Nitro aldol reaction

Several approaches based on nitro-aldol for the synthesis of amino sugars have been reported Alumina-catalyzed reaction of methyl 3- nitropropanoate with O-benzyl-o-lactaldehyde gives the o-ribo-nitro-aldol fanti, and isomeri in 63% yield, which is converted into L-dannosamine fsee Secdon 3 3 Jager and coworkers have reported a short synthesis of L-acosamine based on the stereoselective nitro-aldol reaction of 2-O-benzyl-L-lactaldehyde with 3-nitropropanal dimethyl acetal as shovm in Scheme 3 10 The stereoselecdve nitro-aldol reacdon is carried ont by the silyl nitronate approach as discussed in Secdon 3 3... 

A syn-selective asymmetiic nih o-aldol reaction has been reported for structurally simple aldehydes using a new catalyst generated from 6,6-bis[(tiiethylsilyl)ethynyl]BINOL (g in Scheme 3.18). The syn selectivity in the nitro-aldol reaction can be explained by steric hindrance in the bicyclic transition state as can be seen in Newman projection. In the favored h ansition state, the catalyst acts as a Lewis acid and as a Lewis base at different sites. In conbast, the nonchelation-controlled transition state affords anti product with lower ee. This stereoselective nitro-aldol reaction has been applied to simple synthesis of t/ireo-dihydrosphingosine by the reduction of the nitro-aldol product with H2 and Pd-C (Eq. 3.79). 

The LLB catalysts requires at least 3.3 mol% of asymmehic catalyst for efficient nitro-aldol reactions, and the reactions are rather slow (first generation). Second-generation LLB catalysts are prepared by addition of 1 equiv of H2O and 0.9 equiv of n-BuLi. The second-generation-catalysts are more reactive than the first generation LLB as shown in Eq. 3.80. The proposed mechanism of asymmetiic niti o-aldol reaction using these catalysts is presented in Scheme 3.20. ... 

Scheme 3.20. Proposed mechanism of asymmetric nitro-aldol reactions catalyzed by LLB, LLB-II, or LLB-LI nitronate...

As shovm in Eq 6 59, Rapoport has prepared sinefungin, nucleoside andbiodcs, via nitro-aldol reaction, dehydradon, and reducdon v/iihZn in acetic acid fi-Niiro styrenes are selecdvity reduced to the corresponding oximes by indium metal in aqueous methanol under neutral conthdons ... 

Ring expansion of cyclic ketones via nitro-aldol reaction of a-nitrosiilfides followed by treatment wiih AlCU has been reported fEq 7 35 ... 

Chiu et al. developed the first example of a reductive intramolecular Henry reaction induced by Stryker s reagent (Scheme 30) [53]. The conjugate reduction of keto-nitroalkenes with [Ph3PCuH]6 (150 mol%) triggers spontaneous nitro-aldol reaction at - 40 °C to produce (f-hydroxy nitro compounds in moderate yield. 

Scheme 2.62. Synthesis of an enantio-enriched indene by a twofold nitro-aldol reaction.

The nitro-aldol reaction between nitroalkanes and carbonyl compounds to yield [3-nitro alcohols was discovered in 1895 by Henry.1 Since then, this reaction has been used extensively in many important syntheses. In view of its significance, there are several reviews on the Henry reaction.2-5 These reviews cover synthesis of (3-nitro alcohols and their applications in organic synthesis. The most comprehensive review is Ref. 3, which summarizes the literature before 1970. More recent reviews are Refs. 4 and 5, which summarize literatures on the Henry reaction published until 1990. 

Dendritic molecules with a single triethylene amine core surrounded by hyperbranched polyether sectors catalyze the nitro-aldol reaction between aromatic aldehydes and nitroalkanes (Eq. 3.5).15 The activity of the catalysts decreases when the generation number increases. No significant changes in stereo-control are observed on passing from lower- to higher-generation dendrimers. 

The nitro-aldol reaction can also be carried out in water using NaOH in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC1) as a cationic surfactant. CTAC1 (5 mmol) is added to a mixture of nitroalkane (50 mmol) and aldehyde (50 mmol) in NaOH 0.025 M (150 mL) at room temperature. The mixture is stirred for 2-3 h and worked up to give the product in 70-90% yield. Compared with the classical methods, this procedure has economical and environmental advantages (Eq. 3.16).27... 

The nitro-aldol reaction followed by dehydration gives 2-nitro-l,3-dienes, which are useful reagents for cycloaddition (Eq. 3.45).70... 

Over the last few years several examples have been reported in the field of asymmetric catalysis that are based on the interaction of two centers.6,119 Recently, Shibasaki and coworkers have developed an asymmetric two-center catalyst. Scheme 3.14 shows preparation of optically active La binaphthol (BINOL). This catalyst is effective in inducing the asymmetric nitro-aldol reaction, as shown in Scheme 3.15. 

Scheme 3.15. La-BINOL complex-catalyzed asymmetric nitro-aldol reactions...

The enantioselective nitro-aldol reaction catalyzed by (R)-LLB is effectively applied to the synthesis of three kinds of optically active (3-receptor blocking drugs (5)-metoprolol,123a (S)-propanolol,123b and ( -pindolol1230 (Scheme 3.17). 

Shibasaki has also extended the use of LLB catalyst to tandem nitro-aldol reactions providing bicyclic adducts with 65% ee (Eq. 3.75).124... 

Diastereoselective catalytic nitro-aldol reactions of optically active iV-phthaloyl-L-phenyl-alanal with nitromethane in the presence of LLB proceed with high diastereoselectivity (anti syn = 99 1) as shown in Eq. 3.76.125 The product is converted via the Nef reaction into (2S,3S)-3-amino-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutanoic acid, which is a subunit of the HIV-protease inhibitor... 

The heterobimetallic asymmetric catalyst, Sm-Li-(/ )-BINOL, catalyzes the nitro-aldol reaction of ot,ot-difluoroaldehydes with nitromethane in a good enantioselective manner, as shown in Eq. 3.78. In general, catalytic asymmetric syntheses of fluorine containing compounds have been rather difficult. The S configuration of the nitro-aldol adduct of Eq. 3.78 shows that the nitronate reacts preferentially on the Si face of aldehydes in the presence of (R)-LLB. In general, (R)-LLB causes attack on the Re face. Thus, enantiotopic face selection for a,a-difluoroaldehydes is opposite to that for nonfluorinated aldehydes. The stereoselectivity for a,a-difluoroaldehydes is identical to that of (3-alkoxyaldehydes, as shown in Scheme 3.19, suggesting that the fluorine atoms at the a-position have a great influence on enantioface selection. 

Jager and coworkers have used the TBAF catalyzed-stereoselective nitro-aldol reaction for the synthesis of cyclic amino alcohols such as iminopolyols, imino sugars, and cyclic amino acids. They are important classes of compounds and have the potential utility as anti-diabetic,... 

Another application of diastereoselective nitro-aldol reactions catalyzed by Bu4NF-3H20 is demonstrated in a simple synthesis of l,4-dideoxy-l,4-imino-D-mannitol (DIM) and amino analogues (Eq. 3.85).134 The nitro-aldol reaction of nitro compounds bearing a-oxy or a-amino function with glyceraldehyde leads to nitrohexitols, which can be reduced to the corresponding amino compounds. Cyclization gives iminopolyols, as shown in Eq. 3.85. 

The nitro-aldol reaction using l,l-diethoxy-2-nitroethane is useful for lengthening of the carbon chain of carbohydrates. The reaction of Eq. 3.86 proceeds in a stereoselective way (ds 75%) to give the syw-nitro alcohol in 58% isolated yield.135 The product is converted into 2-amino-2-deoxyaldoses by reaction with H2/Raney Ni. 

Ono and Kamimura have found a very simple method for the stereo-control of the Michael addition of thiols, selenols, or alcohols. The Michael addition of thiolate anions to nitroalkenes followed by protonation at -78 °C gives anti-(J-nitro sulfides (Eq. 4.8).11 This procedure can be extended to the preparation of a/jti-(3-nitro selenides (Eq. 4.9)12 and a/jti-(3-nitro ethers (Eq. 4.10).13 The addition products of benzyl alcohol are converted into P-amino alcohols with the retention of the configuration, which is a useful method for anri-P-amino alcohols. This is an alternative method of stereoselective nitro-aldol reactions (Section 3.3). The anti selectivity of these reactions is explained on the basis of stereoselective protonation to nitronate anion intermediates. The high stereoselectivity requires heteroatom substituents on the P-position of the nitro group. The computational calculation exhibits that the heteroatom covers one site of the plane of the nitronate anion.14... 

Combining, in tandem, the nitro-aldol reaction with the Michael addition using thiophenol is a good method for the preparation of P-nitro sulfides as shown in Eqs. 4.2 and 4.3. This reaction is applied to a total synthesis of tuberine. Tuberine is a simple enamide isolated from Streptomyces amakusaensis and has some structural resemblance to erbastatin, an enamide which has received much attention in recent years as an inhibitor of tyrosine-specific kinases. The reaction of p-anisaldehyde and nitromethane in the presence of thiophenol yields the requisite P-nitro sulfide, which is converted into tuberine via reduction, formylation, oxidation, and thermal elimination of... 

Heterobimetallic asymmetric complexes contain both Bronsted basic and Lewis acidic functionalities. These complexes have been developed by Shibasaki and coworkers and have proved to be highly efficient catalysts for many types of asymmetric reactions, including catalytic asymmetric nitro-aldol reaction (see Section 3.3) and Michael reaction. They have reported that the multifunctional catalyst (f )-LPB [LaK3tris(f )-binaphthoxide] controls the Michael addition of nitromethane to chalcones with >95% ee (Eq. 4.140).205... 

Nitroacetaldehyde diethyl acetal is prepared by the reaction of nitromethane with triethyl orthoformate in the presence of ZnCl2 (Eq. 5.8).17 Jager and coworkers have used this reagent for the synthesis of amino sugars via nitro-aldol reaction.18 Preparation of this useful reagent is now described in volume 74 of Organic Synthesis.19... 

In a similar way, a-nitroselenides are prepared via the reaction of nitronates with phenylse-lenyl bromide, which gives a new synthetic method of l-nitroalkenes from nitroalkanes.130 The sequence of a-selenation, nitro-aldol reaction, and oxidation provides a useful method for the preparation of nitroalkenes with a hydroxymethyl group (Eq. 5.81).131... 

Magnus and coworker have presented a new strategy for the preparation of taxane diterpenes by using nitro-aldol reaction and denitration as key steps (see Scheme 7.11).77... 

Enantioselective nitro-aldol reaction (see Section 3.3) or Michael reaction (see Section 4.4) followed by radical denitration is useful as an alternative indirect method of enantioselective 1,2- or 1,4-addition of alkyl anions (see Eq. 7.7087 and Eq. 7.7188). 

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