Zinc-mediated Barbier-type allylations

Barbier-type additions are attractive methods because the required allylic halide precursors are often commercially available, and are more stable than a preformed organometallic reagent (Equation 5). The required 2-alkoxycarbonyl allylic zinc reagents can be prepared from zinc powder. Lactonization tends to occur under the reaction conditions however, the diastereoselectivity of the reactions tends to be poor with 3-substituted reagents. Zinc-mediated Barbier-type allylations are mild enough for use with functionalized substrates and can utilize both aldehydes and ketones as substrates. 

Iminium ions, generated in aqueous solution from secondary amines and formaldehyde, undergo a Barbier-type allylation mediated by tin, aluminum, and zinc. The reaction is catalyzed by copper and produces tertiary homoallylamines in up to 85% yield.67 The imines generated in situ from 2-pyridinecarboxaldehyde/2-quinolinecarboxaldehyde and aryl amines undergo indium-mediated Barbier allylation in aqueous media to provide homoallylic amines.68 Crotyl and cinnamyl bromides... 

Indium mediated Barbier-type cross coupling between carbonyl compounds and allyl halides proceed efficiently under solvent-free conditions. No apparent competing pinacol-coupling or homo-coupling of the allyl halide was observed. The reactions were found to be mediated also by zinc, tin, bismut and copper [45]. 

Since the observation that allylation of carbonyl compounds could be mediated by tin in aqueous medium [77], there has been an intensive development of the Barbier-type allylation reaction in water. Three metals were particularly investigated zinc, tin, and indium. In the aqueous zinc-promoted allylation, allylzinc species are considered unlikely. The initiation of the reaction could be attributed to the formation of an allylic radical anion on the metal surface this radical surface could then react with the carbonyl compound to give an alkoxide radical, which could add an electron and form the alcohols [82]. Allyl bromide or even chloride reacts with aldehydes and ketones in the presence of commercial zinc powder in a mixture of tetrahydrofuran and saturated ammonium chloride aqueous solution (Eq. 7) [83]. 

The aqueous Barbier-Grignard-type reaction has also been used in the synthesis of natural products. Chan and Li used the zinc mediated allylation as a key step in a total synthesis of (+)-muscarine (Scheme 8.5).72 The strategy was based on the observation that the diastereoselectivity of the allylation reaction in water can be reversed through the protection of the a-hydroxyl group. 

In 1991, Li and Chan reported the use of indium to mediate Barbier-Grignard-type reactions in water (Eq. 8.49).108 When the allylation was mediated by indium in water, the reaction went smoothly at room temperature without any promoter, whereas the use of zinc and tin usually requires acid catalysis, heat, or sonication. The mildness of the reaction conditions makes it possible to use the indium method to allylate a methyl ketone in the presence of an acid-sensitive acetal functional group (Eq. 8.50). Furthermore, the coupling of ethyl 2-(bromomethyl)acrylate with carbonyl compounds proceeds equally well under the same reaction conditions, giving ready access to various hydroxyl acids including, for example, sialic acids. 

This reaction was first reported by Luche in 1985. It is the modification of the initial aqueous allylation of carbonyl compounds (in 1983) via the intermediacy of tin in the presence of a catalytic amount of hydrobromic acid (HBr), to the zinc mediated allylation of carbonyl compounds using ultrasonic irradiation in saturated aqueous NH4CI/THF solution. Thus the new reaction condition is referred to as the Luche reaction. In parallel, Li" and Chan extended the Barbier-Grignard-type reaction to successfully proceed in aqueous media and contributed to the new area called green chemistry. ... 

Benzyl halides and allyl (propargyl) halides are structurally similar but have drastically different chemical reactivities in the aqueous Barbier-Grignard-type reactions. Although tribenzyl and dibenzyltin derivatives have been prepared in aqueous conditions since the 1960s, they do not add onto carbonyls, most likely because it is not possible to form a six-membered cyclic transition state with the carbonyl group in a two-componenf fashion. Still, zinc-mediated benzylation of carbonyl compounds in aqueous media was reported by Bieber et al. recently. The benzylation of 4-nitrobenzaldehyde could be controlled chemoselectively by using various phase transfer catalysts and metal reductants in water (Eq. 4.41). 2... 

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