Reformatsky zinc reagent

REFORMATSKY BLAISE Zincahyiallon Synthesis of -hydrexyesters from cartxinyl derivatives arxl a-haloesters via a zmc reagent (Reformatsky). Synthesis ol eloesleis from nitriles and a-haloesters via a zinc reagent (QIaise). 

In 1984, Fried et al. reported the reaction of bromodifluoroacetate with carbonyl substrates in the presence of zinc. The a,a-difluoro /1-hydroxyester was obtained in good yield without isolation of the Reformatsky reagent [240, 241] (Scheme 80) Later, this zinc reagent has also been prepared via reaction of ethyl bromodifluoroacetate with zinc amalgam in triglyme [242] or reaction of methyl iododifluoroacetate with zinc in acetonitrile [243]. 

The Reformatsky reactions of methyl or ethyl bromoacetate with 4-acetoxy-,2,24 4-benzyloxy-,2 4-tetrahydropyranyloxy-,2 4-chloro-,8 and 4,4-dimethoxy-2-butanone1418 have been carried out. The adducts were converted to mevalonolactone by hydrolysis and, in the case of the acetal reactant, by appropriate reduction and oxidation procedures. The same Reformatsky-type syntheses of mevalonolactone have also been performed using the lithium and magnesium carbanions of acetate esters5,19 25 26 and the dianion of acetic acid28,27 instead of the usual zinc reagent. The intramolecular Reformatsky reaction of 4-(bromoacetoxy)-2-butanone gives mevalonolactone directly.28 A related route to mevalonolactone involves boron trifluoride-catalyzed cycloaddition of ketene to 4-acetoxy-2-butanone followed by hydrolysis.183... 

Synthesis of p-hydroxyesters from carbonyl derivatives and a-halo esters via a zinc reagent (Reformatsky). Synthesis of p-ketoesters from nitriles and a-halo esters via a zinc reagent (Blaise) (see 1st edition). 

It was decided to give only a limited amount of information on the Reformatsky reaction (see Sect. 2.2) and not to deal at all with the Simmons-Smith reaction in which an intermediate carbenoid zinc reagent is involved [47] ... 

The Reformatsky reaction provides a method of converting a-bromoesters via the zinc reagent into j3-hydroxy- or j8-keto-esters. The reactions may be carried out either in situ, where zinc, the bromo ester and the carbonyl compound are all warmed together in a solvent (ether, benzene or 1,2-dimethoxyethane), or in two stages by forming the zinc intermediate first. The actual zinc reagent is probably an enolate rather than an organozinc species ... 

The highly reactive indium powder reported in Sections 6.1 and 6.2 reacts readily with a-haloesters to give an indium Reformatsky-type reagent which will add to ketones and aldehydes to give p-hydroxy esters. The Reformatsky reaction using zinc metal has been used in the preparation of p-hydroxy esters for many years. Recent improvements have made this reaction a very reliable reaction (see Section 3.10). 

Zinc, Cadmium, and Mercury.—Slurries of finely divided Cd or Zn, formed by codeposition of the appropriate metal vapour with a solvent, are active enough to form organometallic reagents (presumed to be metal dialkyls) by reaction with simple alkyl halides. Not only a-bromoesters, but also a-bromoketones, can be reacted with Zn to give Reformatsky-like reagents. Subsequent reaction with an... 

The Reformatsky Reaction consists of the interaction of an ester of an a-halogeno-acid with an aldehyde, a ketone or another ester in the presence of zinc. For example, if a mixture of ethyl bromoacetate and benzaldehyde is heated with zinc, the latter undoubtedly first combines with the ethyl bromoacetate to form a Grignard-like reagent (reaction A), which then adds on to the benzaldehyde Just as a Grignard reagent would do (reaction B). The complex so formed, on acidification gives ethyl p-phenyl-p-hydroxy-propionate (reaction C). Note that reaction A could not satisfactorily be carried out using... 

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