Metal enolates acylating agent

The insight that zinc ester enolates can be prepared prior to the addition of the electrophile has largely expanded the scope of the Reformatsky reaction.1-3 Substrates such as azomethines that quaternize in the presence of a-halo-esters do react without incident under these two-step conditions.23 The same holds true for acyl halides which readily decompose on exposure to zinc dust, but react properly with preformed zinc ester enolates in the presence of catalytic amounts of Pd(0) complexes.24 Alkylations of Reformatsky reagents are usually difficult to achieve and proceed only with the most reactive agents such as methyl iodide or benzyl halides.25 However, zinc ester enolates can be cross-coupled with aryl- and alkenyl halides or -triflates, respectively, in the presence of transition metal catalysts in a Negishi-type reaction.26 Table 14.2 compiles a few selected examples of Reformatsky reactions with electrophiles other than aldehydes or ketones.27... 

Stereoselective functionalization of enolates derived from 2-acyl-2-alkyl-1,3-dithiane 1-oxides Stereoselective enolate alkylation. There has been much interest over recent years in the enantio- and diastereocontrol of enolate alkylation.19 Most methods which do not rely on asymmetric alkylating agents hinge on a derivatization of the ketonic substrate with an enantiomerically pure auxiliary. Examples of such chiral auxiliaries include oxazolines20 and oxazolidi-nones.21 We reasoned that the sulfoxide unit present in our 2-acyl-2-alkyl-1,3-dithiane 1-oxide substrates might be expected to influence the transition-state geometry of a ketone enolate, perhaps by chelation to a metal counterion, and hence control the stereochemistry of alkylation. 

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