Enol

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Examples of keto-enol tautomerism
Enol.png
Ketone tautomerization, keto-form at left, enol at right. Ex. is 3-pentanone, a less stabilized enol.[ citation needed ]
Enolate Resonance.svg
Enolate resonance structures, schematic representation of forms (see text regarding molecular orbitals); carbanion form at left, enolate at right; Ex. is 2-butanone, also a less stabilized enol.[ citation needed ]
AcacH.svg
Ketone tautomerization, enol-form at left, keto at right. Ex. is 2,4-pentanedione, a hydrogen bond (---) stabilized enol.[ citation needed ]
Tartronaldehyde.svg
Aldehyde tautomerization, enol-form at left, "keto" at right; Ex. is tartronaldehyde (reductone), an enediol-type of enol.[ citation needed ]

In organic chemistry, enols are a type of Functional group or intermediate in organic chemistry containing a group with the formula C=C(OH) (R = many substituents). The term enol is an abbreviation of alkenol, a portmanteau deriving from "-ene"/"alkene" and the "-ol". Many kinds of enols are known. [1]

Contents

Keto–enol tautomerism refers to a chemical equilibrium between a "keto" form (a carbonyl, named for the common ketone case) and an enol. The interconversion of the two forms involves the transfer of an alpha hydrogen atom and the reorganisation of bonding electrons. The keto and enol forms are tautomers of each other. [2]

Enolization

Organic esters, ketones, and aldehydes with an α-hydrogen (C−H bond adjacent to the carbonyl group) often form enols. The reaction involves migration of a proton (H) from carbon to oxygen: [1]

RC(=O)CHR′R′′ ⇌ RC(OH)=CR′R′′

In the case of ketones, the conversion is called a keto-enol tautomerism, although this name is often more generally applied to all such tautomerizations. Usually the equilibrium constant is so small that the enol is undetectable spectroscopically.

In some compounds with two (or more) carbonyls, the enol form becomes dominant. The behavior of 2,4-pentanedione illustrates this effect: [3]

AcacH.svg
Selected enolization constants [4]
carbonylenolKenolization
Acetaldehyde
CH3CHO
CH2=CHOH5.8×10−7
Acetone
CH3C(O)CH3
CH3C(OH)=CH25.12×10−7
Methyl acetate
CH3CO2CH3
CH2=CH(OH)OCH34×10−20
Acetophenone
C6H5C(O)CH3
C6H5C(OH)=CH21×10−8
Acetylacetone
CH3C(O)CH2C(O)CH3
CH3C(O)CH=C(OH)CH30.27
Trifluoroacetylacetone
CH3C(O)CH2C(O)CF3
CH3C(O)CH=C(OH)CF332
Hexafluoroacetylacetone
CF3C(O)CH2C(O)CF3
CF3C(O)CH=C(OH)CF3~104
Cyclohexa-2,4-dienone Phenol
C6H5OH
>1012

Enols are derivatives of vinyl alcohol, with a C=C−OH connectivity. Deprotonation of organic carbonyls gives the enolate anion, which are a strong nucleophile. A classic example for favoring the keto form can be seen in the equilibrium between vinyl alcohol and acetaldehyde (K = [enol]/[keto]  3×10−7). In 1,3-diketones, such as acetylacetone (2,4-pentanedione), the enol form is favored.

The acid-catalyzed conversion of an enol to the keto form proceeds by proton transfer from O to carbon. The process does not occur intramolecularly, but requires participation of solvent or other mediators.

Stereochemistry of ketonization

If R1 and R2 (note equation at top of page) are different substituents, there is a new stereocenter formed at the alpha position when an enol converts to its keto form. Depending on the nature of the three R groups, the resulting products in this situation would be diastereomers or enantiomers.[ citation needed ]

Enediols

Enediols are alkenes with a hydroxyl group on each carbon of the C=C double bond. Normally such compounds are disfavored components in equilibria with acyloins. One special case is catechol, where the C=C subunit is part of an aromatic ring. In some other cases however, enediols are stabilized by flanking carbonyl groups. These stabilized enediols are called reductones. Such species are important in glycochemistry, e.g., the Lobry de Bruyn-van Ekenstein transformation. [5]

Keto-enediol tautomerizations. Enediol in the center; acyloin isomers at left and right. Ex. is hydroxyacetone, shown at right. Keto-Endiol-Tautomerie.svg
Keto-enediol tautomerizations. Enediol in the center; acyloin isomers at left and right. Ex. is hydroxyacetone, shown at right.
Conversion of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) to an enolate. Enediol at left, enolate at right, showing movement of electron pairs resulting in deprotonation of the stable parent enediol. A distinct, more complex chemical system, exhibiting the characteristic of vinylogy. Ascorbic acidity3.png
Conversion of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) to an enolate. Enediol at left, enolate at right, showing movement of electron pairs resulting in deprotonation of the stable parent enediol. A distinct, more complex chemical system, exhibiting the characteristic of vinylogy.

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate is a key substrate in the Calvin cycle of photosynthesis. In the Calvin cycle, the ribulose equilibrates with the enediol, which then binds carbon dioxide. The same enediol is also susceptible to attack by oxygen (O2) in the (undesirable) process called photorespiration.

Keto-enediol equilibrium for ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate. EnediolPhotoResp.svg
Keto-enediol equilibrium for ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate.

Phenols

Phenols represent a kind of enol. For some phenols and related compounds, the keto tautomer plays an important role. Many of the reactions of resorcinol involve the keto tautomer, for example. Naphthalene-1,4-diol exists in observable equilibrium with the diketone tetrahydronaphthalene-1,4-dione. [6]

Tetrahydronaphthalenedione.png

Biochemistry

Keto–enol tautomerism is important in several areas of biochemistry.[ citation needed ]

The high phosphate-transfer potential of phosphoenolpyruvate results from the fact that the phosphorylated compound is "trapped" in the less thermodynamically favorable enol form, whereas after dephosphorylation it can assume the keto form.[ citation needed ]

The enzyme enolase catalyzes the dehydration of 2-phosphoglyceric acid to the enol phosphate ester. Metabolism of PEP to pyruvic acid by pyruvate kinase (PK) generates adenosine triphosphate (ATP) via substrate-level phosphorylation. [7]

2-phospho-D-glycerate wpmp.png Phosphoenolpyruvate wpmp.png Pyruvate wpmp.png
H2O ADP ATP
Biochem reaction arrow reversible NYYN horiz med.svg Biochem reaction arrow reversible YYNN horiz med.svg
H2O

Reactivity

Addition of electrophiles

The terminus of the double bond in enols is nucleophilic. Its reactions with electrophilic organic compounds is important in biochemistry as well as synthetic organic chemistry. In the former area, the fixation of carbon dioxide involves addition of CO2 to an enol.[ citation needed ]

Deprotonation: enolates

Deprotonation of enolizable ketones, aldehydes, and esters gives enolates. [8] [9] Enolates can be trapped by the addition of electrophiles at oxygen. Silylation gives silyl enol ether. [10] Acylation gives esters such as vinyl acetate. [11]

Stable enols

In general, enols are less stable than their keto equivalents because of the favorability of the C=O double bond over C=C double bond. However, enols can be stabilized kinetically or thermodynamically.[ citation needed ]

Some enols are sufficiently stabilized kinetically so that they can be characterized.[ citation needed ]

Diaryl-substitution stabilizes some enols. Hindrance.png
Diaryl-substitution stabilizes some enols.

Delocalization can stabilize the enol tautomer. Thus, very stable enols are phenols. [13] Another stabilizing factor in 1,3-dicarbonyls is intramolecular hydrogen bonding. [14] Both of these factors influence the enol-dione equilibrium in acetylacetone.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ketone</span> Organic compounds of the form >C=O

In organic chemistry, a ketone is an organic compound with the structure R−C(=O)−R', where R and R' can be a variety of carbon-containing substituents. Ketones contain a carbonyl group −C(=O)−. The simplest ketone is acetone, with the formula (CH3)2CO. Many ketones are of great importance in biology and industry. Examples include many sugars (ketoses), many steroids, and the solvent acetone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aldehyde</span> Organic compound containing the functional group R−CH=O

In organic chemistry, an aldehyde is an organic compound containing a functional group with the structure R−CH=O. The functional group itself can be referred to as an aldehyde but can also be classified as a formyl group. Aldehydes are a common motif in many chemicals important in technology and biology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dicarbonyl</span> Molecule containing two adjacent C=O groups

In organic chemistry, a dicarbonyl is a molecule containing two carbonyl groups. Although this term could refer to any organic compound containing two carbonyl groups, it is used more specifically to describe molecules in which both carbonyls are in close enough proximity that their reactivity is changed, such as 1,2-, 1,3-, and 1,4-dicarbonyls. Their properties often differ from those of monocarbonyls, and so they are usually considered functional groups of their own. These compounds can have symmetrical or unsymmetrical substituents on each carbonyl, and may also be functionally symmetrical or unsymmetrical.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aldol reaction</span> Chemical reaction

The aldol reaction is a reaction in organic chemistry that combines two carbonyl compounds to form a new β-hydroxy carbonyl compound. Its simplest form might involve the nucleophilic addition of an enolized ketone to another:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enamine</span> Class of chemical compounds

An enamine is an unsaturated compound derived by the condensation of an aldehyde or ketone with a secondary amine. Enamines are versatile intermediates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acetylacetone</span> Chemical compound

Acetylacetone is an organic compound with the chemical formula CH3−C(=O)−CH2−C(=O)−CH3. It is classified as a 1,3-diketone. It exists in equilibrium with a tautomer CH3−C(=O)−CH=C(−OH)−CH3. The mixture is a colorless liquid. These tautomers interconvert so rapidly under most conditions that they are treated as a single compound in most applications. Acetylacetone is a building block for the synthesis of many coordination complexes as well as heterocyclic compounds.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enolate</span> Organic anion formed by deprotonating a carbonyl (>C=O) compound

In organic chemistry, enolates are organic anions derived from the deprotonation of carbonyl compounds. Rarely isolated, they are widely used as reagents in the synthesis of organic compounds.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nucleophilic conjugate addition</span> Organic reaction

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In organic chemistry, acyloins or α-hydroxy ketones are a class of organic compounds of the general form R−C(O)CH(OH)−R', composed of a hydroxy group adjacent to a ketone group. The name acyloin is derived from the fact that they are formally derived from reductive coupling of carboxylic acyl groups. They are one of the two main classes of hydroxy ketones, distinguished by the position of the hydroxy group relative to the ketone; in this form, the hydroxy is on the alpha carbon, explaining the secondary name of α-hydroxy ketone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darzens reaction</span>

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In organic chemistry, aldol reactions are acid- or base-catalyzed reactions of aldehydes or ketones.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carbonyl α-substitution reaction</span> Chemical reaction

A carbonyl α-substitution reaction occurs at the position next to the carbonyl group, the α-position, and involves the substitution of an α-hydrogen by an electrophile through either an enol or enolate ion intermediate.

The Buchner–Curtius–Schlotterbeck reaction is the reaction of aldehydes or ketones with aliphatic diazoalkanes to form homologated ketones. It was first described by Eduard Buchner and Theodor Curtius in 1885 and later by Fritz Schlotterbeck in 1907. Two German chemists also preceded Schlotterbeck in discovery of the reaction, Hans von Pechmann in 1895 and Viktor Meyer in 1905. The reaction has since been extended to the synthesis of β-keto esters from the condensation between aldehydes and diazo esters. The general reaction scheme is as follows:

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In organic chemistry, the Conia-ene reaction is an intramolecular cyclization reaction between an enolizable carbonyl such as an ester or ketone and an alkyne or alkene, giving a cyclic product with a new carbon-carbon bond. As initially reported by J. M. Conia and P. Le Perchec, the Conia-ene reaction is a heteroatom analog of the ene reaction that uses an enol as the ene component. Like other pericyclic reactions, the original Conia-ene reaction required high temperatures to proceed, limiting its wider application. However, subsequent improvements, particularly in metal catalysis, have led to significant expansion of reaction scope. Consequently, various forms of the Conia-ene reaction have been employed in the synthesis of complex molecules and natural products.

The ketimine Mannich reaction is an asymmetric synthetic technique using differences in starting material to push a Mannich reaction to create an enantiomeric product with steric and electronic effects, through the creation of a ketimine group. Typically, this is done with a reaction with proline or another nitrogen-containing heterocycle, which control chirality with that of the catalyst. This has been theorized to be caused by the restriction of undesired (E)-isomer by preventing the ketone from accessing non-reactive tautomers. Generally, a Mannich reaction is the combination of an amine, a ketone with a β-acidic proton and aldehyde to create a condensed product in a β-addition to the ketone. This occurs through an attack on the ketone with a suitable catalytic-amine unto its electron-starved carbon, from which an imine is created. This then undergoes electrophilic addition with a compound containing an acidic proton. It is theoretically possible for either of the carbonyl-containing molecules to create diastereomers, but with the addition of catalysts which restrict addition as of the enamine creation, it is possible to extract a single product with limited purification steps and in some cases as reported by List et al.; practical one-pot syntheses are possible. The process of selecting a carbonyl-group gives the reaction a direct versus indirect distinction, wherein the latter case represents pre-formed products restricting the reaction's pathway and the other does not. Ketimines selects a reaction group, and circumvent a requirement for indirect pathways.

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