Unsaturated carbonyl compounds From acyl chlorides

In order to modulate the reactivity of intermediate 331, it was transformed into its copper derivative by treatment with copper(I) bromide or iodide in THF at —78 °C, and then was allowed to react with a,/3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds (to give compounds 343 resulting from a conjugated addition), acyl chlorides (to give ketones 344) and copper(II) chloride (to dimerize giving compounds 345) (Scheme 100)"° ". ... 

So far we have shown you conjugate additions mainly of a,P-unsaturated aldehydes and unsaturated a,P-ketones. You won t be at all surprised to learn, however, that unsaturated acids, esters, amides, and nitriles—in fact all carboxylic acid derivatives—can also take part in conjugate addition reactions. Two examples, an amide and an ester, are shown on the right below. But notice how the selectivity of these reactions depends on the structure of the unsaturated compound compare the way butyllithium adds to this a,P-unsaturated aldehyde and a,P-unsaturated amide. Both additions are irreversible, and BuLi attacks the reactive carbonyl group of the aldehyde, but prefers conjugate addition to the less reactive amide. Similarly, ammonia reacts with this acyl chloride to give an amide product that derives from direct... 

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