Reaction of Zinc Enolates of Alkyl Esters of Substituted 4-Bromo-3-Oxoalkanoic Acids with Aldehydes

Zinc enolates formed from ethyl 4-bromo-2,2,4-trimethyl-3-oxopentanoate react under the conditions of one- of two-stage synthesis with aliphatic, unsaturated, or aromatic aldehydes to form 6-R-2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-2,3,5,6-tetrahydropyran-2,4-diones. Zinc enolates obtained from ethyl 4-bromo-2,2-dimethyl-3-oxopentanoate, -hexanoate, and -2,2,5-trimethyl-3-oxohexanoate under the similar conditions react with aliphatic or aromatic aldehydes to give mainly 5-R¹-6-R²-3,3-dimethyl-2,3,5,6-tetrahydropyran-2,4-diones as E or Z isomers or their mixtures. Zinc enolates generated from the ethyl 4-bromo-2,2-diethyl- or 2-benzyl-2-ethyl-3-oxobutanoates react with aromatic aldehydes to give ethyl 5-R-2-R-2-ethyl-3-oxo-4-pentenoates as E isomers.