Triple bonds, nucleophilic addition

Alkynes are electron rich, as shown in the electrostatic potential map of acetylene in Figure 11.4. The two K bonds form a cylinder of electron density between the two sp hybridized carbon atoms, and this exposed electron density makes a triple bond nucleophilic. As a result, alkynes react with electrophiles. Four addition reactions are discussed in Chapter 11 and illustrated in Figure 11.5 with 1-butyne as the starting material. 

The great majority of known2 reactions of acetylenes are with electrophiles either via the acetylide ions RC=C", or by way of electrophilic addition reactions to the triple bond. Nucleophilic acetylenic substitutions (Sat-A) are generally unfavorable2. Alkynyl(phenyl)iodonium species may serve as synthons for the electrophilic alkynyl... 

In the second step, amide anion now acts as a nucleophile, adding to one of the carbons of the triple bond. This addition step gives an aryl anion. 

Nucleophiles other than water can also add to the carbon-nitrogen triple bond of nitriles In the following section we will see a synthetic application of such a nude ophilic addition... 

The carbon-nitrogen triple bond of nitriles is much less reactive toward nucleophilic addition than is the carbon-oxygen double bond of aldehydes and ketones Strongly basic nucleophiles such as Gngnard reagents however do react with nitriles in a reaction that IS of synthetic value... 

The addition of nucleophiles to double and triple bond systems is often a convenient way of effecting an intramolecular ring closure. Addition to cyano groups has received considerable attention, as in addition to ring formation it provides a convenient method for the introduction of an amino group. Reaction of methyl Af-cyanodithiocarbimidate with Af-methylaminoacetonitrile resulted in displacement of methanethiol and formation of (314). Sodium ethoxide treatment in DMF converted (314) into a 4-amino-5-cyanoimidazole... 

Nitriles are susceptible to nucleophilic addition. In their hydrolysis, water adds to the carbon-nitrogen triple bond. In a series of proton-transfer steps, an anide is produced ... 

The reactions of NSF3 have been investigated in considerable detail. They can be classified under the following categories (a) reactions with electrophiles (b) addition to the SN triple bond and (c) reactions with nucleophiles. Some examples of these different types of behaviour are discussed below. 

Arynes are intermediates in certain reactions of aromatic compounds, especially in some nucleophilic substitution reactions. They are generated by abstraction of atoms or atomic groups from adjacent positions in the nucleus and react as strong electrophiles and as dienophiles in fast addition reactions. An example of a reaction occurring via an aryne is the amination of o-chlorotoluene (1) with potassium amide in liquid ammonia. According to the mechanism given, the intermediate 3-methylbenzyne (2) is first formed and subsequent addition of ammonia to the triple bond yields o-amino-toluene (3) and m-aminotoluene (4). It was found that partial rearrangement of the ortho to the meta isomer actually occurs. 

Disubstituted isotellurazoles 1 (4-11%) and bis((3-acylvinyl)tellurides 3 (3-10%) were isolated in very low yields from the reaction mixture as the products of nucleophilic addition of telluride anion to the triple bond of the initial ethynyl ketones (83S824). This method cannot be applied to the synthesis of 3//-isotellurazoles. When a-acetylenic aldehydes were used instead of ethynyl ketones, bis((3-cyanovinyl)tellurides 4 obtained in 14-20% yields were the only products (83S824). 

The first representatives of this group of compounds, 1,5-benzotelluroazepinones 57, have been prepared in 17% yield by the reaction between 2-iodopropyolanilides and NaHTe (98H631). The reaction proceeds, most probably, as nucleophilic substitution of the iodine, resulting in telluroles 58 and the subsequent nucleophilic addition of a hydrotelluride group to the triple bond. An alternative mechanism involving initial addition of NaTeH to the triple bond followed by the nucleophilic substitution of the iodine atom was mled out because the anilides PhNHCOC=CR do not react with NaTeH under the conditions at which the heterocycles 57 were obtained. Neither of the adducts PhNHCOCH=C(R)TeH or [PhNHCOCH=C(R)Te]2 was isolated. 

Nevertheless, the adjacent position of the amide and acetylenic groups was used in another type of heterocyclization. The nitrogen atom in the amide group is a weak nucleophile. Therefore, the N anion should be generated by potassium ethoxide. There are two possible variants of nucleophilic addition to the triple bond. Only one takes place, i.e., the formation of y-lactam. After 7 h of heating in EtOH in the presence of KOH, amide 72 isomerized into the known isoindoline 73 in 80% yield (Scheme 128). 

All these compounds possess a highly electrophilic triple bond. In a number of cases the nucleophilic addition occurs at this bond only, whereas the carbonyl function acts as a negative charge acceptor. 

The biological activity of calicheamicin 4 (simplified structure) is based on the ability to damage DNA. At the reaction site, initially the distance between the triple bonds is diminished by an addition reaction of a sulfur nucleophile to the enone carbon-carbon double bond, whereupon the Bergman cyclization takes place leading to the benzenoid diradical 5, which is capable of cleaving double-stranded DNA." ... 

O Nucleophilic addition of hydroxide ion to the CN triple bond gives an imine anion addition product. 

Nucleophilic addition to acetylenic sulfoxides provides a,/ -ethylenic sulfoxides. Treatment of 181 with monoalkyl-copper afforded nearly quantitatively /J-alkylated a, / -ethylenic sulfoxides 182 through cis-addition to the triple bond. The reaction with lithium dimethylcuprate also afforded a similar adduct however, the reaction with lithium di-n-butylcuprate was found to give a small amount of ethyl n-butyl sulfoxide 183 besides the... 

In the presence of a catalytic amount of triethylamine, a readily enolizable carbonyl compound like acetylacetone (25) can undergo a Michael-type addition onto the triple bond of 23 with C-C bond formation, and subsequent 1,2-addition of the hydroxy group with elimination of an alcohol (MeOH or EtOH) to eventually yield a pyranylidene complex 28 (mode E) [29]. The most versatile access to / -donor-substituted ethenylcarbene complexes 27 is by Michael-type additions of nucleophiles, including alcohols [30-32], primary... 

There are basically four ways in which addition to a double or triple bond can take place. Three of these are two-step processes, with initial attack by a nucleophile, an electrophile, or a free radical. The second step consists of combination of the resulting intermediate with, respectively, a positive species, a negative species, or a neutral entity. In the fourth type of mechanism, attack at the two carbon atoms of the double or triple bond is simultaneous. Which of the four mechanisms is operating in any given case is determined by the nature of the substrate, the reagent, and the reaction conditions. Some of the reactions in this chapter can take place by all four mechanistic types. 

In the first step of nucleophilic addition a nucleophile brings its pair of electrons to one carbon atom of the double or triple bond, creating a carbanion. The second step is combination of this carbanion with a positive species ... 

If the carbanion has even a short lifetime, 6 and 7 will assume the most favorable conformation before the attack of W. This is of course the same for both, and when W attacks, the same product will result from each. This will be one of two possible diastereomers, so the reaction will be stereoselective but since the cis and trans isomers do not give rise to different isomers, it will not be stereospecific. Unfortunately, this prediction has not been tested on open-chain alkenes. Except for Michael-type substrates, the stereochemistry of nucleophilic addition to double bonds has been studied only in cyclic systems, where only the cis isomer exists. In these cases, the reaction has been shown to be stereoselective with syn addition reported in some cases and anti addition in others." When the reaction is performed on a Michael-type substrate, C=C—Z, the hydrogen does not arrive at the carbon directly but only through a tautomeric equilibrium. The product naturally assumes the most thermodynamically stable configuration, without relation to the direction of original attack of Y. In one such case (the addition of EtOD and of Me3CSD to tra -MeCH=CHCOOEt) predominant anti addition was found there is evidence that the stereoselectivity here results from the final protonation of the enolate, and not from the initial attack. For obvious reasons, additions to triple bonds cannot be stereospecific. As with electrophilic additions, nucleophilic additions to triple bonds are usually stereoselective and anti, though syn addition and nonstereoselective addition have also been reported. 

For those substrates more susceptible to nucleophilic attack (e.g., polyhalo alkenes and alkenes of the type C=C—Z), it is better to carry out the reaction in basic solution, where the attacking species is RO . The reactions with C=C—Z are of the Michael type, and OR goes to the side away from the Z. Since triple bonds are more susceptible to nucleophilic attack than double bonds, it might be expected that bases would catalyze addition to triple bonds particularly well. This is the case, and enol ethers and acetals can be produced by this reaction. Because enol ethers are more susceptible than triple bonds to electrophilic attack, the addition of alcohols to enol ethers can also be catalyzed by acids. " One utilization of this reaction involves the compound dihydropyran... 

In certain cases, Michael reactions can take place under acidic conditions. Michael-type addition of radicals to conjugated carbonyl compounds is also known.Radical addition can be catalyzed by Yb(OTf)3, but radicals add under standard conditions as well, even intramolecularly. Electrochemical-initiated Michael additions are known, and aryl halides add in the presence of NiBr2. Michael reactions are sometimes applied to substrates of the type C=C—Z, where the co-products are conjugated systems of the type C=C—Indeed, because of the greater susceptibility of triple bonds to nucleophilic attack, it is even possible for nonactivated alkynes (e.g., acetylene), to be substrates in this... 

Addition to R—" "N=C is not a matter of a species with an electron pair adding to one atom and a species without a pair adding to the other, as is addition to the other types of double and triple bonds in this chapter and Chapter 15. In these additions, the electrophile and the nucleophile both add to the carbon. No species add to the nitrogen, which, however, loses its positive charge by obtaining as an unshared pair one of the triple-bond pairs of electrons ... 

A second important reaction type considered in this chapter is conjugate addition, which involves addition of nucleophiles to electrophilic double or triple bonds. A crucial requirement for this reaction is an electron-withdrawing group (EWG) that can stabilize the negative charge on the intermediate. We focus on reactions between enolates and a,(3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds and other electrophilic alkenes such as nitroalkenes. 

The previous sections dealt with reactions in which the new carbon-carbon bond is formed by addition of the nucleophile to a carbonyl group. Another important method for alkylation of carbon nucleophiles involves addition to an electrophilic multiple bond. The electrophilic reaction partner is typically an a,(3-unsaturated ketone, aldehyde, or ester, but other electron-withdrawing substituents such as nitro, cyano, or sulfonyl also activate carbon-carbon double and triple bonds to nucleophilic attack. The reaction is called conjugate addition or the Michael reaction. 

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