Weinreb ketone synthesis

The Weinreb–Nahm ketone synthesis is a chemical reaction used in organic chemistry to make carbon–carbon bonds. It was discovered in 1981 by Steven M. Weinreb and Steven Nahm as a method to synthesize ketones. The original reaction involved two subsequent nucleophilic acyl substitutions: the conversion of an acid chloride into an N,O-Dimethylhydroxylamine, known as a Weinreb–Nahm amide, and subsequent treatment of this species with an organometallic reagent such as a Grignard reagent or organolithium reagent. Nahm and Weinreb also reported the synthesis of aldehydes by reduction of the amide with an excess of lithium aluminum hydride (see amide reduction).

The major advantage of this method over addition of organometallic reagents to more typical acyl compounds is that it avoids the common problem of over-addition. For these latter reactions, two equivalents of the incoming group add to form an alcohol rather than a ketone or aldehyde. This occurs even if the equivalents of nucleophile are closely controlled.

The Weinreb–Nahm amide has since been adopted into regular use by organic chemists as a dependable method for the synthesis of ketones. These functional groups are present in a large number of natural products and can be reliably reacted to form new carbon–carbon bonds or converted into other functional groups. This method has been used in a number of syntheses, including Macrosphelides A and B, Amphidinolide J, and Spirofungins A and B. (See Scope below)

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