Reductive alkylation Reformatsky reaction

Rearrangement of a,/B-epoxy ketones to ftdicarbonyl isomers, 307 Reductive alkylation, 97 Reductive cleavage of halo ethers, 264 Reductive degradation of 19-substitutional steroids, 277, 278 Reformatsky reaction, 139 Removal of the C-10 substituent in steroids. 272... 

Highly reactive zinc can be prepared by reduction of anhydrous ZnC with potassium/THF or sodium/DME(l 7,29). This zinc has been shown to undergo rapid oxidative additions with alkyl bromides to produce near quantitative yields of the corresponding dialkylzinc. It also underwent oxidative addition with phenyl iodide and bromide. Moreover, the zinc was found to be useful in the Reformatsky reaction. Reactions could be carried out in diethyl ether at room temperature to generate near quantitative yields of the 3-hydroxyester. 

An enantioselective one-pot, three-component imino-Reformatsky reaction has been reported.20 Combining a benzaldehyde, an aniline, and an alkyl bromoacetate ester, (g) ees of up to 92% have been achieved in the /i-amino ester product, using a recyclable A-methylcphedrinc as auxiliary. A nickel(II) salt and dimethylzinc are employed the latter serves as dehydrating agent, reductant, and coordinating metal. 

The ability of Sml2 to reduce alkyl halides has been exploited in a number of carbon carbon bond-forming reactions. Radicals generated from the reduction of alkyl halides can be trapped by alkenes in cyclisation reactions to form carbocyclic and heterocyclic rings (see Chapter 5, Section 5.3), and the alkyl-samarium intermediates can be used in intermolecular and intramolecular Barbier and Grignard reactions (see Chapter 5, Section 5.4). The reduction of ot-halocarbonyl compounds with Sml2 gives rise to Sm(III) enolates that can be exploited in Reformatsky reactions (Chapter 5, Section 5.5) and are discussed in Section 4.5. 

One of the main issues with the use of magnesium and zinc as inexpensive co-reductants is their reactivity with alkyl halides. Also, additives such as TMSOTf are relatively expensive. In an attempt to address these limitations, Namy utilised mischmetal (La 33%, Ce 50%, Nd 12%, Pr 4%, Sm and other lanthanides 1%) as the stoichiometric reductant for the regeneration of the Sm(II).31,32 This reagent system provides an important alternative since it does not require the use of additives and mischmetal is relatively inexpensive. This system has been utilised successfully in Barbier and Reformatsky reactions, halide reductions and pinacol couplings (Scheme 7.7).31,32... 

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