Sodium borohydride benzylic alcohols

Baneijee et al.66 have developed an alternative synthesis of the compound (129) whose utility in synthesis of Mansonone F (120) has been reported by Suh and collaborators.65 This is described in Scheme 13. Tetralone (127) was reduced with sodium borohydride to alcohol which on alkylation with benzyl chloride produced benzyl derivative (132). Its conversion to (133) was attempted by treatment with boron tribromide in dichloromethane. C ompound (133) (characterized b y m ass s pectroscopy) was obtained in poor yield. The major product was the diol (134), whose structure was confirmed by spectral data. It indicates that the demethylation was accompanied by debenzylation. Treatment of diol (134) with triethyl orthoformate and aluminium chloride afforded aldehyde (135) which was subjected to catalytic hydrogenation to produce compound (136). It was transformed to ketone (137) by oxidation and then made to react with methylmagnesium bromide in ether. The resulting tertiary alcohol on heating with p-toluenesulfonic acid in toluene for 24 hr produced the naphthalene (129) in 78% yield. 

Scheme 13 Reduction of tetralone (127) with sodium borohydride afforded alcohol, which was benzylated to obtain the derivative (132), which on treatment with boron tribromide in dichloromethane yielded this diol (134) in major proportion. It was converted to compound (136) by treatment with triethyl orthoformate and then catalytic hydrogenation. Oxidation of (136 and on subjection of the resulting ketone with methylmagnesium bromide followed by heating with p-toluensulfonic acid in toluene produced compound (129).

Displacement of bromine on phenacyl halide with imidazole gives Reduction with sodium borohydride followed by displacement with 2,6-dichloro-benzyl alcohol in HMPA then produces antifungal orconazole (37). ... 

Intermediate 10 must now be molded into a form suitable for coupling with the anion derived from dithiane 9. To this end, a che-moselective reduction of the benzyl ester grouping in 10 with excess sodium borohydride in methanol takes place smoothly and provides primary alcohol 14. Treatment of 14 with methanesulfonyl chloride and triethylamine affords a primary mesylate which is subsequently converted into iodide 15 with sodium iodide in acetone. Exposure of 15 to tert-butyldimethylsilyl chloride and triethylamine accomplishes protection of the /Mactam nitrogen and leads to the formation of 8. Starting from L-aspartic acid (12), the overall yield of 8 is approximately 50%, and it is noteworthy that this reaction sequence can be performed on a molar scale. 

Shenlin Huang has implemented method C with 2,4-bis-OBoc-3-bromobenzyaldehyde 27 (Fig. 4.22) and 2-(trimethylsilyl)ethoxy]methyl-lithium 38 at —78 °C in THF.24 Surprisingly, lithium-halogen exchange does not happen and the intermediate benzyl alcohol undergoes reduction with sodium borohydride in the same pot to afford the desired bromophenol 39 in 68% yield. This material... 

Devaky and Rajasree have reported the production of a polymer-bound ethylenediamine-borane reagent (63) (Fig. 41) for use as a reducing agent for the reduction of aldehydes.87 The polymeric reagent was derived from a Merrifield resin and a 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate-cross-linked polystyrene resin (HDODA-PS). The borane reagent was incorporated in the polymer support by complexation with sodium borohydride. When this reducing agent was used in the competitive reduction of a 1 1 molar mixture of benzaldehyde and acetophenone, benzaldehyde was found to be selectively reduced to benzyl alcohol. 

Unlike with sodium borohydride (see Section 11.01.5.2), pyrrolizin-3-one 2 reacts with lithium aluminohydride mainly as an amide. No conjugate addition occurs, and only the reductive lactam cleavage takes place to give stereoselectively the (Z)-allylie alcohol 77. Similarly, benzo-annulated pyrrolizin-3-one 17 gives the corresponding benzylic alcohol 78. The same reactivity was observed with organometallics such as methyllithium which gives exclusively the tertiary (Z)-allylic alcohol 79 (Scheme 7). 

The facile homogeneous catalysed reduction of acid chlorides to alcohols has many advantages over reduction with sodium borohydride in hydroxylic solvents where rapid reaction of the acid chloride with the solvent can occur [10]. The procedure has been incorporated into a simple one-pot conversion of aroyl chlorides into the corresponding benzyl chlorides (Scheme 11.1) under liquidrliquid or solid-liquid two-phase conditions [11], The reduction of a limited number of aryl compounds was reported with ca. 70% overall yields, although poorer yields result from the reduction of 4-nitro-, 2-cyano- and 2,4-dichlorobenzoyl chlorides, and the reduction failed completely with terphthaloyl chloride and with its 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro derivative [11]. 

Much emphasis has been placed on the selectivity of quaternary ammonium borohydrides in their reduction of aldehydes and ketones [18-20]. Predictably, steric factors are important, as are mesomeric electronic effects in the case of 4-substituted benzaldehydes. However, comparison of the relative merits of the use of tetraethyl-ammonium, or tetra-n-butylammonium borohydride in dichloromethane, and of sodium borohydride in isopropanol, has shown that, in the competitive reduction of benzaldehyde and acetophenone, each system preferentially reduces the aldehyde and that the ratio of benzyl alcohol to 1-phenylethanol is invariably ca. 4 1 [18-20], Thus, the only advantage in the use of the ammonium salts would appear to facilitate the use of non-hydroxylic solvents. In all reductions, the use of the more lipophilic tetra-n-butylammonium salt is to be preferred and the only advantage in using the tetraethylammonium salt is its ready removal from the reaction mixture by dissolution in water. 

Two years later, the same group reported a formal synthesis of ellipticine (228) using 6-benzyl-6H-pyrido[4,3-f>]carbazole-5,ll-quinone (6-benzylellipticine quinone) (1241) as intermediate (716). The optimized conditions, reaction of 1.2 equivalents of 3-bromo-4-lithiopyridine (1238) with M-benzylindole-2,3-dicarboxylic anhydride (852) at —96°C, led regioselectively to the 2-acylindole-3-carboxylic acid 1233 in 42% yield. Compound 1233 was converted to the corresponding amide 1239 by treatment with oxalyl chloride, followed by diethylamine. The ketone 1239 was reduced to the corresponding alcohol 1240 by reaction with sodium borohydride. Reaction of the alcohol 1240 with f-butyllithium led to the desired 6-benzylellipticine quinone (1241), along with a debrominated alcohol 1242, in 40% and 19% yield, respectively. 6-Benzylellipticine quinone (1241) was transformed to 6-benzylellipticine (1243) in 38% yield by treatment with methyllithium, then hydroiodic acid, followed... 

Arene(tricarbonyl)chromium complexes, 19 Nickel boride, 197 to trans-alkenes Chromium(II) sulfate, 84 of anhydrides to lactones Tetrachlorotris[bis(l,4-diphenyl-phosphine)butane]diruthenium, 288 of aromatic rings Palladium catalysts, 230 Raney nickel, 265 Sodium borohydride-1,3-Dicyano-benzene, 279 of aryl halides to arenes Palladium on carbon, 230 of benzyl ethers to alcohols Palladium catalysts, 230 of carboxylic acids to aldehydes Vilsmeier reagent, 341 of epoxides to alcohols Samarium(II) iodide, 270 Sodium hydride-Sodium /-amyloxide-Nickel(II) chloride, 281 Sodium hydride-Sodium /-amyloxide-Zinc chloride, 281 of esters to alcohols Sodium borohydride, 278 of imines and related compounds Arene(tricarbonyl)chromium complexes, 19... 

The acid 350 was demethylated with pyridine hydrochloride, then realkylated with benzyl bromide in aqueous potassium hydroxide to give 351. The latter was converted to the diazoketone 352 by the sequential treatment of 351 with oxalyl chloride and etheral diazomethane. Reaction of 352 with concentrated hydrobromic acid gave the bromoketone 353. The latter was reduced with sodium borohydride at pH 8 -9 to yield a mixture of diastere-omeric bromohydrins 354. Protection of the free hydroxyl as a tetrahydro-pyranyl ether and hydrogenolysis of the benzyl residue afforded 355. The phenol 355 was heated under reflux with potassium m/V-butoxide in tert-butyl alcohol for 5 hr to give a 3 1 epimeric mixture of dienone ethers 356 and 357 in about 50% yield. Treatment of this mixture with dilute acid gave the epimeric alcohols 358 and 359. This mixture was oxidized with Jones reagent to afford the diketone 349. 

A synthesis of 4-hydroxy-substituted TIQ has been developed in connection with plant isoquinolines (169,170), and the glycine ester route used for a similar purpose (171) is shown in Fig. 23. Reaction of the benzyl bromide 85 with N-methylglycine ester gave 86 the ketoester 87 was obtained on Dieckmann condensation. Alkaline hydrolysis of ester 87 followed by treatment with mineral acid gave ketone 88 alcohol 89 was obtained on reduction of 88 with sodium borohydride. 

Amidals 1 were prepared by the reaction of secondary allylic alcohols with benzyl hydroxy-methylcarbamate in dichloromethane using 4-methylbenzenesulfonic acid as a catalyst. The cyclization proceeded by treating 1 with mercury(II) acetate (1.25-2.0 equiv) in acetonitrile at 20 °C for 12 hours, followed by addition of sodium acetate and sodium borohydride to give the corresponding oxazolidine 2 in 60-90% yield158. 

The pyrazolo[l,2-a]pyridazine (55) reacts with sodium methoxide in boiling methanol, presumably via preliminary deprotonation at benzylic carbon. After 8 h a mixture of (56 72%) and the Hofmann-type elimination product (57 12%) is obtained, but after 25 h only (57 75%) is isolated. The imino bond u 1640 cm ) of (57) may be saturated with sodium borohydride. With potassium t-butoxide in t-butyl alcohol at reflux, the rearranged isoindole (58) is obtained (Scheme 22) (74CPB2142). Scheme 23 shows a rearrangement similar to (55) (56) for which a radical mechanism has been suggested. However, here,... 

R = COzMe, COzEt), in water to yield the benzoic acid 179 (R = CO2H), and in alcoholic solutions containing dimethylamine or pyrrolidine to afford benzamides 179 [R = CONMe2, CON(CH2)4]. Sodium borohydride reduction of 127 afforded the benzyl alcohol 179 (R = CH2OH) and phthalimide... 

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