The Aldol Addition

In this step the base (a hydroxide ion) removes a proton from the a 

The enolate then acts as a nucleophile and attacks the carbonyl 

The alkoxide anion now removes a proton from a molecule of water to form the aldol. 

With ketones, the addition step leading to the aldol is unfavorable due to steric hindrance, and the eqnilibrinm favors the aldol precursors rather than the addition product (Section 19.4B). However, as we shall see in Section 19.4C, dehydration of the aldol addition product can draw the equilibrium toward completion, whether the reactant is an aldehyde or a ketone. Enolate additions to both aldehydes and ketones are also feasible when a stronger base (such as EDA) is used in an aprotic solvent (Section 19.5B). 

Because the steps in an aldol addition mechanism are readily reversible, a retro-aldol reaction can occur that converts a /3-hydroxy aldehyde or ketone back to the precursors of an aldol addition. For example, when 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-pentanone is heated with hydroxide in water, the final equilibrium mixture consists primarily of acetone, the retro-aldol product. 

---

The Michael reaction is of central importance here. This reaction is a vinylogous aldol addition, and most facts, which have been discussed in section 1.10, also apply here the reaction is catalyzed by acids and by bases, and it may be made regioselective by the choice of appropriate enol derivatives. Stereoselectivity is also observed in reactions with cyclic educts. An important difference to the aldol addition is, that the Michael addition is usually less prone to sterical hindrance. This is evidenced by the two examples given below, in which cyclic 1,3-diketones add to o, -unsaturated carbonyl compounds (K. Hiroi, 1975 H, Smith, 1964). 

Conjugation of the newly formed double bond with the carbonyl group stabilizes the a p unsaturated aldehyde provides the driving force for the dehydration and controls Its regioselectivity Dehydration can be effected by heating the aldol with acid or base Normally if the a p unsaturated aldehyde is the desired product all that is done is to carry out the base catalyzed aldol addition reaction at elevated temperature Under these conditions once the aldol addition product is formed it rapidly loses water to form the a p unsaturated aldehyde... 

As with other reversible nucleophilic addition reactions the equilibria for aldol additions are less favorable for ketones than for aldehydes For example only 2% of the aldol addition product of acetone is present at equilibrium... 

To illustrate how aldol condensation may be coupled to functional group modifi cation consider the synthesis of 2 ethyl 1 3 hexanediol a compound used as an insect repellent This 1 3 diol is prepared by reduction of the aldol addition product of butanal... 

Write structural formulas corresponding to the intermediates formed in the con (jugate addition step and in the aldol addition step ... 

This cleavage is a retro aldol reaction It is the reverse of the process by which d fruc tose 1 6 diphosphate would be formed by aldol addition of the enolate of dihydroxy acetone phosphate to d glyceraldehyde 3 phosphate The enzyme aldolase catalyzes both the aldol addition of the two components and m glycolysis the retro aldol cleavage of D fructose 1 6 diphosphate... 

Other reactions similar to the aldol addition include the Claisen and Perkin reactions. The Claisen reaction, carried out by combining an aromatic aldehyde and an ester in the presence of metallic sodium, is useful for obtaining a,P-unsaturated esters. 

KDPG is a member of a yet unexplored group of aldolases that utilize pymvate or phosphoenol pymvate as the nucleophile in the aldol addition. They are quite tolerant of different electrophilic components and accept a large number of uimatural aldehydes (148). The reaction itself, however, is quite specific, generating a new stereogenic center at the C-4 position. 

The aldol addition can be carried out under either ofitwo broad sets of conditions, with the product being determined by kinetic factors undenone set of conditions and by thermodynamic factors under the other. To achieve kinetic control, the enolate that is to... 

The fundamental mechanistic concept by which the stereochemical course of the aldol addition under conditions of kinetic control has been analyzed involves a cyclic transition state in which both the carbonyl and enolate oxygens are coordinated to a Lewis... 

If, on the other hand, the aldol addition is performed using either enolates with stereogenic units, which may be located in the a-substituent Y or in the ipso-substituent X, or using chiral aldehydes, the aldol products 4a, 5a and 6a arc diastcreomers with respect to 4b, 5b and 6b. Thus, both significant simple diastereoselectivity and induced stereoselectivity are highly desirable when ... 

A confusing picture emerges from the stereochemical outcome of the Mukaiyama variation of the aldol addition. The titanium(IV) chloride mediated addition of silylketene acetals to isobutyraldehyde confirms this statement while there is a reasonable correlation between the predominance of the (/t)-silylkctenc acetal 2 over the (Z)-acetal, and the favored formation of the an/t -carboxylic ester over the. svn-product, the pure (Z)-diastereomer displays no syn selectivity26. 

These examples indicate that the (Z)-syn,(E)-antt correlation should be considered to be a rule with many exceptions. Two explanations may be given in order to rationalize the manifold stereochemical results in aldol additions. Firstly, it seems plausible that the many different reaction conditions and starting materials (e.g., various types of enolates, counterions, etc.) may cause the aldol addition to follow different reaction mechanisms, so that different types of transition states are involved. Secondly, in a single type of transition state model, the reactants may have different orientations to each other, so that the formation of different stereoisomers may result even for one and the same transition state model. 

Remarkably, the ketones 16 and 19 lead to an/i-aldoLs when the aldol addition is mediated by the appropriate metal and/or cosolvent (see Section 1.3.4.2.1.2.). 

The aldol addition of deprotonated (3-isopropyl-6-methyl-2-oxo-2-propionyl)-l,3.2-oxazaphos-phorinane 36 to benzaldehyde delivers (2f ,3/ )-3-hydroxy-2-methyl-3-phenylpropanoic acid in 47% ee via the /1-lactone 37, with syn/anti ratio of 94 6106c. 

A way to anh-configurated a-amino-/ -hydroxycarboxylic acids is opened by the aldol addition of oxazolidine amides 7a and 7b. The method1061 is illustrated by a synthesis of (2R,3R)-p-hydroxyleucine (9) which is available from the major diastereomeric adduct 8 (d.r. 92 8) upon successive treatment with 1 N HC1 (30 min). 5 N HCl (100 C, 12 h), and propylene oxide (reflux in ethanol, 30 min). 

A somewhat tedious extension of this methodology, which guarantees good induced stereoselectivity, relies on the reversible introduction of an a-substituent which is removed after the aldol addition is performed. For this purpose, the corresponding derivative of (methyl-thio)acetic acid is converted into the boron enolate and subsequently reacted with aldehydes. The... 

Figure 10.1 Generation of stereo-diversity by the aldol addition.

As these freely reversible aldol additions often have less favorable equilibrium constants [30,34], synthetic reactions usually have to be driven by an excess of pyruvate to achieve satisfactory conversions. A few related enzymes have been identified that utilize phosphoenolpyruvate instead of pyruvate, which upon C—C bond formation releases inorganic phosphate, and thus renders the aldol addition essentially irreversible (Figure 10.4) [16]. Although attractive from a synthetic point ofview, the latter enzymes have been less studied as yet for preparative applications [35]. 

Owing to the fully reversible equilibrium nature of the aldol addition process, enzymes with low diastereoselectivity will typically lead to a thermodynamically controlled mixture of erythro/threo-isomers that are difficult to separate. The thermodynamic origin of poor threo/erythro selectivity has most recently been turned to an asset by the design of a diastereoselective dynamic kinetic resolution process by coupling of L-ThrA and a diastereoselective L-tyrosine decarboxylase (Figure 10.47)... 

Efforts were made by Garcia Gonzalez and his coworkers to elucidate the mechanism of this reaction. In one of the working hypotheses, it was considered that the aldehydo form of the sugar and the 1,3-dicarbonyl compound undergo an aldol reaction to yield a 2-C-(alditol-l-yl)-l,3-dicar-bonyl compound, which is then dehydrated to form the furan. This hypothesis was supported by the isolation of the aldol-addition product of... 

The general mechanistic features of the aldol addition and condensation reactions of aldehydes and ketones were discussed in Section 7.7 of Part A, where these general mechanisms can be reviewed. That mechanistic discussion pertains to reactions occurring in hydroxylic solvents and under thermodynamic control. These conditions are useful for the preparation of aldehyde dimers (aldols) and certain a,(3-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones. For example, the mixed condensation of aromatic aldehydes with aliphatic aldehydes and ketones is often done under these conditions. The conjugation in the (3-aryl enones provides a driving force for the elimination step. 

Despite the ability to control ester enolate geometry, the aldol addition reactions of unhindered ester enolate are not very stereoselective.37... 

The Mukaiyama aldol reaction can provide access to a variety of (3-hydroxy carbonyl compounds and use of acetals as reactants can provide (3-alkoxy derivatives. The issues of stereoselectivity are the same as those in the aldol addition reaction, but the tendency toward acyclic rather than cyclic TSs reduces the influence of the E- or Z-configuration of the enolate equivalent on the stereoselectivity. 

For example the aldol addition of (S)-2-cyclohexylpropanal is more stereoselective with the enolate (S)-5 than with the enantiomer (R)-5. The stereoselectivity of these cases derives from relative steric interactions in the matched and mismatched cases. 

Enantioselective Catalysis of the Aldol Addition Reaction. There are also several catalysts that can effect enantioselective aldol addition. The reactions generally involve enolate equivalents, such as silyl enol ethers, that are unreactive toward the carbonyl component alone, but can react when activated by a Lewis acid. The tryptophan-based oxazaborolidinone 15 has proven to be a useful catalyst.148... 

The TS proposed for these proline-catalyzed reactions is very similar to that for the proline-catalyzed aldol addition (see p. 132). In the case of imines, however, the aldehyde substituent is directed toward the enamine double bond because of the dominant steric effect of the (V-aryl substituent. This leads to formation of syn isomers, whereas the aldol reaction leads to anti isomers. This is the TS found to be the most stable by B3LYP/6-31G computations.199 The proton transfer is essentially complete at the TS. As with the aldol addition TS, the enamine is oriented anti to the proline carboxy group in the most stable TS. 

The camphor sultam derivative 21A was used in a synthesis of epothilone. The stereoselectivity of the aldol addition was examined with several different aldehydes. Discuss the factors that lead to the variable stereoselectivity in the three cases shown. 

Figure 2.P25 shows the calculated [B3LYP/6-31G(4,/f)] reaction energy profile for the aldol addition of benzaldehyde and cyclohexanone catalyzed by alanine. The best TSs leading to (S,R) (R,S) (S,S) and (R,R) products are given. What factors favor the observed (R,S) product ... 

The overall transformation of this sequence corresponds to the aldol addition of an aldehyde with a cyclic ketone. The actual aldol addition frequently proceeds with low stereocontrol, so this sequence constitutes a method for stereoselective synthesis of the aldol adducts. The reaction has been done with several Lewis acids, including SnCl4, BF3, and Ti(0-/-Pr)3Cl. 

This synthesis is shown in Scheme 13.59. Two enantiomerically pure starting materials were brought together by a Wittig reaction in Step C. The aldol addition in Step D was diastereoselective for the anti configuration, but gave a 1 1 mixture with the 6S, 1R-diastereomer. The stereoisomers were separated after Step E-2. The macrolactonization (Step E-4) was accomplished by a mixed anhydride (see Section 3.4.1). The final epoxidation was done using 3-methyl-3-trifluoromethyl dioxirane. 

---