Triethylborohydride, lithium

Reductive cleavage of oxiranes to alcohols by lithium aluminum hydride is an important reaction (64HC(19-1)199), but the most powerful hydride donor for this purpose is lithium triethylborohydride (73JA8486). 

Unsubstituted imides, with a single stereogcnic center appended to nitrogen, are stereoselective-ly reduced with lithium triethylborohydride at — 78 C with diastereoselectivities up to 100% in the case of severe steric crowding (Ar = 2,6-dichlorophenyl) (see Appendix)46. 

Lithium triethylborohydride is a superior reagent for the reduction of epoxides that are relatively unreactive or prone to rearrangement.169... 

Complex hydrides have been used rather frequently for the conjugate reduction of activated dienes92-95. Just and coworkers92 found that the reduction of a,ft-unsaturated ketene 5,5-acetals with lithium triethylborohydride provided mixtures of 1,4- and 1,6-reduction products which were transformed into enals by treatment with mercuric salts (equation 27). Likewise, tetrahydro-3//-naphthalen-2-ones can be reduced with L-Selectride to the 1,6-reduction products93 -95 this reaction has been utilized in the stereoselective synthesis of several terpenes, e.g. of (/ )-(—)-ligularenolide (equation 28)95. Other methods for the conjugate reduction of acceptor-substituted dienes involve the use of methylcopper/diisobutylaluminum hydride96 and of the Hantzsch ester... 

A simple and general method for the preparation of surfactant-free, thiol-functionalized iridium nanoparticles was reported by Ulman and coworkers in 1999 [11], The synthesis consisted of a reduction of the dihydrogen hexachloroiri-date (IV) H2lrCl6 H20 precursor by lithium triethylborohydride ( super-hydride ) in the presence of octadecanethiol (C18H37SH) in tetrahydrofuran (THF) (Scheme 15.1). The obtained iridium nanoparticles were crystaUine with fee (face-centered cubic) packing, and showed a wider size distribution with diameters ranging from 2.25 to 4.25 nm. 

The first reported radical reaction promoted by tellurium reagent was probably the conversion of allylic halides into the coupled 1,5-dienes by treatment with telluride anions. The reaction, which gives the best results when employing the reagent prepared in situ from elemental tellurium and lithium triethylborohydride, proceeds through the intermediacy of the thermally unstable bis-allylic telluride followed by extrusion of tellurium and coupling of the formed allylic radicals. 

H-l,3-ditellurole. Under an atmosphere of argon, 0.23 g (2.4 mmol) of trimethylsily-lacetylene are dissolved in 5 mL dry tetrahydrofuran. The solution is cooled to -70°C. n-Butyl lithium (1.0 mL, 2.4 M, 24 mmol) is dropped into the stirred solution. Then 0.20 g (2.0 mmol) of tellurium powder is added. The mixture is warmed to 20°C and kept at this temperature for 2 h. To this mixture, cooled again to -70°C, is added a solution of 0.35 g (2.0 mmol) of chloroiodomethane in 1 mL of tetrahydrofuran. The mixture is stirred for 15 min and then quenched with 50 mL water. The product is extracted with three 15 mL portions of dichloromethane. The combined extracts are washed with brine, dried with anhydrous sodium sulphate and filtered. The filtrate is concentrated to give trimethylsilylethynyl chloromethyl tellurium as a pale-yellow oil. Tellurium powder (0.125 g, 1.0 mmol) is added to 2 mL of a 1 M solution (2.0 mmol) of lithium triethylborohydride in ethanol. The mixture is stirred at 20°C for 2 h under an atmosphere of argon. Then 2 mL of 1 M sodinm ethoxide in ethanol are added followed by 0.27 g (1.0 mmol) of trimethylsilylethynyl chloromethyl tellurium dissolved in 2 mL dimethylformamide. The mixture is stirred for 15 h at 20°C, then diluted with 25 mL water and extracted with three 15 mL portions of dichloromethane. The combined extracts are dried with anhydrons sodinm snlphate, fdtered and the filtrate concentrated. The residue is chromatographed on silica gel with hexane/dichloromethane (1 1) as mobile phase. The fractions containing the prodnct are concentrated and recrystallized from methanol 65% yield, m.p. 85°C. 

Diphenyl telluropyran-4-one (typicalprocedure)7° 120 mL (0.12 mol) of a 1.0 M solution of lithium triethylborohydride in tetrahydrofuran are added to 7.65 g (60 mmol) of powdered tellurium under nitrogen, and the mixture stirred at 20°C for 4 h. A solution of sodium ethoxide (prepared from 5.52 g (0.24 mol) of sodium and 240 mL of absolute alcohol) is added to the dilithium telluride, 13.8 g (60 mmol) of bis(phenylethynyl) ketone are dissolved in a mixture of 150 mL of tetrahydrofuran and 150 mL of 1 M sodium ethoxide in ethanol this solution is poured as quickly as possible into the deep-purple-coloured dilithium telluride soluhon. The flask containing the reaction mixture is immediately placed in a water bath at 50°C and the temperature slowly increased over 30 min until ethanol begins to condense on the side of the flask. The water bath is removed and the mixture is stirred overnight at 20°C. Dichloromethane (400 mL) is then added, the resultant mixture is washed with 800 mL of water, and the organic phase is separated and concentrated to an oil. The oil is dissolved in 600 mL of dichloromethane, and the solution is filtered through a pad of sand. The filtrate is washed with 200 mL of 2% aqueous sodium chloride soluhon, dried with anhydrous sodium sulphate, filtered and evaporated. The brownish solid residue is triturated with 20 mL of butanenitrile and the fine yellow solid is collected by filtration yield 10.9 g (51%) m.p. 126-129°C (from acetonitrile). 

Replacement of hydrogen by alkyl groups gives compounds like lithium triethylborohydride (Super-Hydride ) [100], lithium tris sec-butyl)borohydride [101] (L-Selectride ) and potassium tris sec-butyl)borohydride (K-Selectride ) [702], Replacement by a cyano group yields sodium cyanoborohydride [103], a compound stable even at low pH (down to 3), and tetrabutylammonium cyanoborohydride [93],... 

Alkyl bromides and especially alkyl iodides are reduced faster than chlorides. Catalytic hydrogenation was accomplished in good yields using Raney nickel in the presence of potassium hydroxide [63] Procedure 5, p. 205). More frequently, bromides and iodides are reduced by hydrides [505] and complex hydrides in good to excellent yields [501, 504]. Most powerful are lithium triethylborohydride and lithium aluminum hydride [506]. Sodium borohydride reacts much more slowly. Since the complex hydrides are believed to react by an S 2 mechanism [505, 511], it is not surprising that secondary bromides and iodides react more slowly than the primary ones [506]. The reagent prepared from trimethoxylithium aluminum deuteride and cuprous iodide... 

Disulfides can be either reduced to two thiols or desulfurized. The former reaction was achieved in high yields using lithium aluminium hydride [680, 681], lithium triethylborohydride [100] and sodium borohydride [682]. 

Other reagents used for the preparation of lactones from acid anhydrides are lithium borohydride [1019], lithium triethylborohydride (Superhydride ) [1019] and lithium tris sec-butyl)borohydride (L-Selectride ) [1019]. Of the three complex borohydrides the last one is most stereoselective in the reduction of 3-methylphthalic anhydride, 3-methoxyphthalic anhydride, and 1-methoxynaphthalene-2,3-dicarboxylic anhydride. It reduces the less sterically hindered carbonyl group with 85-90% stereoselectivity and is 83-91% yield [1019]. 

Other reagents used for reduction are boranes and complex borohydrides. Lithium borohydride whose reducing power lies between that of lithium aluminum hydride and that of sodium borohydride reacts with esters sluggishly and requires refluxing for several hours in ether or tetrahydrofuran (in which it is more soluble) [750]. The reduction of esters with lithium borohydride is strongly catalyzed by boranes such as B-methoxy-9-bora-bicyclo[3.3.1]nonane and some other complex lithium borohydrides such as lithium triethylborohydride and lithium 9-borabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane. Addition of 10mol% of such hydrides shortens the time necessary for complete reduction of esters in ether or tetrahydrofuran from 8 hours to 0.5-1 hour [1060],... 

The efficient lithium triethylborohydride converts esters to alcohols in 94-100% yields in tetrahydrofuran at 25° in a few minutes when 2mol of the hydride per mol of the ester are used [700]. 

Good to excellent yields (62-90%) of alcohols were reported in reductions of dimethyl and diethyl amides of benzoic acid and aliphatic acids by lithium triethylborohydride (2.2 mol per mol of the amide) in tetrahydrofuran at room temperature [700, 7777]. 

In biochemistry, metal hydrides such as NaBH4 have been widely used in synthesis. For example, NaBH4 has been used in the preparation of alkyl cobalamins from cyanocobalamin , and in the synthesis of the chiral [/3,y- 0 7 0, 0]ATPyS from the 5 -aldehyde of adenosine . Lithium triethylborohydride (also known as Su-... 

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