Michael addition Schmidt reactions

The intramolecular carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions considered in this section are based on the aldol condensation (see Section 5.18.2, p. 799), the Claisen-Schmidt reaction (see Section 6.12.2, p. 1032), the Claisen ester condensation (see Section 5.14.3, p. 736), and the Claisen reaction (see Section 6.12.2, p. 1032). Since these carbonyl addition reactions are reversible, the methods of synthesis are most successful for the formation of the thermodynamically stable five- and six-membered ring systems. The preparation of the starting materials for some of these cyclisation reactions further illustrates the utility of the Michael reaction (see Section, 5.11.6, p. 681). 

Enones are not useful substrates for intramolecular Schmidt reactions as azide addition to the olefin predominates over attack at the enone carbonyl. Thus, enone 7 undergoes Michael addition followed by loss of nitrogen to give the icyclic enone 10 in moderate yield. 

In general, simple enones are not suitable for the Schmidt reaction due to the Michael addition of hydrozoic acid onto the conjugated system. However, there are successful examples of substituted enones. For instance, the Schmidt reaction of enone 71 has been elegantly applied to the classic synthesis of quinine by a group of scientists from Hoffinann-La Roche. Reaction of 71 with sodium azide in the presence of hot polyphosphoric acid furnishes 72 in 67% yield only minor amounts of the regioisomeric product 73 result from the nitrogen insertion into the a,p-unsaturated system. 

Ba(OH)2 is known to cattdyze several base-catalyzed organic reactions in the solid form, Of the reactions, aldol condensation is the most common. In recent years, several organic reactions besides aldol condensation have been found to be effectively catalyzed by Ba(OH)2. These reactions are the Claisen-Schmidt reaction, esterification of acid chlorides, Williamson s ether synthesis, benzil-benzilic acid rearrangement, the synthesis of A -pyrazolines by the reaction of a,/3-unsaturated ketone with PhNHNHz Wittig-Homer reaction, and Michael addition. For these reactions, the Ba(OH)2 catalyst prepared from Ba(0H)2-8H20 by cidcination at 473 K shows the highest activity. 

Flavanones 25 are often synthesized by Claisen-Schmidt condensation followed by intramolecular Michael addition reaction of the corresponding chalcone derivative. Climent et al. reported a new environment-friendly method to prepare flavanones 25 by the reaction of 5-substituted-2-hydroxyacetophenones and benzaldehydes using hydro-talcites as basic catalysts (Scheme 16) [81]. Substitution over both aromatic rings influenced the reaction coxu-se leading to flavanones 25 in 7-45% of yields in only Ih of reaction time. 

Nitroglycals65 are excellent Michael-type acceptors,66 where O-, N-, S-, C- and P-nucleophiles can be used as donors.67 An application of this kind of reaction was reported by Schmidt et al. for a new synthesis of 2-deoxy-2-nitro-D-galactose nucleoside 86 and of /V-acetyl-D-galactosamine nucleoside 88, based on addition reactions to 3,4,6-tri-0-benzyl-2-nitro-D-galactal 85 (Scheme 28).68... 

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