Use in synthesis

Reactive electrophiles used in synthesis, e g. RCH2COCI plus (CIjC NMeir, gives (Me N)C1C = C(R)COCl. 

Eihyl-l-buianol, b.p. 147 "C, is used in synthesis and as a solvent for printing inks and surface coatings. 

There exist a number of d -synthons, which are stabilized by the delocalization of the electron pair into orbitals of hetero atoms, although the nucleophilic centre remains at the carbon atom. From nitroalkanes anions may be formed in aqueous solutions (e.g. CHjNOj pK, = 10.2). Nitromethane and -ethane anions are particularly useful in synthesis. The cyanide anion is also a classical d -synthon (HCN pK = 9.1). 

The formation of the above anions ("enolate type) depend on equilibria between the carbon compounds, the base, and the solvent. To ensure a substantial concentration of the anionic synthons in solution the pA" of both the conjugated acid of the base and of the solvent must be higher than the pAT -value of the carbon compound. Alkali hydroxides in water (p/T, 16), alkoxides in the corresponding alcohols (pAT, 20), sodium amide in liquid ammonia (pATj 35), dimsyl sodium in dimethyl sulfoxide (pAT, = 35), sodium hydride, lithium amides, or lithium alkyls in ether or hydrocarbon solvents (pAT, > 40) are common combinations used in synthesis. Sometimes the bases (e.g. methoxides, amides, lithium alkyls) react as nucleophiles, in other words they do not abstract a proton, but their anion undergoes addition and substitution reactions with the carbon compound. If such is the case, sterically hindered bases are employed. A few examples are given below (H.O. House, 1972 I. Kuwajima, 1976). 

Cydopentane reagents used in synthesis are usually derived from cyclopentanone (R.A. Ellison, 1973). Classically they are made by base-catalyzed intramolecular aldol or ester condensations (see also p. 55). An important example is 2-methylcydopentane-l,3-dione. It is synthesized by intramolecular acylation of diethyl propionylsucdnate dianion followed by saponification and decarboxylation. This cyclization only worked with potassium t-butoxide in boiling xylene (R. Bucourt, 1965). Faster routes to this diketone start with succinic acid or its anhydride. A Friedel-Crafts acylation with 2-acetoxy-2-butene in nitrobenzene or with pro-pionyl chloride in nitromethane leads to acylated adducts, which are deacylated in aqueous acids (V.J. Grenda, 1967 L.E. Schick, 1969). A new promising route to substituted cyclopent-2-enones makes use of intermediate 5-nitro-l,3-diones (D. Seebach, 1977). 

With a regioselectivity opposite to that of the Zaitsev rule the Hofmann ehmma tion IS sometimes used in synthesis to prepare alkenes not accessible by dehydrohalo genation of alkyl halides This application decreased in importance once the Wittig reac tion (Section 17 12) became established as a synthetic method Similarly most of the analytical applications of Hofmann elimination have been replaced by spectroscopic methods... 

Diels-Alder reaction (Section 10 12) Conjugate addition of an alkene to a conjugated diene to give a cyclohexene denva tive Diels-Alder reactions are extremely useful in synthesis... 

ANTTBIOTTCS - BETA-LACTAMS - PENICILLINS AND OTTiERS] (Vol 3) -use in synthesis piCROBIAL TRANSFORMATIONS] (Voll6)... 

The discovery that usehil chemicals could be made from coal tar provided the foundation upon which the modem chemical industry is built. Industrial chemistry expanded rapidly in the late nineteenth century in German laboratories and factories where coal-tar chemicals were refined and used in synthesis of dyes and pharmaceuticals. But coal-tar production has an eadier origin, dating back to the discovery by William Murdock in 1792 that heating coal in the absence of air generated a gas suitable for lighting. Murdock commercialized this technology, and by 1812 the streets of London were illuminated with coal gas (1). 

Gasification. Gasification converts soHd fuel, tars, and oils to gaseous products such as CO, H2, and CH that can be burned direcdy or used in synthesis gas (syngas) mixtures, ie, CO and mixtures for production of Hquid fuels and other chemicals (47,48) (see Coal conversion processes, gasification Euels, synthetic-gaseous fuel Hydrogen). 

T. A. Hase, JJmpoled Synthons, A Survey of Sources and Uses in Synthesis ]ohxi Wiley Sons, Inc., New York, 1987. 

Cleavage of imidazoles to enediamides, useful In synthesis of 2substrtuted imidazoles. 

Hydroboration - regloseiective and stereoselective (syn) addition of BH3 (RBH2, R2BH) to olefins. Synthesis of alcohol including optically active alcohols from olefins. Also useful In synthesis of ketones by stitching ot olefins and CO... 

Sulfonate esters are especially useful substrates in nucleophilic substitution reactions used in synthesis. They have a high level of reactivity, and, unlike alkyl halides, they can be prepared from alcohols by reactions that do not directly involve bonds to the carbon atom imdeigoing substitution. The latter aspect is particularly important in cases in which the stereochemical and structural integrity of the reactant must be maintained. Sulfonate esters are usually prepared by reaction of an alcohol with a sulfonyl halide in the presence of pyridine ... 

Beeause of its high ehemieal reaetivity, aeetylene has found wide use in synthesis of vinyl ehloride, vinyl aeetate, aerylonitrile, vinyl ethers, vinyl aeetylene, triehloro- and tetraehloro-ethylene ete., in oxyaeetylene eutting and welding, and as a fuel for atomie absorption instruments. 

Equivalents of Reactive Intermediates. Reactive intermediates which are readily generated and which can be used in synthesis to produce indirectly structures that cannot be made directly. 

Reactions offluorinated dipoles. In recent years, much effort has been devoted to the preparation of tnfluoromethyl-substituted 1,3-dipoles with the goal of using them to introduce trifluoromethyl groups into five-membered nng heterocycles Fluorinated diazoalkanes were the first such 1,3-dipoles to be prepared and used in synthesis A number of reports of cycloadditions of mono- and bis(tnfluo-romethyl)diazomethane appeared prior to 1972 [9] Other types of fluonne-substi-tuted 1,3-dipoles were virtually unknown until only recently However, largely because of the efforts of Tanaka s group, a broad knowledge of the chemistry of tnfluoromethyl-substituted nitrile oxides, nitnle imines, nitnle ylides, and nitrones has been accumulated recently... 

Bis(phe nylthiomethyl)dihydropyran, CSA, CHCI3, 54-93% yield. This dihydropyran can be used for the resolution of racemic diols or for regio-selective protection, which is directed by the chirality of the dihyropyran. Other 2,2 -substituted bisdihydropyrans that can be cleaved by a variety of methods are available, and their use in synthesis has been reviewed. ... 

Chiral protective groups, although less frequently used in synthesis, provide sought-after protection, diastereochemical control, and enantioselectivity, and can improve the chemical characteristics of a molecule to facilitate a synthesis. ... 

The (V-methyldihydrodithiazine 125 has also been used as an effective formyl anion equivalent for reaction with alkyl halides, aldehydes, and ketones (77JOC393). In this case there is exclusive alkylation between the two sulfur atoms, and hydrolysis to give the aldehyde products is considerably easier than for dithianes. However, attempts to achieve a second alkylation at C2 were unsuccessful, thus ruling out the use of this system as an acyl anion equivalent for synthesis of ketones. Despite this limitation, the compound has found some use in synthesis (82TL4995). 

This method has been applied to a large-scale preparation of 6-bromoindole, which reacts with various arylboronic acids via the Suzuki reaction to afford 6-aryhndoles fEq. 10.50. 6-Bromo-5-methoxyindole for use in the synthesis of marine bromoindole " and 5-amino-7-ethoxycarbonyhndole for use in synthesis of l//-pyrrolo[3,2-g quina2ohne ring system fEq. 10.51 " have been prepared from the appropriate o-nitrotoluene. 

The Siindberg indole synthesis using aromadc azides as precursors of nitrenes has been used in synthesis of various indoles. Somekmds of aryl azides are readily prepared by S Ar reacdon of aromadc nitro compounds v/ilh an azide ion. For example, 2,4,6-trinitrotoliiene (TNT can be converted into 2-aryl-4,6-dinitroindole, as shovmin Eq. 10.60. ... 

Diels-Alder reactions Neutral ionic liquids have been found to be excellent solvents for the Diels-Alder reaction. The first example of a Diels-Alder reaction in an ionic liquid was the reaction of methyl acrylate with cyclopentadiene in [EtNH3][N03] [40], in which significant rate enhancement was observed. Howarth et al. investigated the role of chiral imidazolium chloride and trifluoroacetate salts (dissolved in dichloromethane) in the Diels-Alder reactions between cyclopentadiene and either crotonaldehyde or methacroline [41]. It should be noted that this paper describes one of the first examples of a chiral cationic ionic liquid being used in synthesis (Scheme 5.1-17). The enantioselectivity was found to be < 5 % in this reaction for both the endo (10 %) and the exo (90 %) isomers. 

The aldol reaction yields either a /3-hydroxy aldehyde/ketone or an a, 3-unsatu-rated aldehyde/ketone, depending on the experimental conditions. By learning how to think backward, it s possible to predict when the aldol reaction might be useful in synthesis. Whenever the target molecule contains either a /3-hydroxy aldehyde/ketone or a conjugated enone functional group, it might come from an aldol reaction. 

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. 

Scheme 3b). It is instructive at this point to reiterate that the furan nucleus can be used in synthesis as a progenitor for a 1,4-dicarbonyl. Whereas the action of aqueous acid on a furan is known to provide direct access to a 1,4-dicarbonyl compound, exposure of a furan to an alcohol and an acid catalyst should result in the formation of a 1,4-diketal. Indeed, when a solution of intermediate 15 in benzene is treated with excess ethylene glycol, a catalytic amount of / ara-toluenesulfonic acid, and a trace of hydroquinone at reflux, bisethylene ketal 14 is formed in a yield of 71 %. The azeotropic removal of water provides a driving force for the ketalization reaction, and the presence of a trace of hydroquinone suppresses the formation of polymeric material. Through a Finkelstein reaction,14 the action of sodium iodide on primary bromide 14 results in the formation of primary iodide 23, a substance which is then treated, in crude form, with triphenylphosphine to give crystalline phosphonium iodide 24 in a yield of 93 % from 14.

The chemistry of a-metalated epoxides and aziridines (the a prefix will from now on not be included but should be assumed) has been reviewed previously [1], but in this chapter it is our intention to focus on those reactions involving them that are useful in synthesis, rather than just of pedagogical interest. Beginning with metalated epoxides, since the greater amount of work has involved them, we intend to present carefully chosen examples of their behavior that delineate the diverse nature of their chemistry. We will then move on to metalated aziridines, the chemistry of which, it will become apparent, closely mirrors that of their epoxide cousins. 

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