Lithium enones

Metal-ammonia solutions reduce conjugated enones to saturated ketones and reductively cleave a-acetoxy ketones i.e. ketol acetates) to the unsubstituted ketones. In both cases the actual reduction product is the enolate salt of a saturated ketone this salt resists further reduction. If an alcohol is present in the reaction mixture, the enolate salt protonates and the resulting ketone is reduced further to a saturated alcohol. Linearly or cross-conjugated dienones are reduced to enones in the absence of a proton donor other than ammonia. The Birch reduction of unsaturated ketones to saturated alcohols was first reported by Wilds and Nelson using lithium as the reducing agent. This metal has been used almost exclusively by subsequent workers for the reduction of both unsaturated and saturated ketones. Calcium has been preferred for the reductive cleavage of ketol acetates. 

A variety of conjugated dienones are reduced by lithium-ammonia, presumably via dienyl carbanions analogous to the allyl carbanions encountered in enone reductions. Cross-conjugated l,4-dien-3-ones afford 4-en-3-ones as the major reduction products, indicating that the cyclohexadienyl carbanion (55) protonates largely at C-1. Some protonation at C-5 does occur as shown by examination of the NMR spectrum of the crude reduction product derived from the 17-ethylene ketal of androsta-l,4-diene-3,17-dione. The 17-ethylene ketal of androst-4-ene-3,17-dione is formed in 75%... 

Lithium-ammonia reductions of most steroidal enones of interest create one or two new asymmetric centers. Such reductions are found to be highly stereoselective and this stereoselectivity constitutes the great utility of the reaction. For conjugated enones of the normal steroid series, the thermodynamically most stable products are formed predominantly and perhaps exclusively. Thus the following configurations are favored 5a, 8/ , 9a, and in certain cases 14a (see page 35). Starr has listed numerous examples illustrating these facts and Smith " and Barton have tabulated similar data. 

If the equilibrium were established rapidly, reduction of the free ketone as it formed would result in a substantial loss of product. Lithium enolates are more covalent in character than are those of sodium and potassium and consequently are the least basic of the group. This lower thermodynamic basicity appears to be paralleled by a lower kinetic basicity several workers have shown that lithium enolates are weaker bases in the kinetic sense than are those of sodium and potassium." As noted earlier, conjugated enones... 

Reaction times of from 5 to 60 minutes have been employed for the reduction of conjugated enones. Although the longer times apparently do not seriously diminish the yields of products, they usually are not necessary. If a conjugated enone is sufficiently soluble in the reaction medium, it is reduced almost instantly when added to lithium-ammonia solutions. 

For the reduction of conjugated enones to saturated alcohols, Procedure 5 (section V) may be modified by adding methanol in place of ammonium chloride a sufficient excess of lithium is present to effect reduction of the intermediate saturated ketone to the alcohol. Procedure 2 (section V) for effecting Birch reductions is also useful for reduction of conjugated enones to saturated alcohols. Thus, 17-ethyl-19-nortestosterone affords crude 17a-ethyl-5a-estrane-3) ,17) -diol of mp 174-181°, reported mp 181-183°, in quantitative yield. 

There are ample precedents for reductions of double bonds in conjugated enones with lithium in deuterioammonia (see section V-C). Examples of the reduction of saturated ketones in deuterated media appear only as side reactions (over reductions) during the above mentioned conversions. For experimental details, therefore, one should consult the literature for the analogous reductions in protic medium (see also chapter 1). The use of deuterioammonia is essential for labeling purposes since by using liquid ammonia and methanol-OD the resulting alcohol contains no deuterium. For the preparation of deuterioammonia see section IX-D. 

In section V-A it has been pointed out that catalytic reduction of conjugated enones is usually a good method for the preparation of p- or y-labeled ketones. To overcome certain stereochemical problems, however, it is occasionally necessary to use the lithium-ammonia reduction. In this case deuteration takes place at the / -carbon and generally leads to the thermodynamically more stable product (see chapter 1). 

A useful alternate procedure which allows the generation and alkylation of the less stable enolate anion has been reported by Stork.This method takes advantage of the fact that the thermodynamically less stable enolate anion formed in the lithium ammonia reduction of a conjugated enone... 

The addition to 2-cyclohexcnone or (fj-d-phenyl-S-penten -one gave products with d.r. 99 1. Since the configuration of 5 was not determined, a detailed interpretation of the stereoselectivity is not possible. The 1,4 addition of the chiral cuprate reagent, lithium [2-(l-dimethylamino-ethyl)phenyl](2-thienyl)cuprate, to ( )-2,2-dimethyT5-phenyl-4-penten-3-one produced predominantly one diastereomer with d.r. 99 1, while the 1,4-addition of [2-(l-dimethylaminoethyl)-phenyl]lithium to the same enone gave predominantly the opposite diastereomer (d.r. 3 97). 

When chiral enolates or chiral Michael acceptors are used, for instance, when stereogenic centers are present in the substrate or when X or Y are chiral auxiliaries, both simple and induced diastereoselectivity is observed. This results, in principle, in the formation of four diastereomers 1 -4. The diastereoselectivity in the Michael addition of lithium enolates to enones can be rationalized by consideration of chelated transition states A-D372. 

Four different orientations are possible when the enantiofaces of (E)- and (Z)-enolates and an ( )-enone combine via a closed transition state, in which the olefinic moieties of the donor and the acceptor are in a syn arrangement. It should be emphasized that, a further four enan-tiomorphous orientations of A-D are possible leading to the enantiomers 2 and 3. On the basis of extensive studies of Michael additions of the lithium enolates of esters (X = OR) and ketones (X = R) to enones (Y = R) it has been concluded ... 

Lithium enolates of various ketones15 -17, esters18, thioesters19 and amides20 react with enones to form either syn or anti a,/ -disubstituted 1,5-diketones, 5-oxo esters or their derivatives. 

Tabic 1. 2,3-Disubstitutcd 1,5-Dikctones from Addition of Lithium Enolates to Enones... 

Closely related to enolate additions to enones is the diastereoselective 1,4-addition of lithium enolates of esters, thioesters and amides to a,/ -unsaturated esters. These reactions provide syn-or ar /-2,3-disubstituted glutarates (pentanedioates). 

When 2,2-dimethylpropanal is used to prepare the azomethine moiety, the corresponding azaallyl anion may be obtained when l,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene/lithium bromide is used as base. The subsequent addition to various enones or methyl ( )-2-butenoate proceeds with anti selectivity, presumably via a chelated enolate. However, no reaction occurs when triethylamine is used as the base, whereas lithium diisopropylamide as the base leads to the formation of a cycloadduct, e.g., dimethyl 5-isopropyl-3-methyl-2,4-pyrrolidinedicarboxylate using methyl ( )-2-butenoate as the enone84 89,384. 

A very efficient method for annulations158 is based on the addition of lithium or silyl enolates to a-silylated enones as a key step. The diastereoselective 1,4-addition is followed by an aldol condensation. This procedure allows Michael additions under aprotic conditions, whereby the silyl substituent stabilizes the enolate of the Michael adduct preventing polymerization of the enone, 59 l63. 

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. 

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