Malonate esters magnesium enolates

Acyl imidazolides are more reactive than esters but not as reactive as acyl halides. Entry 7 is an example of formation of a (3-ketoesters by reaction of magnesium enolate monoalkyl malonate ester by an imidazolide. Acyl imidazolides also are used for acylation of ester enolates and nitromethane anion, as illustrated by Entries 8, 9, and 10. (V-Methoxy-lV-methylamides are also useful for acylation of ester enolates. 

The magnesium enolates are prepared by treatment of malonic acid half ester either with magnesium ethylate[24],[32] or with isopropylmagnesium bromide[24] or chloride.t26] Ref. [23] describes the synthesis of a 13C-labelled ethyl acetoacetate. Concerning the synthesis of porphyrin / -ketoesters,[3 1 it was noticed that the method via imidazolides is more efficient than the other approach via acid chlorides and sodiomalonic esters. 

Ethyl 3-oxoalkanoates when not commercially available can be prepared by the acylation of tert-butyl ethyl malonate with an appropriate acid chloride by way of the magnesium enolate derivative. Hydrolysis and decarboxylation in acid solution yields the desired 3-oxo esters [59]. 3-Keto esters can also be prepared in excellent yields either from 2-alkanone by condensation with ethyl chloroformate by means of lithium diisopropylamide (LDA) [60] or from ethyl hydrogen malonate and alkanoyl chloride usingbutyllithium [61]. Alternatively P-keto esters have also been prepared by the alcoholysis of 5-acylated Mel-drum s acid (2,2-dimethyl-l,3-dioxane-4,6-dione). The latter are prepared in almost quantitative yield by the condensation of Meldrum s acid either with an appropriate fatty acid in the presence of DCCI and DMAP [62] or with an acid chloride in the presence of pyridine [62] (Scheme 7). 

Magnesium enolates play an important role in C-acylation reactions. The magnesium enolate of diethyl malonate, for example, can be prepared by reaction with magnesium metal in ethanol. It is soluble in ether and undergoes C-acylation by acid anhydrides and acyl chlorides (entries 1 and 3 in Scheme 2.14). Monoalkyl esters of malonic acid react with Grignard reagents to give a chelated enolate of the malonate monoanion. 

One preparative procedure for achieving this reaction involves the acylation of the magnesium enolate of diethyl malonate with an acid chloride in benzene solution (cf. Expt 5.96), and the resulting aclymalonic ester is then heated to 200 °C with an arylsulphonic acid to effect the decarbethoxylation step. An illustrative example is the preparation of ethyl 3-oxopentanoate (ethyl propionyl-acetate, Expt 5.177). 

A reaction similar to the above involves the acylation of malonic ester through its magnesium enolate. Thus, the reaction of propionyl chloride with the ester enolate leads to diethyl propionylmalonate. Thermal decomposition of this compound with /3-naphthalenesulfonic acid yields ethyl propionylacetate (57%). This modification appears to be general in that it has been extended to the use of aliphatic, aromatic, and car-balkoxy acyl chlorides. ... 

Carbethoxylations of esters and nitriles are also effected by treating their enolates with ethyl chlorocarbonate (ethyl chloroformate), ClCOjCjHj. In this manner, triethyl methanetricarboxylate, CH(COjCjHj)j, is prepared from malonic ester through the magnesium enolate. ... 

The bisacylation of methylene-active compounds mentioned above can be avoided by using acylimidazoles in place of acyl halides (acylimidazoles are obtained from the carboxylic acid and sulfinyldiimidazole) for example, reaction of the magnesium enolate of ethyl hydrogen malonate and an acylimid-azole, with concomitant decarboxylation, gives the corresponding / -oxo ester 430... 

The acyl carbon of readily available amino acids such as alanine can be converted to a ketone moiety by activation of the acid with carbonyl diimidazole (CDI) and then condensation with an enolate, such as the magnesium enolate of malonic acid, mono ethyl ester. In this particular example, N-Boc alanine was converted to 1.206 using this method O Catalytic hydrogenation of the ketone moiety gave the alcohol group in 1.207, and conversion to the chloride and base induced dehydrohalogen-ation gave ethyl 4-(N-Boc amino)pent-2-enoate (7.205). 

The acid moiety of an amino acid can be activated for acyl substitution rather than converted to an aldehyde for acyl addition. Boc-alanine was converted to an acyl imidazole by reaction with carbonyl diimidazole (CDI see chapter two, section 2.4), and then condensed with the magnesium enolate of the mono ethyl ester of malonic acid to give keto-ester 5.9. Subsequent catalytic hydrogenation of the ketone moiety gave ethyl 3-hydroxy-5-(N-Boc amino)penlanoate, 5.10 Once the o... 

The magnesium enolate of ethyl hydrogen malonate has been found to add in a conjugative manner to enones (141) to provide a one-pot method for the elaboration of 5-keto-esters (142). ° ... 

If we copy Nature rather more exactly, the Claisen ester condensation can be carried out under neutral conditions. This requires rather different reagents. The enol component is the magnesium salt of a malonate mono-thiol-ester, while the electrophilic component is an imidazolide—an amide derived from the heterocycle imidazole. Imidazole has a pK of about 7, Imidazolides are therefore very reactive amides, of about the same electrophilic reactivity as thiol esters. They are prepared from carboxylic acids with carbonyl diimidazole (CDI). 

The preparation of diethyl benzoylmalonate (entry 12) represents the use of an acid anhydride, a function in which it is much more reactive than an ester, as the acylating agent. The reaction must be carried out in nonnucleophilic solvents to prevent solvolysis of the anhydride from competing with the desired reaction. Other limitations on the use of highly reactive acylating agents, such as acid anhydrides and acid chlorides, in reactions with enolates derive from the fact that O-acylation may be the dominant reaction. The magnesium salt of diethyl malonate (entries 12 and... 

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