Lithium ynolates ketones

Potassium/lithium ynolates from a-chloro-a-sulfinyl ketones. 744... 

The a-chloro-a-sultinyl ketone 20 was prepared from methyl benzoate and chloromethyl phenyl sulfoxide 19 after in situ a-lithiation. Compound 20 is dimetallated by KH and f-BuLi to give the keto dianion 21, which is converted into a potassium/lithium ynolate 22 (equation 7). The resulting metal ynolates are converted into thioesters, carboxylic acids, amides and esters (Section V). 

A. Formal [2 + 2] Cycloaddition of Lithium Ynolates with Aldehydes and Ketones... 

Nucleophilic reactions of lithium thioalkynolates with electrophiles mostly occur at the 3 -position to afford alkynyl sulfides. For example, 3 -silylation and 3 -stannation are shown in equation 80 the synthesis and -alkylation of a quaternary ammonium thioalkynolate are shown in equation 81. Exceptionally, lithium thioalkynolates add to ketones to form -thiolactones, which are converted into alkenes on elimination of carbon oxysulfide (equation 82). Contrary to lithium ynolates, thioalkynolates do not react with aldehydes. ... 

A similar sequence starting from esters rather than ketones ends up with lithium ynolates 316. These may be trapped as 1-alkynyl trimethylsilyl ethers or hydrolyzed to carboxylic acids that are homologous to the starting material (Scheme 1-246). ... 

Lithium phenylethynolate (520) has been prepared in a rather intriguing fashion through the elimination of benzonitrile from 5-lithio-3,4-diphenylisoxazole (519) (75AG(E)765). Reaction of the ynolate with an aldehyde or ketone was shown to afford a metallated /3-lactone (521). Treatment of this intermediate in turn with an electrophilic reagent such as benzyl bromide produced a tri- or tetra-substituted /3-lactone (522 Scheme 114). 

A highly Z-selective olefination of a-oxy and a-amino ketones via ynolate anions has been reported (Scheme 9).43 The stereocontrol mechanism has been explained by (g) orbital interactions between the s orbital of the breaking C-O bond or n orbital of the enolate and the s orbital of the C-O or C-N bonds of the substituent in the ring opening of the /I-lactone enolate intermediates, and/or the chelation to lithium. 

Tetrasubstituted alkenes (214) were obtained with high Z selectivity (>99 1) by reaction of ynolates (211) with a-oxy- and a-amino-ketones (212 X = OR, NR2) (g) at room temperature. According to experimental and theoretical studies, the high Z selectivity is induced by orbital interactions in the ring opening of the /3-lactone enolate intermediate (213), rather than by the initially presumed chelation of the lithium atom.260... 

Carbon electrophiles such as ketones and aldehydes react with ynolates, forming exclusively products of C-attack. Addition of phenylethynolate (15) to cyclohexanone affords spirolactone 23, the formation of which can be explained by the cyclization of the originally formed ketene 22 (equation 16) . Similarly, the reaction of lithium alkynolates with benzaldehyde can be rationalized by the intermediate formation of ketene 24 (equation 17), however, the final product in this case is the unsaturated acid 25 but not a lactone... 

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