Radical cations from silyl enol ethers

Oxidative coupling of silyl enol ethers as a useful synthetic method for carbon-carbon bond formation has been known for a long time. Several oxidants have been successfully applied to synthesize 1,4-diketones from silyl enol ethers, e.g. AgjO [201], Cu(OTf)2 [202], Pb(OAc)4 [203] and iodosobenzene/BFj EtjO [204]. Although some of these reagents above are known to react as one-electron oxidants, the potential involvement of silyl enol ether radical cations in the above reactions has not been studied. Some recent papers, however, have now established the presence of silyl enol ether radical cations in similar C-C bond formation reactions under well-defined one-electron oxidative conditions. For example, C-C bond formation was reported in the photoinduced electron transfer reaction of 2,3-dichIoro-1,4-naphthoquinone (98) with various silyl enol ethers 99 [205], From similar reactions with methoxy alkenes [206,207] it was assumed that, after photoexcitation, an ion radical pair is formed. 

Cyclic and acyclic silyl enol ethers can be nitrated with tetranitromethane to give a-nitro ketones in 64-96% yield (Eqs. 2.42 and 2.43).84 The mechanism involves the electron transfer from the silyl enol ether to tetranitromethane. A fast homolytic coupling of the resultant cation radical of silyl enol ether with N02 leads to a-nitro ketones. Tetranitromethane is a neutral reagent it is commercially available or readily prepared.85... 

In addition to the former example, Pandey et al. achieved efficient a-aryla-tion of ketones by the reaction of silyl enol ethers with arene radical cations generated by photoinduced electron transfer from 1,4-dicyanonaphthalene. Using this strategy various five-, six-, seven-, and eight-membered benzannulated compounds are accessible in yields in the range 60-70% [39],... 

A versatile strategy for efficient intramolecular oc-arylation of ketones was achieved by the reaction of silyle enol ethers with PET-generated arene radical cations. This strategy involved one-electron transfer from the excited methoxy-substituted arenes to ground-state DCN [42]. Pandey et al. reported the construction of five- to eight-membered benzannulated as well as benzospiroannulated compounds using this approach (Sch. 20) [42a]. The course of the reaction can be controlled via the silyl enol ether obtained... 

We also observed similar phenomena in the reaction of silyl enol ethers with cation radicals derived from allylic sulfides. For example, oxidation of allyl phenyl sulfide (3) with ammonium hexanitratocerate (CAN) in the presence of silyl enol ether 4 gave a-phenylthio-Y,5-un-saturated ketone 5. In this reaction, silyl enol ether 4 reacts with cation radical of allyl phenyl sulfide CR3 to give sulfonium intermediate C3, and successive deprotonation and [2,3]-Wittig rearrangement affords a-phenylthio-Y,6-unsaturated ketone 5 (Scheme 2). Direct carbon-carbon bond formation is so difficult that nucleophiles attack the heteroatom of the cation radicals. 

Since Scheme 4 implies formation of a-carbonyl radicals after deprotonation of enol radical cations, the same oxidation chemistry should potentially be accessible from various enol derivatives as enolates, silyl enol ethers and enol esters (Scheme 5). On the other hand, enol ether radical cations do not fit in this systematization since they are attacked by nucleophiles at the double bond faster than providing a-carbonyl radical intermediates through O-C bond cleavage (Sect. 4.3). 

Similar to the deprotonation of enol radical cations, silyl enol ether radical cations can undergo loss of trialkylsilyl cations (most likely not as ionic silicenium ions [190]). Based on photoinduced electron transfer (PET), Gass-man devised a strategy for the selective deprotection of trimethylsilyl enol ethers in the presence of trimethylsilyl ethers [191]. Using 1-cyanonapthalene (1-CN) ( = 1.84 V) in acetonitrile/methanol or acetonitrile/water trimethylsilyl enol ether 93 ( j = 1.29 V) readily afforded cyclohexanone 64 in 60%. Mechanistically it was proposed that the silyl enol ether radical cation 93 undergoes O-Si bond cleavage, most likely induced by added methanol [192-194], and that radical 66 abstracts a hydrogen from methanol. Alternatively, back electron transfer from 1-CN - to 66 would yield the enolate of cyclohexanone which should be readily protonated by the solvent. 

Although the authors do not provide oxidation potentials, it is presumed from oxidation potential considerations that the 1,2-disubstituted silyl enol ethers 102 are oxidized to the radical cation intermediates which after O-Si... 

Others [180,260]). In general, enol radical cations may be obtained from either direct oxidation of stable ends or by selective oxidation of the enol tautomer of the keto/enol equilibrium. In addition it has been outlined that enol radical cations offer an access to a-carbonyl radical chemistry. Other enol systems like silyl enol ethers, enol esters and enolates similarly may open up after oxidation the chemistry of a-carbonyl radical or a-carbonyl cation intermediates, whereas enol ether oxidative a-functionalization reactions work by another route. 

The success of the strategy is further applied for the synthesis of carbo-and spiro-aimulated aromatic compounds [146,147] by the intramolecular cyclization of silyl enolethers to PET-generated arene radical cations. Two types of carbocyclic compounds (170 and 173), varying in ring sizes, may be synthesized [146] starting from the same ketone (i.e., 169), as two types of silyl enol ethers can be produced using either thermodynamic or kinetic enolisation procedures. The core spiro structure (177) of the anticancer antibiotic ffed-ericamycin is also prepared [147] by the PET cyclization of 176 (Scheme 36). 

One electron oxidation of silyl enol ether 44 leads to the formation of a radical ion pair of 45 and the xenon difluoride radical anion. Subsequent transfer of a fluoride radical yields cation 46, which reacts by loss of the trimethylsilyl cation to yield the fluoroketone 47. The formation of ketone 49 is explained by a [1,5] -hydrogen migration from the trimethylsilyl group to the radical cationic moiety of 45, leading to the formation of 48. 

The one-electron oxidation of enol silyl ether donor (as described above) generates a paramagnetic cation radical of greatly enhanced homolytic and electrophilic reactivity. It is the unique dual reactivity of enol silyl ether cation radicals that provides the rich chemistry exploitable for organic synthesis. For example, Snider and coworkers42 showed the facile homolytic capture of the cation radical moiety by a tethered olefinic group in a citronellal derivative to a novel multicyclic derivative from an acyclic precursor (Scheme 8). 

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