Subject Knoevenagel reaction

Problem 26.3 (a) Malonic ester reacts with benzaldehyde in the presence of piperidine (a secondary amine. Sec. 31.12) to yield a product of formula C14H16O4. What is this compound, and how is it formed (This is an example of the Knoevenagel reaction. Check your answer in Problem 21.22 (f), p. 714.) (b) What compound would be obtained if the product of (a) w ere subjected to the sequence of hydrolysis, acidification, and heating (c) What is another way to synthesize the product of (b) ... 

The n-system can be extended with methylene structures at the 3- and 5-positions. As expected, methyl groups at the 3,5-positions can be subjected to chemical modifications by the Knoevenagel reaction, owing to their acidic characteristics, generating styryl-bridged BODIPY derivatives by condensation with aromatic aldehydes (Scheme 7.5). " ... 

Tetrahydroalstonine 7-7, a heteroyohimboid alkaloid, has been synthesised in enantiopure form by Martin et al. by means of an oxa Diels-Alder reaction as key step. The trienic precursor 7-5 underwent a thermal intramolecular cycloaddition to form a 5 1 mixture of 7-6 and its 15/J-epimer. The main cycloadduct was then subjected to a straightforward sequence to yield the natural product 7-7 (Fig. 7-2) [483-485]. In earlier work, Ogasawara et al. have employed a con-ceptionally different domino Knoevenagel-hetero Diels-Alder approach to this alkaloid and other natural products [486-488]. 

The basic nature of N-heterocyclic carbenes, stabilized by the presence of two adjacent N atoms, has been emphasized by several authors [38], Therefore, the yield and the selectivity of any organic synthesis (driven by the reactivity of a substrate vs. appropriate bases and carried out in imidazohum salts as solvents) can be affected by side reactions related to the acidity of C2-H unit in 1,3-dialkylimidazo-lium cation and to the basicity and nucleophilicity of the resulting N-heterocychc carbene. On this subject, noticeable work (related to the Baylis-Hillman, Knoevenagel and Claisen condensation, Homer reaction, etc.) carried out in RTlLs has been reported and discussed [37]. 

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