Nitroalkanes, nitroaldol reaction

A variety of 1,5-dialdehydes 9 react in a double nitroaldol reaction with nitroalkanes to give 6-membered carbo- and heterocyclic owMran. -2-nitro-l,3-diols 10 which can be transformed into the enantiomcrically pure derivatives via enantiosclcctive saponification of their diacetates with pig liver esterase5. 

The Henry (nitroaldol) reaction was reported under very mild reaction conditions, in aqueous media using a stoichiometric amount of a nitroalkane and an aldehyde, in NaOH 0.025 M and in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC1) as cationic surfactant (Eq. 8.94) 240 Good to excellent yields of (i-nitroalkanol are obtained. Under these conditions several functionalities are preserved, and side-reactions such as retro-aldol reaction or dehydration of 2-nitroalcohols are avoided. 

Nitroaldol (Henry) reactions of nitroalkanes and a carbonyl were investigated by Hiemstra [76], Based on their earlier studies with Cinchona alkaloid derived catalysts, they were able to achieve moderate enantioselectivities between aromatic aldehydes and nitromethane. Until then, organocatalyzed nitroaldol reactions displayed poor selectivities. Based on prior reports by Sods [77], an activated thionrea tethered to a Cinchona alkaloid at the quinoline position seemed like a good catalyst candidate. Hiemstra incorporated that same moiety to their catalyst. Snbsequently, catalyst 121 was used in the nitroaldol reaction of aromatic aldehydes to generate P-amino alcohols in high yield and high enantioselectivities (Scheme 27). 

Scheme 6.166 Product range of the asymmetric Henry (nitroaldol) reaction of aldehydes with various nitroalkanes in the presence of (S,S)-configured catalyst 183.

Scheme 6.172 Typical chiral adducts obtained from the 186-catalyzed nitroaldol reaction between a-ketoesters and nitroalkanes.

Shibasaki et al. have reported an asymmetric nitroaldol reaction catalyzed by chiral lanthanum alkoxide 18 to produce an optically active 2-hydroxy-1-nitroalkane with moderate-to-high enantiomeric excesses (Scheme 8B1.10) [27]. Apparently this novel catalyst acts as Lewis base. The proposed reaction mechanism is shown in Scheme 8B1.11, where the first step of the reaction is the ligand exchange between binaphthol and nitromethane. This reaction is probably the first successful example of the catalytic asymmetric reaction promoted by a Lew i s base metal catalyst. Future application of this methodology is quite promising. 

Keywords nitroalkane, aldehyde, nitroaldol reaction, alumina supported chro-mium(VI) oxide, a-nitro ketone... 

The compound 3 can be easily prepared, in one pot, through a solvent-free procedure by nitroaldol reaction of nitroalkane 1 (2.2 mmol) and aldehyde 2 (2.2 mmol, freshly distilled), on activated neutral alumina (0.6 g, the alumina was added to a mechanically stirred solution of 1 and 2, at 0°C, then at room temperature for 20 h). Then, in situ addition (0°C) of wet-alumina supported chro-mium(VI) oxide (0.88 g (8.8 mmol) of C1O3 and 2.64 g of wet alumina). After standing for additional 20 h, the product was extracted with diethyl ether and passed through a bed of alumina. Evaporation of the organic solvent and flash chromatographic purification afforded the pure a-nitro ketone 3 in good yields (68-86%). 

The asymmetric catalytic nitroaldol reaction, also known as the asymmetric Henry reaction, is another example of an aldol-related synthesis of high general interest. In this reaction nitromethane (or a related nitroalkane) reacts in the presence of a chiral catalyst with an aldehyde, forming optically active / -nitro alcohols [122], The / -nitro alcohols are valuable intermediates in the synthesis of a broad variety of chiral building blocks, e.g. / -amino alcohols. A highly efficient asymmetric catalytic nitroaldol reaction has been developed by the Shibasaki group, who used multifunctional lanthanoid-based complexes as chiral catalysts [122-125],... 

LLB-type catalysts were also able to promote diastereoselective and enantioselective nitroaldol reactions starting from substituted nitroalkanes. In preliminary work, however, LLB itself gave unsatisfactory results in terms of both diastereoselectivity (syn/anti ratio 63 37 to 77 23) and enantioselectivity (<78% ee).32 To address the problem of modest enantio- and diastereoselectivities with... 

In the preparation of dynamic nitroaldol systems, different aldehydes and nitroalkanes were first evaluated for reversible nitroaldol reactions in the presence of base to avoid any side- or competitive reactions, and to investigate the rate of the reactions. 1H-NMR spectroscopy was used to follow the reactions by comparison of the ratios of aldehyde and the nitroalcohols. Among various bases, triethylamine was chosen as catalyst because its reactions provided the fastest exchange reaction and proved compatible with the enzymatic reactions. Then, five benzaldehydes 18A-E and 2-nitropropane 19 (Scheme 9) were chosen to study dynamic nitroaldol system (CDS-2) generation, because of their similar individual reactivity and product stabilities in the nitroaldol reaction. Ten nitroaldol adducts ( )-20A-E were generated under basic conditions under thermodynamic control, showing... 

Nitroalkanes having an a-hydrogen atom undergo aldol-type condensation with aldehydes and ketones in the presence of a base to give p-hydroxy nitro compounds or nitroethylene compounds. The reaction is known as the Henry reaction " or nitroaldol reaction. 

It seems that the syn selectivity in the nitroaldol reaction can best be explained as arising from steric hindrance in the bicyclic transition state it seems that the greater stereoselectivity obtained by use of catalysts 27 and 28 can be ascribed to increased catalyst stability, even in the presence of an excess of highly acidic nitroalkanes. The syn-selective asymmetric nitroaldol reaction was successfully applied to the catalytic asymmetric synthesis of t/zreo-dihydrosphingosine 45, which elicits a variety of cellular responses by inhibiting protein kinase C. An efficient synthesis of erythro-AHPA 42 from L-phenylalanine was, moreover, achieved by using LLB (Sch. 9) [59],... 

First encouraging results for a stereoselective synthesis in general were reported by Seebach in 1982, who investigated the syn/anti-diastereoselectivity starting from achiral aldehydes and nitroalkanes [4,5]. Barrett et al. examined the influence of nonchiral Lewis acids on the syn/anti diastereoselectivity [6]. Stoichiometric amounts of an enantiomerically pure aldehyde were used in a di-astereoselective reaction with 3-nitropropionate by Hanessian et al. [7]. However, an approach to enantioselective synthesis of nitroalcohols via the route of the asymmetric Henry reaction could not be carried out until almost one hundred years after the discovery of the nitroaldol reaction. 

The proposed mechanism for the asymmetric nitroaldol reaction catalyzed by heterobimetallic lanthanoid complexes is shown in Scheme 2 [9]. In the initial step, the nitroalkane component is deprotonated and the resulting lithium nitr-onate coordinates to the lanthanoid complex under formation of the intermediate I [ 10]. Subsequent addition of the aldehyde by coordination of the C=0 double bond to the lanthanoid(III) ionic center leads to intermediate II, in which the carbonyl function should be attacked by the nitronate via a six-membered transition state (in an asymmetric environment). A proton exchange reaction step will then generate the desired optically active nitroalkanol adduct with regeneration of the free rare earth complex LnLB. 

The Henry reaction is an aldol-type reaction between a nitroalkane and an aldehyde in the presence of a base. Since basic reagents are also catalysts for the aldol condensation, the nitroaldol reactions must be strictly controlled. An interesting alternative lies in the use of surfactants to perform the reaction in an aqueous medium [63], The Reformatsky reaction, which involves a-haloketones and aldehydes, can be mediated by zinc, tin or indium in water in the latter case the proportion of undesirable reduction products could be strongly reduced [64]. 

Significant Functionalized Nitroalkanes Used in Nitroaldol Reactions 331... 

NITROALDOL REACTIONS WITH SILYL NITRONATES AND WITH a.a DOUBLY DEPROTONATED 335 NITROALKANES... 

The utilization of carbanions stabilized by various electron-withdrawing groups to effect carbon-carbon bond formation occupies a central position in organic synthesis. This chapter focuses on the reactions of nitro-stabilized carbanions (nitronate anions or their equivalents) with aldehydes and ketones. This route for the coupling of a carbonyl and a nitroalkane component, leading to vicinal nitro alcohols, was discovered in 1895 by Henry and is currently known as the Henry or nitroaldol reaction. 

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