Methyl enolate anions

The idea of kinetic versus thermodynamic control can be illustrated by discussing briefly the case of formation of enolate anions from unsymmetrical ketones. This is a very important matter for synthesis and will be discussed more fully in Chapter 1 of Part B. Most ketones, highly symmetric ones being the exception, can give rise to more than one enolate. Many studies have shown tiiat the ratio among the possible enolates that are formed depends on the reaction conditions. This can be illustrated for the case of 3-methyl-2-butanone. If the base chosen is a strong, sterically hindered one and the solvent is aptotic, the major enolate formed is 3. If a protic solvent is used or if a weaker base (one comparable in basicity to the ketone enolate) is used, the dominant enolate is 2. Enolate 3 is the kinetic enolate whereas 2 is the thermodynamically favored enolate. 

Schaub ° introduced methyl groups at both the 16a- and 17a-positions by 1,4-addition of methylmagnesium iodide to the A -20-ketone (8) followed by methylation of the intermediate 16a-methyl-17-enolate anion (9) with methyl iodide. After hydrolysis of the tetrahydropyranyl ether group a 40% yield of the 16,17-dimethyl derivative (10) was obtained. With the corresponding 3j -acetoxy derivative, the yield of (10) is only 20%. 

Bromination of the enolate anion from the reaction of 3j -acetoxypregna-5,16-dien-20-one (1) with methylmagnesium bromide in the presence of cuprous chloride affords (after treatment with sodium iodide to dehalo-genate any 5,6-dibromide) a mixture of 17a-bromo- and 17)5-bromo-16a-methyl compounds (11) and (12) in a ratio 9 1. The 17a-iodides can be obtained in an analogous reaction. 

Anotheranalogy between the enolate anions derived from a,)3-unsatura ted ketones and the corresponding enamines is encountered in their alkylation reactions (57), which proceed by the kinetically controlled attack at the a-carbon atom. For instance, Stork and Birnbaum (51) found that the alkylation of the morpholine enamine of /J -octalone-2 (117) with methyl iodide gave the C-1 methylated derivative (118). 

Other possible ambident nucleophiles include cyanii anion (CN ), methyl sulfinate anion (CH3SO2 ), ar acetone enolate (CH3COCH2 ). Identify the most electro rich atom(s) in each anion (based on charges alone), ar indicate the major product that should result from an S, reaction with methyl bromide at this atom(s). 

The methyl group of a methyl ketone is converted into an a ,a ,a -trihalomethyl group by three subsequent analogous halogenation steps, that involve formation of an intermediate enolate anion (4-6) by deprotonation in alkaline solution, and introduction of one halogen atom in each step by reaction with the halogen. A... 

Pioneering work on the desulphonylation of jS-ketosulphones was carried out by Corey and Chaykovsky - . This reaction was part of a sequence which could be used in the synthesis of ketones, as shown in equation (53). The main thrust of this work was in the use of sulphoxides, but Corey did stress the merits of both sulphones and sulphonamides for different applications of this type of reaction. The method soon found application by Stetter and Hesse for the synthesis of 3-methyl-2,4-dioxa-adamantane , and by House and Larson in an ingenious synthesis of intermediates directed towards the gibberellin skeleton, and also for more standard applications . Other applications of the method have also been madealthough it does suffer from certain limitations in that further alkylation of an a-alkyl- -ketosulphone is a very sluggish, inefficient process. Kurth and O Brien have proposed an alternative, one-pot sequence of reactions (equation 54), carried out at — 78 to — 50°, with yields better than 50%. The major difference between the two routes is that the one-pot process uses the desulphonylation step to generate the enolate anion, whereas in the Corey-House procedure, the desulphonylation with aluminium amalgam is a separate, non-productive step. 

Only Cram (36) has published a rationale for the very high (99%) enantiomeric excess achieved in the reaction of methyl vinyl ketone and the hydrindanone in the presence of the chiral crown ether. This mechanism envisions a bimolecular complex comprising the potassium cation and chiral host as one entity and the enolate anion of the hydrindanone as the counterion. Methyl vinyl ketone lies outside this complex. The quinine-catalyzed reaction appears to have a termo-lecular character, since the hydroxyl of the alkaloid probably hydrogen bonds with the methyl vinyl ketone—enhancing its acceptor properties—while the quin-uclidine nitrogen functions as the base forming the hydrindanone—alkaloid ion pair. 

None of the trifluoromethyl dibenzoheterocyclic salts synthesized above successfully trifluoromethylated enolate anions derived in situ from ketones with a base, with the exception of an enolate anion derived from 2-methyl-1-indanone, which has a tertiary a-carbon. The reactivity of the enolate anions may have been too great for these dibenzoheterocyclic salts. There-... 

FORMATION AND ALKYLATION OF SPECIFIC ENOLATE ANIONS FROM AN UNSYMMETRICAL KETONE 2-BENZYL-2-METHYL-CYCLOHEXANONE AND 2-BEN-ZYL-6-METHYLCYCLOHEXA-NONE 52 39... 

Furthermore, the product formed still contains an acidic proton on a carbon flanked by two carbonyls, so it can form a new enolate anion and participate in a second Sn2 reaction. The nature of the product will thus depend on electrophile availability. With 1 mol of methyl iodide, a monomethylated compound will be the predominant product, whereas with 2 mol of methyl iodide the result will be mainly the dimethyl ated compound. 

A simple Sn2 alkylation reaction serves as example. As we have already seen, treating cyclohexanone with LDA gives the enolate anion, which can then be allowed to react with methyl iodide to give 2-methylcyclohexanone. 

Polar monomers, such as methyl (meth)acrylate, methyl vinyl ketone, and acrylonitrile, are more reactive than styrene and 1,3-dienes because the polar substituent stabilizes the carba-nion propagating center by resonance interaction to form the enolate anion. However, the polymerizations are more complicated than those of the nonpolar monomers because the polar... 

Excluding polymerizations with anionic coordination initiators, the polymer molecular weights are low for anionic polymerizations of propylene oxide (<6000) [Clinton and Matlock, 1986 Boileau, 1989 Gagnon, 1986 Ishii and Sakai, 1969 Sepulchre et al., 1979]. Polymerization is severely limited by chain transfer to monomer. This involves proton abstraction from the methyl group attached to the epoxide ring followed by rapid ring cleavage to form the allyl alkoxide anion VII, which isomerizes partially to the enolate anion VIII. Species VII and VIII reinitiate polymerization of propylene oxide as evidenced... 

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