The Acetoacetic Ester Synthesis

You can anticipate sonne of the nnaterial in the next section by connpleting the following equation. 

Ethyl acetoacetate (acetoacetic ester), available by the Claisen condensation of ethyl acetate, has properties that make it a useful starting material for the preparation of ketones. These properties are 

The ease with which acetoacetic acid undergoes thermal decarboxylation 

Ethyl acetoacetate is quantitatively converted to its enolate on treatment with sodium ethoxide in ethanol. 

Adding an alkyl halide to the enolate leads to alkylation at the a carbon by an 8 2 reaction. 

One possible retrosynthesis of a ketone is disconnection at the alpha carbon. The alpha carbon was the nucleophile (enolate), and the other carbon was the electrophile (an alkyl halide). If the TM is a derivative of acetone, then this disconnection leads to the enolate of acetone. Rather than using the unstable enolate of acetone in a synthesis, the use of the ethyl acetoacetate enolate as a synthetic equivalent is preferred. 

The sequence begins with a Claisen condensation of ethyl pentanoate to give a (3-keto ester. The ester is hydrolyzed, and the resulting (3-keto acid decarboxylates to yield the desired ketone. 

The major application of (3-keto esters to organic synthesis employs a similar pattern of ester saponihcation and decarboxylation as its hnal stage, as described in the following section. 

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The thermal decarboxylation of p keto acids is the last step in a ketone synthesis known as the acetoacetic ester synthesis The acetoacetic ester synthesis is discussed in Section 21 6... 

This reaction sequence is called the acetoacetic ester synthesis It IS a standard... 

The acetoacetic ester synthesis brings about the overall transformation of an alkyl halide to an alkyl derivative of acetone... 

The malonic ester synthesis is conceptually analogous to the acetoacetic ester synthesis The overall transformation is... 

Section 21 6 The acetoacetic ester synthesis is a procedure in which ethyl acetoac etate is alkylated with an alkyl halide as the first step in the preparation... 

Section 21 7 The malonic ester synthesis is related to the acetoacetic ester synthesis Alkyl halides (RX) are converted to carboxylic acids of the type RCH2COOH by reaction with the enolate ion derived from diethyl mal onate followed by saponification and decarboxylation... 

This reaction sequence is called the acetoacetic ester synthesis. It is a standard procedure for the preparation of ketones from alkyl halides, as the conversion of 1-bromobutane to 2-heptanone illustrates. 

Related and equally important reactions are the acetoacetic ester synthesis and the eyanoaeetie ester synthesis Here too the initial substituted product can be hydrolyzed and decarboxylated, to yield a ketone 11 (i.e. a substituted acetone) from acetoacetic ester 10, and a substituted acetonitrile 14 from eyanoaeetie ester 13 respectively. Furthermore a substituted acetoacetic ester can be cleaved into a substituted acetic ester 12 and acetate by treatment with strong alkali ... 

Just as the malonic ester synthesis converts an alkyl halide into a carboxylic acid, the acetoacetic ester synthesis converts an alkyl halide into a methyl ketone having three more carbons. 

Using the Acetoacetic Ester Synthesis to Prepare a Ketone... 

Strategy The acetoacetic ester synthesis yields a methyl ketone by adding three carbons to an alkyl halide. 

Thus, the acetoacetic ester synthesis of 2-pentanone must involve reaction of bromoethane. 

Both the malonic ester synthesis and the acetoacetic ester synthesis are easy to cany out because they involve unusually acidic dicarbonyi compounds. As a result, relatively mild bases such as sodium ethoxide in ethanol as solvent can be used to prepare the necessary enolate ions. Alternatively, however, it s also possible in many cases to directly alkylate the a position of monocarbonyl compounds. A strong, stericaliy hindered base such as LDA is needed so that complete conversion to the enolate ion takes place rather than a nucleophilic addition, and a nonprotic solvent must be used. 

Alpha hydrogen atoms of carbonyl compounds are weakly acidic and can be removed by strong bases, such as lithium diisopropylamide (LDA), to yield nucleophilic enolate ions. The most important reaction of enolate ions is their Sn2 alkylation with alkyl halides. The malonic ester synthesis converts an alkyl halide into a carboxylic acid with the addition of two carbon atoms. Similarly, the acetoacetic ester synthesis converts an alkyl halide into a methyl ketone. In addition, many carbonyl compounds, including ketones, esters, and nitriles, can be directly alkylated by treatment with LDA and an alkyl halide. 

The cyclic /3-keto ester produced in a Dieckmann cyclization can be further alkylated and decarboxylated by a series of reactions analogous to those used in the acetoacetic ester synthesis (Section 22.7). For example, alkylation and subsequent decarboxylation of ethyl 2-oxocyclohexanecarboxylate yields a 2-alkylcvclohexanone. The overall sequence of (1) Dieckmann cyclization, (2) /3-keto ester alkylation, and (3) decarboxylation is a powerful method for preparing 2-substituted cyclohexanones and cyclopentanones. 

Another alternative for preparing a primary amine from an alkyl halide is the Gabriel amine synthesis, which uses a phthalimide alkylation. An imide (—CONHCO—) is similar to a /3-keto ester in that the acidic N-H hydrogen is flanked by two carbonyl groups. Thus, imides are deprotonated by such bases as KOH, and the resultant anions are readily alkylated in a reaction similar to the acetoacetic ester synthesis (Section 22.7). Basic hydrolysis of the N-alkylated imide then yields a primary amine product. The imide hydrolysis step is analogous to the hydrolysis of an amide (Section 21.7). 

Step 2 of Figure 29.11 Decarboxylation The TPP addition product, which contains an iminium ion j8 to a carboxylate anion, undergoes decarboxylation in much the same way that a jB-keto acid decarboxylates in the acetoacetic ester synthesis (Section 22.7). The C=N+ bond of the pyruvate addition product acts... 

Step 3 of Figure 29.12 Oxidation and Decarboxylation (2K,3S)-lsocitrate, a secondary alcohol, is oxidized by NAD+ in step 3 to give the ketone oxalosuccinate, which loses C02 to givea-ketoglutarate. Catalyzed by isocitrate dehydrogenase, the decarboxylation is a typical reaction of a /3-keto acid, just like that in the acetoacetic ester synthesis (Section 22.7). The enzyme requires a divalent cation as cofactor, presumably to polarize the ketone carbonyl group. 

It is obvious that many carboxylic acids of the formulas RCH2COOH and RR CHCOOH can be synthesized by this method (for some other ways of preparing such acids, see 10-106, 10-108, and 10-109). Another important example is the acetoacetic ester synthesis, in which Z is COOEt and Z is COCH3. In this case the product can be decarboxylated with acid or dilute base (12-38) to give a ketone or cleaved with concentrated base (12-41) to give a carboxylic ester and a salt of acetic acid ... 

Among other methods for the preparation of alkylated ketones are (1) the Stork enamine reaction (12-18), (2) the acetoacetic ester synthesis (10-104), (3) alkylation of p-keto sulfones or sulfoxides (10-104), (4) acylation of CH3SOCH2 followed by reductive cleavage (10-119), (5) treatment of a-halo ketones with lithium dialkyl-copper reagents (10-94), and (6) treatment of a-halo ketones with trialkylboranes (10-109). 

The esters of nitrous acid are characterised by their high velocities of formation and hydrolysis. They are almost instantaneously decomposed by mineral acids and in the method of preparation given this has been taken into account. The slightest excess of hydrochloric acid must be avoided. Advantage is taken of this property of the alkyl nitrites in all cases where it is desired to liberate nitrous acid in organic solvents (in which metallic nitrites are insoluble). Examples addition of N203 to olefines, preparation of solid diazonium salts (p. 286), production of isonitroso-derivatives from ketones by the action of HN02. This synthesis is often also carried out in the manner of the acetoacetic ester synthesis, with ketone, alkyl nitrite, and sodium ethylate the sodium salt of the isonitrosoketone is formed (cf. in this connexion p. 259) ... 

The reason why the acyloin synthesis is especially characteristic of aromatic aldehydes, depends on the circumstance that in the aromatic series the tertiary carbon atom in the ring does not allow of the aldol condensation, a reaction for which conditions are otherwise much more favourable. The simplest example of the acyloin condensation, moreover, was already encountered in the case of formaldehyde (p. 218) glycollic aldehyde is the simplest acyloin. Acyloin compounds are also produced, in the aliphatic series, by the action of sodium or potassium on esters, and hence are also formed as by-products in the acetoacetic ester synthesis (Bouveault, Scheibler). 

Acetoacetic ester synthesis is the preparation of substituted acetones, and it s an important method for creating a variety of products. It begins with the reaction of acetoacetic ester (a dicarbonyl) or a similar compound with a strong base to produce a carbanion, which then reacts with alkyl halide, RX. The structure of acetoacetic ester is in Figure 15-10. Figure 15-11 illustrates an example of an acetoacetic ester synthesis and two possible outcomes. Figure 15-12 shows the preparation of 2-heptanone with a 65 percent yield via the acetoacetic ester synthesis. Figure 15-13 presents the preparation of 2-benzylcyclohexanone with a 77 percent yield. 

Malonic esters have two ester groups, each of which may react as in the acetoacetic ester synthesis due to their similar structure (see the preceding section). The malonic ester synthesis provides a method for preparing a substituted acetic acid. Figure 15-14 shows the structure of one type of malonic ester. Figure 15-15 outlines the basic malonic ester synthesis. May repeat in that figure refers to the reaction with a second molecule of RX (or R X). 

Problem 17.47 Can the following ketones be prepared by the acetoacetic ester synthesis Explain, (a) CHjCOCHX H, (b) CHX0CHX(CH3),. ... 

This method of preparation can be applied generally to the esters of the phenyl-olefinic acids. Although metallic sodium is used, yet as in the acetoacetic ester synthesis (see Reaction XLVI.) a trace of alcohol must always be present to form sodium ethoxide. This is usually the case. If necessary, sodium ethoxide itself can be employed. The use of some other condensing agents will be clear from the following preparation. 

Some of the best-known examples of decarboxylation in organic chemistry include the conversion of 3-ketoacids to ketones in the acetoacetic ester synthesis and the conversion of malonate derivatives to substituted carboxylic... 

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