Nucleophilic addition carboxylic acid derivatives

Accordingly, if one wants to react a nucleophile and carboxylic acid derivative to produce a carbonyl compound in a chemoselective fashion via the mechanism of Figure 6.2, then one should use acid chlorides or comparably strongly activated carboxylic acid derivatives. In addition, the reaction must be carried out with the weakest possible nucleophile because only... 

Chemoselective SN reactions of nucleophiles with carboxylic acid derivatives are guaranteed to take place without the risk of an overreaction when the substitution mechanism of Figure 6.4 applies. This is because as long as the nucleophile is present, only one reaction step is possible the formation of the negatively charged tetrahedral intermediate. Figure 6.40 summarizes this addition in the top line as Reaction 1 (— B). 

Accordingly, if one wants to react a nucleophile and carboxylic acid derivative to produce a carbonyl compound in a chemoselective fashion according to the mechanism of Figure 6.2, then one best employs carboxylic acid chlorides or comparably strongly activated carboxylic acid derivatives. In addition, the respective reaction must be carried out with the weakest possible nucleophile because only such a nucleophile reacts considerably faster with the activated carboxylic add derivative than with the product carbonyl compound (see above). The nucleophile must react considerably faster with the carboxylic acid derivative because at 95% conversion there is almost twenty times more carbonyl compound present than carboxylic acid derivative, but even at this stage the carboxylic acid derivative must be the preferred reaction partner of the nucleophile. 

The reaction of carbon-based nucleophiles and carboxylic acid derivatives often presents a sophisticated problem in reaction chemoselectivity, especially when selective acylation of organometallics to form a ketone is required (equation 1). Historically, this transformation has been plagued by the formation of by-products due to subsequent nucleophilic addition to the desired product. A great deal of effort has been directed toward developing gentler techniques which avoid overaddition. Alternatively, the preparation of a ketone ft om a carboxylic acid equivalent often relies on a three-step approach, as shown in equation (2). 

Addition-elimination reactions may be carried out under either basic or acidic conditions. We have seen how additions of nucleophiles to aldehydes and ketones (Sections 17-5 through 17-9 Table 17-4) may be catalyzed by either bases or acids. The same is true for additions of nucleophiles to carboxylic acid derivatives. Eliminations from the tetrahedral intermediate are similarly catalyzed Recall that this process is mechanistically just the reverse of addition therefore, the same catalytic effects are observed. Let us examine the roles of both base and acid in detail. 

Tertiary amines add readily as nucleophiles to carbonyl compounds, but, lacking a hydrogen on nitrogen, they cannot depro-tonate to give a stable product. Instead, their addition gives an intermediate that is highly reactive toward other nucleophiles. Thus, tertiary amines are occasionally used as catalysts for the addition of weak nucleophiles to carboxylic acid derivatives. 

The first stage of the mechanism is exactly the same as for nucleophilic addition to the carbonyl group of an aldehyde or ketone Many of the same nucleophiles that add to aldehydes and ketones—water (Section 17 6) alcohols (Section 17 8) amines (Sections 17 10-17 11)—add to the carbonyl groups of carboxylic acid derivatives... 

Tetrahedral intermediate (Section 19.14 and Chapter 20) The key intermediate in nucleophilic acyl substitution. Formed by nucleophilic addition to the carbonyl group of a carboxylic acid derivative. 

Carboxylic acid derivatives, CH3C(=0)Z, are similar to aldehydes and ketones in that they contain a polar carbonyl group. Therefore, nucleophiles should add to the carbonyl carbon, although the rate of addition may depend on the Z group. 

The second fundamental reaction of carbonyl compounds, nucleophilic acyl substitution, is related to the nucleophilic addition reaction just discussed but occurs only with carboxylic acid derivatives rather than with aldehydes and ketones. When the carbonyl group of a carboxylic acid derivative reacts with a nucleophile, addition occurs in the usual way, but the initially formed tetra-... 

As a general rule, nucleophilic addition reactions are characteristic only of aldehydes and ketones, not of carboxylic acid derivatives. The reason for the difference is structural. As discussed previously in A Preview of Carbonyl Compounds and shown in Figure 19.14, the tetrahedral intermediate produced by addition of a nucleophile to a carboxylic acid derivative can eliminate a leaving group, leading to a net nucleophilic acyl substitution reaction. The tetrahedral intermediate... 

Figure 19.14 Carboxylic acid derivatives have an electronegative substituent Y = -Br, —Cl, -OR, -NR2 that can be expelled as a leaving group from the tetrahedral intermediate formed by nucleophilic addition. Aldehydes and ketones have no such leaving group and thus do not usually undergo this reaction.

The addition of a nucleophile to a polar C=0 bond is the key step in thre< of the four major carbonyl-group reactions. We saw in Chapter 19 that when. nucleophile adds to an aldehyde or ketone, the initially formed tetrahedra intermediate either can be protonated to yield an alcohol or can eliminate th< carbonyl oxygen, leading to a new C=Nu bond. When a nucleophile adds to carboxylic acid derivative, however, a different reaction course is followed. Tin initially formed tetrahedral intermediate eliminates one of the two substituent originally bonded to the carbonyl carbon, leading to a net nucleophilic acy substitution reaction (Figure 21.1. ... 

Problem 21.6 The following structure represents a tetrahedral alkoxide ion intermediate formed by addition of a nucleophile to a carboxylic acid derivative. Identify the nucleophile, the leaving group, the starting acid derivative, and the ultimate product. 

Acid halides are among the most reactive of carboxylic acid derivatives and can be converted into many other kinds of compounds by nucleophilic acyl substitution mechanisms. The halogen can be replaced by -OH to yield an acid, by —OCOR to yield an anhydride, by -OR to yield an ester, or by -NH2 to yield an amide. In addition, the reduction of an acid halide yields a primary alcohol, and reaction with a Grignard reagent yields a tertiary alcohol. Although the reactions we ll be discussing in this section are illustrated only for acid chlorides, similar processes take place with other acid halides. 

Use of the relatively small cyclopropane ring drastically reduces the potential for deleterious steric bulk effects and adds only a relatively small lipophilic increment to the partition coefficient of the drug. One of the clever elements of the rolicyprine synthesis itself is the reaction of d,l tranylcypromine (67) with L-5-pyrrolidone-2-carboxylic acid (derived from glutamic acid) to form a highly crystalline diastereomeric salt, thereby effecting resolution. Addition of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide activates the carboxyl group to nucleophilic attack by the primary amine thus forming the amide rolicyprine (68). 

Phenylthio)nitroalkenes are also excellent intermediates for the synthesis of other heterocyclic ring systems. For example, tetrahydropyran carboxylic acid derivatives are formed by the intramolecular addition of oxygen nucleophile to l-(phenylthio)nitroalkene predominantly as the m-isomer (9.1 1) (see Eq. 4.40). The reaction may proceed via the chair-like transition state with two pseudo-equatorial substituents.50... 

The development of diversification linkers allows introduction of an additional element of diversity. Upon completion of the synthesis sequence, the linker is activated facilitating nucleophilic release of the library members from support In the ideal case, as implemented with the acylsulfonamide linker (Scheme 4a), the activated linker is sufficiently reactive that limiting amounts of nucleophile may be added to provide pure product after resin filtration.181 Diversification linkers have been developed for the preparation of carboxylic acid derivatives (Scheme 4a), amines (Scheme 4b),191 aromatic (Scheme 4c) and even heteroaromatic compounds (Scheme 4d).1101... 

In HO -catalyzed hydrolysis (specific base catalyzed hydrolysis), the tetrahedral intermediate is formed by the addition of a nucleophilic HO ion (Fig. 3.1, Pathway b). This reaction is irreversible for both esters and amides, since the carboxylate ion formed is deprotonated in basic solution and, hence, is not receptive to attack by the nucleophilic alcohol, phenol, or amine. The reactivity of the carboxylic acid derivative toward a particular nucleophile depends on a) the relative electron-donating or -withdrawing power of the substituents on the carbonyl group, and b) the relative ability of the -OR or -NR R" moiety to act as a leaving group. Thus, electronegative substituents accelerate hydrolysis, and esters are more readily hydrolyzed than amides. 

The retrosynthesis involves the following transformations i) isomerisation of the endocyclic doble bond to the exo position ii) substitution of the terminal methylene group by a more stable carbonyl group (retro-Wittig reaction) iii) nucleophilic retro-Michael addition iv) reductive allylic rearrangement v) dealkylation of tertiary alcohol vi) homolytic cleavage and functionalisation vii) dehydroiodination viii) conversion of ethynyl ketone to carboxylic acid derivative ix) homolytic cleavage and functionalisation x) 3-bromo-debutylation xi) conversion of vinyl trimethylstannane to methyl 2-oxocyclopentanecarboxylate (67). 

The most significant change in these reactions is the formation of the carbon-nncleophile bond so, in both types of mechanism, the reaction is termed a nucleophilic addition. It should be noted that the polarization in the carbonyl group leads to nucleophilic addition, whereas the lack of polarization in the C=C donble bond of an alkene leads to electrophilic addition reactions (see Chapter 8). Carbonyl groups in carboxylic acid derivatives undergo a similar type of reactivity to nucleophiles, but the... 

Nucleophilic addition of an enolate anion from a carboxylic acid derivative onto an aldehyde or ketone is simply an aldol-type reaction (see Section 10.3). 

Now this is exactly the same situation we encountered when we compared the reactivity of aldehydes and ketones with that of carboxylic acid derivatives (see Section 7.8). The net result here is acylation of the nucleophile, and in the case of acylation of enolate anions, the reaction is termed a Claisen reaction. It is important not to consider aldol and Claisen reactions separately, but to appreciate that the initial addition is the same, and differences in products merely result from the absence or presence... 

A problem inherent in metallation reactions with Grignard reagents is the poor chemos-electivity of the reactions. The most common side-reactions are the competing nucleophile addition and the reduction of the carbonyl compounds. An interesting alternative would be to use the high electrophilicity of the Mg + cation and its tendency to form a multicoordinate complex. The preformation of a Mg(II) complex with a carbonyl compound or a carboxylic acid derivative enhances the acidity of the substrate to the point where a relatively mild base can be used. 

Note that the reaction at the phosphorus atom is postulated to occur by an SN2 (no intermediate formed) rather than by an addition mechanism such as we encountered with carboxylic acid derivatives (Kirby and Warren, 1967). As we learned in Section 13.2, for attack at a saturated carbon atom, OH- is a better nucleophile than H20 by about a factor of 104 (Table 13.2). Toward phosphorus, which is a harder electrophilic center (see Box 13.1), however, the relative nucleophilicity increases dramatically. For triphenyl phosphate, for example, OH- is about 108 times stronger than H20 as a nucleophile (Barnard et al., 1961). Note that in the case of triphenyl phosphate, no substitution may occur at the carbon bound to the oxygen of the alcohol moiety, and therefore, neutral hydrolysis is much less important as compared to the other cases (see /NB values in Table 13.12). Consequently, the base-catalyzed reaction generally occurs at the phosphorus atom leading to the dissociation of the alcohol moiety that is the best leaving group (P-0 cleavage), as is illustrated by the reaction of parathion with OH ... 

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