Methylene reductic acid, formation

Reduction. Raney Nickel treatment of thioacetals is a standard method for carbony 1-to-methylene reduction." In the presence of Triethylamine, (1) reduces azides to primary amines (eq 14). Under the acidic conditions employed for thioacetal formation, this reduction does not occur (eq 8). " Reduction of peptidic disulfides to dithiols can be conveniendy accomplished with (1). ... 

The last reaction perhaps involves an intermediate such as 33a which expells a proton and dimethyl sulfide. Formation of the Schiff s base with t-butylamine, reduction with sodium borohydride and hydrogenolysis of the benzyl ether produces sulfonterol (28). Despite the fact that the methylene hydrogen of sulfonterol must be much less acidic than of the corresponding urea proton on carbuterol or the sulfonamide proton on soterenol, good bioactivity is retained. 

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... 

Further work by Baum and co-workers showed that the nitration of l,l-diamino-2,2-dinitroethylenes with trifluoroacetic anhydride and nitric acid in methylene chloride yields 1,1,1-trinitromethyl derivatives via addition of nitronium ion to the double bond of the enamine such treatment also resulting in the A-nitration of the products. In this way, trini-tromethyl derivatives like (185) and (188) are obtained. Further treatment of these trinitromethyl derivatives with aqueous potassium iodide results in reductive denitration and the formation... 

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 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). 

As a further illustration of the reactivity of the 3 position toward electrophiles, the methoxyindole (25-1) readily undergoes Mannich reaction with formaldehyde and dimethylamine to afford the aminomethylated derivative (25-2). Treatment of that intermediate with potassium cyanide leads to the displacement of dimethylamine and the formation of the nitrile (25-3), possibly by an elimination-addition sequence involving a 3-exomethylene-indolenine intermediate. The protons on the methylene group adjacent to the nitrile are quite acidic and readily removed. Reaction of (25-3) with methyl carbonate in the presence of sodium methoxide gives the carbo-methoxylated derivative (25-4). Catalytic hydrogenation leads to reduction of the nitrile to a primary amine. There is thus obtained the antihypertensive agent indorenate (25-5) [26]. 

The reaction of ferrocene and formaldehyde in either concentrated sulfuric acid or liquid hydrogen fluoride, followed by reduction, produces a compound containing two ferrocenyl and two methylene groups (57, 98, 123). After several incorrect assignments had been proposed for the structure of this condensation product, Rinehart and coworkers showed by an unequivocal synthesis that the product was 1,2-diferrocenylethane (XIX) (104). The mechanism of the reaction presumably involves the initial formation of ferrocenylcarbinol (XX) followed by ionization in the strongly acidic medium to the ferrocenylmethyl-carbonium ion (XXI). Conversion to radical ion XXII followed by dimerization and subsequent reduction produces the product. 

The Reduction Reactions. The object of the next three reactions (steps 4 to 6 in fig. 18.12a) is to reduce the 3-carbonyl group to a methylene group. The carbonyl is first reduced to a hydroxyl by 3-ketoacyl-ACP reductase. Next, the hydroxyl is removed by a dehydration reaction catalyzed by 3-hydroxyacyl-ACP dehydrase with the formation of a trans double bond. This double bond is reduced by NADPH catalyzed by 2,3-trans-enoyl-ACP reductase. Chemically, these reactions are nearly the same as the reverse of three steps in the j6-oxidation pathway except that the hydroxyl group is in the D-configuration for fatty acid synthesis and in the L-configuration for /3 oxidation (compare figs. 18.4a and 18.12a). Also remember that different cofactors, enzymes and cellular compartments are used in the reactions of fatty acid biosynthesis and degradation. 

The norbelladine derivative 408, which served as the starting material for the synthesis of ( )-oxocrinine (415) (Scheme 35), may be readily prepared from the reductive animation of piperonal with tyramine followed by acylation with trifluoroacetic anhydride (191,192). When the N-acylated monophenol 408 was treated with excess thallium tris(trifluoroacetate) in methylene chloride, the di-enone 412 was obtained in 19% yield (191), whereas use of the oxidant vanadium oxyfluoride in trifluoroacetic acid/trifluoroacetic anhydride afforded 412 in 88% yield (192). Base-induced N-deacylation of 412 was accompanied by spontaneous cyclization to furnish racemic oxocrinine (415). Attempts to oxidize the free amine derived from 408 led to the formation of a number of products, some of which resulted from oxidation at nitrogen. 

Like the related fatty acid synthases (FASs), polyketide synthases (PKSs) are multifunctional enzymes that catalyze the decarboxylative (Claisen) condensation of simple carboxylic acids, activated as their coenzyme A (CoA) thioesters. While FASs typically use acetyl-CoA as the starter unit and malonyl-CoA as the extender unit, PKSs often employ acetyl- or propionyl-CoA to initiate biosynthesis, and malonyl-, methylmalonyl-, and occasionally ethylmalonyl-CoA or pro-pylmalonyl-CoA as a source of chain-extension units. After each condensation, FASs catalyze the full reduction of the P-ketothioester to a methylene by way of ketoreduction, dehydration, and enoyl reduction (Fig. 3). In contrast, PKSs shortcut the FAS pathway in one of two ways (Fig. 4). The aromatic PKSs (Fig. 4a) leave the P-keto groups substantially intact to produce aromatic products, while the modular PKSs (Fig. 4b) catalyze a variable extent of reduction to yield the so-called complex polyketides. In the latter case, reduction may not occur, or there may be formation of a P-hydroxy, double-bond, or fully saturated methylene additionally, the outcome may vary between different cycles of chain extension (Fig. 4b). This inherent variability in keto reduction, the greater variety of... 

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