Methylene compounds formation

Alkyl- and arylmercury(II) halides are used for the ketone formation[402]. When active methylene compounds. such as /f-keto esters or malonates are used instead of alcohols, acylated / -keto esters and malonates 546 are produced, For this reaction, dppf is a good ligand[403]. The intramolecular version of the reaction proceeds by trapping the acylpalladium intermediate with eno-late to give five- and six-membered rings smoothly. Formation of 547 by intramolecular trapping with malonate is an example[404]. 

Wylation under neutral conditions. Reactions which proceed under neutral conditions are highly desirable, Allylation with allylic acetates and phosphates is carried out under basic conditions. Almost no reaction of these allylic Compounds takes place in the absence of bases. The useful allylation under neutral conditions is possible with some allylic compounds. Among them, allylic carbonates 218 are the most reactive and their reactions proceed under neutral conditions[13,14,134], In the mechanism shown, the oxidative addition of the allyl carbonates 218 is followed by decarboxylation as an irreversible process to afford the 7r-allylpalladium alkoxide 219. and the generated alkoxide is sufficiently basic to pick up a proton from active methylene compounds, yielding 220. This in situ formation of the alkoxide. which is a... 

As a further application of the reaction, the conversion of an endocyclic double bond to an c.xo-methylene is possible[382]. The epoxidation of an cWo-alkene followed by diethylaluminum amide-mediated isomerization affords the allylic alcohol 583 with an exo double bond[383]. The hydroxy group is eliminated selectively by Pd-catalyzed hydrogenolysis after converting it into allylic formate, yielding the c.ro-methylene compound 584. The conversion of carvone (585) into l,3-disiloxy-4-methylenecyclohexane (586) is an example[382]. 

Aldol Addition and Related Reactions. Procedures that involve the formation and subsequent reaction of anions derived from active methylene compounds constitute a very important and synthetically useful class of organic reactions. Perhaps the most common are those reactions in which the anion, usually called an enolate, is formed by removal of a proton from the carbon atom alpha to the carbonyl group. Addition of this enolate to another carbonyl of an aldehyde or ketone, followed by protonation, constitutes aldol addition, for example... 

Dimethyl ketals and enol ethers are stable to the conditions of oxime formation (hydroxylamine acetate or hydroxylamine hydrochloride-pyridine). Thioketals and hemithioketals are cleaved to the parent ketones by cadmium carbonate and mercuric chloride. Desulfurization of thioketals with Raney nickel leads to the corresponding methylene compounds, while thioenol ethers give the corresponding olefin. In contrast, desulfurization of hemithioketals regenerates the parent ketone. ... 

Expulsion of nitrogen with formation of the A -l-methyl compound (9) occurs by heating (8) at ca. 220° or at room temperature by contact with acidic adsorbents. ° However, in this case perchloric acid or boron trifluoride etherate catalyzed fragmentation is not possible, although high yields (80 %) of (9) are obtained by heating (8) with quinoline or aniline. The la,2a-methylene compound (10) is always obtained as a by-product in 5% yield. 

CN/CC replacements were also observed when the pyrimidine ring is part of a bicyclic system. Reaction of quinazoline with active methylene compounds, containing the cyano group (malonitrile, ethyl cyanoacetate, phenylacetonitrile) gave 2-amino-3-R-quinoline (R = CN, C02Et, Ph) (72CPB1544) (Scheme 12). The reaction has to be carried out in the absence of a base. When base is used, no ring transformation was observed only dimer formation and SnH substitution at C-4 was found. 

If R2 contains an a-hydrogen the method cannot be applied as enaminc formation occurs. Bisamides (or -carbamates) are often used in amidoalkylations of aryl and reactive methylene compounds, but the rather harsh reaction conditions severely limit application in the synthesis of more complicated molecules with other functional groups. 

Radical promoted reactions feature in a synthesis of 3-substituted derivatives of 2,3-dihydro- and tetrahydro- thiopyran-4-ones from the 3-methylene compounds <96SL261> and in the formation of 2-methyltetrahydroselenopyran from a selenoalkyl (phenyltelluro)formate <96JOC5754>. 

The study on 2,7-di-rerf-butylthiepin has recently been extended to explore more simply substituted thiepins 58). The palladium-catalyzed reaction of the diazo compound 107 lacking a 4-methyl substituent gives exclusively the exo-methylene compound 108 whereas the acid-catalyzed reaction of the same precursor 107 resulted in the formation of 2,7-di-/er/-butyl-4-ethoxycarbonylthiepin (109)58). Due to the substantial thermal stability of 109 it is possible to transform the ethoxy-carbonyl group into the hydroxymethyl (110), trimethylsilyloxymethyl (111) and formyl group (112)58). 

Epoxides can also be reductively opened to form a radical. An example of an intramolecular cyclization of such a radical has recently been reported <06TL7755>. Treatment of 40 with Cp2TiCl generates an intermediate alkoxy radical, which then adds to the carbonyl of the formate ester. The product, 41, is formed as a 2 1 mixture of isomers at the anomeric carbon. This reaction is one of the first examples of a radical addition to an ester. The major byproduct of this reaction is the exo-methylene compound, 42, arising from a P-hydrogen elimination. 

Under certain conditions, the trifluoroacetic acid catalyzed reduction of ketones can result in reductive esterification to form the trifluoroacetate of the alcohol. These reactions are usually accompanied by the formation of side products, which can include the alcohol, alkenes resulting from dehydration, ethers, and methylene compounds from over-reduction.68,70,207,208,313,386 These mixtures may be converted into alcohol products if hydrolysis is employed as part of the reaction workup. An example is the reduction of cyclohexanone to cyclohexanol in 74% yield when treated with a two-fold excess of both trifluoroacetic acid and triethylsilane for 24 hours at 55° and followed by hydrolytic workup (Eq. 205).203... 

Condensation of active methylene compounds with cyanoacetic hydrazide-derived hydrazones led to a one-pot formation of pyridine and triazole rings. 

The consecutive reaction of vinyl halides and alkenes with activated methylene systems [42] in the presence of a palladium catalyst and phase-transfer catalyst results from the addition of the methylene carbanion with the initially formed Heck product (Scheme 6.31) an intramolecular version of the reaction leads to the formation of bicycloalk-l-enes (Scheme 6.31) [42], The analogous combined coupling reaction of iodoarenes and activated methylene compounds with non-conjugated dienes under similar conditions forms the monoalkene (Scheme 6.31) [43]. 

Finally, Nikishin and coworkers have reported that the mediated oxidations of doubly activated methylene compounds can be used to synthesize cyclopropane derivatives (Scheme 17) [30]. Reactions using dimethyl malonate, ethyl cyanoacetate, and malononitrile were studied. Metal halides were used as mediators. When the activated methylene compound was oxidized in the absence of a carbonyl compound, three of the substrate molecules were coupled together to form the hexasubstituted product. Interestingly, when the ethyl cyanoacetate substrate was used the product was formed in a stereoselective fashion (18b). In an analogous reaction, oxidation of the activated methylene compounds in the presence of ketones and aldehydes led to the formation of cyclopropane products that had incorporated the ketone or aldehyde (20). In the case of 19a, the reactions typically led to a mixture of stereoisomers. 

Various transition metals have been used in redox processes. For example, tandem sequences of cyclization have been initiated from malonate enolates by electron-transfer-induced oxidation with ferricenium ion Cp2pe+ (51) followed by cyclization and either radical or cationic termination (Scheme 41). ° Titanium, in the form of Cp2TiPh, has been used to initiate reductive radical cyclizations to give y- and 5-cyano esters in a 5- or 6-exo manner, respectively (Scheme 42). The Ti(III) reagent coordinates both to the C=0 and CN groups and cyclization proceeds irreversibly without formation of iminyl radical intermediates.The oxidation of benzylic and allylic alcohols in a two-phase system in the presence of r-butyl hydroperoxide, a copper catalyst, and a phase-transfer catalyst has been examined. The reactions were shown to proceed via a heterolytic mechanism however, the oxidations of related active methylene compounds (without the alcohol functionality) were determined to be free-radical processes. 

Another route to a methyl-branched derivative makes use of reductive cleavage of spiro epoxides ( ). The realization of this process was tested in the monosaccharide series. Hittig olefination of was used to form the exocyclic methylene compound 48. This sugar contains an inherent allyl alcohol fragmenC the chiral C-4 alcohol function of which should be idealy suited to determine the chirality of the epoxide to be formed by the Sharpless method. With tert-butvl hydroperoxide, titanium tetraisopropoxide and (-)-tartrate (for a "like mode" process) no reaction occured. After a number of attempts, the Sharpless method was abandoned and extended back to the well-established m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid epoxida-tion. The (3 )-epoxide was obtained stereospecifically in excellent yield (83%rT and this could be readily reduced to give the D-ribo compound 50. The exclusive formation of 49 is unexpected and may be associated with a strong ster chemical induction by the chiral centers at C-1, C-4, and C-5. 

The Knoevenagel condensation is a cross-aldol condensation of a carbonyl compound with an active methylene compound leading to C-C bond formation (Scheme 7). This reaction has wide application in the synthesis of fine chemicals and is classically catalyzed by bases in solution (146,147). 

Racemic argemonine (5) has been synthesized from the readily available tetrahydro-6,12-methanodibenz[c,/Iazocine (74) (120-122) through a sequence involving a Stevens rearrangement and in an overall yield of 53% from 74 (Scheme 11) (123). Hofmann degradation of 74 furnished the cxo-methylene compound 75 (120,122). An oxidative ring expansion of 75 afforded ketone 76, which was then reduced to secondary alcohol 77. A transannular reaction, effected by acetic acid-acetic anhydride, resulted in the formation of the tetra-... 

Thymidylate synthase (TS) is the enzyme that converts 2-deoxyuridine monophosphate into thymidine monophosphate. This is a key step in the biosynthesis of DNA. This enzymatic reaction of methylation involves the formation of a ternary complex between the substrate, the enzyme, and tetrahydrofolic acid (CH2FAH4). The catalytic cycle involves the dissociation of this complex and the elimination of FAH4. It is initiated by pulling out the proton H-5, thus generating an exocyclic methylene compound. As the release of a F" " ion is energetically forbidden, the fluorine atom that replaces the proton H-5 cannot be pulled out by the base. This leads to inhibition of the enzyme (Figure 7.2). 

Reaction of the malononitrile-derived diazene 275 with active methylene compounds proceeds via addition to a cyano group followed by intramolecular hydrazide or thiohydrazide formation, pyridazin-3(2//)-ones and thio analogs 276 are respectively produced (Equation 70) <1999JCM8>. 

The application of the Friedlander reaction to 3-aminopyridine-2-carbaldehyde (135) gives good yields of the 2,3-disubstituted 1,5-naphthyridines (136) (75CR(C)(280)38l). The intramolecular cyclization of /3- (3-aminopyridinyl)acrylic acid (137) results in the formation of l,5-naphthyridin-2-one (138) (66JHC357), whilst the condensation of 3-aminopyridine-2-carboxylic acid or its esters (139) with active methylene compounds yields 4-oxo (132) and 4-hydroxy-2-oxo compounds (134 R = H) after hydrolysis and decarboxylation of the intermediates (140) and (134 R = C02Et). Reductive cyclization of the 3-nitropyridine derivative (141) gives the 1,5-naphthyridine (142) (71JOC450). 

Thieno[2,3- ]pyrrole derivatives 462 were easily synthesized in two different ways using phenyl isothiocyanate and activated methylene compounds (Scheme 55) <2001SL1731>. The relative order of thiophene or pyrrole ring formation was investigated <2003T1557>. 

Addition of arylisothiocyanates to the active methylene compound 538 led to the formation of pyrido[2,3- / pyrimi-dines 540 and 541, resulting from the initial addition to form the pyridine intermediates 539 followed by a second addition to give the products (Equation 44) <1993JHC887>. 

The large excess of formaldehyde resulted in the hydroxymethylation of 13 in yields of about 50% hydroxymethylation. This yield was obtained within 15 minutes and remained constant for over 6 hours. The number of unsubstituted aromatic positions decreased from 0.6/model compound after 15 minutes to 0.2 after 1 hour reaction time. However, after only 15 minutes about one methylene linkage per model compound occurred, indicating substantial methylene linkage formation. 

The me/a-hydroxymethylation yield was very dependent on large excess formaldehyde used and insensitive to acid concentration and temperature. After extensive exploration of the reaction condition variables it was discovered that a decrease in water content of the solvent results in the increase of hydroxymethylation yields. Eventually conditions were devised to achieve close to 100% memethylene linkage formation. Both softwood and hardwood model compounds gave only mono-mepulling effect of the introduced hydroxymethyl group. 

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