Aldehyde and Ketone

Ch18 Ketones and Aldehydes (landscape) Page 1
Ketones and Aldehydes

The carbonyl group is of central importance in organic chemistry because of its ubiquity.

Without studying the carbonyl group in depth we have already encountered numerous examples of this functional
group (ketones, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, acid chlorides, etc).

The simplest carbonyl compounds are aldehydes and ketone.

A ketone has two alkyl (or aryl) groups bonded to the carbonyl carbon.

An aldehyde has one alkyl (or aryl) group and one hydrogen bonded to the carbonyl carbon.

Structure of the carbonyl group
The carbonyl carbon is sp
2
hybridized, and has a partially filled unhybridized p orbital perpendicular to the
framework.

R
C
H
O
R
C
R
O
aldehyde ketone
The oxygen is also sp
2
hybridized, with the 2 lone pairs occupying sp
2
orbitals. This leaves one electron in a p
orbital.

These p orbitals form the carbon oxygen bond.
The C=O double bond is like a C=C double bond except the carbonyl double bond is shorter and stronger.

The carbonyl group has a large dipole moment due to the polarity of the double bond.

Oxygen is more electronegative than carbon, and so the bond is polarized toward the oxygen.

The attraction of the weakly held electrons toward oxygen can be represented by the two following resonance
structures.

The first resonance structure is the major contributor, but the other contributes in a small amount, which helps
explain the dipole moment.

It is this polarization that creates the reactivity of the carbonyl groups (carbon is electrophilic/LA, and the oxygen
is nucleophilic/LB).

Nomenclature
IUPAC nomenclature requires ketones to be named by replacing the -e ending of the alkyl name with -one.

Alkane alkanone

E.g.

Systematic names for aldehydes are obtained by replacing -e with -al.

An aldehyde has to be at the end of a chain, and therefore it is carbon number 1.

If the aldehyde is attached to a large unit, the suffix -carbaldehyde is used.

CH
3
C
H
O
H
3
C CH
2
CH CH CHO
ethanal pent-2-enal
CHO
cyclohexanecarbaldehyde
A ketone or aldehyde group can also be named as a substituent on a molecule with another functional group as its
root.

The ketone carbonyl is given the prefix oxo-, and the aldehyde group is named as a formyl- group. (Especially
common for carboxylic acids).

Common Names
The wide spread use of carbonyl compounds means many common names are entrenched in their everyday use.

E.g.

CH
3
CH
2
C
CH
2
-CHO
O
3-oxopentanal
C
CO
2
H
O
H
H
3
C C
O
CH
2
-CO
2
H
2-formylbenzoic acid 3-oxobutanoic acid
H
3
C
C
CH
3
O
acetone
C
O
CH
3
acetophenone
C
O
benzophenone
Syntheses of the Aldehydes and Ketones (Recap?)

From Alcohols (Ch 11)
Secondary alcohols are readily oxidized to ketones by Chromic acid (or KmnO
4
).

Complicated ketones can be made by the oxidation of alcohols, which in turn can be made from reaction of a
Grignard and an aldehyde.

Aldehydes are made from the oxidation of primary alcohols. This oxidation needs to be done carefully to avoid
overoxidation to carboxylic acids.

This is achieved by the use of PCC.

H
OH
O
borneol camphor
Na
2
Cr
2
O
7
H
2
SO
4
R MgBr
+
R'
C
H
O
R' C
OH
R
H
R'
C
R
O
H
2
SO
4
Na
2
Cr
2
O
7
CHO CH
2
-OH
PCC
Ozonolysis (Ch 8)
Alkenes can be cleaved by ozone (followed by a mild reduction) to generate aldehydes and/or ketones.

Phenyl Ketones and Aldehydes (Ch 17)
Friedal Crafts acylation is an excellent method for the preparation of alkyl aryl ketones.

The Gatterman-Koch reaction produces benzaldehyde systems.

CH
3 (1) O
3
(2) CH
3
SCH
3
O
O
CH
3
H
C
O
Cl
O
2
N
+
C
O
O
2
N
para-nitrobenzophenone
AlCl
3
CH
O
CO, HCl
CuCl, AlCl
3
Hydration of Alkynes (Ch 9)
Hydration of alkynes can either be achieved with Markovnikov (acid and mercury (II) catalyzed reaction) or anti-
Markovnikov (hydroboration-oxidation) regiochemistry.

In both cases the enols produced rearrange to their more stable keto forms (in the hydroboration case the keto form
is an aldehyde).

C C H
Hg
2+
, H
2
SO
4
H
2
O
C C H
enol
HO H
C
O
CH
3
C C H
C C H
enol
H OH
CH
2
(1) Sia
2
BH
(2) H
2
O
2
NaOH
C
O
H
Other Syntheses of Aldehydes and Ketones
Use of 1,3-Dithiane
Dithiane has relatively acidic hydrogens located between the two sulfur atoms, and these can be removed by a
strong base.

The anion is stabilized by the electron withdrawing effect of the highly polarizable sulfur atoms.

The dithiane anion can react as a nucleophile with primary alkyl halides, and this alkylation generates a thioacetal.

The hydrolysis of a thioacetal generates an aldehyde.

Alternatively, the thioacetal can be further deprotonated and reacted with another (different) alkyl halide to
generate a new thioacetal with two alkyl substituents. On hydrolysis, this thioacetal produces a ketone.

H
+
, HgCl
2
H
2
O
R' R
O
(1) BuLi
(2) R'-X
S S
H R
S S
R' R
This is a good route for the construction of unsymmetrical ketones.

E.g.

The dithiane can be thought of as a "masked" carbonyl group.

Ketones from Carboxylic Acids
Organolithium reagents are very reactive towards carbonyl compounds.

So much so, that they even attack the lithium salts of carboxylate anions.

These dianions can then be protonated, which generates hydrates, which then lose water and produce ketones.
E.g.

H
+
, HgCl
2
H
2
O
CH
2
Ph H
3
C
O (1) BuLi
(2) PhCH
2
Br
S S S S
CH
2
Ph H
(1) BuLi
(2) CH
3
Br
S S
CH
2
Ph H
3
C
If the organolithium reagent is not expensive, then the carboxylic acid can be simply treated with two equivalents
of the organolithium.

The first equivalent just deprotonates the carboxylic acid. (expensive base!)

Ketones from Nitriles
Nitrile compounds contain the cyano group (carbon nitrogen triple bond).

Since N is more electronegative than C, the triple bond is polarized toward the nitrogen, (similar to the C=O bond).

Therefore nucleophiles can attack the electrophilic carbon of the nitrile group.

Grignard (or organolithium) reagents attack the nitrile to generate the magnesium (or lithium) salt of an imine.

Acid hydrolysis generates the imine, and under these acidic conditions, the imine is hydrolyzed to a ketone.
C
OH
O
Li
2
C
O
-
Li
+
O
-
Li
+
C
O
H
3
O
+
The mechanism of this hydrolysis is discussed in depth (for the reverse reaction) later.
E.g.

Aldehydes and Ketones from Acid Chlorides

Aldehydes
It is very difficult to reduce a carboxylic acid back to an aldehyde and to get the reduction to stop there.

Aldehydes themselves are very easily reduced (more reactive than acids), and so almost always, over-reduction
occurs.

C
N
MgBr
C
N
MgBr
H
3
O
+
C
O
R
C
OH
O
R
C
H
O
R CH
2
-O
-
LiAlH
4
(slow)
LiAlH
4
(fast)
However, to circumvent this problem, carboxylic acids can be converted first into a functional group that is easier
to reduce than an aldehyde group.

The group of choice is an acid chloride.

The reaction of carboxylic acids with thionyl chloride (SOCl
2
) generates acid chlorides.

Although strong reducing agents like LiAlH
4
still reduce acid chlorides all the way to primary alcohols, milder
reducing agents like lithium aluminum tri(
t
butoxy)hydride can selectively reduce acid chlorides to aldehydes.

Ketones
Acid chlorides react with Grignard (and organolithium) reagents).

However the ketones produced also react with the nucleophilic species, and tertiary alcohols are produced.
To stop the reaction at the ketone stage, a weaker organometallic reagent is required - a lithium dialkylcuprate fits
the bill.

The lithium dialkyl cuprate is produced by the reaction of two equivalents of the organolithium reagent with
copper (I) iodide.
2 R-Li + CuI R
2
CuLi + LiI

E.g.

R
C
Cl
O
R
C
R'
O
R'MgX R'MgX
R C
O-
R'
R'
Reactions of Aldehydes and Ketones

The most common reaction of aldehydes and ketones is nucleophilic addition.

This is usually the addition of a nucleophile and a proton across the C=O double bond.

As the nucleophile attacks the carbonyl group, the carbon atom changes from sp
2
to sp
3
.

The electrons of the bond are pushed out onto the oxygen, generating an alkoxide anion.

Protonation of this anion gives the final product.

We have already encountered (at least) two examples of this:

Grignards and ketones tertiary alcohols

Hydride sources and ketones secondary alcohols

These reactions are both with strong nucleophiles.

Under acidic conditions, weaker nucleophiles such as water and alcohols can add.

H
B
-
H H
H
Na
+
H
3
C
C
CH
3
O
H
3
C C
O-
CH
3
H
Solvent
H
3
C C
OH
CH
3
H
The carbonyl group is a weak base, and in acidic solution it can become protonated.

This makes the carbon very electrophilic (see resonance structures), and so it will react with poor nucleophiles.

E.g. the acid catalyzed nucleophilic addition of water to acetone to produce the acetone hydrate.

Summary
The base catalyzed addition reactions to carbonyl compounds result from initial attack of a strong nucleophile,
whereas the acid catalyzed reactions begin with the protonation of the oxygen, followed by attack of the weaker
nucleophile.

Relative Reactivity

Aldehydes are more reactive than ketones.

This (like all things in organic chemistry) stems from two factors: (1) electronics
(2) sterics

Electronic Effect
Ketones have two alkyl substituents whereas aldehydes only have one.

Carbonyl compounds undergo reaction with nucleophiles because of the polarization of the C=O bond.

Alkyl groups are electron donating, and so ketones have their effective partial positive charge reduced more than
aldehydes (two alkyl substituents vs. one alkyl substituent).

(Aldehydes more reactive than ketones)

Steric Reason
The electrophilic carbon is the site that the nucleophile must approach for reaction to occur.

In ketones the two alkyl substituents create more steric hindrance than the single substituent that aldehydes have.

Therefore ketones offer more steric resistance to nucleophilic attack.

(Aldehydes more reactive than ketones).

Therefore both factors make aldehydes more reactive than ketones.

Other Reactions of Carbonyl Compounds

Addition of Phosphorus Ylides (Wittig Reaction)
In 1954 Wittig discovered that the addition of a phosphorus stabilized anion to a carbonyl compound did not
generate an alcohol, but an alkene! (= Nobel prize in 1979).

The phosphorus stabilized anion is called an YLIDE, which is a molecule that is overall neutral, but exists as a
carbanion bound to a positively charged heteroatom.

Phosphorus ylides are produced from the reaction of triphenylphosphine and alkyl halides.

This two step reaction starts with the nucleophilic attack of the Phosphorus on the (usually primary) alkyl halide.
This generates an alkyl triphenylphosphonium salt.
Treatment of this salt with a strong base removes a proton from the carbon bound to the phosphorus, and generates
the ylide.

The ylide is a resonance form of a C=P double bond.

The double bond resonance form requires 10 electrons around the P atom. This is achievable through use of its d
electrons (3
rd
row element), but the bond to carbon is weak, and this is only a minor contributor.

The carbanionic character of the ylide makes it a very powerful nucleophile, and so it reacts rapidly with a
carbonyl group.

This produces an intermediate which has charge separation - a betaine.

Betaines are unusual since they have a negatively charged oxygen and a positively charged phosphorus.

Phosphorus and oxygen always form strong bonds, and these groups therefore combine to generate a four
membered ring - an oxaphosphetane ring.

This 4 membered ring quickly collapses to generate an alkene and (very stable) triphenyl phosphine oxide.

The elimination of Ph
3
P=O is the driving force of this reaction.

This is a good general route to make new C=C double bonds starting from carbonyl compounds.
Wittig Strategy
By dividing a target molecule at the double bond, you can decide which of the two components should best come
from the carbonyl, and which from the ylide.

In general, the ylide should come from an unhindered alkyl halide since triphenyl phosphine is so bulky.

E.g.

Nucleophilic Addition of Water (Hydration)
In aqueous solution, ketones (and aldehydes) are in equilibrium with their hydrates (gem diols).

Most ketones have the equilibrium in favor of the unhydrated form.

Hydration proceeds through the two classic nucleophilic addition mechanisms with water (in acid) or hydroxide (in
base) acting as the nucleophile.

(Acid Protonation followed by nuc attack)

(Base Nuc attack followed by protonation)

Aldehydes are more likely to form hydrates since they have the larger partial positive charge on the carbonyl
carbon (larger charge = less stable = more reactive).

This is borne out by the following equilibrium constants.

Nucleophilic Addition of Hydrogen Cyanide (Cyanohydrins)
Hydrogen cyanide is a toxic volatile liquid (b.p.26C) - "the chair".

H-CN + H
2
O H
3
O
+
+
-
CN pK
a
= 9.2

Cyanide is a strong base (HCN weak acid) and a good nucleophile.

Cyanide reacts rapidly with carbonyl compounds producing cyanohydrins, via the base catalyzed nucleophilic
addition mechanism.

Like hydrate formation, cyanohydrin formation is an equilibrium governed reaction (i.e. reversible reaction), and
accordingly aldehydes are more reactive than ketones.

Formation of Imines (Condensation Reactions)
Under appropriate conditions, primary amines (and ammonia) react with ketones or aldehydes to generate imines.

An imine is a nitrogen analogue of a ketone (or aldehyde) with a C=N nitrogen double bond instead of a C=O.

Just as amines are nucleophilic and basic, so are imines.

(Sometimes substituted imines are referred to as Schiff's bases).

Imine formation is an example of a condensation reaction - where two molecules join together accompanied by the
expulsion of a small molecule (usually water).

The mechanism of imine formation starts with the basic addition of the amine to the carbonyl group.

Protonation of the oxyanion and deprotonation of the nitrogen cation generates an unstable intermediate called a
carbinolamine.

The carbinolamine has its oxygen protonated, and then water acts as the good leaving group.

This acid catalyzed dehydration creates the double bond, and the last step is the removal of the proton to produce
the neutral amine product.

The pH of the reaction mixture is crucial to successful formation of imines.

The pH must be acidic to promote the dehydration step, yet if the mixture is too acidic, then the reacting amine
will be protonated, and therefore un-nucleophilic, and this should inhibit the first step.

The rate of reaction varies with the pH as follows:

The best pH for imine formation is around 4.5.

Condensations with Hydroxylamines and Hydrazines
Aldehydes and ketones also condense with other ammonia derivatives, such as hydroxylamine and hydrazines.

Generally these reactions are better than the analogous amine reactions (i.e. give superior yields).

Oximes are produced when hydroxylamines are reacted with aldehydes and ketones.

Hydrazones are produced through reaction of hydrazines with aldehydes and ketones.

Semicarbazones are formed from reaction with semicarbazides.
These derivatives are often used in practical organic chemistry for characterization and identification of the original
carbonyl compounds (by melting point comparison, etc).
Formation of Acetals (Addition of Alcohols)
In an similar fashion to the formation of hydrates with water, aldehydes and ketones form acetals through reaction
with alcohols.

In the formation of an acetal, two molecules of alcohol add to the carbonyl group, and one mole of water is
eliminated.

Acetal formation only occurs with acid catalysis.

Mechanism of Acetal Formation
The first step is the typical acid catalyzed addition to the carbonyl group.

The hemiacetal reacts further to produce the more stable acetal:

The second half of the mechanism starts with protonation of the hydroxyl group, followed by its leaving.

The carbocation thus generated is resonance stabilized, and attack of the alcohol, after proton loss, produces the
final acetal.


The second step (and therefore overall transformation) requires the acidic conditions to aid the replacement of the
hydroxyl group (-OH is a bad leaving group, yet -OH
2
+
) is a good leaving group.

Cyclic Acetals
More commonly, instead of two molecules of alcohols being used, a diol is used (entropically more favorable).
This produces cyclic acetals.

E.g.

1,2-Ethanediol (ethylene glycol) is usually the diol of choice, and the products are called ethylene acetals.

(Dithiane is a sulfur analogue of a cyclic acetal).

C
O
H
OH HO
O O
C
H
H
+
+ H
2
O
Acetals as Protecting Groups
Acetals will hydrolyze under acidic conditions, but are stable to strong bases and nucleophiles.

They are also easily formed from aldehydes and ketones, and also easily converted back to the parent carbonyl
compounds.

These characteristics make acetals ideal protecting groups for aldehydes and ketones.

They can be used to 'protect' aldehydes and ketones from reacting with strong bases and nucleophiles.

Consider the strategy to prepare the following compound:

We might decide to use the Grignard reaction as shown above.

However, having a Grignard functionality and an aldehyde in the same molecule is bad news since they will react
with one another.
The strategy is still okay, we just need to 'protect' the aldehyde as some unreactive group - an acetal.

The acetal group is unreactive towards Grignard reagents (strong nucleophiles), and therefore this would be a
viable reagent.

The "masked" aldehyde can be safely converted to the Grignard reagent, and then this can react with
cyclohexanone.

The acetal is easily removed with acidic hydrolysis (which is also required to remove the MgBr
+
from the
oxyanion), giving the final product.
OH
CH
2
CH
2
C
O
H
O
BrMg
C
O
H
BrMg
O O
C
H
C
H
O
Br
HO-CH
2
CH
2
-OH
H
+
Br
O O
C
H
(1) Mg, ether
(2) cyclohexanone
(3) H
3
O
+
OH
CH
2
CH
2
C
O
H
Selective Acetal Formation
We have previously seen that aldehydes are more reactive than ketones (two reasons), and therefore aldehydes
will react to form acetals preferentially over ketones.

This means we can selectively protect aldehydes in the presence of ketones. (Remember to use only 1 equivalent!)

E.g.

This is a useful way to perform reactions on ketone functionalities in molecules that contain both aldehyde and
ketone groups.

(To selectively do reactions on the aldehyde, just do them!)

O
O
H
HO-CH
2
CH
2
-OH
H
+
O
O O
H
LiAlH
4
OH
O O
H
H
3
O
+
OH
O
H
Oxidation of Aldehydes
Unlike ketones, aldehydes can be oxidized easily to carboxylic acids (Chromic acid, permanganate etc).

Even weak oxidants like silver (I) oxide can perform this reaction, and this is a good, mild selective way to prepare
carboxylic acids in the presence of other (oxidizable) functionalities.
E.g.

(Could not use permanganate, etc for this transformation).

R
C
H
O
R
C
OH
O
[O]
C
O
H Ag
2
O
C
O
OH
Silver Mirror Test (Tollen's Test)
This type of oxidation reaction is the basis of the most common chemical test for aldehydes - the Silver Mirror
Test.

Tollen's reagent is added to an unknown compound, and if an aldehyde is present, it is oxidized.

R-CHO + 2Ag(NH
3
)
2
+
+ 3OH
-
2Ag + RCO
2
-
+ 4NH
3
+ 2H
2
O

This process reduces the Ag
+
to Ag, and the Ag precipitates - it sticks to the flask wall, and forms a 'silver mirror'.

Reduction of Ketone and Aldehydes
Aldehydes and ketones are most commonly reduced by sodium borohydride (Ch12, and earlier this chapter).

NaBH
4
reduces ketones to secondary alcohols, and aldehydes to primary alcohols.

Other Reductions

Catalytic Hydrogenation
Just as C=C double bonds can be reduced by the addition of hydrogen across the double bond, so can C=O double
bonds.

Carbonyl double bonds are reduced much more slowly than alkene double bonds.

Therefore, you cannot reduce a C=O in the presence of a C=C without reducing both (by this method).

E.g.

The most common catalyst for these hydrogenations is Raney nickel, although Pt and Rh can also be used.

C
O
H
C
O
H
H
2
, Ni
C
OH
H
H
Deoxygenation of Ketones and Aldehydes
Deoxygenation involves the removal of oxygen, and its replacement with two hydrogen atoms.

This reduction takes the carbonyl (past the alcohol) to a methylene group.

Compare the following reduction processes:

Clemmensen Reduction (recap?)
This was used in the reduction of acyl benzenes into alkyl benzenes, but it also works for other aldehydes and
ketones.

E.g.

O
Zn(Hg)
HCl, H
2
O
H
H
R
C
R'
O
R
C
H OH
R' R
C
H H
R'
NaBH
4
or LiAlH
4
(1) Ts-Cl
(2) LiAlH
4
Deoxygenation
Zn(Hg), HCl or
H
2
NNH
2
, KOH
Wolff-Kishner
Sometimes the acidic conditions used in the Clemmensen reduction are unsuitable for a given molecule.

In these cases, Wolff-Kishner reduction is employed.
The ketone or aldehyde is converted to its hydrazone (by reaction with hydrazine) and is then treated with a strong
base, which generates the reduced product.

E.g.

The mechanism of hydrazone formation is analogous to imine formation.

O
N
2
H
4
N-NH
2
KOH
+ N
2
heat
The strongly basic conditions then deprotonate the hydrazone, and the anion produced is resonance stabilized.

The carbanionic form picks up a proton, and another deprotonation of the nitrogen generates an intermediate which
is set up to eliminate a molecule of nitrogen (N
2
) and produce a carbanion.

This carbanion is quickly protonated, giving the final reduced product.

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Ch18 Ketones and Aldehydes (landscape) Page 1

Ketones and Aldehydes

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