Ylids, phosphorus, acyl

With acyl and alkoxycarbonyl azides, 2 -triazoles are isolated, although the l.ff-isomers are detected as intermediates. The reaction is not very general it fails with the corresponding sulfonium ylids, and fairly minor changes in substituents on the phosphorus ylid result in the formation of diazoketones rather than triazoles. ... 

This chapter will discuss carbanion-like reactions that utilize enolate anions. The acid-base reactions used to form enolate anions will be discussed. Formation of enolate anions from aldehyde, ketones, and esters will lead to substitution reactions, acyl addition reactions, and acyl substitution reactions. Several classical named reactions that arise from these three fundamental reactions of enolate anions are presented. In addition, phosphonium salts wiU be prepared from alkyl halides and converted to ylids, which react with aldehydes or ketones to form alkenes. These ylids are treated as phosphorus-stabilized car-banions in terms of their reactivity. 

In terms of its chemical reactivity, an ylid such as 126 may be viewed as a phosphorus-stabilized carbanion that will undergo acyl addition with an aldehyde or a ketone. When this ylid is mixed with cyclohexanone (80), there are two isolated products. The one that is more interesting to an organic chemist is methylenecyclohexane (129), formed in 52% yield the other is tri-phenylphosphine oxide, 130. It is obvious that 129 is not the expected acyl addition product. Formation of 130 indicates that the carbon atom of the ylid has been transferred to the ketone, but the oxygen atom of the ketone has been transferred to the phosphorous atom. Analysis of the reaction shows that the oxygen atom is lost from the ketone, and the CH2 unit of ylid 126 is transferred to form a new C=C bond (in green in the illustration). What is the mechanism ... 

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