Silyl enol ethers Lewis acid mediated

The Lewis acid mediated addition of silyl enol ethers or silylketcne acetals to oc-alkoxyaldehydcs is the most versatile and reliable method of providing chelation control in aldol-type additions3. The stereochemical outcome is as predicted by Cram s cyclic model11 ... 

Mukaiyama aldol reactions of aldehydes with silyl enol ethers are amongst the most widely used Lewis-acid-mediated or -catalyzed reactions. However, trimethylsilyl triflate is not active enough to promote these reactions,66 and more active silicon-based Lewis acids have been developed. One example is the species generated by mixing trimethylsilyl triflate (or chloride) and B(OTf)3,319,320 for which the formulation R3Si + [B(OTf)4] is suggested by NMR experiments. Only a catalytic amount of this was needed to complete Mukaiyama aldol reactions of... 

The aldol reactions introduced thus far have been performed under basic conditions where enolate species are involved as the reactive intermediate. In contrast to the commonly accepted carbon-anion chemistry, Mukaiyama developed another practical method in which enol species can be used as the key intermediates. He is the first chemist to successfully demonstrate that acid-catalyzed aldol reactions using Lewis acid (such as TiCU) and silyl enol ether as a stable enol equivalent can work as well.17 Furthermore, he developed the boron tri-fluoromethane sulfonate (triflate)-mediated aldol reactions via the formation of formyl enol ethers. 

Silyl enol ethers of acyl silanes have been used in Lewis acid-mediated Mukaiyama reactions with acetals. Treatment of the resulting /1-alkoxy acyl silanes with tetrabutylammonium hydroxide or tetrabutylammonium fluoride gave the corresponding a,/J-unsaturated aldehydes (Scheme 99)210. 

A diastereoselective synthesis of all. fy -2,3,6-trisubstitutcd tetrahydropyran-4-ones 1039 via an intramolecular Prins cyclization of enecarbamates 1038 with aldehydes is used during a formal synthesis of (+)-ratjadone (Equation 403) <2004JA12216>. Similarly, tetrahydropyran-4-ones bearing quaternary centres a-to the carbonyl are accessible via a Lewis acid-mediated Prins cyclization of silyl enol ether substrates <2004JA15662>. 

Cyclobutenes possessing an angular O-functionality, obtained from a Lewis acid-mediated [2+2] cycloaddition of cyclic silyl enol ethers to ethyl propynoate and subsequent reduction and butenylation, undergo a ring-opening metathesis that produces a substituted dihydropyran that forms part of a c -diene. After desilylation, an oxy-Cope rearrangement leads to the fused tetrahydropyran 4 <03JA14901>. 

Having addressed numerous activating groups compatible with the Lewis acid-mediated reaction with silyl-based reagents, we cannot ignore the utility of glycosyl fluorides, nitrates and glycals. This chemistry will be presented in the context of reactions with both allylsilanes and sUyl enol ethers. 

The utility of BF3-OEt2, a monodentate Lewis acid, for acyclic stereocontrol in the Mukaiyama aldol reaction has been demonstrated by Evans et al. (Scheme 10.3) [27, 28]. The BF3-OEt2-mediated reaction of silyl enol ethers (SEE, ketone silyl enolates) with a-unsubstituted, /falkoxy aldehydes affords good 1,3-anti induction in the absence of internal aldehyde chelation. The 1,3-asymmetric induction can be reasonably explained by consideration of energetically favorable conformation 5 minimizing internal electrostatic and steric repulsion between the aldehyde carbonyl moiety and the /i-substituents. In the reaction with anti-substituted a-methyl-/ -alkoxy aldehydes, the additional stereocontrol (Felkin control) imparted by the a-substituent achieves uniformly high levels of 1,3-anti-diastereofacial selectivity. 

In some instances, particularly when a dependence of the stereochemistry on the double-bond geometry of either the acceptor or donor is observed, it appears likely that the stereochemistry-determining step is the initial conjugate addition. The stereochemical consequences of Lewis-acid-mediated additions of silyl enol ethers (116) and allylsilanes (117,118) have frequently been rationalized by open-extended transition states. Similar pathways seem likely with the Mukaiyama-Michael addition (vide infra) (77,79). 

Although the mechanism of the Mukaiyama reaction is not yet fully understood, several points have now been firmly established (a) a Lewis acid enolate is not involved (b) the Lewis acid activates the carbonyl group for the nucleophilic addition and (c) the Si—O bond is cleaved by nucleophilic attack of the anionic species, generally halide, on silicon. Point (a) has been established by the use of INEPT- Si NMR spectroscopy. Moreover, trichlorotitanium enolates have been synthesized, characterized and shown to give a completely different stereochemical outcome than the TiCU-mediated reactions of silyl enol ethers. Complexes between Lewis acids and carbonyl compounds have been isolated and characterized by X-ray crystallography and recently by NMR spectrometry. On the basis of these observations closed transition structures will not be considered here open transition structures with no intimate involvement between the silyl enol ether and the Lewis acid offer the best rationale for the after the fact interpretation of the stereochemical results and the best model for stereochemical predictions. 

The pinwheel shape of a f-butyl propionate derived silylketene acetal (see Section 2.4.2.1) was revealed by a single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Several different catalysts were reported to promote the aldol-type condensation of alkyl enol ethersand silyl enol ethers with aldehydes, acetals and various other electrophiles. In some cases the reaction proceeded with high simple stereoselection. The mechanism of the Lewis acid mediated additions to acetals (see Section 2.4.2.3) was investigated in detail, as well as the uncatalyzed aldol reaction of silyl enol ethers with aldehydes promoted by the hydrophobic effect (see Section 2.4.2.1). 

In addition to boron-mediated aldol reactions, the Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions of silyl enol ethers with aldehydes are also usefiil as shown in Scheme 6 [17]. 

In summary, Wardrop developed a synthetic route to azatricycle 15 (16 steps), which Snider had previously transformed to 19. Accordingly, a formal synthesis of racemic desmethylamino FR901483 was achieved, the key steps being (i) formation of the azaspirodecane ring by an N-methoxy-A-acylnitrenium ion-induced spirocyclization (ii) construction of the bridge framework by a 6-exo-trig radical cyclization, and (iii) installation of the C(6) p-methoxybenzyl side chain by Lewis acid-mediated alkylation of a silyl enol ether. 

The titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4)-mediated aldol reaction of silyl enol ethers with aldehydes was first reported by Mukaiyama and co-workers [22]. Following this report, several other Lewis acids such as BF3 Et20, and SnCl4, or fluoride anions such as BU4F were found to be effective promoters or catalysts in this reaction. 

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