Primary alcohols from reduction

Reduction of carbonyl compounds with metal hydrides or boranes a. primary alcohols from aldehydes, acids, acid halides, and esters... 

Now we only need to prepare the primary alcohol from the given starting aldehyde, which is accomplished by reduction. 

Esters are more readily reduced than carboxylic acids because there are not the problems associated with carboxylate formation. Thus reduction with lithium aluminium hydride gives a primary alcohol from the carboxylic acid component (Scheme 3.70). 

Acyclic acid anhydrides are reduced to produce primary alcohols using NaBH4 and its many deriva-tives.2 - In most cases, the reaction gives both the primary alcohol and the carboxylate salt (1 1). Whilst such monoreduction may be desirable in cyclic anhydride chemistry (vide infra), it is inefficient when acyclic anhydrides are reduced. Thus, B2H6 or LAH reductions are the preferred synthetic methods. The reductions of mixed anhydrides, for example carboxylic/diphenylphosphoric or carboxylic/car-bonic anhydrides, produce the primary alcohol from the acyl component. ... 

Rautio.295-297 Four main products of reduction were isolated for each barbiturate (112 R1 = Me, Et R2 = Ph R1 = R2 = allyl R3 = H, Me), namely, di- and tetrahydrobarbiturates 113 and 114 when one or two carbonyl groups were reduced to a secondary hydroxyl group, primary alcohols 115, which were formed via the reductive cleavage of the barbituric acid ring, and urea derivatives 116, which were formed simultaneously with the primary alcohols from the rest of the ring298 (Scheme 8). Additionally, the reduction of l-methyl-5,5-diallylbarbituric acid led to formation of small amounts of 117.299... 

Hydroboration is mainly currently used to prepare primary alcohols from terminal olefins, but other functional groups are also accessible. The hydroboration reaction can also chemoselectively lead to the reduction of the carbonyl group of aldehydes and a, (3-unsaturated ketones. 

Recently, Dong et al. reported a multicatalytic cascade reaction combining Pd, acid, and Ru catalysis [11]. By coupling palladium-catalyzed oxidation, acid-catalyzed hydrolysis, and ruthenium-catalyzed reduction, the elusive anti-Markovnikov olefin hydration was formally achieved, affording primary alcohols from waters and aryl-substituted terminal alkenes (Scheme 9.8). 

Secondary alcohols (C q—for surfactant iatermediates are produced by hydrolysis of secondary alkyl borate or boroxiae esters formed when paraffin hydrocarbons are air-oxidized ia the presence of boric acid [10043-35-3] (19,20). Union Carbide Corporation operated a plant ia the United States from 1964 until 1977. A plant built by Nippon Shokubai (Japan Catalytic Chemical) ia 1972 ia Kawasaki, Japan was expanded to 30,000 t/yr capacity ia 1980 (20). The process has been operated iadustriaHy ia the USSR siace 1959 (21). Also, predominantiy primary alcohols are produced ia large volumes ia the USSR by reduction of fatty acids, or their methyl esters, from permanganate-catalyzed air oxidation of paraffin hydrocarbons (22). The paraffin oxidation is carried out ia the temperature range 150—180°C at a paraffin conversion generally below 20% to a mixture of trialkyl borate, (RO)2B, and trialkyl boroxiae, (ROBO). Unconverted paraffin is separated from the product mixture by flash distillation. After hydrolysis of residual borate esters, the boric acid is recovered for recycle and the alcohols are purified by washing and distillation (19,20). 

Because the olefin geometry in compound 9 will most certainly have a bearing on the stereochemical outcome of the hydroboration step, a reliable process for the construction of the trans trisubsti-tuted olefin in 9 must be identified. A priori, the powerful and predictable Wittig reaction28 could be used to construct E u, [3-unsaturated ester 10 from aldehyde 11. Reduction of the ethoxycarbonyl grouping in 10, followed by benzylation of the resulting primary alcohol, would then complete the synthesis of 9. Aldehyde 11 is a known substance that can be prepared from 2-furylacetonitrile (12). 

From intermediate 28, the construction of aldehyde 8 only requires a few straightforward steps. Thus, alkylation of the newly introduced C-3 secondary hydroxyl with methyl iodide, followed by hydrogenolysis of the C-5 benzyl ether, furnishes primary alcohol ( )-29. With a free primary hydroxyl group, compound ( )-29 provides a convenient opportunity for optical resolution at this stage. Indeed, separation of the equimolar mixture of diastereo-meric urethanes (carbamates) resulting from the action of (S)-(-)-a-methylbenzylisocyanate on ( )-29, followed by lithium aluminum hydride reduction of the separated urethanes, provides both enantiomers of 29 in optically active form. Oxidation of the levorotatory alcohol (-)-29 with PCC furnishes enantiomerically pure aldehyde 8 (88 % yield). 

The homology between 22 and 21 is obviously very close. After lithium aluminum hydride reduction of the ethoxycarbonyl function in 22, oxidation of the resultant primary alcohol with PCC furnishes aldehyde 34. Subjection of 34 to sequential carbonyl addition, oxidation, and deprotection reactions then provides ketone 21 (31% overall yield from (—)-33). By virtue of its symmetry, the dextrorotatory monobenzyl ether, (/ )-(+)-33, can also be converted to compound 21, with the same absolute configuration as that derived from (S)-(-)-33, by using a synthetic route that differs only slightly from the one already described. 

From intermediate 12, the path to key intermediate 7 is straightforward. Reductive removal of the benzyloxymethyl protecting group in 12 with lithium metal in liquid ammonia provides diol 27 in an overall yield of 70% from 14. Simultaneous protection of the vicinal hydroxyl groups in 27 in the form of a cyclopentanone ketal is accompanied by cleavage of the tert-butyldimethylsilyl ether. Treatment of the resultant primary alcohol with /V-bromosuccini-mide (NBS) arid triphenylphopshine accomplishes the formation of bromide 7, the central fragment of monensin, in 71 % yield from 27. 

Intermediate 10 must now be molded into a form suitable for coupling with the anion derived from dithiane 9. To this end, a che-moselective reduction of the benzyl ester grouping in 10 with excess sodium borohydride in methanol takes place smoothly and provides primary alcohol 14. Treatment of 14 with methanesulfonyl chloride and triethylamine affords a primary mesylate which is subsequently converted into iodide 15 with sodium iodide in acetone. Exposure of 15 to tert-butyldimethylsilyl chloride and triethylamine accomplishes protection of the /Mactam nitrogen and leads to the formation of 8. Starting from L-aspartic acid (12), the overall yield of 8 is approximately 50%, and it is noteworthy that this reaction sequence can be performed on a molar scale. 

The strategy for the construction of 13 from aldehyde 16 with two units of phosphonate 15 is summarized in Scheme 12. As expected, aldehyde 16 condenses smoothly with the anion derived from 15 to give, as the major product, the corresponding E,E,E-tri-ene ester. Reduction of the latter substance to the corresponding primary alcohol with Dibal-H, followed by oxidation with MnC>2, then furnishes aldehyde 60 in 86 % overall yield. Reiteration of this tactic and a simple deprotection step completes the synthesis of the desired intermediate 13 in good overall yield and with excellent stereoselectivity. 

Scheme 5 details the asymmetric synthesis of dimethylhydrazone 14. The synthesis of this fragment commences with an Evans asymmetric aldol condensation between the boron enolate derived from 21 and trans-2-pentenal (20). Syn aldol adduct 29 is obtained in diastereomerically pure form through a process which defines both the relative and absolute stereochemistry of the newly generated stereogenic centers at carbons 29 and 30 (92 % yield). After reductive removal of the chiral auxiliary, selective silylation of the primary alcohol furnishes 30 in 71 % overall yield. The method employed to achieve the reduction of the C-28 carbonyl is interesting and worthy of comment. The reaction between tri-n-butylbor-... 

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