Photochemical pinacolization

Preparative conversion of ketones (particularly aromatic ones) into pinacols can also be effected photochemically by u.v. irradiation in the presence of a hydrogen donor, e.g. Me2CHOH. 

The transformation of endocyclic nitrone 56 (made from N,0-bis-protected hydroxylamine 55) to lactam 20 can be carried out by photochemical activation or by a two-step modification of Barton s protocol, that is, by trapping the nitrone oxygen followed by an alkali-promoted, semi-pinacol-like rearrangement (03JOC8065). 

Although benzil was the first a-dicarbonyl compound to be investigated,1-4 its photoreactions have not been as thoroughly studied as those of biacetyl. By 1916 it had been established that a precipitate was formed when a solution of benzil in ether,1,3 ethanol,2 aldehydes,3 or alkyl substituted benzenes3 was exposed to sunlight. The thermal and photochemical instability of the precipitate caused some confusion about its structure until Cohen demonstrated that it was pinacol 10 which decomposed to benzil and benzoin on heating.4... 

There is still considerable interest in the products of irradiation of hydrogen abstracting ketones for example, Plank96 has reported that benzophenone in ether gives benzophenone pinacol in higher yield when naphthalene is added. It was suggested that the pinacol is formed from some intermediate which is photochemically destroyed in the absence of a quencher. Challand97 has isolated products from addition of ether to acetophenone. 

Photochemical pinacolization reactions of non-enolizable ketones have been the subject of many investigators.248 Photolysis of benzophenone in... 

Photochemical reactions of thiochroman-4-one give mainly polymeric products,88 but irradiation of the corresponding sulfoxides89 (44) and sulfones90 ( 45) forms disulfides and pinacols [Eqs. (15) and (16)]. 

The reduction of carbonyl compounds to form pinacol dimers can be accomplished photochemically, electrochemically or with chemical reducing agents. When conducted under acidic conditions or in protic solvents, pinacols are likely produced by coupling of two neutral ketyl radicals (vs radical anions). The electrochemical reduction is especially complicated in terms of the role of the electrode surface, counterion and solvent, and an excellent review has appeared on the subject32. 

This chapter follows on from chapter 12 where we introduced some basic ideas on stereocontrol. Since then we have met many stereospecific reactions such as pericyclic reactions including Diels-Alder (chapter 17), 2 + 2 photochemical cycloadditions (chapter 32), thermal (chapter 33) cycloadditions, and electrocyclic reactions (chapter 35). Then we have seen rearrangements where migration occurs with retention at the migrating group such as the Baeyer-Villiger (chapters 27 and 33), the Amdt-Eistert (chapter 31) and the pinacol (chapter 31). 

Borylation is the photochemically or thermally promoted conversion of substrates with C-H bonds into boronate esters using bis(pinacol)diborane(4) (B2pin2) or pinacolborane (HBpin) reagents (Scheme 1) [16-35]. The selectivity for methyl C-H bonds and the versatility of organoboron reagents [36, 37] give alkane borylation potential for use in synthetic contexts. 

After early unsuccessful attempts to direct the photoreduction of ketones with chiral secondary alcohols [8-10]. Weiss et al. examined the sensitized cis-trans photoisomerization of 1,2-diphenylcyclopropane in chiral solvents but obtained the product without detectable optical rotation [11]. Seebach and coworkers were the first to achieve asymmetric induction for a photochemical reaction by a chiral solvent [12-15]. They examined the photopinacolization of aldehydes and ketones in the chiral solvent (S,S)-( + )-l,4-bis(dimethylamino)-2,3-dimethoxybutane (DDB, 4). Irradiation of acetophenone in the presence of 7.5 equiv. of DDB yielded a mixture of chiral d,/-pinacols 3/ent-3 and achiral meso-pinacol 2. At 25°C pinacol 3 was obtained with 8% ee, with the (R, / )-( + )-enantiomer prevailing. At lower temperatures the asymmetric induction was more effective, up to 23% ee at — 78°C in a 1 5 mixture of DDB and pentane (Scheme... 

In summary, chiral solvents have only induced limited enantioselectivity into different types of photochemical reactions as pinacolization, cyclization, and isomerization reactions. These studies are nevertheless very important, because they are among the early examples of chiral induction by an asymmetric environ ment. Based on our classification of chiral solvents as chiral inductors that only act as passive reaction matrices, effective asymmetric induction by this means seems to be intrinsically difficult. From the observed enantioselectivities it can be postulated that defined interactions with the prochiral substrate during the conversion to the product are a prerequisite for effective template induced enantioselectivity. 

The classic precursors used for generating diradicals are cyclic, bicychc and polycyclic diazenes. However, diradicals have also been made by Norrish type I photochemical extrusion of CO from cychc ketones, by thermal cleavage of vinyl and divinylcyclopropanes, by pinacol reactions of diketones, by Bergman-type cyclisations of endiynes, by several types of photoelectron transfer reactions and in other ways. Most synthetic applications have started with a derivative of 2,3-diazabicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene which on heat-... 

Oxaziridines are converted to ring-expanded lactams under photochemical conditions. A-Tosyl aziridines with an a-hydroxyalkyl substituent give a pinacol rearrangement product in the presence of Lewis acids, such as Sml2> in this case a keto-A-tosyl amide. ... 

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