Robinson nucleophile

When we say cycloheptatriene is not aromatic but cycloheptatrienyl cation is we are not comparing the stability of the two to each other Cycloheptatriene is a stable hydrocarbon but does not possess the special stability required to be called aromatic Cycloheptatrienyl cation although aromatic is still a carbocation and reasonably reac tive toward nucleophiles Its special stability does not imply a rock like passivity but rather a much greater ease of formation than expected on the basis of the Lewis struc ture drawn for it A number of observations indicate that cycloheptatrienyl cation is far more stable than most other carbocations To emphasize its aromatic nature chemists often write the structure of cycloheptatrienyl cation m the Robinson circle m a ring style... 

The Robinson annulation is a two-step process that combines a Michael reaction with an intramolecular aldol reaction. It takes place between a nucleophilic donor, such as a /3-keto ester, an enamine, or a /3-diketone, and an a,/3-unsaturated ketone acceptor, such as 3-buten-2-one. The product is a substituted 2-cyclohexenone. 

Figure 23.9 This Robinson annulation reaction is used in the commercial synthesis of the steroid hormone estrone. The nucleophilic donor is a /3-diketone.

To set the stage for the crucial aza-Robinson annulation, a reaction in which the nucleophilic character of the newly introduced thiolactam function is expected to play an important role, it is necessary to manipulate the methyl propionate side chain in 19. To this end, alkaline hydrolysis of the methyl ester in 19, followed by treatment of the resulting carboxylic acid with isobutyl chlorofor-mate, provides a mixed anhydride. The latter substance is a reactive acylating agent that combines smoothly with diazomethane to give diazo ketone 12 (77 % overall yield from 19). 

As far as we are aware, the azo coupling of an ethyne derivative was only investigated over half a century ago Ainley and (Sir Robert) Robinson (1937) investigated the reaction of phenylethynes (phenylacetylenes) with diazonium ions (Scheme 12-59). Unsubstituted phenylethyne did not give identifiable products with the 4-nitrobenzenediazonium ion, but with the more nucleophilic 4-methoxyphenyl-ethyne an azo compound (12.119) was formed. On reaction with water it gives an arylhydrazone of an a-ketoaldehyde (12.120). 

Aldol addition and related reactions of enolates and enolate equivalents are the subject of the first part of Chapter 2. These reactions provide powerful methods for controlling the stereochemistry in reactions that form hydroxyl- and methyl-substituted structures, such as those found in many antibiotics. We will see how the choice of the nucleophile, the other reagents (such as Lewis acids), and adjustment of reaction conditions can be used to control stereochemistry. We discuss the role of open, cyclic, and chelated transition structures in determining stereochemistry, and will also see how chiral auxiliaries and chiral catalysts can control the enantiose-lectivity of these reactions. Intramolecular aldol reactions, including the Robinson annulation are discussed. Other reactions included in Chapter 2 include Mannich, carbon acylation, and olefination reactions. The reactivity of other carbon nucleophiles including phosphonium ylides, phosphonate carbanions, sulfone anions, sulfonium ylides, and sulfoxonium ylides are also considered. 

Anionic domino processes are the most often encountered domino reactions in the chemical literature. The well-known Robinson annulation, double Michael reaction, Pictet-Spengler cyclization, reductive amination, etc., all fall into this category. The primary step in this process is the attack of either an anion (e. g., a carban-ion, an enolate, or an alkoxide) or a pseudo anion as an uncharged nucleophile (e. g., an amine, or an alcohol) onto an electrophilic center. A bond formation takes place with the creation of a new real or pseudo-anionic functionality, which can undergo further transformations. The sequence can then be terminated either by the addition of a proton or by the elimination of an X group. 

Of these, only the contact ion pair is the critical precursor to electrophile/ nucleophile interactions (see, for example, Hughes et al., 1933 Hughes and Ingold, 1935 Ingold, 1969 Cordes and Dunlap, 1969 Kessler and Feigel, 1982 Troughton et al., 1984 for the microscopic reverse, see Winstein et al., 1954 Winstein and Robinson, 1958 Shiner, 1970 Harris,... 

The discussion and classification of reagents is masterful in identifying Ingold s new nomenclature and principles with more widely known oxidation-reduction and acid-base theory. The 1953 lectures at Cornell University, published as Structure and Mechanism in Organic Chemistry, follow this same strategy, showing how old classification schemes overlap with each other and how apparent inconsistencies disappear as old schemes are incorporated into the new one. Nineteenth-century Berzelian electrochemical dualism, revived by Lapworth and Robinson in the cationic/anionic schema, disappears into the electrophilic/nucleophilic language. 

The stereoselective construction of nitrogen heterocycles remains a topic of intense synthetic interest [39]. Evans and Robinson described the combination of the stereospecific aUylic amination with ring-closing metathesis as a strategy for the constmction of mono- and disubstituted azacycles, which they demonstrated with the stereospecific construction of cis- and tra s-2,5-disubstituted pyrrolines [40]. Furthermore, this approach provided an ideal system for the determination of whether the enantiospecific rhodium-catalyzed aUyhc amination with an enantiomerically enriched nucleophile experiences a matched and a mismatched reaction manifold. 

The reactions described in this chapter include some of the most useful synthetic methods for carbon-carbon bond formation the aldol and Claisen condensations, the Robinson annulation, and the Wittig reaction and related olefination methods. All of these reactions begin by the addition of a carbon nucleophile to a carbonyl group. The product which is isolated depends on the nature of the substituent (X) on the carbon nucleophile, the substituents (A and B) on the carbonyl group, and the ways in which A, B, and X interact to control the reaction pathways available to the addition intermediate. 

Electrophiles (i.e., electron-deficient species) are of fundamental importance to chemistry. The concept of nucleophiles (lit. nucleus seeking ) and electrophiles (lit. electron seeking ) was suggested by Ingold following similar views implied by Lapworth s description of anionoid and cationoid reagents, Robinson s concepts, and Lewis s theory of bases (electron donors) and acids (electron acceptors).1... 

This principle is often applied to molecules. If a nucleophile is joined to the carbonyl group it is to attack by a short chain of covalent bonds, it may be able to reach only one side of the carbonyl group. An example from a familiar reaction concerns the Robinson annelation. The first step, Michael addition, creates a stereo genic centre but no relative stereochemistry. It is in the second step—the aldol cyclization—that the stereochemistry of the ring junction is decided. 

The Robinson annulation is a combination of two reactions covered in this chapter. First, a Michael reaction takes place between a nucleophilic donor (the diketone in this problem) and an a,(3-unsaturated carbonyl compound (the enone shown). The resulting product can cyclize in an aldol reaction. The base catalyzes both reactions. 

Robinson, 1969a). It is probable that the hydrophobic nature of the phenyl groups of p-nitrophenyl diphenyl phosphate results in deep penetration of the neutral ester in the Stern layer, thus shielding the phosphoryl group from nucleophilic attack. Unlike other reactions between nucleophiles and neutral substrates catalyzed by cationic micelles (Bunton and Robinson, 1968, 1969a) and the hydrolysis of dinitrophenyl phosphate dianions in the presence of cationic micelles (Bunton et al., 1968), the catalysis of the hydrolysis of -nitrophenyl diphenyl phosphate by CTAB arises from an increase in the activation entropy rather than from a decrease in the enthalpy of activation. The Arrhenius parameters for the micelle-catalyzed and inhibited reactions are most probably manifestations of the extensive solubilization of this substrate. However, these parameters can be composites of those for the micellar and non-micellar reactions and the eifects of temperature on the micelles themselves are not known. Interpretation of the factors which affect these parameters must therefore be carried out with caution. In addition, the inhibition of the micelle-catalyzed reactions by added electrolytes has been observed (Bunton and Robinson, 1969a Bunton et al., 1969, 1970) and, as in the cases of other anion-molecule reactions and the heterolysis of dinitrophenyl phosphate dianions, can be reasonably attributed to the exclusion of the nucleophile by the anion of the added salt. 

Nucleophilic attack on ( -alkene)Fp+ cations may be effected by heteroatom nucleophiles including amines, azide ion, cyanate ion (through N), alcohols, and thiols (Scheme 39). Carbon-based nucleophiles, such as the anions of active methylene compounds (malonic esters, /3-keto esters, cyanoac-etate), enamines, cyanide, cuprates, Grignard reagents, and ( l -allyl)Fe(Cp)(CO)2 complexes react similarly. In addition, several hydride sources, most notably NaBHsCN, deliver hydride ion to Fp(jj -alkene)+ complexes. Subjecting complexes of type (79) to Nal or NaBr in acetone, however, does not give nncleophilic attack, but instead results rehably in the displacement of the alkene from the iron residue. Cyclohexanone enolates or silyl enol ethers also may be added, and the iron alkyl complexes thus produced can give Robinson annulation-type products (Scheme 40). Vinyl ether-cationic Fp complexes as the electrophiles are nseful as vinyl cation equivalents. ... 

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