Nucleophilic substitution reactions Claisen reaction

Keep in mind The characteristic reaction of esters is nucleophilic substitution. A Claisen reaction is a nucleophilic substitution in which an enolate is the nucleophile. 

A study of amino-Claisen rearrangements of N-vinylquinuclidines provides an entry to the hydroisoquinoline and hydrophenanthridine structures. Two approaches have been studied, one of which utilizes nucleophilic substitution reactions of N-methylated isoquinuclidines with j8-chloro-a,jS-unsaturated ketones the second, more versatile route employs acid-catalysed rearrangements of jS-amino-a,j8-unsaturated ketones. The generality of the latter procedure is illustrated in Scheme 116. 

Tire mechanism of the Claisen condensation is similar to that of the aldol condensation and involves the nucleophilic addition of an ester enolate ion to the carbonyl group of a second ester molecule. The only difference between the aldol condensation of an aldeiwde or ketone and the Claisen condensation of an ester involves the fate of the initially formed tetrahedral intermediate. The tetrahedral intermediate in the aldol reaction is protonated to give an alcohol product—exactly the behavior previously seen for aldehydes and ketones (Section 19.4). The tetrahedral intermediate in the Claisen reaction, however, expels an alkoxide leaving group to yield an acyl substitution product—exactly the behavior previously seen for esters (Section 21.6). The mechanism of the Claisen condensation reaction is shown in Figure 23.5. 

Step 1 of Figure 27.7 Claisen Condensation The first step in mevalonate biosynthesis is a Claisen condensation (Section 23.7) to yield acetoacetyl CoA, a reaction catalyzed by acetoacetyl-CoA acetyltransferase. An acetyl group is first bound to the enzyme by a nucleophilic acyl substitution reaction with a cysteine —SH group. Formation of an enolate ion from a second molecule of acetyl CoA, followed by Claisen condensation, then yields the product. 

The retro-Claisen reaction occurs by initial nucleophilic addition of a cysteine -SH group on the enzyme to the keto group of the /3-ketoacyl CoA to yield an alkoxide ion intermediate. Cleavage of the C2-C3 bond then follows, with expulsion of an acetyl CoA enolate ion. Protonation of the enolate ion gives acetyl CoA, and the enzyme-bound acyl group undergoes nucleophilic acyl substitution by reaction with a molecule of coenzyme A. The chain-shortened acyl CoA that results then enters another round of tire /3-oxidation pathway for further degradation. 

In the presence of a strong base, the ot carbon of a carboxylic ester can condense with the carbonyl carbon of an aldehyde or ketone to give a P-hydroxy ester, which may or may not be dehydrated to the a,P-unsaturated ester. This reaction is sometimes called the Claisen reaction,an unfortunate usage since that name is more firmly connected to 10-118. In a modem example of how the reaction is used, addition of tert-butyl acetate to LDA in hexane at -78°C gives the lithium salt of ferf-butyl acetate, " (12-21) an enolate anion. Subsequent reaction a ketone provides a simple rapid alternative to the Reformatsky reaction (16-31) as a means of preparing P-hydroxy erf-butyl esters. It is also possible for the a carbon of an aldehyde or ketone to add to the carbonyl carbon of a carboxylic ester, but this is a different reaction (10-119) involving nucleophilic substitution and not addition to a C=0 bond. It can, however, be a side reaction if the aldehyde or ketone has an a hydrogen. 

The enolate anion attacks the carbonyl carbon of a second molecule of ester and gives a P-ketoester. Thus, the Claisen condensation is a nucleophilic acyl substitution reaction. Eor example, two molecules of ethyl acetate condense together to form the enolate of ethyl acetoacetate, which upon addition of an acid produces ethyl acetoacetate (P-ketoester). 

Classical organic reactions that have been carried out in water include, among others, the Diels-Alder reaction, the Claisen rearrangement, aldol condensations, Michael additions, and nucleophilic substitutions. In the Diels-Alder reaction, for example, water has been found to increase the reaction rate and to enhance the endoselectivity 120). Two reviews summarize the results for organic reactions in water 121). 

Phenols have been prepared on solid phase by aromatic nucleophilic substitution with hydroxide, by thermal rearrangement of vinylcyclobutenones, by oxidative coupling of phenols (Figure 5.20 [65]), by cyclocondensation reactions with simultaneous release of the phenols into solution (Entry 12, Table 7.6), and by Claisen rearrangement [66]. 

Alkenyl(phenyl)iodine(III) compounds can also serve as starting materials in rearrangements. Allenyl(aryl)iodine(III) compounds of type 86 can be synthesized from (diacetoxyiodo) derivatives 85 and propargylsilanes [145]. It depends on the leaving group ability of the aromatic substituent on iodine in 86 as to whether the reaction proceeds via nucleophilic substitution to compounds of type 87 or by an iodonio-Claisen rearrangement to compounds 88, Scheme 37 [146,147]. The easy access to propynyl compounds 87 has been shown [148] and solvent effects in these reactions have been investigated as well [149,150]. 

The Claisen reaction involves the condensation or linking of two ester molecules to form a 3-ketoester (Fig.T). This reaction can be considered as the ester equivalent of the Aldol reaction The reaction involves the formation of an enolate ion from one ester molecule which then undergoes nucleophilic substitution with a second ester molecule (Fig.U, Step 1). 

So far, we have seen that an enolate anion is able to act as a nucleophile in an SN2 reaction (Sections 20.3 and 20.4) and also in an addition reaction to the carbonyl group of an aldehyde in the aldol condensation (Section 20.5). It also can act as a nucleophile in a substitution reaction with the carbonyl group of an ester as the electrophile. When an ester is treated with a base such as sodium ethoxide, the enolate ion that is produced can react with another molecule of the same ester. The product has the a-carbon of one ester molecule bonded to the carbonyl carbon of a second ester molecule, replacing the alkoxy group. Examples of this reaction, called the Claisen ester condensation, are provided by the following equations ... 

Claisen condensation reaction (Section 23.7) a nucleophilic acyl substitution reaction that occurs when an ester enolate ion attacks the carbonyl group of a second ester molecule. The product is a p-keto ester. 

The mechanism for the Claisen reaction (Mechanism 24.4) resembles the mechanism of an aldol reaction in that it involves nucleophilic addition of an enolate to an electrophilic carbonyl group. Because esters have a leaving group on the carbonyl carbon, however, loss of a leaving group occurs to form the product of substitution, not addition. 

Figure 24.6 compares the general reaction for nucleophilic substitution of an ester with the Claisen reaction. Sample Problem 24.3 reinforces the basic features of the Claisen reaction. 

Esters react by nucleophilic substitution. In a Claisen reaction, an enoiate is the nucleophile that adds to the carbonyl group. 

Like the aldol condensation and related reactions, the Claisen condensation involves nucleophilic attack by a carbanion on an electron-deficient carbonyl carbon. In the aldol condensation nucleophilic attack leads to addition the typical reaction of aldehydes and ketones in the Claisen condensation, nucleophilic attack leads to substitution, the typical reaction of acyl compounds (Sec. 20.4). 

The mechanism of the Dieckmann cyclization, shown in Figure 23.6 (p. 954), is analogous to that of the Claisen reaction. One of the two ester groups is converted into an enolate ion, which then carries out a nucleophilic acyl substitution on the second ester group at the other end of the molecule. A cyclic /S-keto ester product results. 

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