Triple bonds reduction

Terminal alkynes are only reduced in the presence of proton donors, e.g. ammonium sulfate, because the acetylide anion does not take up further electrons. If, however, an internal C—C triple bond is to be hydrogenated without any reduction of terminal, it is advisable to add sodium amide to the alkyne solution Hrst. On catalytic hydrogenation the less hindered triple bonds are reduced first (N.A. Dobson, 1955, 1961). 

The unsaturated c.vo-enol lactone 17 is obtained by the coupling of propargylic acetate with 4-pentynoic acid in the presence of KBr using tri(2-furyl)-phosphine (TFP) as a ligand. The reaction is explained by the oxypalladation of the triple bond of 4-pentynoic acid with the ailenyipailadium and the carbox-ylate as shown by 16, followed by reductive elimination to afford the lactone 17. The ( -alkene bond is formed because the oxypalladation is tnins addition[8]. 

Reductions of Nitriles. In the reduction of nitriles, hydrogen is added progressively across the carbon—nitrogen triple bond, forming first the imine and then the amine. 

Among the appHcations of lower valent titanium, the McMurry reaction, which involves the reductive coupling of carbonyl compounds to produce alkenes, is the most weU known. An excellent review of lower valent titanium reactions is available (195). Titanium(II)-based technology is less well known. A titanium(II)-based complex has been used to mediate a stetio- and regio-specific reduction of isolated conjugated triple bonds to the corresponding polyenes (196). 

Hoffmaim-La Roche has produced -carotene since the 1950s and has rehed on core knowledge of vitamin A chemistry for the synthesis of this target. In this approach, a five-carbon homologation of vitamin A aldehyde (19) is accompHshed by successive acetalizations and enol ether condensations to prepare the aldehyde (46). Metal acetyUde coupling with two molecules of aldehyde (46) completes constmction of the C q carbon framework. Selective reduction of the internal triple bond of (47) is followed by dehydration and thermal isomerization to yield -carotene (21) (Fig. 10). 

The Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley procedure has largely been replaced by reduction procedures that use lithium aluminum hydride, sodium borohydride or derivatives thereof. The Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley reduction however has the advantage to be a mild and selective method, that does not affect carbon-carbon double or triple bonds present in the substrate molecule. 

Acetylenes have hijh synthetic utility, and hydrogenation of the triple bond occurs in many reaction sequences (7). Often the goal of this reduction is formation of the cis olefin, which usually can be achieved in very high yields (for an exception, see Ref. 10). Continued reduction gives the paraffin. Experimentally, both the relative and absolute rates of acetylene and olefin hydrogenation have been found to depend on the catalyst, substrate, solvent, reaction conditions, and hydrogen availability at the catalyst surface. Despite these complexities, high yields of desired product usually can be obtained without difficulty. 

A frequent problem is selective reduction of an acetylene to the olefin in the presence of other easily reducible functions. Usually the reaction can be done without difficulty because of the relatively strong and preferential adsorption of the acetylenic function on the catalyst. Functions adjacent to the triple bond may cause special problems if the resulting allylic compound is itself susceptible to facile hydrogenolysis (18,23). The product composition is, as expected, sensitive to steric effects (82). 

Alkynes can be reduced to yield alkenes and alkanes. Complete reduction of the triple bond over a palladium hydrogenation catalyst yields an alkane partial reduction by catalytic hydrogenation over a Lindlar catalyst yields a cis alkene. Reduction of (he alkyne with lithium in ammonia yields a trans alkene. 

Purex process, 6, 946 oxidation state reduction, 6, 947 Pnictide ligands double bonds, 2, 1045 triple bonds, 2, 1046 Podandocoronands classification, 2, 919 Podands... 

An obvious drawback in RCM-based synthesis of unsaturated macrocyclic natural compounds is the lack of control over the newly formed double bond. The products formed are usually obtained as mixture of ( /Z)-isomers with the (E)-isomer dominating in most cases. The best solution for this problem might be a sequence of RCAM followed by (E)- or (Z)-selective partial reduction. Until now, alkyne metathesis has remained in the shadow of alkene-based metathesis reactions. One of the reasons maybe the lack of commercially available catalysts for this type of reaction. When alkyne metathesis as a new synthetic tool was reviewed in early 1999 [184], there existed only a single report disclosed by Fiirstner s laboratory [185] on the RCAM-based conversion of functionalized diynes to triple-bonded 12- to 28-membered macrocycles with the concomitant expulsion of 2-butyne (cf Fig. 3a). These reactions were catalyzed by Schrock s tungsten-carbyne complex G. Since then, Furstner and coworkers have achieved a series of natural product syntheses, which seem to establish RCAM followed by partial reduction to (Z)- or (E)-cycloalkenes as a useful macrocyclization alternative to RCM. As work up to early 2000, including the development of alternative alkyne metathesis catalysts, is competently covered in Fiirstner s excellent review [2a], we will concentrate here only on the most recent natural product syntheses, which were all achieved by Fiirstner s team. 

The nature of the cathode material is not critical in the Kolbe reaction. The reduction of protons from the carboxylic acid is the main process, so that the electrolysis can normally be conducted in an undivided cell. For substrates with double or triple bonds, however, a platinum cathode should be avoided, as cathodic hydrogenation can occur there. A steel cathode should be used, instead. 

An indirect method ° of double-bond reduction involves hydrolysis of boranes (prepared by 15-16). Trialkylboranes can be hydrolyzed by refluxing with carboxylic acids,while monoalkylboranes RBH2 can be hydrolyzed with base. ° Triple bonds can be similarly reduced, to cis alkenes. °... 

Catalytic hydrogenation of triple bonds and the reaction with DIBAL-H usually give the eis alkene (15-11). Most of the other methods of triple-bond reduction lead to the more thermodynamically stable trans alkene. However, this is not the case with the method involving hydrolysis of boranes or with the reductions with activated zinc, hydrazine, or NH2OSO3H, which also give the cis products. 

Reduction of The Double or Triple Bonds of Conjugated Systems... 

In another reductive coupling, substituted alkenes (CH2=CH Y Y = R, COOMe, OAc, CN, etc.) can be dimerized to substituted alkanes (CH3CHYCHYCH3) by photolysis in an H2 atmosphere, using Hg as a photosensitizer. Still another procedure involves palladium-catalyzed addition of vinylic halides to triple bonds to give 1,3-dienes. ... 

As indicated in Fig. 1, nitrogenase can reduce substrates other than Na. In the absence of other reducible substrates it will reduce protons to dihydrogen, but it can also reduce a number of other small triple-bonded substrates, as indicated in Section V,E,1. Large substrates are not reduced efficiently, indicating physical limitations on access to the enzyme s active site. CO is a potent inhibitor of all nitrogenase substrate reductions except that of the proton to Ha. In the presence of CO the rate of electron transfer is generally not inhibited, but all electrons go toward the production of Ha. 

The stereochemistry of the first step was ascertained by an X-ray analysis [8] of an isolated oxazaphospholidine 3 (R = Ph). The overall sequence from oxi-rane to aziridine takes place with an excellent retention of chiral integrity. As the stereochemistry of the oxirane esters is determined by the chiral inductor during the Sharpless epoxidation, both enantiomers of aziridine esters can be readily obtained by choosing the desired antipodal tartrate inductor during the epoxidation reaction. It is relevant to note that the required starting allylic alcohols are conveniently prepared by chain elongation of propargyl alcohol as a C3 synthon followed by an appropriate reduction of the triple bond, e. g., with lithium aluminum hydride [6b]. 

Since activation of the N-H bond of PhNHj by Ru3(CO)i2 has been reported to take place under similar conditions [306], it has been proposed that the reaction mechanism involves (i) generation of an anUido ruthenium hydride, (ii) coordination of the alkyne, (iii) intramolecular nucleophilic attack of the nitrogen lone pair on the coordinated triple bond, and (iv) reductive ehmination of the enamine with regeneration of the active Ru(0) center [305]. 

The first one, (A), includes (b) insertion of CO into the Pd-S bond (c) insertion of the C C triple bond of the enyne into the Pd-C(0)SR bond whereby Pd binds to the terminal carbon and the RSC(O) group to the internal carbon, and (d) C-H bond-forming reductive elimination or protolysis by the thiol to form 29 (Scheme 7-7). 

For reduction of monofunctional ketones, the most effective catalysts include diamine ligands. The diamine catalysts exhibit strong selectivity for carbonyl groups over carbon-carbon double and triple bonds. These catalysts have a preference for equatorial approach in the reduction of cyclohexanones and for steric approach control in the reduction of acyclic ketones.51... 

---