Phosphonium ylides ester substituted

A related preparation of specific stabilized phosphonium yUdes corresponds to the reaction of triarylphosphines with acetylene dicarboxylic esters in presence of fullerene, which affords a cyclopropanyl-fullerene substituted stabilized phosphonium ylide [9] or the corresponding evolution products [10]. 

The Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction (or HWE reaction) is the reaction of stabilized phosphonate carbanions with aldehydes (or ketones) to produce predominantly -alkenes. In 1958, Horner published a modified Wittig reaction using phosphonate-stabilized carbanions [32]. Wadsworth and Emmons further defined the reaction [33]. Compared to phosphonium ylides used in the Wittig reaction, phosphonate-stabilized carbanions are more nucleophilic and more basic. Likewise, phosphonate-stabilized carbanions can be alkylated, unlike phosphonium ylides. The dialkylphosphate salt by-product is easily removed by aqueous extradion. A reliable and versatile synthesis of a stilbene derivative, 2,2-aryl-substituted cinnamic acid esters, using the Wittig reaction was reported [34—36] (Figure 1.3). 

This variation of the Wittig reaction uses ylides prepared from phosphonates.12 The Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons method has several advantages over the use of phosphoranes. These ylides are more reactive than the corresponding phosphoranes, especially when substituted with an electron withdrawing group. In addition the phosphorus product is a phosphate ester and soluble in water - unlike the Ph3PO product of the Wittig reaction - which makes it easy to separate from the olefin product. Phosphonates are also cheaper than phosphonium salts and can easily be prepared by the Arbuzov reaction from phosphanes and halides. 

Dimsylsodium (24) functions as a highly basic sulfur ylide. It can be used to convert phosphonium salts to phosphorus ylides for use in the Wittig reaction. Dimsylsodium also reacts with aldehydes and ketones by nucleophilic addition to form epoxides and with esters by nucleophilic substitution to yield p-ketosulfoxides (25) (Scheme 11). The p-ketosulfoxides (25) contain acidic a-hydrogens which can be readily removed to allow alkylation, and the products (26) suffer reductive desulfuration on treatment with aluminium amalgam to yield ketones (27) (Scheme 11) This procedure can, for instance, be applied to the conversion of ethyl benzoate to propiophenone (28) (Scheme 12). 

Acyloxybutylphosphonium salts 10 give rise to 6-substituted dihydropyrans 11 by an intra-molecular Wittig reaction [21]. The phosphonium salts 10 are obtained from 1,4-dibromobutane by a sequence of Sn reactions with triphenylphosphane and carboxylates. This cyclization is one of the few examples of the olefination of an ester C=0 group by a phosphorus ylide ... 

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