2-Methylcyclohexanone reaction with methyl vinyl ketone

Since most often the selective formation of just one stereoisomer is desired, it is of great importance to develop highly selective methods. For example the second step, the aldol reaction, can be carried out in the presence of a chiral auxiliary—e.g. a chiral base—to yield a product with high enantiomeric excess. This has been demonstrated for example for the reaction of 2-methylcyclopenta-1,3-dione with methyl vinyl ketone in the presence of a chiral amine or a-amino acid. By using either enantiomer of the amino acid proline—i.e. (S)-(-)-proline or (/ )-(+)-proline—as chiral auxiliary, either enantiomer of the annulation product 7a-methyl-5,6,7,7a-tetrahydroindan-l,5-dione could be obtained with high enantiomeric excess. a-Substituted ketones, e.g. 2-methylcyclohexanone 9, usually add with the higher substituted a-carbon to the Michael acceptor ... 

Chiral 2,2-disubstituted cycloalkanones.1 The imine 2 prepared from racemic 2-methylcyclohexanone and (S)-( - )-l, reacts with methyl vinyl ketone to form an adduct that is hydrolyzed to the (R)-( + )-diketone 3 in 91% ee with recovery of 1 in almost quantitative yield. The reaction is described as a deracemizing alkylation. ... 

Conjugate addition reactions, including the Robinson annulation, which make use of reactive Michael acceptors such as methyl vinyl ketone, can suffer from low yields of the desired adduct. The basic conditions required for enolate formation can cause polymerization of the vinyl ketone. Further difficulties arise from the fact that the Michael adduct 42 and the original cyclohexanone have similar acidities and reactivities, such that competitive reaction of the product with the vinyl ketone can ensue. These problems can be minimized by the use of acidic conditions. Sulfuric acid is known to promote the conjugate addition and intramolecular aldol reaction of 2-methylcyclohexanone and methyl vinyl ketone in 55% yield. Alternatively, a silyl enol ether can be prepared from the ketone and treated with methyl vinyl ketone in the presence of a Lewis acid such as a lanthanide triflate" or boron tri fluoride etherate (BF3 OEt2) and a proton source to effect the conjugate addition (followed by base-promoted aldol closure). 

Methylcyclohexanone 1 (2.21 g, 20 nunol), methyl vinyl ketone 2 (4.50 g, 40 mmol), and sodium methoxide (1.2 g, 24 mmol) were well mixed with agate mortar and pestle and the mixture was kept at room temperature for 3 h. The reaction product was combined with 3M HCl (20 mL), extracted with ether (4x20 mL), and the ether solution was washed with water and dried over MgS04. The dried ether solution was evaporated. Distillation of the residue in vacuo (150-170 °C/25 nunHg) gave 3 as colorless oil (1.05 g, 25% yield). 

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