Aldehydes reactions with organometallic compounds

Organohthium and organomagnesium compounds find their chief use m the prepa ration of alcohols by reaction with aldehydes and ketones Before discussing these reac tions let us first examine the reactions of these organometallic compounds with proton donors... 

An extension of the Erlenmeyer synthesis is the condensation of acylamino acids with triethyl orthoformate which leads to the ethoxymethylene derivatives (297). These can be hydrolyzed to the corresponding enols, which in turn can be converted into chloromethylene compounds, e.g. (298). The lability of the chlorine atom in this compound (see arrows) can be put to good account reaction with organometallic compounds or with benzene and its derivatives under Friedel-Crafts conditions yields unsaturated lactones (298 aryl or heteroaryl in place of Cl). The method is especially valuable in cases where the aldehyde is not readily available. 

The Peterson olefination can be viewed as a silicon variant of the Wittig reaction, the well-known method for the formation of carbon-carbon double bonds. A ketone or aldehyde 1 can react with an a-silyl organometallic compound 2—e.g. with M = Li or Mg—to yield an alkene 3. 

One of the important new directions in the study of addition reactions of organozinc compounds to aldehydes is the use of ionic liquids. Usually, application of these compounds in reactions with common organometallic reagents has a serious problem ionic solvents are usually reactive toward them, particularly Grignard and organolithium derivatives. It has been recently reported that carbonyl compounds react with allylzinc bromide formed in situ from allyl bromide and zinc in the ionic liquid 3-butyl-l-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, [bmim][BF4].285 Another important finding is that the more reactive ZnEt2 alkylates aldehydes in a number of ionic liquids at room temperature.286 The best yields (up to 96%) were obtained in A-butylpyridinium tetrafluoroborate, [bpy][BF4] (Scheme 107). 

The same electrochemical process was also used for the coupling between aldehydes or ketones and activated alkyl halides such as a-chloroesters, -nitriles, and -ketones as well as aya-dichloroesters.334 Electroanalytical studies have shown initial electroreduction of Fe(n) to Fe(i) and subsequent formation of an iron organometallic intermediate (e.g., a 7t-allyliron complex in Equation (27)) before reaction with the corresponding carbonyl compounds.335... 

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