Reduction with methyllithium

Location of the isotopic label in the product ozonide (5ab) was determined by two independent methods (1) lithium aluminum hydride reduction of 5ab to ethyl alcohol and isobutyl alcohol, (2) reduction with methyllithium. zonide (5ab) for lithium aluminum hydride reduction was prepared using acetaldehyde containing 47.8% oxygen-18 by mass spectral analysis. Methyl isopropyl ozonide (5ab) was reduced cleanly and quantitatively to ethyl alcohol and isobutyl alcohol. Mass spectral analysis revealed that the ethyl alcohol contained 25.4% oxygen-18, and isobutyl alcohol contained 7.6%. 

For example, precursor (S)-57 may be prepared by reaction of R)-56 with methyllithium or by reduction of (S)-56 with lithium naphthalenide and subsequent methylation with iodomethane, making the overall transformation of the diastereomeric mixture 56 nearly quantitatively (Scheme 6) [87]. 

Phosphorylated allenes 195 (R1 = H or Me) are a source of secondary ( )-allylamines. The allenes are treated with an amine R2NH2 (R2 = t-Bu or 4-MeCgH4 and the products, which exist as equilibrium mixtures of enamines 196 and imines 197, are olefinated by successive reaction with methyllithium and an aldehyde R3CHO (R = i-Bu, 4-MeCgH4, PhCH2CH2 etc). Reduction with sodium borohydride finally yields the... 

Addition of methyllithium to the lactone 1219, followed by reduction with sodium borohydride in refluxing ethanol, afforded, almost quantitatively, ellipticine (228). Reaction of the compound 1219 with the lithio derivative of formaldehyde diethylmercaptal, and reduction with sodium borohydride in refluxing ethanol, led to the mercaptal 1221. Cleavage of the mercaptal 1221 with bis(trifluoroacetoxy) iodobenzene [Phl(OCOCF3)2] in aqueous acetonitrile gave the 11-formyl derivative, which was reduced with sodium cyanoborohydride (NaBHsCN) to 12-hydroxyellipticine (232) (710,711) (Scheme 5.202). The same group also reported the synthesis of further pyiido[4,3-fc]carbazole derivatives by condensation of 2-substituted indoles with 3-acetylpyridine (712). 

In a similar manner, coccinelline (99) and precoccinelline (100) have been synthesized from 2,6-lutidine (351) (336,450). Thus, treatment of the monolithium derivative (153) of 351 with P-bromopropionaldehyde dimethylacetal gave an acetal, which was converted to the keto acetal (412) by treatment with phenyllithium and acetonitrile. Reaction of 412 with ethylene glycol and p-toluenesulfonic acid followed by reduction with sodium-isoamyl alcohol gave the cw-piperidine (413). Hydrolysis of 413 with 5% HCl gave the tricyclic acetal (414) which was transformed to a separable 1 1 mixture of the ketones (415 and 416) by treatment with pyrrolidine-acetic acid. Reaction of ketone 416 with methyllithium followed by dehydration with thionyl chloride afforded the rather unstable olefin (417) which on catalytic hydrogenation over platinum oxide in methanol gave precoccinelline (100). Oxidation of 100 with m-chloroperbenzoic acid yielded coccinelline (99) (Scheme 52) (336,450). 

Birch reduction-alkylation of (2S)-2-methoxymethyl-l-(2-phenylbenzoyl)pyrrolidine (1) gives products 2 in high diastereoselectivities29. In contrast to the previous examples, only one double bond remains in the product (if one equivalent of rm-butyl alcohol is used as proton donor). Formally this procedure is a stereoselective cis addition, and is thus particularly useful. Thus, two stereogenic centers are created in the same reaction step with high diastereoselectivities. Subsequent hydrolysis furnishes acids, whereas reaction with methyllithium yields chiral ketones29. 

Reductive metky/atum of quinones.2 Dimethylarenes can be obtained in high yield by reaction of quinones with methyllithium (excess) in benzene to form a dimethyl dihydrodiol, which is reduced without purification with HI in refluxing acetic acid. 

Indole was included with alkyl and arylamines in a study which demonstrated the potential of 2-pyridylsulfonyl as an /v -protecting group. The group is reductively removed using SmI,. <95JOC5969> A possible new means for indole debenzylation was uncovered l-Benzyl-2-phenylindole and several /V-benzylcarbazoles and tetrahydrocarbazoles were found to undergo debenzylation on reaction with methyllithium or LDA. An -elimination mechanism is proposed. <95TL1671>... 

Fig (14) Olefin (107) has been converted to cyclic ether (114) by standard reactions. Its transformation to enone (115) is accomplished by annelation with methyl vinyl ketone and heating the resulting diketone with sodium hydride in dimethoxyethane. The ketoester (116) is subjected to Grignard reaction with methyllithium, aromatization and methylation to obtain the cyclic ether (117). Its transformation to phenolic ester (119) has been achieved by reduction, oxidation and esterification and deoxygenation. 

Complexes 98 [L = PPh3, P(Ph-p-F)3, P(Ph-p-Me)3] react with methyl-lithium to give, after methanolysis, the orthometallated complexes 99 (Scheme 5). Complex 98 (L = PPh3) also leads to 99 by reaction with phenyllithium or Red-Al 54). The formation of 99 suggests that the initial reduction of 98 leads to a 16-electron ruthenium (0) intermediate followed by C—H bond activation as for the transformations of 90 and 91. Treatment of complex 98 (L = P-i-Pr3) with methyllithium produces the cyclo-metallated diastereoisomers 100. Complexes 101 and 102 are obtained by treatment of 98 (L = PPh2-f-Bu) with methyllithium at -78°C and at +70°C, respectively. Complex 101 isomerizes to 102 by a first-order process (k 0.2 hour-1 in C6D6 at 50°C) when L is PPh2-i-Pr 98 leads to 103 which isomerizes to the orthometallated complex 104 54). 

Lithiation of vinylic sulfones. Phenyl vinyl sulfones (1), prepared as indicated, react with methyllithium regiospecifically at — 95° at the a-vinyl position to give the lithium derivatives 2. As expected, 2 can be alkylated to give 3. The reaction of 2 with enolizable carbonyl compounds proceeds more satisfactorily by prior conversion to the vinylic Grignard reagent a. This sequence constitutes a route to disubstituted alkenes, since a sulfone group is reductively cleaved by sodium amalgam (7, 326). ... 

Gribble and Saulnier (79) have extended their ellipticine synthesis 43) to the synthesis of 9-methoxyellipticine (2) (Scheme 24). One of the key features of this approach is the regioselective nucleophilic addition to the C-4 carbonyl group of pyridine anhydride 28. The other noteworthy transformation is the conversion of keto lactam 142 to the diol 143 with methyllithium, a process that presumably involves cleavage of the initial adduct to a methyl ketone which undergoes cyclization at the C-3 position of the indolyl anion. Reduction of 143 with sodium borohydride completes the synthesis of 2, in 47% overall yield from 5-methoxyindole (139). Gribble and students 80) have also used this method to synthesize 8-methoxyellipticine (134), 9-fluoroellipticine (144), and the previously unknown 7,8,9,10-tetrafluorellipticine (145), each from the appropriate indole. 

Preparative Methods both enantiomers of the a-methyl sultam may be prepared on a multigram scale in optically pure form by asymmetric hydrogenation of imine (2a) followed by simple crystallization (eq 1). The (7 )-enantiomer of the a-f-butyl sultam may also be prepared in enantiomerically pure form by asymmetric reduction of imine (2b) followed by fractional crystallization. However, multigram quantities of either enantiomer of the a-t-butyl sultam may be prepared by derivati-zation of the racemic auxiliary (obtained in 98% yield from reaction of (2b) with Sodium Borohydride in MeOH) with 10-Camphorsulfonyl Chloride, separation of the resulting diastere-omers by fractional crystallization, and acidolysis. Prochi-ral imines (2a) and (2b) are readily prepared from inexpensive Saccharine by treatment with Methyllithium (73%) and t-Butyllithium (66%), respectively. 

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