of carbocupration... 

INT2, Scheme 10.7) undergoes further reaction (Li/Cu transmetalation) and generates a new organocuprate compound. (Note however that this difference could become more subtle since the product of conjugate addition (PD) might behave more like an a-cuprio(I) ketone complexed with a lithium cation [52] than a lithium enolate complexed with copper(I)). In neither reaction was any evidence of radical intermediates (i.e., SET) found by theoretical calculations [79]. 

In this study, benzaldehyde and benzaldehyde-methyllithium adduct were fully optimized at HF/6-31G and their vibrational frequencies were calculated. The authors used MeLi instead of lithium pinacolone enolate, since it was assumed that the equilibrium IBs are not much different for the MeLi addition and lithium enolate addition. Dehalogena-tion and enone-isomerization probe experiments detected no evidence of a single electron transfer to occur during the course of the reaction. The primary carbonyl carbon kinetic isotope effects and chemical probe experiments led them to conclude that the reaction of lithium pinacolone enolate with benzaldehyde proceeds via a polar mechanism. 

Enantioselective Michael Additions. Amine 1 has also been used as an effective ligand for enantioselective Michael reactions of ketone lithium enolate donors with various benzylidene acceptors. As representative examples, the lithium enolates of aryl methyl ketones were reacted with dimethyl benzylidene-malonate in the presence of 1 (eq 9). The lithium enolate was generated from the corresponding ketone by treatment with hex-amethyldisilazide in the presence of lithium bromide in toluene. The resulting enolate was then exposed to 1 and allowed to stir for 30 min to form the desired ternary complex. After addition of the benzylidene acceptor, the desired products were isolated in acceptable yields and with high % ee. 

Following our introduction, a simple example4 of conjugate addition is a cuprate addition to cy-clohexenone followed by trapping of the lithium enolate 18 with Mel to give the anti product 19. 

If no component has stereochemistry, asymmetric conjugate addition can be ensured by a C2 symmetric chiral auxiliary attached to the enolate partner. Addition of the lithium enolate of the amide 31 to the unsaturated ester 32 gives the lithium enolate 33 with good stereochemical control at both the new centres.8... 

Addition of imine 2a to the zinc enolate prepared by treatment of 1 with lithium diisopropyl-amide in tetrahydrofuran followed by addition of zinc(II) chloride at —78 °C gives trans-fi-lactam 3a in 98% yield and d.r. [(37 ,4i )/(35,45)] >97 <3. Similar reaction with imine 2b with chiral substituents on both the carbon and nitrogen affords j3-lactam 3b in 90% yield and d.r. [(3/ ,4/ )/(35,45)] 93 782. Reaction of the lithium enolate 4 with imine 5 gives the trans-ji-lactam 6, a precursor of the carbapenem antibiotic PS-5, with d.r. [(3jR,4S)/(3S,4jR)1 96 483. 

The sequential Michael addition/Ireland-Claisen reactions proceed with high diastereoselectivity in one pot. Preparation of the lithium enolate 68 with LDA in THF at —78 °C followed by the addition of the allylic ester acceptor 67 leads to the smooth conjugate addition, whose stereoselectivity was more than 98% diastereomeric excess. The ketene silyl acetal 70, which was formed by the trapping of the Michael addition intermediate 69 with TMSCl, underwent Ireland-Claisen rearrangement in the presence of PdCl2(PhCN)2... 

An asymmetric synthesis of estrone begins with an asymmetric Michael addition of lithium enolate (178) to the scalemic sulfoxide (179). Direct treatment of the cmde Michael adduct with y /i7-chloroperbenzoic acid to oxidize the sulfoxide to a sulfone, followed by reductive removal of the bromine affords (180, X = a and PH R = H) in over 90% yield. Similarly to the conversion of (175) to (176), base-catalyzed epimerization of (180) produces an 85% isolated yield of (181, X = /5H R = H). C8 and C14 of (181) have the same relative and absolute stereochemistry as that of the naturally occurring steroids. Methylation of (181) provides (182). A (CH2)2CuLi-induced reductive cleavage of sulfone (182) followed by stereoselective alkylation of the resultant enolate with an allyl bromide yields (183). Ozonolysis of (183) produces (184) (wherein the aldehydric oxygen is by isopropyUdene) in 68% yield. Compound (184) is the optically active form of Ziegler s intermediate (176), and is converted to (+)-estrone in 6.3% overall yield and >95% enantiomeric excess (200). 

Although ethereal solutions of methyl lithium may be prepared by the reaction of lithium wire with either methyl iodide or methyl bromide in ether solution, the molar equivalent of lithium iodide or lithium bromide formed in these reactions remains in solution and forms, in part, a complex with the methyllithium. Certain of the ethereal solutions of methyl 1ithium currently marketed by several suppliers including Alfa Products, Morton/Thiokol, Inc., Aldrich Chemical Company, and Lithium Corporation of America, Inc., have been prepared from methyl bromide and contain a full molar equivalent of lithium bromide. In several applications such as the use of methyllithium to prepare lithium dimethyl cuprate or the use of methyllithium in 1,2-dimethyoxyethane to prepare lithium enolates from enol acetates or triraethyl silyl enol ethers, the presence of this lithium salt interferes with the titration and use of methyllithium. There is also evidence which indicates that the stereochemistry observed during addition of methyllithium to carbonyl compounds may be influenced significantly by the presence of a lithium salt in the reaction solution. For these reasons it is often desirable to have ethereal solutions... 

In a separate report, preparation of the lithium enolate of 31 in the presence of indium trichloride and benzaldehyde provided a 77% yield of 32 with complete trans selectivity however, sequential addition of indium trichloride and benzaldehyde provided Barbier-type products. Organotin enolates have also been used in a Darzens-type... 

Although enolates, their equivalents, and otherwise stabilized carbanions would be interesting candidates for ARO of weso-epoxides, no efficient catalytic method has been developed to date. Crotti reported that 20 mol% of (salen)Cr-Cl complex 2 promoted the addition of the lithium enolate of acetophenone to cyclohexene oxide with moderate ees (Scheme 7.26) [50], However, the very low yields obtained... 

Schreiber found that the monoalkylation of the lithium enolate of cyclonona-none with propene oxide could be cleanly effected by addition of AlMe3 to give the y-hydroxy ketone 145, a key intermediate for the synthesis of recifeiolide [69a]. 

Posner recently reported a very simple and fast way to activate epoxides towards nucleophilic opening by ketone lithium enolate anions by use of BF3 Et20 (1 equiv.) [73]. The application of this procedure to the nucleophilic opening of propene oxide with the lithium enolate of 2-cycloheptanone, obtained by the conjugate addition of trimethylstannyllithium to 2-cycloheptenone, afforded the stan-... 

Surprisingly, the size of the silyl protecting group significantly influences the stereochemical outcome of aldol additions performed with the lithium enolates of (S )-l-trimethylsiloxy-and (S)-l-f< rt-butyldimethylsiloxy-l-cyclohexyl-2-butanone. Thus, the former reagent attacks benzaldehyde preferably from the Si-face (9 1), which is the opposite topicity to that found in the addition of the corresponding titanium enolates of either ketone ... 

Stereodivergent aldol addition is also possible when (.S,)-5,5-dimethyl-4-trimethylsiloxy-3-hexanonc (16) is chosen as the enolate precursor. Thus, the lithium enolate generated from 16 by treatment with lithium diisopropylamide and tetramethylethylenediamine leads predomi-... 

The lithium enolate 2a (M = Li ) prepared from the iron propanoyl complex 1 reacts with symmetrical ketones to produce the diastercomers 3 and 4 with moderate selectivity for diastereomer 3. The yields of the aldol adducts are poor deprotonation of the substrate ketone is reported to be the dominant reaction pathway45. However, transmetalation of the lithium enolate 2a by treatment with one equivalent of copper cyanide at —40 C generates the copper enolate 2b (M = Cu ) which reacts with symmetrical ketones at — 78 °C to selectively produce diastereomer 3 in good yield. Diastereomeric ratios in excess of 92 8 are reported with efficient stereoselection requiring the addition of exactly one equivalent of copper cyanide at the transmetalation step45. Small amounts of triphcnylphosphane, a common trace impurity remaining from the preparation of these iron-acyl complexes, appear to suppress formation of the copper enolate. Thus, the starting iron complex must be carefully purified. 

In contrast, transmetalation of the lithium enolate at —40 C by treatment with one equivalent of copper cyanide generated a species 10b (M = Cu ) that reacted with acetaldehyde to selectively provide a 25 75 mixture of diastereomers 11 and 12 (R = CH3) which are separable by chromatography on alumina. Other diastereomers were not observed. Similar transmetalation of 10a (M = Li0) with excess diethylaluminum chloride, followed by reaction with acetaldehyde, produced a mixture of the same two diastereomers, but with a reversed ratio (80 20). Similar results were obtained upon aldol additions to other aldehydes (see the following table)49. 

The addition of lithium enolates to 2-alkoxyaldehydes occurs either in a completely non-stereoselective manner, or with moderate selectivity in favor of the product predicted by the Cram-Felkin-Anh model28 ( nonchelation control 3, see reference 28 for a survey of this type of addition to racemic aldehydes). Thus, a 1 1 mixture of the diastereomeric adducts results from the reaction of lithiated tert-butyl acetate and 2-benzyloxypropanal4,28. 

Using 3-substituted cyclohexanones the /rans-diastereoselective synthesis of decalones and octahydro-1 //-indenones may be achieved 164 169. This method has been applied, for instance, in the synthesis of 19-norsteroids. In a related Michael addition the lithium enolate of (R)-5-trimethylsilyl-2-cyclohexenone reacts with methyl 2-propenoate selectively tram to the trimethylsilyl substituent. Subsequent intramolecular ring closure provides a single enantiomer of the bicyclo[2.2.2]octane170 (see also Section 1.5.2.4.4.). 

A variety of chiral amides as well as oxazolidones388 and imidazolidones389,390 may easily be prepared from amino alcohols that are derived from amino acids391 392. The addition of the lithium enolates of these amides under kinetically controlled conditions to a,/i-unsaturated esters yields optically active pentanedioates. Both syn- and //-5-amino-5-oxopcntanoates may be obtained with good diastereomeric ratios192. 

The stereochemical outcome of the addition of lithium enolates of aldehydes and ketones to nitroalkenes is dependent upon the geometry of the nitroalkene and the enolate anion. The synjanti selectivity in the reaction of the lithium enolates of propanal, eyelopentanone and cyclohexanone with ( )- and (Z)-l-nitropropene has been reported1. 

The reverse trend is observed with (Z)-enolates. The reaction of the lithium enolate of cyclohexanone with ( )-(2-nitroethenyl)benzene gives a 75 25 mixture of the syn- and anti-adducts. In contrast, the same enolate undergoes addition of ( )-5-(2-nitroethenyl)-l,3-benzo-dioxole to give exclusively the yymaddition product in 93% yield2. 

The reactions of the lithium enolates of substituted 2-cyclohexenones and 2-cyclopentenones with ( )-l-nitropropene give a mixture of syn- and ami-products3. The lithium enolate of 3,5,5-trimethyl-2-cyclohexenone gives a mixture of the syn- and //-3.5,5-trimethyl-6-(l-methyl-2-nitroethyl)-2-cyclohexcnoncs in modest diastereoselection when the reaction mixture is quenched with acetic acid after. 30 minutes at —78 =C. When the reaction mixture is heated to reflux, tricyclic products are obtained resulting from intramolecular Michael addition of the intermediate nitronate ion to the enone moiety. 

The lithium enolates of cyclopentanone and cyclohexanone undergo addition-elimination to the 2,2-dimethylpropanoic acid ester of ( )-2-nitro-2-hepten-l-ol to give 2-(l-butyl-2-nitro-2-propenyl)cycloalkanones with modest diastereoselection. An analogous reaction of the enolate ion of cyclohexanone with the 2,2-dimethylpropanoic acid ester of (Z)-2-nitro-3-phenyl-2-propenol to give 2-(2-nitro-l-phenyl-2-propenyl)cyclohexanones was also reported. The relative configuration of these products was not however determined6. 

The initial addition step is reversible allowing isomerization of the ( )- and (Z)-nitroalkenes and equilibration between the initially formed syn- and ann -imminium ion adducts. The spn-ad-duct is identical to that obtained from the lithium enolate of cyclohexanone and ( >(2-nitro-cthenyl)benzenc. The preference for the. yyu-adduct can be rationalized by inferring the transition state 1 which is similar to that proposed for the reaction of (-E)-nitroalkcnes with ( )-eno-lates11, l2. 

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