Reduction reactions Clemmensen

Benzilic acid rearrangement Benzoin reaction (condensation) Blanc chloromethylation reaction Bouveault-Blanc reduction Bucherer hydantoin synthesis Bucherer reaction Cannizzaro reaction Claisen aldoi condensation Claisen condensation Claisen-Schmidt reaction. Clemmensen reduction Darzens glycidic ester condensation Diazoamino-aminoazo rearrangement Dieckmann reaction Diels-Alder reaction Doebner reaction Erlenmeyer azlactone synthesis Fischer indole synthesis Fischer-Speior esterification Friedel-Crafts reaction... 

Cyclic ketones containing up to 31 C-atoms in the ring have been prepared from the corresponding dicarboxylic acids. By the Clemmensen reduction (Reaction LVIII. (c)) the ketones have been converted into cyclic hydrocarbons. These large ring compounds are remarkably stable. (H. Acta, 11, 496,670 13,1152 17,78.)... 

Similar to the Wolff-Kishner Reduction and Clemmensen Reduction, this reaction is also useful for the conversion of carbonyl compounds into hydrocarbons and olefins. 

Aliphatic hydrocarbons can be prepared by the reduction of the readily accessible ketones with amalgamated zinc and concentrated hydrochloric acid (Clemmensen method of reduction). This procedure is particularly valuable for the prep>aration of hydrocarbons wdth an odd number of carbon atoms where the Wurtz reaction cannot be applied with the higher hydrocarbons some secondary alcohol is produced, which must be removed by repeated distillation from sodium. 

The ester and catalj st are usually employed in equimoleciilar amounts. With R =CjHs (phenyl propionate), the products are o- and p-propiophenol with R = CH3 (phenyl acetate), o- and p-hydroxyacetophenone are formed. The nature of the product is influenced by the structure of the ester, by the temperature, the solvent and the amount of aluminium chloride used generally, low reaction temperatures favour the formation of p-hydroxy ketones. It is usually possible to separate the two hydroxy ketones by fractional distillation under diminished pressure through an efficient fractionating column or by steam distillation the ortho compounds, being chelated, are more volatile in steam It may be mentioned that Clemmensen reduction (compare Section IV,6) of the hj droxy ketones affords an excellent route to the substituted phenols. 

Table 17 2 summarizes the reactions of aldehydes and ketones that you ve seen m ear her chapters All are valuable tools to the synthetic chemist Carbonyl groups provide access to hydrocarbons by Clemmensen or Wolff-Kishner reduction (Section 12 8) to alcohols by reduction (Section 15 2) or by reaction with Grignard or organolithmm reagents (Sections 14 6 and 14 7)... 

Clemmensen reaction is the reduction of carbonyl compounds with amalgamated zinc and concentrated hydrochloric acid... 

The exchange of aromatic protons can be effected in the absence of any -OH or —NH2 activating group during the course of a Clemmensen reduction in deuteriochloric and deuterioacetic acid mixture (see section Ill-D). This reaction has been carried out with various tricyclic diterpenes and is best illustrated by the conversion of dehydroabietic acid into its 12,14-d2-labeled analog (40 -+ 41).Amalgamated zinc is reportedly necessary for the exchange reaction since the results are less satisfactory when a zinc chloride-mercuric chloride mixture is used. 

Both the Wolff-Kishner and Clemmensen reductions of a, -unsaturated ketones give olefins. There has been considerable confusion concerning the exact product composition in the case of A -3-ketones. Wolff-Kishner reduction gives A" -, 5a-A - and 5 -A -olefins, and, depending on the substrate reaction conditions and work-up, any one or more of these may be isolated. (See ref. 287 for a recent review of the Wolff-Kishner reduction.)... 

The previous sections have dealt with stable C=N-I- functionality in aromatic rings as simple salts. Another class of iminium salt reactions can be found where the iminium salt is only an intermediate. The purpose of this section is to point out these reactions even though they do not show any striking differences in their reactivity from stable iminium salts. Such intermediates arise from a-chloroamines (133-135), isomerization of oxazolidines (136), reduction of a-aminoketones by the Clemmensen method (137-139), reductive alkylation by the Leuckart-Wallach (140-141) or Clarke-Eschweiler reaction (142), mercuric acetate oxidation of amines (46,93), and in reactions such as ketene with enamines (143). 

Clemmensen reductions of a-aminoketones that proceed with ring enlargement or ring contraction are presumed to proceed by an iminium intermediate. This reaction has been examined in detail (137-139), and an example is given in the conversion of (94) to an iminium intermediate (95), which is reduced to 96. 

The Clemmensen reduction can be formulated to proceed by a sequence of one-electron and proton transfer reactions. It is a heterogenous reaction, taking place at the zinc surface. Initially an electron is transferred from zinc to the carbonyl group of ketone 1, leading to a radical species 3, which is presumed to react further to a zinc-carbenoid species 4 ... 

Another important synthetic method for the reduction of ketones and aldehydes to the corresponding methylene compounds is the Woljf-Kishner reduction. This reaction is carried out under basic conditions, and therefore can be applied for the reduction of acid-sensitive substrates it can thus be regarded as a complementary method. The experimental procedure for the Clemmensen reduction is simpler however for starting materials of high molecular weight the Wolff-Kishner reduction is more successful. 

Not much is known about the mechanism of the Clemmensen reduction. Several mechanisms have been proposed, " including one going through a zinc-carbene intermediate. " One thing reasonably certain is that the corresponding alcohol is not an intermediate, since alcohols prepared in other ways fail to give the reaction. Note that the alcohol is not an intermediate in the Wolff-Kishner reduction either. 

A simple application of the reaction may be mentioned. Refluxing of (I) with 48 per cent, hydrobromic acid and glacial acetic acid leads to hydrolysis and decarboxylation and the production of a mixture of the y-lactone yy-di-phenylbutyrolactone (II) and the isomeric unsaturated acid yy-dlphenyl-vinylacetic acid (III) reduction by the Clemmensen method or catalytically... 

Zinc and hydrochloric acid form a classical reagent combination for conversion of carbonyl groups to methylene groups, a reaction known as the Clemmensen reduction 12 The corresponding alcohols are not reduced under the conditions of the... 

W-Methylpiperidine, 52, 127 3-Methyl-3-sulfolene, in Diels-Alder reaction, 50, 48 MODIFIED CLEMMENSEN REDUCTION CHOLESTANE, 53, 86... 

ClNNAMOYL CHLORIDE, 77 Claisen reaction, 7, 32 Cleavage of a disulfide, 23 Clemmensen reduction, 57 Cocoanut oil, 69 Condensation... 

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