Novel (α,β-Epoxyalkyl)lithium Reagents via the Lithiation of Organyl-Substituted Epoxides

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jo00303a015

A series of epoxides bearing unsaturated organyl groups attached directly to the epoxy group was found to have sufficient kinetic acidity to undergo clean lithiation at low temperatures.Epoxides of the type is aryl, vinylic, acetylenic, alkoxycarbonyl, or cyano, were smoothly converted into by either t-BuLi or LDA in the temperature range of -80 to -115 deg C.The resulting (α,β-epoxyalkyl)lithium reagents could be transformed into a variety of substituted epoxides, such as R2C-CE(Un)-O, where E = D, R3Si, R3Sn, R, RCO, CO2H, or COH(R)2.In cases where Un is acyl, addition to the carbonyl, rather than lithiation, occurred preferentially.Attempted lithiations of aziridines and thiiranes led to extrusion of nitrogen and sulfur, respectively.Even the relatively stable intermediates generated at <-90 deg C underwent carbenoid-like decomposition at higher temperatures to yield isomerization and intermolecular-insertion products.Observation of these processes gives direct corroboration of reaction mechanisms proposed for the base-promoted isomerizations of epoxides.