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A Fast and General Route to Ketones from Amides and Organolithium Compounds under Aerobic Conditions: Synthetic and Mechanistic Aspects
Author(s) -
Ghinato Simone,
Territo Davide,
Maranzana Andrea,
Capriati Vito,
Blangetti Marco,
Prandi Cristina
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.202004840
Subject(s) - reagent , chemistry , ether , yield (engineering) , reactivity (psychology) , organic chemistry , inert , substrate (aquarium) , nucleophile , combinatorial chemistry , primary (astronomy) , ketone , materials science , catalysis , medicine , alternative medicine , oceanography , physics , pathology , astronomy , metallurgy , geology
We report that the nucleophilic acyl substitution reaction of aliphatic and (hetero)aromatic amides by organolithium reagents proceeds quickly (20 s reaction time), efficiently, and chemoselectively with a broad substrate scope in the environmentally responsible cyclopentyl methyl ether, at ambient temperature and under air, to provide ketones in up to 93 % yield with an effective suppression of the notorious over‐addition reaction. Detailed DFT calculations and NMR investigations support the experimental results. The described methodology was proven to be amenable to scale‐up and recyclability protocols. Contrasting classical procedures carried out under inert atmospheres, this work lays the foundation for a profound paradigm shift of the reactivity of carboxylic acid amides with organolithiums, with ketones being straightforwardly obtained by simply combining the reagents under aerobic conditions and with no need of using previously modified or pre‐activated amides, as recommended.