Mannich reaction

The Mannich reaction is an organic reaction which consists of an amino alkylation of an acidic proton placed next to a carbonyl functional group by formaldehyde and a primary or secondary amine or ammonia. The final product is a β-amino-carbonyl compound also known as a Mannich base. Reactions between aldimines and α-methylene carbonyls are also considered Mannich reactions because these imines form between amines and aldehydes. The reaction is named after chemist Carl Mannich. The Mannich reaction is an example of nucleophilic addition of an amine to a carbonyl group followed by dehydration to the Schiff base. The Schiff base is an electrophile which reacts in the second step in an electrophilic addition with a compound containing an acidic proton (which is, or had become an enol). The Mannich reaction is also considered a condensation reaction. In the Mannich reaction, primary or secondary amines or ammonia, are employed for the activation of formaldehyde. Tertiary amines lack an N–H proton to form the intermediate enamine. α-CH-acidic compounds (nucleophiles) include carbonyl compounds, nitriles, acetylenes, aliphatic nitro compounds, α-alkyl-pyridines or imines. It is also possible to use activated phenyl groups and electron-rich heterocycles such as furan, pyrrole, and thiophene. Indole is a particularly active substrate; the reaction provides gramine derivatives. The mechanism of the Mannich reaction starts with the formation of an iminium ion from the amine and the formaldehyde. The compound with the carbonyl functional group (in this case a ketone) can tautomerize to the enol form, after which it can attack the iminium ion. On methyl ketones, the enolization and the Mannich addition can occur twice, followed by an β-elimination to yield β-amino enone derivatives. Progress has been made towards asymmetric Mannich reactions. When properly functionalized the newly formed ethylene bridge in the Mannich adduct has two prochiral centers giving rise to two diastereomeric pairs of enantiomers. The first asymmetric Mannich reaction with an unmodified aldehyde was carried with (S)-proline as a naturally occurring chiral catalyst. The reaction taking place is between a simple aldehyde, such as propionaldehyde, and an imine derived from ethyl glyoxylate and p-methoxyaniline (PMP = paramethoxphenyl) catalyzed by (S)-proline in dioxane at room temperature. The reaction product is diastereoselective with a preference for the syn-Mannich reaction 3:1 when the alkyl substituent on the aldehyde is a methyl group or 19:1 when the alkyl group the much larger pentyl group. Of the two possible syn adducts (S,S) or (R,R) the reaction is also enantioselective with a preference for the (S,S) adduct with enantiomeric excess larger than 99%. This stereoselectivity is explained in the scheme below.