Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley-type process

Maruoka and co-workers recently reported an example of a Zr-catalyzed cyanide addition to an aldehyde [64]. As is also illustrated in Scheme 6.20, the reaction does not proceed at all if 4 A molecular sieves are omitted from the reaction mixture. It has been proposed that the catalytic addition proceeds through a Meerwein—Ponndorf—Verley-type process (cf. the transition structure drawn) and that the crucial role of molecular sieves is related to facilitating the exchange of the product cyanohydrin oxygen with that of a reagent acetone cyanohydrin. The example shown is the only catalytic example reported to date the other reported transformations require stoichiometric amounts of the chiral ligand and Zr alkoxide. 

Aluminum alkoxides, particularly those formed from secondary alcohols, have been of interest to synthetic chemists since the mid-1920s due to their catalytic activity. Examples of these trialkoxides include aluminum isopropoxide (AIP) and aluminum sec-butoxide (ASB). They are easily prepared at lab or plant scale and provide highly selective reductions and oxidations under mild conditions. These reductions are termed Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley (MPV) reactions after the chemists (1-3) who first investigated their utility. Because a MPV reaction are accuratelybe described as an equilibrium process, the reverse reaction (oxidation) can also be exploited. These associated reactions are termed Oppenauer oxidations (4). Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley reductions and Oppenauer oxidations as well as other reaction types and applications will be discussed, but first some background is provided concerning structure, preparation, and characterization of aluminum isopropoxide and related compounds. 

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