Sodium borohydride enamines

Cationic rings are readily reduced by complex hydrides under relatively mild conditions. Thus isoxazolium salts with sodium borohydride give the 2,5-dihydro derivatives (217) in ethanol, but yield the 2,3-dihydro compound (218) in MeCN/H20 (74CPB70). Pyrazolyl anions are reduced by borohydride to pyrazolines and pyrazolidines. Thiazolyl ions are reduced to 1,2-dihydrothiazoles by lithium aluminum hydride and to tetrahydrothiazoles by sodium borohydride. The tetrahydro compound is probably formed via (219), which results from proton addition to the dihydro derivative (220) containing an enamine function. 1,3-Dithiolylium salts easily add hydride ion from sodium borohydride (Scheme 20) (80AHC(27)151). 

Enamines of A" -3-ketones (45) are stable to lithium aluminum hydride, but lithium borohydride reduces the 3,4-double bond of the enamine system." In the presence of acetic acid the enamine (45) is reduced by sodium borohydride to the A -3-amine (47) via the iminium cation (46). ... 

The reduction of the double bond of an enamine is normally carried out either by catalytic hydrogenation (MS) or by reduction with formic acid (see Section V.H) or sodium borohydride 146,147), both of which involve initial protonation to form the iminium ion followed by hydride addition. Lithium aluminum hydride reduces iminium salts (see Chapter 5), but it does not react with free enamines except when unusual enamines are involved 148). 

Tertiary heterocyclic enamines are reduced with metals in acidic media 142) or electrolytically (237,238) and their salts are reduced with lithium aluminum hydride or sodium borohydride (239,240) to the corresponding saturated amines. 

Dihydro- and 1,4-dihydro derivatives are formed as intermediates in the reduction of quaternary pyridine salts and their homologues with sodium borohydride or formic acid. A proton is added to the present enamine grouping and the formed immonium salts are reduced to the l-methyl-l,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridine derivatives (157) and to completely saturated compounds (158) (254) (Scheme 14). 

Thus the critical synthetic 1,6-dihydropyridine precursor for the unique isoquinuclidine system of the iboga alkaloids, was generated by reduction of a pyridinium salt with sodium borohydride in base (137-140). Lithium aluminum hydride reduction of phenylisoquinolinium and indole-3-ethylisoquinolinium salts gave enamines, which could be cyclized to the skeletons found in norcoralydine (141) and the yohimbane-type alkaloids (142,143). 

Sodium borohydride reduction of 4-substituted isoquinolinium salts led to vinylogous cyanamides, ureas, and urethanes, as well as the corresponding tetrahydroquinolines (640). Hydrogenation of /8-acylpyridinium salts (641) to vinylogous ureas was exploited in syntheses of alkaloids (642), leading, for instance, to lupinine, epilupinine, and corynantheidine (643, 644). Similarly, syntheses of dasycarpidone and epidasycarpidone were achieved (645) through isomerization of an a,/0-unsaturated 2-acylindole and cyclization of the resultant enamine. 

Alkylation of enamines with epoxides or acetoxybromoalkanes provided intermediates for cyclic enol ethers (668) and branched chain sugars were obtained by enamine alkylation (669). Sodium enolates of vinylogous amides underwent carbon and nitrogen methylation (570), while vicinal endiamines formed bis-quaternary amonium salts (647). Reactions of enamines with a cyclopropenyl cation gave alkylated imonium products (57/), and 2-benzylidene-3-methylbenzothiazoline was shown to undergo enamine alkylation and acylation (572). A cyclic enamine was alkylated with methylbromoacetate and the product reduced with sodium borohydride to the key intermediate in a synthesis of the quebrachamine skeleton (57i). 

Olefins are also the products of hydroboratlon of enamines, followed by treatment of the organoborane products with hot acid (543,544). The reduction of enamines with sodium borohydride and acetic acid (545) and the selective reduction of dienamines with sodium borohydride to give homo-allylic tertiary amines (138-140,225,546,547), has been applied to the synthesis of conessine (548) and other aminosteroid analogs (545,549-552). Further examples of the reduction of imonium salts by sodium borohydride can be found in the reduction of Bischler-Napieralski products, and other cyclic imonium salts (102). 

Although catalytic hydrogenation is the method most often used, double bonds can be reduced by other reagents, as well. Among these are sodium in ethanol, sodium and rerr-butyl alcohol in HMPA, lithium and aliphatic amines (see also 15-14), " zinc and acids, sodium hypophosphate and Pd-C, (EtO)3SiH—Pd(OAc)2, trifluoroacetic acid and triethylsilane (EtsSiH), and hydroxylamine and ethyl acetate.However, metallic hydrides, such as lithium aluminum hydride and sodium borohydride, do not in general reduce carbon-carbon double bonds, although this can be done in special cases where the double bond is polar, as in 1,1-diarylethenes and in enamines. " °... 

The spiro compound 206 was prepared in five steps from (S)-l-naphthyl-ethylamine and was composed of a mixture of imine and enamine tautomers. Reduction of the imine function by sodium borohydride occurred on the less hindered si face, leading to the diamine with the R configuration of the newly formed stereo center, then the N-benzyl substituent was removed by hydrogenolysis to give 207 with good overall yield [98] (Scheme 30). 

The third product, which was formed in 1.5% yield, was found to be stable to brief heating with either dilute mineral acid or base, was not reduced by sodium borohydride in methanol, and did not have the properties of an enamine. It absorbed two moles of hydrogen in the presence of palladium to give a product which again failed to give reactions of an enamine. On the basis of this evidence and spectroscopic data this compound was assigned the structure (94). We were surprised that valence-isomerisation to the tetrafluorobenzocyclo-octatetraenamine had apparently not occurred. 

Dihydroantirhine has also been reached from indole alkaloid strictosi-dine (224). Mild hydrolysis of 224, followed by subsequent sodium borohydride and catalytic reduction, supplied vallesiachotamine derivative 225. Hydrolysis and decarboxylation of 225 gave enamine 226, which could be izomerfzed to 227 by the use of acid. Sodium borohydride reduction of the thermodynamically less stable enamine 226 afforded (+)-18,19-dihydroantirhine selectively, while 227 yielded uniformly 3-epi-18,19-dihydroantirhine (203) (144). 

Dihydrocorynantheine was obtained via similar steps from normal cyanoacetic ester 319 (172). Stereoselective transformation of the alio cyanoacetic ester 315 to the normal stereoisomer 319 was achieved by utilizing a unique epimerization reaction of the corresponding quinolizidine-enamine system (174). Oxidation of alio cyanoacetic ester 315 with lead tetraacetate in acetic acid medium, followed by treatment with base, yielded the cis-disubstituted enamine 317, which slowly isomerized to the trans isomer 318. It has been proved that this reversible eipmerization process occurs at C-15. The ratio of trans/cis enamines (318/317) is about 9 1. The sodium borohydride reduction of 318 furnished the desired cyanoacetic ester derivative 319 with normal stereo arrangement. The details of the C-15 epimerization mechanism are discussed by B rczai-Beke etal. (174). 

Selective reduction of esters.1 Sodium borohydride does not usually reduce esters, but it can reduce normal esters slowly in CH3OH. This reaction has been used to reduce a normal ester selectively in the presence of a vinylogous urethane. Thus the methylene group of the enamine (E)-l, formed from dimethyl acetone-... 

Phosphorylated allenes 195 (R1 = H or Me) are a source of secondary ( )-allylamines. The allenes are treated with an amine R2NH2 (R2 = t-Bu or 4-MeCgH4 and the products, which exist as equilibrium mixtures of enamines 196 and imines 197, are olefinated by successive reaction with methyllithium and an aldehyde R3CHO (R = i-Bu, 4-MeCgH4, PhCH2CH2 etc). Reduction with sodium borohydride finally yields the... 

Vinylamines (enamines) are reduced by alane, mono- and dichloroalane to saturated amines, and hydrogenolyzed to amines and alkenes [710]. Reduction is favored by dichloroalane while hydrogenolysis is favored by alane. Alane, chloroalane and dichloroalane gave the following results with -N-pyrrolidinylcyclohexene V-pyrrolidinylcyclohexane in 13, 15 and 22% yield, and pyrrolidine and cyclohexene in 80, 75 and 75% yields, respectively [710]. Saturated amines were also obtained by treatment of enamines with sodium borohydride [711], with sodium cyanoborohydride [103, 712] (Procedure 22, p. 210) and by heating for 1-2 hours at 50-70° with 87% or 9S% formic acid (yields 37-89%) [320]. 

Nucleophilic addition takes place at C-1, and this is considerably enhanced if the reaction is carried out upon an isoquinolinium salt. Reduction with lithium aluminium hydride [tetrahydroaluminate(III)] in THF (tetrahydrofuran), for example, gives a 1,2-dihydroisoquinoline (Scheme 3.15). These products behave as cyclic enamines and if isoquinolinium salts are reacted with sodium borohydride [tetrahy-droboronate(III)] in aqueous ethanol, further reduction to 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines is effected through protonation at C-4 and then hydride transfer from the reagent to C-3. 

In general, alkylations as well as some acylations of enamines using halides as the leaving group occur predominantly on carbon (B-69MI20700). For example, treatment of A2-piperideine (115) with methyl bromoacetate followed by sodium borohydride reduction... 

Azadienes of this sort were studied simultaneously by Mariano et al., who reacted mixtures of (1 ,3 ) and (1E, 3Z)-l-phenyl-2-aza-l,3-pentadiene 275 with several electron-rich alkenes, e.g., enamines and enol ethers (85JOC5678) (Scheme 61). They found the (l ,3 )-stereoisomer to be reactive in this process affording stereoselectively endo 276 or exo 277 piperidine cycloadducts in 5-39% yield, after reductive work-up with sodium borohydride. The stereochemistry of the resulting adducts is in agreement with an endo transition state in the case of dienophiles lacking a cis alkyl substituent at the /8-carbon (n-butyl vinyl ether, benzyl vinyl ether, and 1-morpholino cyclopentene), whereas an exo transition state was involved when dihydropyrane or c/s-propenyl benzyl ether were used. Finally, the authors reported that cyclohexene and dimethyl acetylenedi-carboxylate failed to react with these unactivated 2-azadienes. 

Treatment of (16-3) with sodium borohydride leads to the selective reduction of the enamine bond to lead to the tetrahydropyridine (16-4). This intermediate undergoes ring closure with a strong acid to give the benzomorphan (16-5) in direct analogy to the more complex morphinans. The product consists predominantly of the isomer that bears the equatorial secondary methyl group [18],... 

Other reducing agents that have been reported to afford enamines are sodium hydrosulfite [142], dialkyl aluminohydrides [143], and Grignard reagents [144] for quaternary isoquinoline salts sodium borohydrides [145] and Grignard reagents for 3,5-dicyanopyridines and electroreduction [146, 147] of iV-methylglutarimide. 

Stereoselective reduction to the appropriate tetrahydro derivatives is observed in the case of the reaction of heteroannelated dihydroazines (R5and R6 are Het, X is N, for example, compounds 346, 348 and 350) with sodium borohydride [174, 295, 296, 297] or with hydrogen in the presence of Pd on A1203 under 3,000 Torr [298] (Scheme 3.93). Reduction of the enamines 346 and... 

Nitriles having at least one hydrogen on the functional carbon, react with trimethylchlorosilane under electrochemical conditions to provide a mixture of silazanes and enamines of acylsilanes. These enamines have been suggested to be formed from the isomeric ketene imine form of the nitrile. They were obtained as a mixture of Z (major) and E isomers. Treatment of the silazane-enamine mixture with trimethylchloro-silane/methanol and sodium borohydride followed by neutralization of the salt gives the corresponding RSMA.191... 

Enamines have been prepared through reductive-trimethylsilylation of cyanohydrins as precursors of acylsilanes.la 192 As indicated above, these enamines are also excellent starting materials for synthesizing RSMAs via reduction of the corresponding iminium chlorides with sodium borohydride.la,lb... 

An alternative route (Scheme 48) was used by Dolby et al. (160) to prepare the tricyclic enamine (225). A Vilsmeier reaction between 3,4-methylenedioxy-A yV-dimethylbenzamidc (232), and pyrrole gave the amide (233) in 80% yield. Reduction with sodium borohydride provided the benzyl pyrrole (234), which... 

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