Lithium ynolates metalation

Lithium ester enolate addition to imines has been used for the construction of optically active p-lactams, e.g. 64 and the lithium enolates have been found to be superior to other metal derivatives for both yields and diastereoselectivity in some cases <00H(53)1479>. Immobilized lithium ester enolates have been utilized for the first time <00OL907> and soluble polymer supported imines were used to obtain N-unsubstituted azetidin-2-ones under mild conditions <00CEJ193>. Both lithium and titanium enolates have been employed to obtain cholesterol absorption inhibitors <99TA4841>. Lithium ynolates 65 add to imines to provide P-lactams in good to excellent yield <00TL5943>. 

Metal ynolates are not as easy to prepare in a similar fashion as metal enolates, because the intermediates may be labile monosubstituted ketenes. Several preparative methods for alkali metal ynolates have been reported, among which some have been used as intermediate steps in one-pot organic syntheses. Silyl ynolates have been prepared from lithium ynolates. There have been few reports on the other metal ynolates. Since there is no universal method to determine the yield of metal ynolates, the efficiency of preparation is estimated from the results of some of the following reactions. 

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). 

Since metal ynolates are metallated ketene equivalents, metallation of ketenes is expected to afford metal ynolates. Direct metallation of monoalkylketenes is, however, fairly difficult due to the high lability of these ketenes (e.g. dimerization) and the strong elec-trophilicity of the carbonyl carbon . In contrast, silylketenes are so stable that lithiation of trimethylsilylketene (45) with BuLi at —100 °C provides the lithium ynolate 46 in good yield (equation 18). The f-butyldimethylsilylketene (47) is also lithiated to afford the lithium ynolate 48 (equation 19). ... 

Lithium ynolates are stable and keep their reactivity at 0 °C under inert gas for several days, but they decompose in 1 day at 20 Silyl ynolates (sUyl ynol ethers) are stable for a long period and they can be purified by distillation, but they are labile to acids (Section V). The stability of ynolates of metals other than hthium is unknown. 

Compared with metal enolates, there have been very few reports on the direct structural analysis and theoretical studies of ynolates. An X-ray crystal structure of a vanadium complex of lithium ynolate with a porphyrinogen ligand (56) is reported. This metal complex was incidentally formed from VCl3(THF)3 with tetralithium salt of the octaethyl-porphyrinogen ligand. In this complex, the lithium cation seems to interact with the 7T-electrons of the ynolate. The four atoms of the ynolate group in 56 are not collinear due to a partial sp character of the group in this complex. 

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). 

Samarium has two common oxidation states +2 and -h3. Upon solution in toluene under nitrogen, an anionic Sm(II) species, [(—CH2—)5]4-calix-tetrapyrrole Sm(THF)[Li (THF)]2[Li(THF)2]Cl, forms, in part, the compound [(—CH2—)5]4-calix-tetrapyrrole Sm(THF)Li2[Li(THF)](/r -OCH=CH2) . However, this compound is a lithium enolate derived by elimination of THF. In that the metalloorganic reagent is rather similar to what will be discussed in Section XI as part of vanadium enolate chemistry, we fail to understand why in the former case with Sm a lithium enolate is formed but in the latter with V it is an ynolate that is produced. Almost nothing is known to allow comparing the energetics of metal enolates and related ynolates. We note from the enthalpies of... 

There has been only a few reports on reactions of small rings with metal ynolates. Oxiranes are much less electrophilic than carbonyls and sometimes need activation by Lewis acids or Lewis-acidic organometals. The lithium-trimethylaluminum ate complex of i/ZyZ-substituted ynolate 105 reacts with the oxirane 106 to give the y-lactone 107 (equation 44), while lithium silyl-substituted ynolates are inert to oxiranes. There have been no reports using carbon-substituted metal ynolates. 

Although the Michael addition of metal ynolates to a,/ -unsaturated carbonyl compounds is expected to give six-membered cycloadducts, 1,2-addition to carbonyl groups usually precedes 1,4-addition. The cycloaddition of the lithium-aluminum ate complex of silyl-substimted ynolate 112 with ethyl benzylideneacetoacetate (113), which is doubly activated by the ester and keto functions, gives the y-lactone 114 via a [4 4- 2] type cycloaddition (equation 46). Diethyl benzylidenemalonate (115) affords the uncyclized ketene 116 by reaction with 112 (equation 47). This could be taken as evidence for a stepwise mechanism for equation 46. ... 

Metal ynamines (metal ynamides, 180) are aza-analogues of metal ynolates and have not been studied as well as the ynamines (181), in spite of being much more reactive than the latter. l,4-Diphenyl-l,2,3-triazolyllithium (183), prepared by lithiation of 1,4-diphenyl-1,2,3-triazole (182), is converted into lithium ynamine (lithium ynamide) (184) on thermal elimination of nitrogen (equation 72). This ynamine (184) is methylated in moderate yields either by methyl iodide to give a ketenimine (185) and a dimerization product (186), or... 

S -Analogues of lithium or sodium ynolates (thioalkynolates or alkynethiolates) are prepared from lithium or sodium acetylide and sulfur, and are trapped as alkynyl sulfides with bromoethane (equation 77). In a synthetic approach analogous to equation 72, 5-lithio-l,2,3-thiadiazoles (198) also afford lithium alkynethiolates (199) by elimination of nitrogen (equation 78) . Alkynyl sulfides (200) are treated with lithium in ammonia to afford lithium alkynylthiolates (199) (equation 79) °. Theoretical studies on the structure of alkali metal alkynylthiolates are reported. ... 

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