Sterically hindered carbonyl compounds

A different side reaction may occur when a Grignard reagent reacts with a sterically hindered carbonyl compound that possesses an a-hydrogen. Suggest what may be the transition state for this reaction, and so suggest what would be the products. 

However, with slower-reacting and sterically hindered carbonyl compounds, the organoborane reduction may take an alternate pathway involving a prior dehydroboration process (Eqs. 4.18, 4.19) [11]. 

X0 to hydroxy compounds. Lower temperatures favor ketone formation and sterically hindered carbonyls, such as 2-thienyl t-butyl ketone, are not reduced. The sensitivity of desulfurization to steric factors is evident by the failure to desulfurize 2,5-di-i-butyl-3-acetylthiophene. The carbonyl groups of both aldehydes and ketones can be protected by acetal formation, as particularly cyclic acetals are stable during desulfurization in methanol at room temperature. " The free aldehydes give primary alcohols on desulfurization. Another method to obtain only keto compounds is to oxidize the mixtures of ketone and secondary alcohol with CrOs after the desulfurization. - Through the desulfurization of 5,5 -diacetyl-2,2, 5, 2"-terthienyl (228), 2,15-hexadecandione (229) has been obtained, which... 

Thus, various kmds of bases are effective in inducing the Henry reaction The choice of base and solvent is not crucial to carry out the Henry reaction of simple nitroalkanes v/ith aldehydes, as summarized in Table 3 1 In general, sterically hindered carbonyl or nitro compounds are less reactive not to give the desired ni tro-aldol products in good yield In such cases, self-condensation of the carbonyl compound is a serious side-reaction Several mochfied procedures for the Henry reaction have been developed... 

For a given nucleophile the equilibrium lies farther on the product side the smaller the substituents R1 and R2 of the carbonyl compound are (Figure 9.1). Large substituents R1 and R2 inhibit the formation of addition products. This is because they come closer to each other in the addition product, where the bonds to R1 and R2 are closer than in the carbonyl compound, where these substituents are separated by a bond angle of about 120°. Formaldehyde is the sterically least hindered carbonyl compound. In H20 this aldehyde is present completely as dihydroxymethane, and anhydrous formaldehyde is exists completely as polymer. In contrast, acetone is so sterically hindered that it does not hydrate, oligomerize, or polymerize at all. 

Compared with many other reagents, the amount of axial alcohol is very small (2-11 %) using isobornyloxyaluminum dichloride (1 a) (see Table 1, p 4101) as the reducing agent. The proportion of axial attack, yielding the equatorial alcohol, is also decreased in the reduction of sterically more hindered carbonyl compounds such as 3,3,5-trimethylcyclohexanone and men-thone79. 

Compound 37 contains a sterically hindered carbonyl. The Wittig reaction can be slow in such systems and/or give poor yields. Is this a problem here ... 

To achieve catalytic enantioselective cycloaddition reactions of carbonyl compounds, coordination of a chiral Lewis acid to the carbonyl functionality is necessary. This coordination activates the substrate and provides the chiral environment that forces the approach of a diene to the substrate from the less sterically hindered face, introducing enantioselectivity into the reaction. 

In fact, the highest anti-Cram selectivity reported to date (96% de) was observed with the MAT-mediated addition of methylmagnesium bromide to 2-(l-cyclohexenyl)propanal3 i 36. The stereochemical outcome of this addition reaction can be explained as follows on treatment of the carbonyl compound with the large aluminum reagent, the sterically least hindered complex 9 is formed. Subsequent addition of the nucleophile from the side opposite to the bulky aluminum reagent produces the anti-Cram diastereomer preferentially. 

With a-alkyl-substituted chiral carbonyl compounds bearing an alkoxy group in the -position, the diastereoselectivity of nucleophilic addition reactions is influenced not only by steric factors, which can be described by the models of Cram and Felkin (see Section 1.3.1.1.), but also by a possible coordination of the nucleophile counterion with the /J-oxygen atom. Thus, coordination of the metal cation with the carbonyl oxygen and the /J-alkoxy substituent leads to a chelated transition state 1 which implies attack of the nucleophile from the least hindered side, opposite to the pseudoequatorial substituent R1. Therefore, the anb-diastereomer 2 should be formed in excess. With respect to the stereogenic center in the a-position, the predominant formation of the anft-diastereomer means that anti-Cram selectivity has occurred. 

Polk et al. reported27 that PET fibers could be hydrolyzed with 5% aqueous sodium hydroxide at 80°C in the presence of trioctylmethylammonium bromide in 60 min to obtain terephthalic acid in 93% yield. The results of catalytic depolymerization of PET without agitation are listed in Table 10.1. The results of catalytic depolymerization of PET with agitation are listed in Table 10.2. As expected, agitation shortened the time required for 100% conversion. Results (Table 10.1) for the quaternary salts with a halide counterion were promising. Phenyltrimethylammonium chloride (PTMAC) was chosen to ascertain whether steric effects would hinder catalytic activity. Bulky alkyl groups of the quaternary ammonium compounds were expected to hinder close approach of the catalyst to the somewhat hidden carbonyl groups of the fiber structure. The results indicate that steric hindrance is not a problem for PET hydrolysis under this set of conditions since the depolymerization results were substantially lower for PTMAC than for die more sterically hindered quaternary salts. 

Development of new reduction systems that reduce sterically hindered compounds The reported examples of reduction of carbonyl compounds are usually for the substrates that can be easily reduced such as methyl ketones. Since the demand for reduction of various types of compounds is increasing, investigation of new biocatalytic reductions is required. Photosynthetic organisms are not investigated yet, and they may have new type of enzymes, which can reduce sterically hindered compounds. 

N-Metalated azomethine ylides generated from a-(alkylideneamino) esters can exist as tautomeric forms of the chelated ester enolate (Scheme 11.8). On the basis of the reliable stereochemical and regiochemical selectivities described below, it is clear that the N-metalated tautomeric contributor of these azomethine ylides is important. Simple extension of the above irreversible lithiation method to a-(alkylideneamino) esters is not very effective, and cycloadditions of the resulting lithiated ylides to a,(3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds are not always clean reactions. When the a-(alkylideneamino) esters bear a less bulky methyl ester moiety, or when a,(3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds are sterically less hindered, these species suffer from nucleophihc attack by the organometalhcs, or the metalated cycloadducts undergo further condensation reactions (81-85). 

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