. Can. J. Chem. 61, 1379 (1983). The formation of Mannich bases from the reaction of silyl enol ethers with N-methyl-N-mesitylmethylcniminium salt, generated by the electrochemical oxidation of N,N-dimethylmesidine, was studied. Important factors influencing the reaction are: (a) the silyl enol ether must be nucleophilic enough to react with the iminium salt and, at the same time, must be more difficult to oxidize than the tertiary amine, (b) the product of the reaction must not be oxidized at the operating potential. Examples are presented in this paper illustrating the successes and limitations of this reaction.ROGER N. RENAUD, DENIS BERUBE et CAMPBELL J . STEPHENS. Can. J . Chem. 61, 1379 (1983). La formation de bases de Mannich a @tk ktudiCe en faisant rkagir des ethers silyl Cnoliques sur le sel N-mCthyl-Nmksitylmtthyleniminium prtparC par oxydation Clectrochimique de la N,N-dimkthylmtsidine. Les facteurs pouvant influencer la rCaction sont: (a) l'ether silyl knolique doit Ctre assez nucltophilique pour rtagir avec le sel iminium et, en meme temps, doit Ctre plus difficile i oxyder que I'amine tertiaire, (b) Ic produit de la reaction ne doit Ctre oxydi: au potentiel employk. Des exemples montrant le succes et la limitation de cette rkaction sont prtsentks dans cette dtude.
// ' C=C \RSThe electrochemical formation of iminium cations from tertiary amines has been extensively studied (6-9). Recently, it 3 was shown that the iminium cation, obtained from the electrochemical oxidation of N,N-dimethylanilines, gave good yields of addition products with nucleophiles such as diethyl phos-R ' 1 I phate and dialkylmalonates (7,8). It seemed to be interesting \N-CH~-C-C-R~ for us to study the preparation of Mannich bases 4 by the R2"
Inucleophilic attack of silyl en01 ethers 3 on electrochemically prepared iminium cations 2, according to Scheme I . Only a 4 selection of silyl en01 ethers in the presence of the iminium salt SCHEME I of N,N-dimethylmesidine 1 are reported in this paper in order to present the scope of the potential of this preparative method.the products have to be considered. Figure 1 illustrates the
Results and discussionControlled potential electrolyses were performed at a platinum electrode in acetonitrile containing 0.1 M lithium perchlorate. By using a one-compartment cell, a dark solution and an electrode passivation were obtained. The current was reversed for 2 s every minute in order to regenerate the surface of the electrode. A two-compartment cell eliminated these problems and simplified the purification of the products. Nevertheless, the yield of products increased only slightly by using a divided cell. Good yields (Table 1) of ~L I -4~i were obtained' for the electrolysis of N,N-dimethylmesidine in the presence of the silyl en01 ethers 3a-3ri, respectively. However, the Mannich base 4 e was obtained in low yield froni 3 e while 4f was not detected from 3f.Examination of the oxidation potentials of the reactants and the products gave some light on the electrolysis results. The current-pote...