Secondary alcohol ketone reduction product

Clemmensen reduction of aldehydes and ketones. Upon reducing aldehydes or ketones with amalgamated zinc and concentrated hydrochloric acid, the main products are the hydrocarbons (>C=0 —> >CHj), but variable quantities of the secondary alcohols (in the case of ketones) and unsaturated substances are also formed. Examples are ... 

Unsaturated hydrocarbons are present in nearly all products of the Clemmensen reduction of aromatic ketones and must be removed, if the hydrocarbon is requiral pure, by the above process. Secondary alcohols, often produced m small amount are not appreciably steam-volatile. 

Asymmetric hydrogenolysis of epoxides has received relatively little attention despite the utility such processes might hold for the preparation of chiral secondary alcohol products. Chan et al. showed that epoxysuccinate disodium salt was reduced by use of a rhodium norbornadiene catalyst in methanol/water at room temperature to give the corresponding secondary alcohol in 62% ee (Scheme 7.31) [58]. Reduction with D2 afforded a labeled product consistent with direct epoxide C-O bond cleavage and no isomerization to the ketone or enol before reduction. 

Oxazaborolidine catalysts behave like an enzyme in the sense of binding with both ketone and borane, bringing them close enough to undergo reaction and releasing the product after the reaction. Thus these compounds are referred to as chemzymes by Corey.78 The oxazaborolidines listed in Figure 6-6 are representative catalysts for the asymmetric reduction of ketones to secondary alcohols. 

Dehydrogenases also represent a class of interesting enzymes since enantiose-lective reduction of ketones can lead to the production of enantiomerically pure secondary alcohols for the fine chemicals industry. Compared to liquid systems, in which the cofactor is often eliminated by the circulating phase in continuous systems, solid/gas catalysis can be highly suitable since it has been demonstrated that the cofactor is stable and its regeneration effective by addition of a second substrate. Also, stereoselective oxidation of secondary alcohols by these systems can help in the resolution of racemic mixtures. 

The lower members of the homologous series of 1. Alcohols 2. Aldehydes 3. Ketones 4. Acids 5. Esters 6. Phenols 7. Anhydrides 8. Amines 9. Nitriles 10. Polyhydroxy phenols 1. Polybasic acids and hydro-oxy acids. 2. Glycols, poly-hydric alcohols, polyhydroxy aldehydes and ketones (sugars) 3. Some amides, ammo acids, di-and polyamino compounds, amino alcohols 4. Sulphonic acids 5. Sulphinic acids 6. Salts 1. Acids 2. Phenols 3. Imides 4. Some primary and secondary nitro compounds oximes 5. Mercaptans and thiophenols 6. Sulphonic acids, sulphinic acids, sulphuric acids, and sul-phonamides 7. Some diketones and (3-keto esters 1. Primary amines 2. Secondary aliphatic and aryl-alkyl amines 3. Aliphatic and some aryl-alkyl tertiary amines 4. Hydrazines 1. Unsaturated hydrocarbons 2. Some poly-alkylated aromatic hydrocarbons 3. Alcohols 4. Aldehydes 5. Ketones 6. Esters 7. Anhydrides 8. Ethers and acetals 9. Lactones 10. Acyl halides 1. Saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons Cyclic paraffin hydrocarbons 3. Aromatic hydrocarbons 4. Halogen derivatives of 1, 2 and 3 5. Diaryl ethers 1. Nitro compounds (tertiary) 2. Amides and derivatives of aldehydes and ketones 3. Nitriles 4. Negatively substituted amines 5. Nitroso, azo, hy-drazo, and other intermediate reduction products of nitro com-pounds 6. Sulphones, sul-phonamides of secondary amines, sulphides, sulphates and other Sulphur compounds... 

A similar chiral environment is given by inclusion to cyclodextrins (CDs), cyclic oligosaccharides (3). The outside of the host molecule is hydrophilic and the inside hydrophobic. The diameters of the cavities are approximately 6 (a), 7-8 (j3), and 9-10 A (7), respectively. Reduction of some prochiral ketone-j3-CD complexes with sodium boro-hydride in water gives the alcoholic products in modest ee (Scheme 2) (4). On the other hand, uncomplexed ketones are reduced with a crystalline CD complex of borane-pyridine complex dispersed in water to form the secondary alcohols in up to 90% ee, but in moderate chemical yields. Fair to excellent enantioselection has been achieved in gaseous hydrohalogenation or halogenation of a- or /3-CD complexes of crotonic or methacrylic acid. These reactions may seem attractive but currently require the use of stoichiometric amounts of the host CD molecules. 

Several studies have been made of the effect of added metal ions on the pinacol/alcohol ratio. Addition of antimony(m) chloride in catalytic amounts changes the product of the electrochemical reduction of acetophenone in acidic alcohol at a lead electrode from the pinacol in the absence of added metal salt to the secondary alcohol in its presence53. Antimony metal was suspected to be an intermediate in the reduction. Conversely, addition of Sm(in) chloride to DMF solutions of aromatic aldehydes and ketones54 and manganese(II) chloride to DMF solutions of hindered aromatic ketones55 results in selective formation of pinacols in excellent yields. When considering these results one should keep in mind the fact that aromatic ketones tend to form pinacols in DMF even in the absence of added metal ions1,29,45. 

The product is the racemic [(R)/(S)] alcohol since the free energies of the two diastereoisomeric transition states, resulting from hydride attack on the si-face of the ketone as shown (order of priorities O > R1 > R2, p. 16) or the re-face, are identical. The use of an aluminium alkoxide, derived from an optically pure secondary alcohol, to effect a stereoselective reaction (albeit in low ee%) was one of the first instances of an asymmetric reduction.48 Here (S)-( + )-butan-2-ol, in the form of the aluminium alkoxide, with 6-methylheptan-2-one was shown to give rise to two diastereoisomeric transition states [(5), (R,S) and (6), (S,S)] which lead to an excess of (S)-6-methylheptan-2-ol [derived from transition state (6)], as expected from a consideration of the relative steric interactions. Transition state (5) has a less favourable Me—Me and Et—Hex interaction and hence a higher free energy of activation it therefore represents the less favourable reaction pathway (see p. 15). 

---