Unsaturated ketones aldol reaction

It is clear that the presence of the benzeneselenoethyl moiety in 21 or 22 is not required as a latent double bond in subsequent transformations. It would thus be synthetically more attractive to be able to prepare the unsaturated ketones directly. Reaction of AS-hexahy-dromandelic acid (3) with either (E)- or (Z)-propenyllithium followed by hydroxy silylation opens the way to both 34 and 35. Boron enolates of either 34 or 35, prepared in situ, undergo reaction with aldehydes to afford aldol products, albeit with low selectivity when R=TBS. Interestingly, the -isomer 34 provides mainly the 2,3-anti products 36 (1 3.5 syn. anti), while the Z-isomer 35 affords mainly the syn products 37 (3 1 to 10 1 syn anti). However, the corresponding O-triethylsilyl-protected boron enolates of 34 or 35 undergo smooth aldol reaction with aldehydes to yield the 1,3-syn products 37 with high diastereoselectivity (>100 1) (Scheme 6) [7]. 

Benzaldehyde reacts with a ketone in the presence of base to give a, /3-unsaturated ketones. This reaction is an example of a crossed aldol condensation where the intermediate undergoes dehydration to produce the resonance-stabilized unsaturated ketone. 

There also exists an acidregioselective condensation of the aldol type, namely the Mannich reaction (B. Reichert, 1959 H. Hellmann, 1960 see also p. 291f.). The condensation of secondary amines with aldehydes yields Immonium salts, which react with ketones to give 3-amino ketones (=Mannich bases). Ketones with two enolizable CHj-groupings may form 1,5-diamino-3-pentanones, but monosubstitution products can always be obtained in high yield. Unsymmetrical ketones react preferentially at the most highly substituted carbon atom. Sterical hindrance can reverse this regioselectivity. Thermal elimination of amines leads to the a,)3-unsaturated ketone. Another efficient pathway to vinyl ketones starts with the addition of terminal alkynes to immonium salts. On mercury(ll) catalyzed hydration the product is converted to the Mannich base (H. Smith, 1964). 

Some unsaturated ketones derived from acetone can undergo base- or acid-catalyzed exothermic thermal decomposition at temperatures under 200°C. Experiments conducted under adiabatic conditions (2) indicate that mesityl oxide decomposes at 96°C in the presence of 5 wt % of aqueous sodium hydroxide (20%), and that phorone undergoes decomposition at 180°C in the presence of 1000 ppm iron. The decomposition products from these reactions are endothermic hydrolysis and cleavage back to acetone, and exothermic aldol reactions to heavy residues. 

The addition of the a-carbon of an enolizable aldehyde or ketone 1 to the carbonyl group of a second aldehyde or ketone 2 is called the aldol reaction It is a versatile method for the formation of carbon-carbon bonds, and is frequently used in organic chemistry. The initial reaction product is a /3-hydroxy aldehyde (aldol) or /3-hydroxy ketone (ketol) 3. A subsequent dehydration step can follow, to yield an o ,/3-unsaturated carbonyl compound 4. In that case the entire process is also called aldol condensation. 

If the initially formed /3-hydroxy carbonyl compound 3 still has an a-hydrogen, a subsequent elimination of water can take place, leading to an o ,/3-unsaturated aldehyde or ketone 4. In some cases the dehydration occurs already under the aldol reaction conditions in general it can be carried out by heating in the presence of acid ... 

The reaction of a cyclic ketone—e.g. cyclohexanone 1—with methyl vinyl ketone 2 resulting in a ring closure to yield a bicyclic a ,/3-unsaturated ketone 4, is called the Robinson annulation This reaction has found wide application in the synthesis of terpenes, and especially of steroids. Mechanistically the Robinson annulation consists of two consecutive reactions, a Michael addition followed by an Aldol reaction. Initially, upon treatment with a base, the cyclic ketone 1 is deprotonated to give an enolate, which undergoes a conjugate addition to the methyl vinyl ketone, i.e. a Michael addition, to give a 1,5-diketone 3 ... 

The jS-hydroxy aldehydes or ketones formed in aldol reactions can be easily dehydrated to yield a -unsaturated products, or conjugated enones. In fact, it s this loss of water that gives the condensation reaction its name, because water condenses out of the reaction when the enone product forms. 

Strategy In the aldol reaction, H2O is eliminated and a double bond is formed by removing hvo hydrogens from the acidic a position of one partner and the carbonyl oxygen from the second partner. The product is thus an a,/3-unsaturated aldehyde or ketone. 

The Robinson annulation is a two-step process that combines a Michael reaction with an intramolecular aldol reaction. It takes place between a nucleophilic donor, such as a /3-keto ester, an enamine, or a /3-diketone, and an a,/3-unsaturated ketone acceptor, such as 3-buten-2-one. The product is a substituted 2-cyclohexenone. 

The first step of the Robinson annulation is simply a Michael reaction. An enamine or an enolate ion from a jS-keto ester or /3-diketone effects a conjugate addition to an a-,/3-unsaturated ketone, yielding a 1,5-diketone. But as we saw in Section 23.6,1,5-diketones undergo intramolecular aldol condensation to yield cyclohexenones when treated with base. Thus, the final product contains a six-membered ring, and an annulation has been accomplished. An example occurs during the commercial synthesis of the steroid hormone estrone (figure 23.9). 

In this example, the /3-diketone 2-methyJ-l,3-cyclopentanedione is used to generate the enolate ion required for Michael reaction and an aryl-substituted a,/3-unsaturated ketone is used as the acceptor. Base-catalyzed Michael reaction between the two partners yields an intermediate triketone, which then cyclizes in an intramolecular aldol condensation to give a Robinson annulation product. Several further transformations are required to complete the synthesis of estrone. 

The aldol reaction is a carbonyl condensation that occurs between two aldehyde or ketone molecules. Aldol reactions are reversible, leading first to a /3-hydroxy aldehyde or ketone and then to an cr,/6-unsaturated product. Mixed aldol condensations between two different aldehydes or ketones generally give a mixture of all four possible products. A mixed reaction can be successful, however, if one of the two partners is an unusually good donor (ethyl aceto-acetate, for instance) or if it can act only as an acceptor (formaldehyde and benzaldehyde, for instance). Intramolecular aldol condensations of 1,4- and 1,5-diketones are also successful and provide a good way to make five-and six-inembered rings. 

Carbonyl condensation reactions are widely used in synthesis. One example of their versatility is the Robinson anuulation reaction, which leads to the formation of an substituted cyclohexenone. Treatment of a /3-diketone or /3-keto ester with an a,/3-unsaturated ketone leads first to a Michael addition, which is followed by intramolecular aldol cyclization. Condensation reactions are also used widely in nature for the biosynthesis of such molecules as fats and steroids. 

The product is a P-hydroxy aldehyde (called an aldol) or ketone, which in some cases is dehydrated during the course of the reaction. Even if the dehydration is not spontaneous, it can usually be done easily, since the new double bond is in conjugation with the C=0 bond so that this is a method of preparing a,P-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones as well as P-hydroxy aldehydes and ketones. The entire reaction is an equilibrium (including the dehydration step), and a,P-unsaturated and P-hydroxy aldehydes and ketones can be cleaved by treatment with OH (the retrograde aldol reaction). There is evidence that an SET mechanism can intervene when the substrate is an aromatic ketone. ... 

Nitrile oxides are usually prepared via halogenation and dehydrohalogenation of aldoximes [11] or via dehydration of primary nitro alkanes (Scheme 1) [12]. However, it is important to note that nitrile oxides are relatively unstable and are prone to dimerization or polymerization, especially upon heating. 1,3-Dipolar cycioaddition of a nitrile oxide with a suitable olefin generates an isoxazoline ring which is a versatile synthetic intermediate in that it provides easy access to y-amino alcohols, )5-hydroxy ketones, -hydroxy nitriles, unsaturated oximes, and a host of other multifunctional molecules (Scheme 1) [5a]. Particularly for the formation of )5-hydroxy ketones, nitrile oxide-olefin cycioaddition serve as an alternative to the Aldol reaction. 

To support the 2,3-allenol as an intermediate in this reaction, 2,3-allenols were employed in test experiments as starting materials (Scheme 10, route F). The crossover aldol product was obtained as the sole product, when the reaction was run in the presence of the suitable aldehyde. In the absence of an aldehyde the corresponding ( )-a,p-unsaturated ketone was obtained (Scheme 24) [37]. 

Scheme 2.23. Domino Michael/aldol reaction of a,(5-unsaturated ketones with (3-ketoesters.

Dialkyl(trimethylsilyl)phosphines undergo 1,4-addition to a,/3-unsaturated ketones and esters to give phosphine-substituted silyl enol ethers and silyl ketene acetals, respectively. A three-component coupling reaction of a silylphosphine, activated alkenes, and aldehydes in the presence of a catalytic amount of GsF affords an aldol product (Scheme 76).290 291... 

Abstract In the first part of this mini review a variety of efficient asymmetric catalysis using heterobime-tallic complexes is discussed. Since these complexes function at the same time as both a Lewis acid and a Bronsted base, similar to enzymes, they make possible many catalytic asymmetric reactions such as nitroal-dol, aldol, Michael, Michael-aldol, hydrophosphonyla-tion, hydrophosphination, protonation, epoxide opening, Diels-Alder and epoxi-dation reaction of a, 3-unsaturated ketones. In the second part catalytic asymmetric reactions such as cya-nosilylations of aldehydes... 

Four-component annelation to alkenolides. Posner et al. have reported a one-pot three-step annelation of cycloalkenones to provide, after oxidation, four-atom enlarged macrolides. Thus Michael addition of tributyltinlithium to cyclo-hexenone (1) and Michael addition of the resulting enolate to ethyl vinyl ketone followed by an aldol reaction results in cyclization to a bicyclic hemiketal (2), which is oxidized by Pb(OAc)4 to an unsaturated 10-membered lactone (3). 

In almost the same manner, tandem hydroformylation/aldol condensation aldol condensation of ketoolefins, such as p,y-unsaturated ketones, gives a single cyclization product under acid catalysis. Similar to the stepwise reaction, the in situ generated aldehyde preferentially acts as the electrophilic carbonyl component, while the ketone acts as the nucleophilic enol to form the five-membered ring product. Subsequent dehydration and hydrogenation of the resulting enone readily occurs under the reductive reaction conditions used (Scheme 30) [84],... 

Although the saturated ketone can be obtained in nearly quantitative yields, the loss of synthetically valuable functionality is unfavorable and can be overcome by a modification of the tandem sequence. The use of the corresponding unsaturated silyl enol ethers in a tandem hydroformyla-tion/Mukaiyama aldol reaction gives the desired aldol adduct with complete... 

This method can also be applied to silyl enol ethers of homologous unsaturated ketones as well as of unsaturated aldehydes or esters [85-87]. While unmodified unsaturated esters give only the corresponding aldehydes without cyclization under tandem hydroformylation/aldol reaction conditions, the corresponding silylated ester enolates smoothly cyclize in a tandem hy-droformylation/ Mukaiyama aldol reaction (Scheme 32) [85-87]. 

Scheme 32 Unsaturated aldehydes, ketones and esters in the hydroformylation/Mukayama aldol reaction...

Simple reactivity inversion" implies using an umpoled synthon whose origin has, in principle, nothing in common with the synthon with "unnatural" polarity. An example of this type of reactivity inversion is found in one of the possible synthesis of cw-jasmone (3) in which the nitroethane (4) is used as an equivalent of an "acetyl anion" and reacts with an a,P-unsaturated ketone to give the corresponding 1,4-bifunctional system which can then be transformed by a Nef-type reaction into the dissonant 1,4-dicarbonyl system [5]. An intramolecular aldol condensation finally affords the target molecule (Scheme 5.3). 

Another advantage of this method is that no catalyst is needed for the addition reaction this means that the base-catalyzed polymerization of the electrophilic olefin (i.e., a,j8-unsaturated ketones, esters, etc.) is not normally a factor to contend with, as it is in the usual base-catalyzed reactions of the Michael typCi It also means that the carbonyl compound is not subject to aldol condensation which often is the predominant reaction in base-catalyzed reactions. An unsaturated aldehyde can be used only in a Michael addition reaction when the enamine method is employed. 

A possible mechanism for the P-alkylation of secondary alcohols with primary alcohols catalyzed by a 1/base system is illustrated in Scheme 5.28. The first step of the reaction involves oxidation of the primary and secondary alcohols to aldehydes and ketones, accompanied by the transitory generation of a hydrido iridium species. A base-mediated cross-aldol condensation then occurs to give an a,P-unsaturated ketone. Finally, successive transfer hydrogenation of the C=C and C=0 double bonds of the a,P-unsaturated ketone by the hydrido iridium species occurs to give the product. 

Hydroxycoumarin can be considered as an enol tautomer of a 1,3-dicarbonyl compound conjugation with the aromatic ring favours the enol tautomer. This now exposes its potential as a nucleophile. Whilst we may begin to consider enolate anion chemistry, no strong base is required and we may formulate a mechanism in which the enol acts as the nucleophile, in a simple aldol reaction with formaldehyde. Dehydration follows and produces an unsaturated ketone, which then becomes the electrophile in a Michael reaction (see Section 10.10). The nucleophile is a second molecule of 4-hydroxycoumarin. 

The irreversible elimination drives the reversible aldol reaction and gives a favourable conjugated ketone in a favourable six-membered ring. On paper, one could also draw an acceptable mechanism in which the order of events was reversed. This is not so neat, and would require generating an enolate anion y to the a,P-unsaturated ketone formed by the first aldol-dehydration sequence. 

Application of this work to a domino process using 51 involves Michael addition of P-ketoesters [91], p-diketones or P-ketosulfones [92] to a,P-unsaturated ketones followed by an intramolecular aldol reaction provides highly functionalised cyclohexanone building blocks with up to four contiguous chiral centres. Gryko has also reported examples of this domino Michael/intramolecular aldol reaction in the coupling of 1,3-diketones and methyl vinyl ketone using L-proUne as catalyst [93],... 

The reactions proceeded efficiently under mild conditions in short time. The silyl enol ethers reacted with the activated acetals or aldehydes at -78 °C to give predominant erythro- or threo-products [136, 137] respectively. In the same manner, the aldol reaction of thioacetals, catalyzed by an equimolar amount of catalyst, resulted in <-ketosulfides [139] with high diastereoselectivity. In the course of this investigation, the interaction of silyl enol ethers with a,]3-unsaturated ketones, promoted by the trityl perchlorate, was shown to proceed regioselec-tively through 1,2- [141] or 1,4-addition [138]. The application of the trityl salt as a Lewis acid catalyst was spread to the synthesis of ]3-aminoesters [142] from the ketene silyl acetals and imines resulting in high stereoselective outcome. 

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