A non-catalytic approach to the synthesis of 5,6-dihydrobenzo[h]quinolines

A concise synthesis of highly functionalized 5,6-dihydrobenzo[h]quinoline-3-carbonitriles is delineated through base induced ring transformation of 4-sec-amino-2-oxo-5,6-dihydro-2H-benzo[h]chromene-3-carbonitriles with S-methylisothiourea sulfate and 1-carboxamidinepyrazole hydrochloride, separately, in DMF. Under analogous reaction conditions the ring transformation of 4-sec-amino-2-oxo-5,6-dihydro-2H-benzo[h]chromene-3-carbonitriles by formamidine acetate provided 4-sec-amino-benzo[h]quinoline-3-carbonitriles in moderate yields, while with benzamidine hydrochloride, the reaction followed the same mechanism to yield 2-phenyl-4-sec-amino-5,6-dihydrobenzo[h]quinoline-3-carbonitriles.     

2-Oxobenzo[h]chromene: a novel entry for the synthesis of functionalized angular polycyclic azaarenes

An efficient and short synthesis of (5,6-dihydrobenzo[h]pyrido[2,1-b]quinazolin-2-ylidene)acetonitriles, (5,6-dihydrobenzo[h]pyrazino[2,1-b]quinazolin-2-ylidene)acetonitriles and (5,6-dihydrobenzimidazo[1,2-b]benzo[f]isoquinolin-7-yl)acetonitriles in good yields is delineated through base catalyzed ring transformation of 4-(piperidin-1-yl)-2-oxo-5,6-dihydro-2H-benzo[h]chromene-3-carbonitriles with 2-amino-pyridine, 2-aminopyrazine and (imidazo-2-yl)acetonitrile.     

2-Oxobenzo[h]chromene: a novel entry for the concise and efficient synthesis of indeno[1,2-c]phenanthrenes

An efficient and concise synthesis of 7-sec-amino-5,13-dihydro-6H-indeno[1,2-c]phenanthrene-8-carbonitriles is described through base catalyzed ring transformation of 4-sec-amino-2-oxo-5,6-dihydro-2H-benzo[h]chromene-3-carbonitriles with 1-indanone in moderate to good yields.     

An efficient and novel approach to the synthesis of tetrahydrophenanthro[4,3-b]thiophenes

An elegant approach to the synthesis of 2,3,6,7-tetrahydrophenanthro[4,3-b]thiophenes has been described through base catalyzed ring transformation of 4-sec-amino-2-oxo-5,6-dihydro-2H-benzo[h]chromene-3-carbonitriles with tetrahydrothiophen-3-one in very good yields.     

Versatility of 2-oxobenzo[h]chromene for the synthesis of oxabenzo[c]chrysenes

An innovative and concise synthesis of (7,8-dihydro-5-oxabenzo[c]chrysene-6-ylidene)acetonitriles is described through base catalyzed ring transformation of 2-oxo-4-piperidin-1-yl-5,6-dihydro-2H-benzo[h]chromene-3-carbonitriles with 1-tetralone in very good yields.     

An unusual synthesis of tetrahydrobenzo[f]isoquinolines

A facile and short synthesis of 2-oxo-4-sec-amino-2,3,5,6-tetrahydrobenzo[f]isoquinoline-1-carbonitriles has been delineated through base catalyzed ring transformation of 5,6-dihydro-2-oxo-4-sec-amino-2H-benzo[h]chromene-3-carbonitrile by cyanoacetamide in excellent yields.     

Synthesis of partially reduced ferrocenylphenanthrenes from 2-oxobenzo[h]chromenes through C-C insertion

An efficient and concise de novo synthesis of ferrocenyl tethered partially reduced phenanthrenes is described through base-catalyzed ring transformation of 4-sec-amino-2-oxo-5,6-dihydro-2H-benzo[h]chromene-3-carbonitriles with acetylferrocene.     

Economical synthesis of novel class of heteroatom containing partially reduced polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

An efficient and convenient synthesis of 2-oxa- and 2-thia-3,4,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-benzo[c]phenanthrenes has been described through base-induced ring transformation of 2-oxo-4-sec.amino-5,6-dihydro-2H-benzo[h]chromene-3-carbonitriles by 4-oxotetrahydropyran and 4-oxotetrahydrothiopyran, respectively, in excellent yields.     

An efficient non-catalytic, regioselective approach to the synthesis of angularly fused polycyclic systems

A novel approach to the synthesis of partially reduced different ring sizes of PAH analogs with sec.amino and nitrile functionalities is delineated through base-induced ring transformation of 4-sec.amino-2-oxo-5,6-dihydro-2H-benzo[h]chromene-3-carbonitriles by a carbanion, generated in situ from cyclopentanone, cyclohexanone, cycloheptanone, and cyclooctanone separately in good yields. An increase in the size of cycloalkanone ring beyond cyclooctanone restricts the ring transformation under analogous reaction conditions possibly due to bulky conformation of higher homologs. The synthetic method provides an efficient general route for the construction of angularly fused partially reduced polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: 5-sec.amino-2,3,6,7-tetrahydro-1H-cyclopenta[c]phenanthrene-4-carbonitriles, 6-sec.amino-2,3,4,7,8-pentahydro-1H-benzo[c]phenanthrene-5-carbonitriles, 7-sec.amino-2,3,4,5,8,9-hexahydro-1H-cyclohepta[c]phenanthrene-6-carbonitriles, and 8-sec.amino-2,3,4,5,6,9,10-heptahydro-1H-cycloocta[c]phenanthrene-7-carbonitriles.     

An efficient and versatile route to the synthesis of 9,10-dihydro-3-formylphenanthrenes

An innovative and efficient route to the synthesis of 9,10-dihydro-3-formylphenanthrenes 7 has been delineated through the ring transformation of 2-oxo-4-sec-amino-5,6-dihydro-2H-benzo[h]chromene-3-carbonitriles 4 with methyl glyoxaldimethylacetal 5 to masked 3-dimethoxymethyl-1-sec-amino-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene-3-carbonitriles 6 followed by deacetalation with Amberlyst 15 in excellent yields.     

Convenient synthesis of fused pyrano[3,2-h]- and furo[3,2-h]benzo[f]coumarins from naphthalene-2,3-diol

The treatment of 8-propargyloxy-benzo[f]coumarin with boron trifluoride diethyl etherate in N,N-dimethylformamide under reflux or MW irradiation resulted in pyrano[3,2-h]benzo[f]coumarin, while the furo[3,2-h]benzo[f]coumarin is received from the treatment with N-methylformamide under MW irradiation.     

A convenient synthesis of partially reduced benzo[c]phenanthrenes, its ketals and ketones

A concise and convenient synthesis of various partially reduced 6-sec-amino-1,2,3,4,7,8-hexahydro-, 6-sec-amino-1,2,7,8-tetrahydrobenzo[c]phenanthrene-5-carbonitriles, 6-sec-amino-3,4,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-benzo[c]phenanthrene-2-one-5-carbonitrile cycloalkene ketals, pendant with electron donor and acceptor substituents has been described through base catalyzed ring transformation of 2-oxo-4-sec-amino-5,6-dihydro-2H-benzo[h]chromene-3-carbonitriles by cyclohexanone, 2-cyclohexen-1-one, 1,4-cyclohexanedione monocycloalkene ketals. The acid catalyzed deketalation of 6-sec-amino-3,4,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-benzo[c]phenanthrene-2-one-carbonitrile ketals led to yield 6-sec-amino-3,4,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-benzo[c]phenanthrene-3-carbonitrile-2-ones in excellent yield. We also performed the X-ray studies of the molecules 3d and 6a to know the degree of non-planarity.     

Synthesis of ‘three-petal’ carbocyclic systems based on s-cis-diferrocenyltrienes

Acid-catalyzed intramolecular, homoannular alkylation of one of the ferrocenyl substituents in spirocyclodimers derived from 1,3-bis(ferrocenylmethylidene)-2-methylidene-cyclohexane, -cycloheptane, and 3,5-bis(ferrocenylmethylidene)-4-methylidene-N-methylpiperidine results in a fused system with a ‘three-petal’ moiety in the center. The structure of 1-ferrocenyl-3,11-bis(ferrocenylmethylidene)-2,3,4,5,6,6b,10,10a,11,12,13,14-dodecahydro-1H-benzo[d](ferroceno[a])phenanthrene was established by X-ray diffraction analysis.     

Ring expansion of 11H-benzo[b]fluorene-11-methanols and related compounds leading to 17,18-diphenyldibenzo[a,o]pentaphene and related polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with extended conjugation and novel architectures

Condensation between 7-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-13-phenyl-8H-indeno[2,1-b]phenanthrene and paraformaldehyde produced the corresponding 9-fluorenylmethanol derivative, which on treatment with P₂O₅ to promote a Wagner-Meerwein rearrangement for ring expansion furnished 14-phenyldibenzo[a,j]anthracene in 88% yield. Similarly, 17,18-diphenyldibenzo[a,o]pentaphene possessing a helical twist and bearing two phenyl substituents at the most sterically congested C17 and C18 positions and other related compounds were likewise synthesized. Subsequent intramolecular arylation reactions involving the phenyl substituents produced polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with novel architectures.     

The synthesis of indolo- and pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines

The synthesis of fused isoquinolines from N-benzyl protected indoles and pyrroles is described. For example, treatment of t-butyl-2-(2-formyl-3,4-dihydro-1-naphthalenyl)-3-methyl-1H-indole-1-carboxylate with KOBu^t in DMF provided 14-methyl-8-phenylbenzo[h]indolo[2,1-a]isoquinoline in good yield. Analogous N-benzylpyrrole precursors could similarly be cyclized to give pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines.     

First straightforward synthesis of 2,4-disubstituted benz[g]isoquinoline-3,5,10(2H)-triones, 1,2,3,5-substituted naphtho[3,2,1-de]isoquinoline-4,7-diones, and 6-substituted benzo[h]pyrido[3,4,5-kl]-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroacridine-5,8-diones

Structural modifications to the benz[g]isoquinoline skeleton of N-substituted benz[g]isoquinoline-3,5,10(2H)-triones were envisaged in order to make future SAR studies possible for this type of bioactive compounds. Several N-substituted benz[g]isoquinoline-3,5,10(2H)-triones were converted to novel 2,4-substituted benz[g]isoquinoline-3,5,10(2H)-triones, new tetracyclic 1,2,3,5-substituted naphtho[3,2,1-de]isoquinoline-4,7-diones, and 6-substituted benzo[h]pyrido[3,4,5-kl]-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroacridine-5,8-diones. All the synthesized target compounds represent new heterocyclic systems, which were previously undescribed in the literature.     

Symmetry of Kekulé structures

The symmetry of Kekulé structures for aromatic hydrocarbons is studied by group theory. The general problem of deducing the distribution over irreducible representations (Λ_Kek) or characters of the representation based on the Kekulé structures (χ_Kek) has not been solved. A partial solution is given for two classes of molecules, namely (a) the “straight chain” aromatics (polyacenes): naphthalene, anthracene, naphthacene, etc., and (b) the “zig-zag chain” aromatics: phenanthrene, chrysene, picene, etc. As a part of this solution the number of Kekulé structures (K) in the two cases was found to be (a) K = Q + 1 and (b) K = F_Q+1, respectively. Here Q is the number of benzene rings in the molecule in question, and F_i denotes the i-th member of the Fibonacci series. Symmetrical structures (Λ_Kek) or characters (χ_Kek) are given for a number of additional molecules as examples: benzene (D_6h), tetraphene (C_s), benzo[c] phenanthrene (C_2v), pyrene (D_2h), triphenylene (D_3h), perylene (D_2h), pentaphene (C_2v), dibenzophenanthrene (C_2v), heptaphene (C_2v) and coronene (D_6h). Here the appropriate symmetry groups are given in parentheses.     

Synthesis of spiro[benzopyrazolonaphthyridine-indoline]-diones and spiro[chromenopyrazolopyridine-indoline]-diones by one-pot, three-component methods in water

The synthesis of spiro[benzo[h]pyrazolo[3,4-b][1,6]naphthyridine-7,3′-indoline]-2′,6(5H)-diones and spiro[chromeno[4,3-b]pyrazolo[4,3-e]pyridine-7,3′-indoline]-2′,6(6aH,10H)-diones via a one-pot, three-component reaction of 4-hydroxycoumarin or 4-hydroxy-1-methylquinolin-2(1H)-one, isatins and 1H-pyrazol-5-amines in water is reported.     

Pd-catalyzed intramolecular direct arylations at high temperature

Pd-catalyzed cyclodehydrohalogenation involving oxidative addition of aromatic C-Br or activated azaheteroaromatic C-Cl bonds and C(sp²)-H activation have been investigated at high reaction temperatures (180-200 °C). This allowed the fast (10-30 min) synthesis of a variety of azaheteroaromatic ring systems (dibenzo[f,h]phthalazine, dibenzo[f,h]cinnoline, benzofuro[2,3-d]pyridazine, 5H-pyridazino[4,5-b]indole, 7H-indolo[2,3-c]quinoline and 5H-δ-carboline) in moderate to good yields.     

The first synthesis of the benzo[b]indolo[1,2-h][1,7]naphthyridine ring system

The first syntheses of representatives of the benzo[b]indolo[1,2-h][1,7]naphthyridine ring system have been accomplished using the Friedländer reaction.