title: Reductions with lithium in low molecular weight amines and ethylenediamine
abstract: Reductions of several types of compounds with lithium and ethylenediamine using low molecular weight amines as solvent are described. In all cases 1 mol of ethylenediamine or N, N'-dimethylethylenediamine per gram-atom of lithium was used. In some cases it was beneficial to add an alcohol as a proton donor. These reaction conditions were applied to the debenzylation of N-benzylamide and lactams which are refractory to hydrogenolysis with hydrogen and a catalyst. N-Benzylpilolactam 2, synthesized from pilocarpine hydrochloride in refluxing benzylamine, was debenzylated in good yield using 10 gram-atoms of lithium per mole (10 Li/mol) of 2 in n-propylamine. The debenzylation of N-benzyl-N-methyldecanoic acid amide, 4 (6 Li/mol), in t-butylamine/N, N'-dimethylethylenediamine gave N-methyldecanoic acid amide 6 in 70% yield. Alternatively, reduction of 4 (7 Li/mol) in t-butanol/n-propylamine/ethylenediamine gave n-decanal 12 in 36% yield. Using the same conditions, thioanisole, 1-adamantane-p-toluenesulfonamide, and 1-adamantane methyl p-toluenesulfonate were reduced with 3, 7, and 7.2 Li/mol of compound to give thiophenol (74%), adamantamine (91%), and 1-adamantane methanol (75%), respectively. In this solvent system naphthalene and 3-methyl-2-cyclohexene-1-one were reduced to isotetralin (74%) and 3-methyl cyclohexanone (quantitative) with 5 and 2.2 Li/mol of starting compound, respectively. Oximes and O-methyloximes were reduced to their corresponding amines using 5 and 8 Li/mol of compound, respectively. Anisole was also reduced to 1-methoxy-1,4-cyclohexadiene with 2.5 Li/mol of anisole. Undecanenitrile was reduced to undecylamine with 8.6 Li/mol. Additionally, a base-catalyzed formation of imidazolines from a nitrile and ethylenediamine was also explored.
authors.affiliation: Organic Consultants Inc., 132 E. Broadway, Suite 107, Eugene, Oregon 97401, USA.
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Garst
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Dolby
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Esfandiari
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Fedoruk
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Chamberlain
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Avey