Other Conjugate Additions

The hydrocyanation of conjugated carbonyl compounds is a related reaction. Very often such a conjugated addition is carried out in aqueous conditions. For example, in the pioneer work of Lapworth, hydrocyanation of activated olefins was carried out with KCN or NaCN in aqueous ethanol in the presence of acetic acid (Eq. 10.36).  

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Barbas developed this procedure further by introducing an asymmetric three-component Michael reaction that should be applicable to many other conjugate addition reactions. He used a Wittig olefmation to prepare, in situ, an a,P-unsatu-rated ketone that subsequently underwent a conjugate addition with malonates (Scheme 21) [94]. The rate of the conjugate addition process was observed to be considerably faster than the analogous reaction reported by Jprgensen which was attributed to the presence of triphenylphosphine oxide within the reaction mixture. 

Other conjugate additions have also been reported when 244 and 245 were reacted with hydrazine (Scheme 32) <1962G1367>, 246 with sodium ethoxide or arylhydrazine (Scheme 33) <1972CPB1325>, and 247 with lithium aluminium hydride (LAH) (Equation 26) <1995CPB1137>. 

Acetaldehyde also engaged in other conjugate additions with poly-conjugated substrates, such as nitrodienynes and nitroenynes. Interestingly, only 1,4-additions were observed and no 1,6- or 1,8-addition occurred. The utility of the products was demonstrated by the enantioselective total synthesis of (- -)-a-lycorane (Scheme 8.2). ... 

Michael and other conjugate addition reactions, like the one we just saw in Scheme 6, are key steps in several indole syntheses. For example, Otera and colleagues developed... 

Section 10 10 Protonation at the terminal carbon of a conjugated diene system gives an allylic carbocation that can be captured by the halide nucleophile at either of the two sites that share the positive charge Nucleophilic attack at the carbon adjacent to the one that is protonated gives the product of direct addition (1 2 addition) Capture at the other site gives the product of conjugate addition (1 4 addition)... 

Section 10 12 Conjugate addition of an alkene (the dienophile) to a conjugated diene gives a cyclohexene derivative in a process called the Diels-Alder reaction It is concerted and stereospecific substituents that are cis to each other on the dienophile remain cis m the product... 

With certain other nucleophiles addition takes place at the carbon-carbon double bond rather than at the carbonyl group Such reactions proceed via enol intermediates and are described as conjugate addition ox 1 4 addition reactions... 

The methodology used in the preparation of RU 486 (84) and other ll -steroids is shown. Conjugate addition of a cuprate reagent to the a,P-unsaturated epoxide (85) provides the liP-substituted steroid (86) stereospecificaHy (131). Subsequent steps lead to the synthesis of RU 486 (84). 

In agreement with these analyses, it was found that conqiound S was unreactive toward base-catalyzed cyclization to 6, even though the double bond would be expected to be reactive toward nucleophilic conjugate addition. On the other hand the acetylene 7 is readily cyclized to 8 ... 

Aside from pregn-16-en-20-ones, no other conjugated steroidal enones that are known to undergo facile nucleophilic addition to the carbon-carbon... 

The Paal synthesis of thiophenes from 1,4-diketones, 4-ketoaldehydes and 1,4-dialdehydes has found great use in the synthesis of medicinally active compounds, polymers, liquid crystals and other important materials. Furthermore, the discovery of the catalyzed nucleophilic 1,4-conjugate addition of aldehydes, known as the Stetter reaction (Eq. 5.4.1), has enabled widespread use of the Paal thiophene synthesis, by providing 1,4-diketones from readily available starting materials. ... 

The reaction of 5-methoxy-2(5//)-furanone 168 with amines was also studied (89T6799). The conjugated addition of ethanolamine to the furanone 168 gave the racemic amino lactone 275 (R = CH2CH20H). Similarly, piperazine reacted with two equivalents of 168 to provide the diadduct 276 as a single diastereomer (no traces of the other isomer were detected). With tryptamine, the reaction was nearly quantitative with the the formation the tran -adduct 277 (R = tryptophanyl) (Scheme 72) (89T6799). 

The 1,4-addition of an enolate anion 1 to an o ,/3-unsaturated carbonyl compound 2, to yield a 1,5-dicarbonyl compound 3, is a powerful method for the formation of carbon-carbon bonds, and is called the Michael reaction or Michael addition The 1,4-addition to an o ,/3-unsaturated carbonyl substrate is also called a conjugate addition. Various other 1,4-additions are known, and sometimes referred to as Michael-like additions. 

The best Michael reactions are those that take place when a particularly stable enolate ion such as that derived from a /i-keto ester or other 1,3-dicarbonyl compound adds to an unhindered a,/3-unsaturated ketone. Tor example, ethyl acetoacetate reacts with 3-buten-2-one in the presence of sodium ethoxide to yield the conjugate addition product. 

Although pyrrole appears to be both an amine and a conjugated diene, its chemical properties are not consistent with either of these structural features. Unlike most other amines, pyrrole is not basic—the pKa of the pyrrolin-ium ion is 0.4 unlike most other conjugated dienes, pyrrole undergoes electrophilic substitution reactions rather than additions. The reason for both these properties, as noted previously in Section 15.5, is that pyrrole has six 77 electrons and is aromatic. Each of the four carbons contributes one... 

Subsequent dehydration of /3-hydroxybutyryl ACP by an ElcB reaction in step 7 yields trans-ciotonyl ACP, and the carbon-carbon double bond of crotonyl ACP is reduced by NADPH in step 8 to yield butyryl ACP. The doublebond reduction occurs by conjugate addition of a hydride ion from NADPH to the /S carbon of fraus-crotonyl ACP. In vertebrates, the reduction occurs by an overall syn addition, but other organisms carry out similar chemistry with different stereochemistry. 

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