Metal enolates 0-covalent

Metal enolate solutions consist of molecular aggregates (6) such as dimers, trimers and tetramers in equilibrium with monomeric covalently bonded species (7), contact ion pairs (8) and solvent-separated ion pairs (9), as shown in Scheme 1. The nature of the metal cation, the solvent and, to a degree, the structure of the enolate anion itself may significantly influence the extent of association between the anion and the metal cation. In general, the factors that favor loose association, e.g. solvent-separated ion pairs, lead to an increase in the nucleophilicity of the enolate toward alkylating agents and also its ability to function as a base, i.e. to participate in proton transfer reactions. 

Conjugate addition of a nucleophile to an activated olefin is generally referred to as a Michael addition reaction (1). Of particular interest is the addition of delocalized carbanions to unsaturated acceptors, a process resulting in the construction of a carbon-carbon bond, often stereoselectively (2). However, the addition of metal enolates to unsaturated acceptors is not completely general and two major modifications have been developed wherein covalently bound enolate equivalents are added to unsaturated acceptors. 

In contrast to metal enolates, enol silyl ethers are covalent compounds. It is easier to accommodate two or more enol silyl ether structures within the same molecule, whereas it would be more difficult to generate the corresponding enolate structures because of their strongly basic and reactive characters. 2,3-But-anedione has been converted to 2,3-bis(trimethylsiloxy)butadiene by a number of methods the best appears to be TMS triflate and EtiN in benzene. Likewise, 1,3-diketones have been converted to the... 

The catalyzed reaction of enol ethers with carbonyl compounds (Scheme 1) has become an important reaction in synthesis. Compared to the metal enolate reactions (Part 1, Volume 2), the catalyz enol ether reactions offer the following distinct differences. Enol ethers are often isolable, stable covalent compounds, whereas the metal enolates are usually generated and used in situ. Under Lewis acid catalyzed conditions, a number of functional equivalents such as acetals, orthoesters, thioacetals, a-halo ethers and sulfides can participate as the electrophilic components, whereas many of them are normally unreactive towards metal enolates. In synthesis, enol ether reactions now rival and complement the enolate reactions in usefulness. Enol silyl ethers are particularly useful because of their ease of preparation, their reasonable reactivity and the mildness of the desilylation process. 

Thus, one should expect similar behavior for transition metal enolates where there is significant covalent character to the M-O (or M-G) bond. This section will focus on polymerization of (meth)acrylate esters by group 4 metallocene (or the related group 3 and lanthanocene ") initiators where the mechanism of this process is analogous to the classical GTP process. Of course, the polymerization of (meth)acrylates by other transition metal complexes has been reported frequently in the literature however, in many cases the mechanisms of these processes are less well understood or involve free radical or other forms of initiation. Recent examples of other transition metal-mediated methyl methacrylate (MMA) polymerization processes that may proceed via a GTP or anionic mechanism are given. " "- " ... 

Diketones can be synthesized by treatment of metal enolates with AcCl. O-Acetylation is often a significant side reaction, but the amount can be minimized by choosing a counterion that is bonded covalently to the enolate such as copper or zinc, and by using AcCl rather than AC2O. Proton transfer from the product p-diketone to the starting enolate is another common side reaction. Alternative procedures for effecting C-acetylation... 

Because the stmcture of 1,3-diketones comprise a methylene group between two activating carbonyls, equiUbrium is shifted toward the enol form. The equihbrium distribution varies with stmcture and solvent (303,306) (Table 13). The enol forms are cycHc and acidic and form covalent, colored, soHd chelates with metals ... 

Whether or not the highly electropositive alkali metals or magnesium form an ionic instead of a covalent bond to the oxygen of the enolate is less important. Even if there is a contact ion pair of the metal cation and the oxygen anion, the geometry of the six-membered chair transition state, as outlined above, will be maintained. 

Reaction conditions that involve other enolate derivatives as nucleophiles have been developed, including boron enolates and enolates with titanium, tin, or zirconium as the metal. These systems are discussed in detail in the sections that follow, and in Section 2.1.2.5, we discuss reactions that involve covalent enolate equivalents, particularly silyl enol ethers. Scheme 2.1 illustrates some of the procedures that have been developed. A variety of carbon nucleophiles are represented in Scheme 2.1, including lithium and boron enolates, as well as titanium and tin derivatives, but in... 

If the equilibrium were established rapidly, reduction of the free ketone as it formed would result in a substantial loss of product. Lithium enolates are more covalent in character than are those of sodium and potassium and consequently are the least basic of the group. This lower thermodynamic basicity appears to be paralleled by a lower kinetic basicity several workers have shown that lithium enolates are weaker bases in the kinetic sense than are those of sodium and potassium.42,78,94 As noted earlier, conjugated enones have been reduced to saturated ketones almost exclusively with lithium the above considerations may explain why this metal has been favored by most chemists. The following observations, however, suggest that sodium may function nearly as well as lithium in the reduction of conjugated enones. 

It is known that the chemistry of enolates depends on the nature of the metal. Moreover, the metals are an integral part of the structures of enolates. Lithium enolates are most frequently employed, and in the solid state the lithium cations definitely are associated with the heteroatoms rather than with the carbanionic C atoms. Presumably the same is true in solution. The bonding between the heteroatom and the lithium may be regarded as ionic or polar covalent. However, the heteroatom is not the only bonding partner of the lithium cation irrespective of the nature of the bond between lithium and the heteroatom ... 

Lithium enolates have been actively investigated, including reaction rates and equilibria. Sodium enolates, more ionic than their lithium analogs, more covalent than their heavier alkali metal counterparts, have been studied less while potassium appears frequently. Rubidium enolates have been almost totally ignored. Cesium and lithium enolate chemistry are often compared. We know of no francium enolate chemistry. 

We found that the stereoisomeric lithium (94) or sodium (95) enolates showed precisely the same stereoisomerism. Benzoylation of the enolates (XI) and (XII) gave the appropriate stereoisomeric benzoates. Hence, the enolates are not subject to steric isomerization under these conditions. Consequently, no C-metallic derivative of the ketone species is involved, otherwise it would function as an intermediate, allowing the stereoisomeric enolates to isomerize to an equilibrated mixture. Indeed, if a tetramethyl-ammonium salt whose cation cannot form any covalent bond with oxygen is... 

N-Metallated azomethine ylides 140 of ester-stabilized types are tautomeric to the metal ester enolates (141) of chelate-stabilized types. The only structural difference is which heteroatom between the imine nitrogen and the ester carbonyl oxygen is connected with the metal (M) by a covalent bond. The difference in chemical properties expected for the ylidic forms 140 and enolate forms 141 is not yet clear. 

The incoming monomer unit would then be forced, either because of steric interactions, or by the interaction of its carboxyl group with lithium at the chain-end, to add in a specific manner to re-form the same loose ring structure present initially. One variant of this mechanism [192] involves a covalently bonded six membered ring formed by enolization of the active chain end followed by alkoxide ion attack on the penultimate carboxyl group. In polar solvents, or in the presence of moderate amounts of them, competition for solvation of the counter-ion would be produced and the intramolecular solvation producing the stereospecificity would be reduced in effectiveness as the ether concentration is increased. Replacing the lithium counter-ion with sodium or other alkali metal would be... 

While most of the chemistry discussed in this chapter has been developed in the past decade, several important methods have withstood the test of time and have made important contributions in areas such as natural product synthesis. Methods such as cuprate acylation and the addition of organolithiums to carboxylic acids have continued to enjoy widespread use in organic synthesis, whereas older methods including the reaction of organocadmium reagents with acid halides, once virtually the only method available for acylation, has not seen extensive utilization recently. In the following discussion, we shall be interested in cases where selective monoacylation of nonstabilized carbanion equivalents has been achieved. Especially of concern here are carbanion equivalents or more properly organometallics which possess no source of resonance stabilization other than the covalent carbon-metal bond. Other sources of carbanions that are intrinsically stabilized, such as enolates, will be covered in Chapter 3.6, Volume 2. 

Both physical measurements and kinetic studies show that association between metal cations and enolate anions is stronger, i.e. the oxygen-metal bond has more covalent character, when small metal cations and less electropositive metals are involved. The degree of aggregation and extent of association of... 

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