Lithium imines

A number of investigators have examined the ease of isomerization about the formal carbon-carbon bond in imine anions. " Bergbreiter and Newcomb determined an energy barrier of approximately 17 kcal mol" for rotation about this bond in both the lithium imine anions derived from cyclohexyl- and f-butyl-amine addition to acetaldehyde. The barrier for rotation for the corresponding anion derived... 

Topping and co-workers [19] have shown that lithium battery membranes fabricated from a bistrifluorovinyletherarylamide have excellent electromechanical stability at high electric potentials, making them potential candidates for use in battery membranes. Preliminary molecular modelling studies indicated that lithium imine enolates may play a useful role in lithium ion transport along with the crown ether linkage. 

A different study generated the lithium imine of 2.118 and condensed it with ester 2.119 to give 2.120. Deprotection of the lactam nitrogen with ceric ammonium nitrate and acid hydrolysis led to formation of 3-amino-2-hydroxy-5-methylhexanoic acid, 2.727.57... 

When they react with halogen organosilanes, A -lithium imines yield N-organosilyl ketimines [381] (Eq. 3.193) ... 

Addition Reactions. BF3-OEt2 facilitates the addition of moderately basic nucleophiles like alkyl-, alkenyl-, and aryl-lithium, imines, Grignard reagents, and enolates to a variety of electrophiles. ... 

Lithium aluminum hydride (LiAlH4) is the most powerful of the hydride reagents. It reduces acid chlorides, esters, lactones, acids, anhydrides, aldehydes, ketones and epoxides to alcohols amides, nitriles, imines and oximes to amines primary and secondary alkyl halides and toluenesulfonates to... 

Deuterium labeling of C-18 has also been accomplished by an alternate procedure adapted from the Nagata steroid synthesis. During the course of the total synthesis of pregnanolone, thevC-18 function is introduced in the form of a nitrile group. Reduction of this function in intermediate (247) with lithium aluminum deuteride leads to a deuterated imine (248), which upon Wolff-Kishner reduction and acid-catalyzed hydrolysis... 

Deprotonation of / /-cyclohexylfluoroacetone imines by lithium hexamethyl-disilazide or tertiary butyl lithium at very low temperature allows a regioselective alkylation at the carbon carrying fluorine [773] (equation 98). 

Unlike the parent system, 5-methyl-5//-dibenz[c,e]azepine (1, R1 = Me R2 = H) on treatment with lithium diisopropyl amide fails to yield the tautomeric phenanthridine-imine (see Section 3.2.1.5.4.2.), but forms the 5-carbanion, which on quenching with deuterium oxide furnishes 5-methyl-[5-2H,]-5//-dibenz[e,e]azepine (l).83 5,7-Diphenyl-5//-dibenz[r,e]azepine (1. R1 = R2 = Ph) behaves similarly. In contrast, however, 5,7-dimethyl-5//-dibcnz[c,e]azepine (1, R1 = R2 = Me) yields theazaallyl anion 3, which on addition of deuterium oxide deuterates regiospecifically at the 7-methyl group to give derivative 4. 

Darzens reactions between the chiral imine 52 and a-halo enolates 53 for the preparation of nonracemic aziridine-2-carboxylic esters 54 (Scheme 3.17) were studied by Fujisawa and co-workers [61], It is interesting to note that the lithium enolate afforded (2K,3S)-aziridirie (2i ,3S)-54 as the sole product, whereas the zinc enolate give rise to the isomer (2S,3i )-54. The a-halogen did not seem to affect the stereoselectivity. 

More recently, Davis and co-workers developed a new method for the asymmetric syntheses of aziridine-2-carboxylates through the use of an aza-Darzens-type reaction between sulfinimines (N-sulfinyl imines) and a-haloenolates [62-66]. The reaction is highly efficient, affording cis- N-sulfmylaziridine-2-carboxylic esters in high yield and diastereoselectivity. This method has been used to prepare a variety of aziridines with diverse ring and nitrogen substituents. As an example, treatment of sulfinimine (Ss)-55 (Scheme 3.18) with the lithium enolate of tert-butyl bromoacetate gave aziridine 56 in 82% isolated yield [66],... 

In contrast to the amt-selective reaction of lithiated imines with aldehydes, titanated imines, prepared by transmetalation of the corresponding lithium azaenolates, give predominantly. sFH-adducts2. 

Chiral imines derived from 1-phenylethanone and (I. Sj-exo-l, 7,7-trimethyIbicyclo-[2.2.1]heptan-2-amine [(S)-isobornylamine], (.S>1-phenylethanamine or (R)-l-(1-naphthyl) ethanamine are transformed into the corresponding (vinylamino)dichloroboranes (e.g., 3) by treatment with trichloroborane and triethylamine in dichloromethane. Reaction of the chiral boron azaenolates with aromatic aldehydes at 25 "C, and subsequent acidic hydrolysis, furnishes aldol adducts with enantiomeric excesses in the range of 2.5 to 47.7%. Significantly lower asymmetric inductions are obtained from additions of the corresponding lithium and magnesium azaenolates. Best results arc achieved using (.S )-isobornylamine as the chiral auxiliary 3. 

Chiral oxazolidines 6, or mixtures with their corresponding imines 7, are obtained in quantitative yield from acid-catalyzed condensation of methyl ketones and ( + )- or ( )-2-amino-l-phcnylpropanol (norephedrine, 5) with azeotropic removal of water. Metalation of these chiral oxazolidines (or their imine mixtures) using lithium diisopropylamide generates lithioazaeno-lates which, upon treatment with tin(II) chloride, are converted to cyclic tin(II) azaenolates. After enantioselective reaction with a variety of aldehydes at 0°C and hydrolysis, ft-hydroxy ketones 8 are obtained in 58-86% op4. 

For diastereoselective addition of pcrfluoroalkyl lithium generated in situ to imines and %-alkoxy imines in the presence of BF, OEt2. see refs 13 and 14. 

The stereochemical course of this reaction can be rationalized by Cram s cyclic model of asymmetric induction in which lithium is coordinated between the imine nitrogen and the 2-alkoxy group. 

TV-aluminum imines are another example of masked inline derivatives of ammonia. They are easily synthesized by partial reduction of nitriles with diisobutylaluminum hydride (D1BAL-H)6. Addition of lithium organic reagents to /V-aluminum iniines 7 derived from O-protected cyanohydrins 6 provides a-amino alcohols 8a and 8b in moderate yields and low to good diastereo-selectivities n 12. 

The diastereoselectivity of the addition of metalated croty] compounds 1 to the imine moiety has been constantly improved by changing the metal from magnesium over lithium, zinc, aluminum to boron and tin113 (see Table 7). With the latter a high selectivity in favor of the. vj M-product 3 was achieved. The unh-diastereomer 4 results exclusively from addition of boron reagents to A-arylimines 21. 

Table 10 shows examples of. vvn-sclcctive enolate condensations with imines using different types of enolates. All enolates used in these experiments were prepared based on the corresponding lithium enolate by treatment with different Lewis acids, where the lithium enolates themselves were generated with lithium diisopropylamide (LDA) at — 78 °C. 

Lithium and zinc tert-butyl phenylmethyl sulfoxide (1) and A-phenyl imines 2, in which the substituent R is alkenyl or aryl, react at —78 °C over 2 hours with high anti diastereoselection (d.r. >98.5 1.5)6. Shorter reaction times result in poorer yields, due to incomplete reaction. In contrast, the reaction of the sulfoxide anion with benzaldehyde is complete after 5 seconds, but shows poor diastereoselection. When the substituent R1 or R2 of the imine 2 is aliphatic, the substrates exhibit poor chemical reactivity and diastereoselection. The high anti diastereoselection suggests that if a chelated cyclic transition state is involved (E configuration of the imine), then the boat transition state 4 is favored over its chair counterpart 5. 

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