Unsaturated carbonyl compounds From carboxylic acids

Mild reaction conditions, high sdectivities, and compatibility with other functional groups make this type of carbonylation a versatile tool in synthetic organic chemistry and especially in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals. They provide a straightforward route to the synthesis of various a,P-unsaturated carbonyl compounds and carboxylic acid derivatives starting from easily available substrates. 

Oxidation of the allylic carbon of alkenes may lead to allylic alcohols and derivatives or a, 3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. Selenium dioxide is the reagent of choice to carry out the former transformation. In the latter process, which is more difficult to accomplish, Cr(VI) compounds are usually applied. In certain cases, mixture of products of both types of oxidation, as well as isomeric compounds resulting from allylic rearrangement, may be formed. Oxidation of 2-alkenes to the corresponding cc,p-unsaturated carboxylic acids, particularly the oxidation of propylene to acrolein and acrylic acid, as well as ammoxidation to acrylonitrile, has commercial importance (see Sections 9.5.2 and 9.5.3). 

Diisobutylaluminum benzenetellurolate, prepared from diphenyl ditellurium and diisobutylaluminum hydride, adds in a 1,4-fashion to a,/i-unsaturated aldehydes, ketones, and carboxylic acid esters to give as intermediates /i-phenyltelluro-substituted aluminum enolates that can be hydrolyzed to the carbonyl compounds or reacted with aldehydes to produce aldol adducts2. 

The anions derived from dihydro-1,3-oxazines have been nicely exploited as reagents to effect the two-carbon homologation of carbonyl compounds to provide a,3-unsaturated aldehydes, ketones and carboxylic acid derivatives. " For example, metallation of (77) followed by reaction with a wide variety of aldehydes and ketones provides adducts (78 Scheme 29 Although attempts to purify these adducts have been unsuccessful owing to facile retroaldolization, sequential reduction of (78) with sodium... 

A variation on a literature procedure draws attention to a useful method for the synthesis of tetrolic acid. Copper dienolates derived from a,jS-unsatur-ated acids undergo y-alkylation with a regioselectivity of 91%. A full paper has appeared from Mulzer and his co workers on the control of 1,2-/1,4-regioselectivity in the additions of carboxylic acid dianions to a,jS-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. The addition of phenyl acetate dianion (23) (Scheme 20) to a,/3-un aturated aldehydes leads to the f/ireo-unsaturated /S-hydroxy-carboxylic acid (24) the threo and erythro ratio of 5 examples was >9 1. 

Lower valent tungsten halides are a new class of deoxygenation agents, e.g. for the conversion of carbonyl or epoxy compounds into olefins . A new reagent, generated in situ from iron pentacarbonyl and a small amount of base in moist solvents, selectively and efficiently hydrogenates the ethylenic portion of a,/ -unsaturated carbonyl compounds, such as ketones or lactones, under mild conditions. Aliphatic tert. amides can be easily reduced to alcohols by alkali metals in hexa-methylphosphoramide and a protic cosolvent such as tert-butanol. Aldehydes can be obtained from acids by catalytic reduction of intermediate carboxylic alkoxyformic anhydrides . Sec. nitro compds. are converted into ketones by the joint action of a nitrite ester and NaNOg under mild, non-acidic conditions . 

Reaction of the stabilized anions derived from )3-dicarbonyl compounds and related analogs (Table 23-1) with a,)3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds leads to 1,4-additions. This transformation, an example of Michael addition (Section 18-11), is base catalyzed and works with a,j8-unsaturated ketones, aldehydes, nitriles, and carboxylic acid derivatives, all of which are termed Michael acceptors. 

We recall that an aldol condensation occurs by attack of a carbanion derived from an aldehyde or ketone on the carbonyl carbon atom of a second molecule of an aldehyde or ketone. The product is a (3-hydroxy carbonyl compound, or an a,P-unsaturated carbonyl dehydration product. Aldol-type condensations also occur when the carbanion is derived from carboxylic acid derivatives. 

Silyl cyanides react enantioselectively with such electrophiles as aldehydes, ketones, imines, activated azines, or,/ unsaturated carbonyl compounds, epoxides, and aziridines in the presence of chiral Lewis acid catalysts to give functionalized nitriles, versatile synthetic intermediates for hydroxy carboxylic acids, amino acids, and amino alcohols (Tables 3-6, 3-7, 3-8, and 3-9, Figures 3-6, 3-7, and 3-8, and Scheme 3-154). ° Soft Lewis acid catalytst, the reaction of epoxides with trimethylsilyl cyanide often leads to isonitriles, which are derived from silylisonitrile spiecies (Schemes 3-155 and 3-156). Soft Lewis base such as phosphine oxide also catalyzes the reaction and cyanohydrin silyl ethers of high ee s are isolated. 

Enamine nucleophiles react readily with soft conjugated electrophiles, such as a, 3-unsaturated carbonyl, nitro, and sulfonyl compounds [20-22], Both aldehydes and ketones can be used as donors (Schemes 27 and 28). These Michael-type reactions are highly useful for the construction of carbon skeletons and often the yields are very high. The problem, however, is the enantioselectivity of the process. Unlike the aldol and Mannich reactions, where even simple proline catalyst can effectively direct the addition to the C = O or C = N bond by its carboxylic acid moiety, in conjugate additions the charge develops further away from the catalyst (Scheme 26) ... 

Heterosubstituted cyclopropanes can be synthesized from appropriate olefins and car-benes. Since cyclopropane resembles olefins in its reactivity and is thus an electron-rich car bo-cycle (p. 76ft). it forms complexes with Lewis acids, e.g. TiCL, and is thereby destabilized This effect is even more pronounced in cydopropanone ketals. If one of the alcohols forming the ketal is a silanol, the ketal is stable and distillable. The O—Si-bond is cleaved by TiCl4 and a d3-reagent is formed. This reacts with a -reagents, e.g. aldehydes or ketals. Various 4-substituted carboxylic esters are available from 1-alkoxy-l-siloxycyclopropanes in this way (E. Nakamura, 1977). If one starts with l-bromo-2-methoxycyclopropanes, the bromine can be selectively substituted by lithium. Subsequent treatment of this reagent with carbonyl compounds yields (2-methoxycyclopropyl)methanols, which can be transformed to /7,y-unsaturated aldehydes (E.J. Corey, 1975B). 

The epoxide can be prepared from an alkene and the amide from a carboxylic acid. The new target. 2-ethyl-2-hexenoic acid, has a CC double bond in conjugation with the carbonyl group of the carboxylic acid. Whenever a compound with an ,/3-unsaturated carbonyl group is encountered, it is worthwhile to consider the possibility of using an aldol condensation (see Section 20.5) or a related reaction to prepare it. To examine this possibility, the aldehyde that will provide the carboxylic acid upon oxidation is disconnected at the double bond. Because both fragments produced by this disconnection are the same, it is apparent that an aldol condensation of butanal can be employed to prepare this compound. The synthesis was accomplished as shown in Figure 23.5. 

Among the carbon electrophiles, carbonyl compounds [113,114] were first applied in the reaction with lithiated ferrocenylalkyl amines (Sect. 4.S.3.3 and Fig. 4-18). Analogously, carboxylic acids are obtained from CO2 [153]. The reactivity pattern of palladated ferrocenylalkyl amines with carbon electrophiles is somewhat different. Carbon monoxide in alcohols leads to the formation of esters of substituted ferrocenecarboxylic acids [124]. With prochiral alcohols, a moderate asymmetric induction is observed [154]. a, -Unsaturated ketones react with palladated ferrocenylalkyl amines not with addition to the carbonyl group, but with substitution of a hydrogen at the carbon—carbon double bond, allowing the introduction of longer side chains at the ferrocene ring (Fig. 4-27c) [124, 152]. 

Summarizing the different results from the literature, under the conditions of oxidative carbonylation in the presence of alcohols and catalytic amounts of PdCl2, esters of a,)0-unsaturated carboxylic acids, j0-alkoxy-esters and 2-sub-stituted dialkyl succinates are generally obtained, or mixtures of all of these compounds. Preferably CuCl2, but also other transition metal salts, can be used as co-catalysts (eq. (2)). 

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