Unsaturated Aldehydes as Michael Acceptors

The principle of vinylogy can also be applied to search for other C H acidic compounds as suitable candidates to undergo conjugate addition under iminium activation. This is the case of the vinylogous Michael addition of a,a-dicyanoolefins to a,p-unsaturated aldehydes catalyzed by diphenylprolinol 

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However, if we make a small change in the structure by adding two methyl groups 13, our favoured disconnection 13a would be possible only after the discovery of five-valent carbon We shall have to find a way to use unsaturated aldehydes as Michael acceptors. 

The use of ot,p-unsaturated aldehydes as Michael acceptors always represents a challenging situation because of the tendency of enals to undergo 1,2- rather than the desired 1,4- addition reaction. Moreover, working under phase-transfer catalysis conditions incorporates an additional element of difficulty, because of the propensity of enolizable enals to undergo self-condensation side reactions. For this reason, there are only a few examples reporting enantioselective Michael reactions with ot,p-unsaturated aldehydes as Michael acceptors under PTC conditions, both coming from the Maruoka research team and also both making use of chiral tV-spiro quaternary ammonium salts as catalysts. 

As mentioned above, the enantioselective Michael addition of P-keto esters to a,P-unsaturated carbonyl compounds represents a useful method for the construction of densely functionalized chiral quaternary carbon centers. One characteristic feature of designer chiral phase-transfer catalyst lh in this type of transformation is that it enables the use of a,p-unsaturated aldehydes as an acceptor, leading to the... 

Bis(phenylsulfonyl)methane has also been employed as an acidic carbon pronucleophile related to malonates and 1,3-diketones with success in the Michael reaction with ot,p-unsaturated aldehydes using 31c as catalyst (Scheme 3.6). The reaction showed a remarkable substrate scope when alkyl-substituted enals were employed but failed when cinnamaldehyde was tested as Michael acceptor. Alternatively, a more acidic cyclic gem-bissulfone has been used as Michael donor, keeping the high yields and enantioselectivities observed for the reaction and also allowing to expand the scope of the reaction to several aromatic enals.In all cases, the chemistry of the sulfonyl group was employed to generate a methyl group after metal-mediated desulfuration or, alternatively. 

E-ajp-unsaturated ester was employed, while a single diastereoisomer was obtained using the corresponding Z substrate. This reaction design has also been extended to the use of an a,p-unsaturated aldehyde as the initial Michael acceptor, in this case it being necessary to consider the possible dual activation of the Michael donor and acceptor by the catalyst through the formation of the corresponding enamine and iminium intermediates. ... 

This type of catalyst was also employed by Christmann et al. to promote the asymmetric intramolecular Diels Alder reaction of tethered a,p-unsaturated dialdehydes in the presence of benzoic acid as a co-catalyst through vinylogous enamine activation. The corresponding cycloadducts were obtained in good yields and excellent enantioselectivities of up to 98% ee, as shown in Scheme 6.6. When one of the aldehyde functions was replaced by an a,p-unsaturated ketone as the acceptor, no formal [4 -I- 2] cycloaddition was observed instead, a direct enantioselective vinylogous Michael addition occurred. 

The Michael reaction occurs with a variety of a,/3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, not just conjugated ketones. Unsaturated aldehydes, esters, thio-esters, nitriles, amides, and nitro compounds can all act as the electrophilic acceptor component in Michael reactions (Table 23.1). Similarly, a variety of different donors can be used, including /3-diketones, /3-keto esters, malonic esters, /3-keto nitriles, and nitro compounds. 

Another important reaction in synthetic chemistry leading to C-C bond formation is the Michael addition. The reaction typically involves a conjugate or nucleophilic 1,4-addition of carbanions to a,/l-unsaturated aldehydes, ketones, esters, nitriles, or sulfones 157) (Scheme 21). A base is used to form the carbanion by abstracting a proton from an activated methylene precursor (donor), which attacks the alkene (acceptor). Strong bases are usually used in this reaction, leading to the formation of byproducts arising from side reactions such as condensations, dimerizations, or rearrangements. 

As an extension of this highly enantioselective Michael addition of silyl nitronates with a, p-unsaturated aldehydes, the reactions with cyclic a,p-unsaturated ketones as a Michael acceptor were also tested (Scheme 9.15). Cyclohexenone and cyclohepte-none were employed as a useful Michael acceptor with various silyl nitronates in the presence of catalyst (R,R)-6c, and gave the corresponding enol silyl ethers 28 with excellent stereoselectivities [30]. 

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