Reduction with alane

The pyridine ring is easily reduced in the form of its quaternary salts to give hexahydro derivatives by catalytic hydrogenation [446], and to tetrahydro and hexahydro derivatives by reduction with alane aluminum hydride) [447], sodium aluminum hydride [448], sodium bis 2-methoxyethoxy)aluminum hydride [448], sodium borohydride [447], potassium borohydride [449], sodium in ethanol [444, 450], and formic acid [318]. Reductions with hydrides give predominantly 1,2,5,6-tetrahydro derivatives while electroreduction and reduction with formic acid give more hexahydro derivatives [451,452]. 

Many more examples exist for reduction of the carhonyl only. Over an osmium catalyst [763] or platinum catalyst activated by zinc acetate and ferrous chloride [782] cinnamaldehyde was hydrogenated to cinnamyl alcohol. The same product was obtained by gentle reduction with lithium aluminum hydride at —10° using the inverse technique [609], by reduction with alane (prepared in situ from lithium aluminum hydride and aluminum chloride)... 

REDUCTION WITH ALANE (ALUMINUM HYDRIDE) IN SITU Reduction of Nitriles to Amines [787]... 

Following the established purifications and isomerization in trifluoroacetic acid and chloroform at room temperature provided the pure tran -tetrahydrofuran (241) in 54% overall yield starting from 274. The trans-isomer (241) on reduction with alane-dimethylethylamine complex afforded the amino methyl compound in 95% yield, which was converted to the reqnisite nrea (229) by using p-nitrophenylchloro-formate. 

Similarly, it has been reported that hydrocarbons can be obtained from primary amines by treatment of the amine with aqueous sodiumhydroxide andhydroxylamine-O-sulfonic acid (Scheme 10.21) and enamines, obtained from ketones and secondary amines, can be converted to alkenes by reduction with alane (AIH3) (see Coulter, J. M. Lewis, J. W. Lynch, P. P. Tetrahedron, 1968,24,4489) (Equation 10.40). 

When Group VI carbonyl complexes were reacted with alane or Cp2NbH3 reduction of CO to ethylene was noted.- - Ethylene was the primary product of the Cp2NbH3 reduction although it subsequently was hydrogenated to ethane. Masters and co-workers suggested that ethylene was formed through an alkylidene dimerization as shown below. 

A further synthetic approach to carbon-metal double bonds is based on the acid-catalyzed abstraction of alkoxy groups from a-alkoxyalkyl complexes [436 -439] (Figure 3.11). These carbene complex precursors can be prepared from alk-oxycarbene complexes (Fischer-type carbene complexes) either by reduction with borohydrides or alanates [23,55,63,104,439-445] or by addition of organolithium compounds (nucleophilic addition to the carbene carbon atom) [391,446-452]. 

Decomposition of the reaction mixtures with water followed by dilute acids applies also to the reductions with boranes and alanes. Modifications are occasionally needed, for example hydrolysis of esters of boric acid and the alcohols formed in the reduction. Heating of the mixture with dilute mineral acid or dilute alkali is sometimes necessary. 

Tetrahydrofuran itself is not entirely inert to some hydrides although it is a favorite solvent for reductions with these reagents. A mixture of lithium aluminum hydride and aluminum chloride produced butyl alcohol on prolonged refluxing in yields corresponding to the amount of alane generated [633]. 

Sulfur analogs, 2-tetrahydrofuranyl and 2-tetrahydropyranyl thioethers, were reduced by alone to alkyl 4- or alkyl 5-hydroxyalkyl thioethers resulting from the preferential reductive cleavage of the carbon-oxygen (rather than the carbon-sulfur) bond. Thus refluxing for 2 hours with alane in ether converted 2-alkylthiotetrahydrofurans to alkyl 4-hydroxybutyl thioethers in 63-72% yields, and 2-alkylthiotetrahydropyrans to alkyl 5-hydroxypentyl thioethers in 58-82% yields [794]. 

Reduction of unsaturated ketones to unsaturated alcohols is best carried out Nit v complex hydrides. a,/3-Unsaturated ketones may suifer reduction even at the conjugated double bond [764, 879]. Usually only the carbonyl group is reduced, especially if the inverse technique is applied. Such reductions are accomplished in high yields with lithium aluminum hydride [879, 880, 881, 882], with lithium trimethoxyaluminum hydride [764], with alane [879], with diisobutylalane [883], with lithium butylborohydride [884], with sodium boro-hydride [75/], with sodium cyanoborohydride [780, 885] with 9-borabicyclo [3.3.1]nonane (9-BBN) [764] and with isopropyl alcohol and aluminum isopro-... 

The reason why the carbonyl group in -santonin remained intact may be that, after the reduction of the less hindered double bond, the ketone was enolized by lithium amide and was thus protected from further reduction. Indeed, treatment of ethyl l-methyl-2-cyclopentanone-l-carboxylate with lithium diisopropylamide in tetrahydrofuran at — 78° enolized the ketone and prevented its reduction with lithium aluminum hydride and with diisobutyl-alane (DIBAL ). Reduction by these two reagents in tetrahydrofuran at — 78° to —40° or —78° to —20°, respectively, afforded keto alcohols from several keto esters in 46-95% yields. Ketones whose enols are unstable failed to give keto alcohols [1092]. 

High yields of amines have also been obtained by reduction of amides with an excess of magnesium aluminum hydride (yield 100%) [577], with lithium trimethoxyaluminohydride at 25° (yield 83%) [94] with sodium bis(2-methoxy-ethoxy)aluminum hydride at 80° (yield 84.5%) [544], with alane in tetra-hydrofuran at 0-25° (isolated yields 46-93%) [994, 1117], with sodium boro-hydride and triethoxyoxonium fluoroborates at room temperature (yields 81-94%) [1121], with sodium borohydride in the presence of acetic or trifluoroacetic acid on refluxing (yields 20-92.5%) [1118], with borane in tetrahydrofuran on refluxing (isolated yields 79-84%) [1119], with borane-dimethyl sulflde complex (5 mol) in tetrahydrofuran on refluxing (isolated yields 37-89%) [1064], and by electrolysis in dilute sulfuric acid at 5° using a lead cathode (yields 63-76%) [1120]. 

Reduction of o /i-unsatin-ated lactams, S,6-dihydro-2-pyridones, with lithium aluminum hydride, lithium alkoxyaluminum hydrides and alane gave the corresponding piperidines. 5-Methyl-5,6-dihydro-2-pyridone (with no substituent on nitrogen) gave on reduction with lithium aluminum hydride in tetrahydrofuran only 9% yield of 2-methylpiperidine, but l,6-dimethyl-5,6-dihydro-2-pyridone and 6-methyl-l-phenyl-5,6-dihydro-2-pyridone afforded 1,2-dimethylpiperidine and 2-methyl-1-phenylpiperidine in respective yields of 47% and 65% with an excess of lithium aluminum hydride, and 91% and 92% with alane generated from lithium aluminum hydride and aluminum chloride in ether. Lithium mono-, di- and triethoxyaluminum hydrides also gave satisfactory yields (45-84%) [7752]. 

Amides containing nitro groups are reduced to diamino compounds with alane. A, A -Dimethyl-p-nitrobenzamide, on reduction with lithium aluminum hydride in the presence of sulfuric acid in tetrahydrofuran, gave 98% yield of dimethyl-p-aminobenzylamine [1117]. 

Even better yields are obtained with alane produced in situ from lithium aluminum hydride and 0.5mol of 100% sulfuric acid in tetrahydrofuran [994], or 1 mol of aluminum chloride in ether [787] Procedure 17, p. 208). One or 1.3 mol of the alane is used per mole of the nitrile and the reduction is carried out at room temperature. Comparative experiments showed somewhat higher yields of amines than those obtained by lithium aluminum hydride alone [787]. 

Hyperforin is not reduced by sodium borohydride. Reduction with hydride-transfer reagents such as lithium aluminium hydride (LAH), RED-AL, and DIBAL-H, gave varied products in good yields. Its two dicarbonyl systems are amenable to reduction or deoxygenation upon treatment with alane reducing agents and pave the way to new and interesting modifications of the natural product.301... 

Cyclopropyl-containing carbocycles can be prepared from the initial [4 + 2] cycloadducts by an Af-acyliminium ion-enamide rearrangement. The unsaturated bicyclic lactam also undergoes 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions with azomethine ylides. Reduction of the bicyclic lactam with alane followed by hydrogenation affords enantiomerically pure 2-substituted pyrrolidines (eq 11). ... 

The state of the art of reductions with metal hydrides a decade ago was the subject of comprehensive reviews. A detailed survey of reductions of carbonyl compounds with alkali and alkaline earth metal hydrides, borane and derivatives, alane and derivatives, metal borohydrides, metal aluminohydrides, silanes, stannanes and transition metal hydrides was compiled. The properties, preparation and applications of each reagent were discussed together with methods for their determination, handling techniques... 

Asymmetric Reduction with Chirally Modified Boranes and Alanes 170... 

Asymmetric Reduction with Chirally Modifled Boranes and Alanes... 

AIBN. The C—N bond of enamines is reductively cleaved to give an alkene with alane (AlHs). ... 

Figure 1. Gibbs free energy per molecule of O2 versus temperature for reduction of transition metal oxides with gaseous reductants. (From Alan Cottrell, An Introduction to Metallurgy, 2nd ed., Edward Arnold Publishers, London, 1975, Fig. 7.1, with permission.)...

---