Organoaluminum reagents 1.2- addition reactions

Organoaluminum reagents have been used in the copper-catalyzed conjugate addition to enones with some success. Iwata and co-workers (182) demonstrated that dimethoxyphenyl oxazoline (247) provides modest selectivities in the copper-catalyzed conjugate addition of trimethylaluminum to 3,4,4-trimethylcyclohexadi-enone to provide the adduct in 68% ee, Eq. 145. The use of TBSOTf is crucial to attain high conversion and selectivity in this process. Woodward and co-workers (183) subsequently reported that a Cu(I) complex of thiocarbamate 248 provides modest facial discrimination in the addition of trimethylaluminum to a linear enone to afford 245b in 51% ee, Eq. 146. The authors note that this catalyst system decomposes under the reaction conditions at ambient temperature. 

Yamamoto and Maruoka investigated the reaction of chiral acetals with organoaluminum reagents. Unprecedented regio- and stereochemical control was observed in the addition of trialkylaluminums to chiral a,/3-unsaturated acetals derived from optically pure tartaric acid diamide [83]. The course of the reaction seemed to be highly influenced by the nature of substrates, solvents, and temperature. These findings provide easy access to optically active a-substituted aldehydes (84), /3-substituted aldehydes (85), a-substituted carboxylic acids (86), or allylic alcohols (87). Because optically pure RJi)- and (5,5)-tartaric acid diamides are both readily available, this method enables the predictable synthesis of both enantiomers of substituted aldehydes, carboxylic acids, and allylic alcohols from a,/3-unsaturated aldehydes (Sch. 54). 

The addition of Lewis acids also irr iroves the yield for a Beckmann fragmentation followed by carbon-carbon bond formation through reaction of oxime acetates with organoaluminum reagents (eq 115). ZnCL is generally more effective than TMSOTf for this transformation. ... 

Organoaluminum reagents also undergo a variety of synthetically useful reactions with alkynes. The addition of dialkylaluminum hydrides to alkynes is a stereospecific cis addition. Vinylalanes that are capable of being converted to substituted alkenes by reaction with electrophilic reagents are formed. 

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