Nitriles LiAlH

The conversion of carboxylic acid derivatives (halides, esters and lactones, tertiary amides and lactams, nitriles) into aldehydes can be achieved with bulky aluminum hydrides (e.g. DIBAL = diisobutylaluminum hydride, lithium trialkoxyalanates). Simple addition of three equivalents of an alcohol to LiAlH, in THF solution produces those deactivated and selective reagents, e.g. lithium triisopropoxyalanate, LiAlH(OPr )j (J. Malek, 1972). 

The other way of reducing nitriles to aldehydes involves using a metal hydride reducing agent to add 1 mol of hydrogen and hydrolysis, in situ, of the resulting imine (which is undoubtedly coordinated to the metal). This has been carried out with LiAlH4, LiAlH(OEt)3, LiAlH(NR2)3, and DIBAL-H. The metal hydride method is useful for aliphatic and aromatic nitriles. 

A number of organic species, including amides, oximes, and nitriles, undergo reductive amination, a variety of reduction reactions that produce cimines. In general, these processes involve imines, R=N-R, or related species. Reduction processes include hydrogenation using Raney nickel as the catalyst (for nitriles), the reaction with sodium/EtOH (for oximes), and the use of lithium aluminum hydride, LiAlH (for amides or nitriles). Figure 13-16 illustrates the preparation of amphetamine by reductive amination. 

Acid chlorides, R(Ar)COCl, are reduced to R(Ar)CHO by Hj/Pd(S), a moderate catalyst that does not reduce RCHO to RCHjOH (Rosenmund reduction). Acid chlorides, esters (R(Ar)COOR), and nitriles (RC N) are reduced with lithium tri-t-butoxyaluminum hydride, LiAlH[OC(CH3)3]j, at very low temperatures, followed by HjO. The net reaction is a displacement of X by H",... 

Aldehydes are prepared by the hydroboration-oxidation of alkynes (see Section 5.3.1) or selective oxidation of primary alcohols (see Section 5.7.9), and partial reduction of acid chlorides (see Section 5.7.21) and esters (see Section 5.7.22) or nitriles (see Section 5.7.23) with lithium tri-terr-butox-yaluminium hydride [LiAlH(0- Bu)3] and diisobutylaluminium hydride (DIBAH), respectively. 

Kedur-tion -of a nitrile with LiAlH, gives a primary aroinr in high yiel Fcr example ... 

Selective reduction of functional groups can be achieved by chemical modification of the LiALH4 for example, lithium tri(t-butoxy)aluminium hydride [LiAIH(t-OBu)3] is a more selective reagent, and reduces aldehydes and ketones, but slowly reduces esters and epoxides. Nitriles and nitro groups are not reduced by this reagent. Carboxylic acids can be converted into the aldehyde via acid chloride with lithium tri(tert-butoxy) aluminium hydride at a low temperature (—78°C). The nitro compounds are not reduced under this condition. Thus, selective reduction of 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid (6.45) to 3,5-dinitrobenzaldehyde (6.47) can be achieved in two steps. First, 6.45 is converted into 3,5-dinitrobenzoyl chloride (6.46) and then LiAlH(t-OBu)3 reduction of 6.46 gives 6.47. 

Cyanohydrin formation is useful because of the further chemistry that can be carried out on the product. For example, a nitrile (R-C=N) can be reduced with LiAlH. to yield a primary amine (RCH2N112) and can be hydrolyzed by hot... 

H. C. Brown and co-workers found that lithium aluminum hydride in ether solution reacts with 4 moles of methanol, ethanol, or isopropanol but with only 3 moles of t-butanol. Dropwise addition of 1 mole of /-butanol at room temperature to a stirred solution of 0.31 mole of LiAlH, in ether produces a white precipitate of lithium tri-/-butoxyaluminum hydride in essentially quantitative yield. The new reagent proved to be a milder reducing agent than LiAlH4, since it reduces aldehydes, ketones, and acid chlorides in diethyl ether or diglyme at 0° but fails to react with esters and nitriles. 

NaBHi is a much milder reducing agent than LiAlH,. In hydroxylic solvents it reduces aldehydes and ketones rapidly at 25° but is essentially inert to other functional groups epoxides, esters, lactones, carboxylic acids and salts, nitrile and nitro groups. Acid chlorides are reduced rapidly in diglyme or dioxane. 

With few exceptions, organometalUcs add only once to nitriles (Section 8.6.4). Only if there is a very strong Lewis acid present to activate the anionic intermediate of the first nucleophilic attack will a second addition take place. An example of this second addition is the reduction of nitriles with LiAlH4, which proceeds all the way to the amine (Section 8.6.3). The AIH3 formed from the initial reduction acts as a Lewis acid to catalyze the second addition. This second addition can be prevented by using one equivalent of a less reactive aluminum hydride like LiAlH(OEt)3 or diisobutylaluminum hydride, [(CH3)2CHCH2l2AlH. The reactions in the acidic water workup are the reverse of imine formation (Section 10.5.2). 

Reduction of ketoximts Ketoximes arc reduced by LiAlH< to a mixture of primary and secondary amines. In contrast, reduction with liAllU-HMPT in the molar ratio 1 10 in refluxing THF (13(f, 3 hours) results m ketones. IIMPT is believed to prevent furtbei reduction of the intine intermediate and to facilitate hydrolysis. This method is not useful for reversion of aldoximes to aldehydes because of dehydration to nitriles. 

Nitrile when reduced with LiAlH also produces an aliphatic primary amine. 

Reduction Nitriles and amides can be easily reduced to alkylamines using lithium aluminium hydride (LiAlH ). In the case of a nitrile, a primary amine is the only possible product. Primary, secondary, and tertiary amines can be prepared from primary, secondary and tertiary amides, respectively. 

Various other reductive methods have been applied to amino-alcohol synthesis. (S)-(-)-3-Piperidinol was synthesised from both L-glutamic acid and (S)-malic acld. The routes involved cycli-sations of amino-alcohols in which the amino moiety was established by azide and nitrile reductions with H /Pd-C and LiAlH j respectively. Acyl cyanides were reduced to optically active amino-... 

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