Vinyl ethers electrophilic addition

The high reactivity of pyrroles to electrophiles is similar to that of arylamines and is a reflection of the mesomeric release of electrons from nitrogen to ring carbons. Reactions with electrophilic reagents may result in addition rather than substitution. Thus furan reacts with acetyl nitrate to give a 2,5-adduct (33) and in a similar fashion an adduct (34) is obtained from the reaction of ethyl vinyl ether with hydrogen bromide. 

Once again, a large amount of diverse evidence indicates the intermediacy of a vinyl cation in electrophilic additions to arylacetylenes. As in the case of the hydration of alkynyl ethers and thioethers, the vinyl cation formed is especially stable because of resonance interaction and charge delocalization with the adjacent rr center of the aromatic system. 

The attack of the nucleophile on the acceptor-substituted allene usually happens at the central sp-hybridized carbon atom. This holds true also if no nucleophilic addition but a nucleophilic substitution in terms of an SN2 reaction such as 181 — 182 occurs (Scheme 7.30) [245]. The addition of ethanol to the allene 183 is an exception [157]. In this case, the allene not only bears an acceptor but shows also the substructure of a vinyl ether. A change in the regioselectivity of the addition of nucleophilic compounds NuH to allenic esters can be effected by temporary introduction of a triphenylphosphonium group [246]. For instance, the ester 185 yields the phos-phonium salt 186, which may be converted further to the ether 187. Evidently, the triphenylphosphonium group induces an electrophilic character at the terminal carbon atom of 186 and this is used to produce 187, which is formally an abnormal product of the addition of methanol to the allene 185. This method of umpolung is also applicable to nucleophilic addition reactions to allenyl ketones in a modified procedure [246, 247]. 

The introduction of umpoled synthons 177 into aldehydes or prochiral ketones leads to the formation of a new stereogenic center. In contrast to the pendant of a-bromo-a-lithio alkenes, an efficient chiral a-lithiated vinyl ether has not been developed so far. Nevertheless, substantial diastereoselectivity is observed in the addition of lithiated vinyl ethers to several chiral carbonyl compounds, in particular cyclic ketones. In these cases, stereocontrol is exhibited by the chirality of the aldehyde or ketone in the sense of substrate-induced stereoselectivity. This is illustrated by the reaction of 1-methoxy-l-lithio ethene 56 with estrone methyl ether, which is attacked by the nucleophilic carbenoid exclusively from the a-face —the typical stereochemical outcome of the nucleophilic addition to H-ketosteroids . Representative examples of various acyclic and cyclic a-lithiated vinyl ethers, generated by deprotonation, and their reactions with electrophiles are given in Table 6. 

Synthetic uses came from two directions, neither based on fundamentals but both moving the field from uncertainty to the effective control of parameters. Electrophilic metal carbenes were recognized from their ability to undergo addition to electron-rich aUcenes such as vinyl ethers or styrene (Eq. 4), but not electron-poor... 

Vinyl ethers and amines disclose little tendency to revert to type thus, the intermediate formed by reaction with an electrophilic reagent reacts further by adding a nucleophilic species to yield an addition compound cf the sequence (8) — (11). Thiophene and pyrrole have a high degree of aromatic character consequently the initial product formed by reaction of thiophene or pyrrole with an electrophilic species subsequently loses a proton to give a substituted compound cf the reaction sequence (12) — (15). Furan has less aromatic character and often reacts by overall addition as well as by substitution. In electrophilic addition, the first step is the same as for substitution, i.e. the formation of a tr-complex (e.g. 13), but instead of losing a proton this now adds a nucleophile. 

Vinyl ethers have also been prepared by addition of alkoxides to acetylene,6 7 6 elimination from halo ethers and related precursors,6 8 and vinyl exchange reactions.6 Reaction of an electrophilic tungsten carbenoid with methylene phosphorane or diazomethane also produces vinyl ethers.9 Enol ethers have resulted from the reaction of some tantalum and niobium carbenoids with esters,10 and the reaction of phosphoranes with electrophilic esters.4... 

Cyclopropane formation occurs from reactions between diazo compounds and alkenes, catalyzed by a wide variety of transition-metal compounds [7-9], that involve the addition of a carbene entity to a C-C double bond. This transformation is stereospecific and generally occurs with electron-rich alkenes, including substituted olefins, dienes, and vinyl ethers, but not a,(J-unsaturated carbonyl compounds or nitriles [23,24], Relative reactivities portray a highly electrophilic intermediate and an early transition state for cyclopropanation reactions [15,25], accounting in part for the relative difficulty in controlling selectivity. For intermolecular reactions, the formation of geometrical isomers, regioisomers from reactions with dienes, and enantiomers must all be taken into account. 

Dioximato-cobalt(II) catalysts are unusual in their ability to catalyze cyclopropanation reactions that occur with conjugated olefins (e.g., styrene, 1,3-butadiene, and 1-phenyl-1,3-butadiene) and, also, certain a, 3-unsaturated esters (e.g., methyl a-phenylacrylate, Eq. 5.13), but not with simple olefins and vinyl ethers. In this regard they do not behave like metal carbenes formed with Cu or Rh catalysts that are characteristically electrophilic in their reactions towards alkenes (vinyl ethers > dienes > simple olefins a,p-unsaturated esters) [7], and this divergence has not been adequately explained. However, despite their ability to attain high enantioselectivities in cyclopropanation reactions with ethyl diazoacetate and other diazo esters, no additional details concerning these Co(II) catalysts have been published since the initial reports by Nakamura and Otsuka. 

The distinction between electrophilic and electron-transfer mechanisms of addition reactions to vinyl double bonds of ArX—CH=CH2 (X = S, O, Se) has been achieved by studying substituent effects. Specifically, the effects of meta and para substituents on the rates of electrophilic additions correlated with Hammett radical cations correlates with statistical tests. The ofclcctrophilicj/o-1 (FT) dichotomy is in accord with the conventional paradigm for cr/cr+ correlations and further support has been found by ah initio calculations. Interestingly, the application of this criterion to the reactions of aryl vinyl sulfides and ethers with tetracyanoethylene indicates that cyclobutanes are formed via direct electrophilic addition to the electron-rich alkene rather than via an electron-transfer mechanism.12... 

In this reaction, carbamate esters were obtained after long reaction times (70 h), in 0.06-11% yield, depending on the olefin/amine molar ratio (l-10mol/mol) and temperature (308-353 K). Since 1-ethoxyethyl carbamate was formed as the sole regio-isomer product, but there was no formation of the 2-ethoxyethyl ester, the reaction was believed to proceed by an electrophilic addition to the vinyl ether of carbamic acid, formed by reversible reaction of C02 with amine (see Equation 6.1). 

Nitration of fluoroolefins can be achieved by several methods. Widely studied thermal reaction of N204 with fluoroolefins has a radical mechanism, although the low temperature reaction of nitrogen dioxide with polyfluorinated vinyl ethers proceeds as electrophilic addition of nitrosonium nitrate NO+ N02 across the C=C bond [6] ... 

Addition reactions with Mode B are not popular, but are occasionally useful. Eq. 4.7 indicates the reaction of ethyl bromoacetate and sugar vinyl ether with Bu3SnH initiated by AIBN. The ethyl acetate radical is electrophilic and it reacts with electron-rich sugar vinyl ether through SOMO-HOMO orbital interaction to form a ribosyl anomeric radical, as shown below. Then, the formed ribosyl anomeric radical abstracts... 

Treatment of a,a-dicyanoalkyl phenyl selenide (14) with vinyl ether initiated by AIBN under benzene refluxing conditions generates methyl ketone (15) (eq. 4.8). An electrophilic a,a-dicyanoalkyl radical is first formed, and then it adds to vinyl ether, followed by hydrolysis. Diethyl 3-iodoalkylphosphonate (17) can be formed through AIBN-initiated addition reaction of diethyl 1-iodomethylphosphonate (16) to alkene (eq. 4.9). This is an atom-transfer reaction. Both reactions (eqs. 4.8 and 4.9) do not require Bu3SnH. 

Generally, treatment with electron-deficient olefins such as nitroethylene or vinyl sulfone is effective for radical addition reactions, since alkyl radicals derived from O-acyl esters (2) are nucleophilic and take SOMO-LUMO interaction. However, treatment of O-acyl esters ) derived from perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (RfC02H) generates electrophilic radicals, Rf, which react preferably with electron-rich olefins such as vinyl ether, as shown in eq. 8.16 [52]. 

The chiral anisole derivative 37 has been used in the synthesis of several asymmetric functionalized cyclohexenes (Table 9) [22]. In a reaction sequence similar to that employed with racemic anisole complexes, 37 adds an electrophile and a nucleophile across C4 and C3, respectively, to form the cyclohexadiene complex 38. The vinyl ether group of 38 can then be reduced by the tandem addition of a proton and hydride to C2 and Cl, respectively, affording the alkene complex 39. Direct oxidation of 39 liberates cydohexenes 40 and 41, in which the initial asymmetric auxiliary is still intact. Alternatively, the auxiliary may be cleaved under acidic conditions to afford /y3 -allyl complexes, which can be regioselectively attacked by another nucleophile at Cl. Oxidative decomplexation liberates the cyclohexenes 42-44. HPLC analysis revealed high ee values for the organic products isolated both with and without the initial asymmetric group. 

Many common reactions of aliphatic amines, ethers, and sulfides 1 involve initial addition of an electrophilic reagent utilizing the lone pair of electrons on the heteroatom salts, quaternary salts, coordination compounds, amine oxides, sulfoxides, and sulfones are formed in this way. Corresponding reactions are very rare (cf. Section 3.3.1.3) with pyrroles, furans, and thiophenes. These heterocycles react with electrophilic reagents at the carbon atoms 2, 3 rather than at the heteroatom. Vinyl ethers and enamines 4 show intermediate behavior, reacting frequently at the -carbon but sometimes at the heteroatom. 

Because the transition state of electrophilic addition is rather open or only very weakly bridged, the stereoselectivity is poor, resulting in primarily atactic polymers. Polystyrene and most poly(vinyl ether)s prepared cationically at ambient temperature are atactic with similar proportions of meso and racemic dyads [243,244]. However, meso addition is slightly preferred with vinyl ethers, and varies from 60 to 70% for most monomers, including isobutyl, neopentyl, n-butyl, and ethoxyethyl vinyl ethers [245]. It is higher with benzyl vinyl ether (89%). This tendency to... 

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