Unsaturated carbonyl compounds, effect formation

Triethylammonium formate is another reducing agent for q, /3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. Pd on carbon is better catalyst than Pd-phosphine complex, and citral (49) is reduced to citronellal (50) smoothly[55]. However, the trisubstituted butenolide 60 is reduced to the saturated lactone with potassium formate using Pd(OAc)2. Triethylammonium formate is not effective. Enones are also reduced with potassium formate[56]. Sodium hypophosphite (61) is used for the reduction of double bonds catalyzed by Pd on charcoal[57]. 

One problem in the anti-selective Michael additions of A-metalated azomethine ylides is ready epimerization after the stereoselective carbon-carbon bond formation. The use of the camphor imines of ot-amino esters should work effectively because camphor is a readily available bulky chiral ketone. With the camphor auxiliary, high asymmetric induction as well as complete inhibition of the undesired epimerization is expected. The lithium enolates derived from the camphor imines of ot-amino esters have been used by McIntosh s group for asymmetric alkylations (106-109). Their Michael additions to some a, p-unsaturated carbonyl compounds have now been examined, but no diastereoselectivity has been observed (108). It is also known that the A-pinanylidene-substituted a-amino esters function as excellent Michael donors in asymmetric Michael additions (110). Lithiation of the camphor... 

Crossed aldol condensations between aliphatic aldehydes on the one hand and benzaldehyde or cinnamic aldehyde or their derivatives on the other also are possible. The reaction components can even be mixed together. The aldol adducts are formed without chemoselectivity, as a mixture of isomers, but their formations are reversible. The Elcb elimination to an a,/3-unsaturated carbonyl compound is fast only if the newly created C=C double bond is conjugated to an aromatic system or to another C=C double bond already present in the substrate. This effect is due to product-development control. All the starting materials thus react in this way via the most reactive aldol adduct. 

As fas as reaction conditions are concerned, two main approaches are usually taken. Either the nucleophilicity of the R5OH to be added is further enhanced by addition of base (normally R50 M +, or nitrogen bases of low nucleophilicity), i.e., base catalysis, or the electrophilicity of the accepting double bond is further increased by adding, e.g., mercuric salts (alkoxymercu-ration), or sources of halonium ions (formation of / -halohydrins). Clearly, the latter protocol, from now on abbreviated as "onium-methods , necessitates a subsequent step for the removal of the auxiliary electrophile, e.g., reductive demercuration of an intermediate /i-alkoxymercu-rial. Whereas base catalysis has successfully been employed with all varieties of acceptors, application of onium-methods thus far appears to be restricted to a,/ -unsaturated carbonyl compounds. Interestingly, conjugate addition of alcohols to a,/l-enones could also be effected photochemically in a couple of cases. 

The formation of cyclobutanes starting from a,P-unsaturated carbonyl compounds and olefins is referred to as the de Mayo reaction. The carbonyl component is excited upon irradiation by ti <—ti transition. The regioselectivity is determined by orbital coefficients and polarity effects that depend on the solvent, but the stereochemical information of the olefin is not preserved in intermolecular processes, indicating the non-concerted character of a triplet reaction. In this case 1,4-biradical intermediates are formed and the most stable one determines the stereochemistry of the main product. The cycloadducts of pentanones are most often cis-fused while hexanones preferentially give transcycloadducts. ... 

The vast majority of strategies aimed at effecting enantioselective Diels-Alder reactions rely on complexation of an unsaturated carbonyl compound to a chiral Lewis acid, but this is not the only catalytic method for achieving enantiofacial bias. A unique approach outlined in Scheme 52 takes advantage of a diene (or precursor) possessing an acidic proton [138] treatment with a catalytic amount of a chiral base results in transient formation of an oxidodiene which undergoes oxyanion-accelerated cycloaddition with a maleimide [139]. 

In analogy to hydroformylation, alkenes react with SO2 and H2 to give a so-called hydrosulftnation product, sulfinic acids [116]. Cationic Pd(II) and Pt(II) complexes bearing bidentate phosphine ligands are effective catalyst precursors. A plausible mechanism for the hydrosulfination involves formation of alkyl intermediates by olefin insertion into metal hydrides, subsequent insertion of SO2, and reformation of the hydrides with the release of sulfinic acids (Scheme 7.19). However, ahphatic sulfinic acids readily undergo disproportionation to give thiosulfinic acid esters, sulfonic acids, and water at the reaction temperature. The unstable sulfinic acids can be conveniently converted into y-oxo sulfones by addition of a,-unsaturated carbonyl compounds as Michael acceptors to the reaction mixtine (Eq. 7.23) [117]. 

An alternative method for the formation of an a,(3-unsaturated carbonyl compound is the elimination of an initially formed Mannich product. The procedure is particularly effective for the formation of (3,(3-bis(unsubstituted) a, -unsaturated carbonyl compounds. The Mannich product 11 can be formed in the presence of a secondary amine and a non-enolizable aldehyde such as formaldehyde (2.12). The Mannich reaction is a useful carbon-carbon bond-forming reaction and the products have found application in the synthesis of, in particular, alkaloid ring systems. The Mannich product may eliminate under the reaction conditions, or can be alkylated to form the quaternary ammonium salt in order to induce elimination. A convenient variation of this method is the use of Eschenmoser s salt, H2C=NMe2 X. For example, Nicolaou s synthesis of hemibrevetoxin B used this salt in order to introduce the required methylene unit a- to the aldehyde 12 (2.13). The same transformation with the corresponding methyl ester, which is less acidic, requires prior enolization with a strong base (e.g. NaN(SiMe3)2) and subsequent quatemization of the tertiary amine with iodomethane and elimination using DBU. 

Diels-Alder (DA) reaction is one of the most powerful synthetic approaches for the construction of six-membered carbocycles [144]. The most attractive feature of this reaction is the simrdtaneous, regioselective formation of two bonds leading to the potential creation of up to four chiral centers at the binding sites with largely predictable relative stereochemistry. Since the discovery of the accelerating effect of Lewis acids on the DA reaction of a,p-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, its broad and fine application imder mild reaction conditions has been amply demonstrated [144]. In addition to the acceleration effect on the reaction, other important role of Lewis acid in the DA reaction is its alteration of chemo-, regio-, and diastereoselectivity. The titanium compounds commonly used in DA reaction are titanium halides, alkoxides, or their mixed salts [145]. A cyclopentadienyl complex such as Cp2Ti(OTf)2 is also documented as a very effective promoter for the DA reaction [146] (Scheme 14.57). 

A range of densely functionalized five- and six-membered nitrones were formed in this way, and the method is proposed as suitable for the synthesis of the alkaloid laccarin. Under the influence of nucleophilic fluoride sources, including TBAT, a carbamoyl silane undergoes addition to ketones and aldehydes to give a-silyloxyamide products. TBAT can be used in combination with Mc3SiN3 to effect glycosyl azide formation, and finally it can be used to effect self-condensation of some unsaturated carbonyl compounds, a process in which fluoride presumably acts as a base. ... 

Adogen has been shown to be an excellent phase-transfer catalyst for the per-carbonate oxidation of alcohols to the corresponding carbonyl compounds [1]. Generally, unsaturated alcohols are oxidized more readily than the saturated alcohols. The reaction is more effective when a catalytic amount of potassium dichromate is also added to the reaction mixture [ 1 ] comparable results have been obtained by the addition of catalytic amounts of pyridinium dichromate [2], The course of the corresponding oxidation of a-substituted benzylic alcohols is controlled by the nature of the a-substituent and the organic solvent. In addition to the expected ketones, cleavage of the a-substituent can occur with the formation of benzaldehyde, benzoic acid and benzoate esters. The cleavage products predominate when acetonitrile is used as the solvent [3]. 

The condensation equilibrium is displaced to the right by removing the unsaturated cyano ester as it is formed by the addition of hydrogen cyanide The effect is analogous to the single-step formation and hydrogenation of a,/S-unsaturated cyanoacetic esters (method 394). The yields are good with most aliphatic ketones and aldehydes (49 75%), but poor results are obtained with aromatic carbonyl compounds and diisopropyl ketone. 

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