Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Need help with synthetic route

sciencebob - 4-1-2011 at 23:13

Hello fellow chemists! :)

I'm working with the attached reaction but have issues synthesizing to the third step - yield is only 10%. Any advice? I can give more details as needed!

Thanks as ever!

route1.png - 8kB

smuv - 5-1-2011 at 12:49

Could you post a reference for that DBU claisen? I might be able to provide some help if you post your procedures and also what the side products were.

I assume aldol reactions are your side-products? Might help to run the reaction very dilute to keep the intramolecular claisen (or would it be Dieckmann even though its an ester and ketone?) favored over intermoleculer aldols. But I don't think the yields will ever be high because the ketone is a good bit more acidic than the amide.

Of course you can get around this problem by changing the steps of your synthesis, taking the mannich product, and adding it to a huge excess ethyl acetate enolate followed by cyclization of this product by an intramolecular transesterification.



[Edited on 1-5-2011 by smuv]

sciencebob - 5-1-2011 at 20:57

Thanks so much for the quick reply! I'm going to look into your suggestions and will get back to you.

Thanks again!

chemrox - 6-1-2011 at 16:17

How did you select DBU as the catalyst? Is this a procedure you got from a paper or from a patent? If the former, which one? Please post the article If the latter, patents often leave out critical information. (@SMUV) I'm assuming the acylation goes in almost quantitative yield so maybe a different catalyst is in order. Or maybe some CuI in the mix?

smuv - 6-1-2011 at 18:31

I dunno chemrox. The problem is I don't see any way of selectively deprotonating the C-H amide vs the C-H ketone. There is no way to rely on sterics because there are no steric differences between a methyl ketone and an acetate, and i believe the deprotonated ketone is both the kinetic and thermodynamic product. While it is true, the cyclicized final product is thermodynamically more stable, I can't see a great way of favoring its production. Maybe prolonged reaction times and hoping the reversibility of aldols will allow for more of the desired cyclicized product.

I will admit though, I know less about this type of chemistry than I wish I did. I very well may be overlooking something.

Nicodem - 7-1-2011 at 09:24

Quote: Originally posted by sciencebob  
I'm working with the attached reaction but have issues synthesizing to the third step - yield is only 10%. Any advice? I can give more details as needed!

You want an advice, yet you don't bother posting the pertaining references? How very nice of you!