Allylic alcohols as synthetic enolate equivalents: isomerisation and tandem reactions catalysed by transition metal

Nanna Ahlsten1, Agnieszka Bartoszewicz, Belén Martín-Matute

  • 1Department of Organic Chemistry, Arrhenius Laboratory, Stockholm University, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden.

Related Concept Videos

α-Alkylation of Ketones via Enolate Ions01:10

α-Alkylation of Ketones via Enolate Ions

Ketones with α protons are deprotonated by strong bases like lithium diisopropylamide (LDA) to form enolate ions. The anion is stabilized by resonance, and its hybrid structure exhibits negative charges on the carbonyl oxygen and the α carbon. This ambident nucleophile can attack an electrophile via two possible sites: the carbonyl oxygen, known as O-attack, or the α carbon, known as C-attack. The nucleophilic attack via the carbanionic site is preferred. This is due to the strong interaction...
Conversion of Alcohols to Alkyl Halides02:48

Conversion of Alcohols to Alkyl Halides

This lesson delves into the conversion of alcohols to corresponding alkyl halides and the mechanism of action for different reagents. Typically, the hydroxyl group is first protonated to convert it to a stable leaving group. Consequently, based on the starting alcohol, the mechanism undergoes either of the nucleophilic substitution routes, SN1 or SN2. Tertiary alkyl halides are made using the two-step SN1 mechanism that occurs via a carbocation intermediate, which is stabilized by...
Oxidation of Alkenes: Syn Dihydroxylation with Osmium Tetraoxide02:44

Oxidation of Alkenes: Syn Dihydroxylation with Osmium Tetraoxide

Alkenes are converted to 1,2-diols or glycols through a process called dihydroxylation. It involves the addition of two hydroxyl groups across the double bond with two different stereochemical approaches, namely anti and syn. Dihydroxylation using osmium tetroxide progresses with syn stereochemistry.
Reactivity of Enolate Ions01:23

Reactivity of Enolate Ions

Enolate ions are formed by the acid–base reaction of a carbonyl compound with a base. This leads to deprotonation of the α hydrogen atom, leading to a resonance-stabilized enolate ion where one of the contributing structures is an oxyanion, which imparts additional stability. Therefore, the proton on the α carbon is more acidic in nature than that of other sp3-hybridized C–H bonds but less acidic than those in O–H bonds where the negative charge in the conjugate base is localized on the oxygen...
Synthesis of α-Substituted Carbonyl Compounds: The Stork Enamine Reaction01:26

Synthesis of α-Substituted Carbonyl Compounds: The Stork Enamine Reaction

α-Substituted ketones or aldehydes can be synthesized from enamines by the Stork enamine reaction, named after its pioneer Gilbert Stork. Enamines are useful synthetic intermediates where the lone pair on nitrogen is in conjugation with the C=C bond. They resemble enolate ions, as the resonance forms of both species have a nucleophilic α carbon.
Reduction of Alkenes: Asymmetric Catalytic Hydrogenation02:17

Reduction of Alkenes: Asymmetric Catalytic Hydrogenation

Catalytic hydrogenation of alkenes is a transition-metal catalyzed reduction of the double bond using molecular hydrogen to give alkanes. The mode of hydrogen addition follows syn stereochemistry.
The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...