The diverse chemistry of oxazol-5-(4H)-ones

The assembly of structurally diverse scaffolds via substrate controlled diversity oriented synthesis (DOS) has proven to be an effective tool in the discovery of novel biologically important compounds. This tutorial review aims to summarize some of the more recent applications of oxazolones as a general template for the stereoselective syntheses of amino acids and heterocyclic scaffolds. A brief introduction covers a short history, nomenclature and general reactivity of oxazolones. The main body of this tutorial review highlights several applications of oxazolones as starting blocks for the diverse and stereoselective synthesis of amino acids, oxazoles, beta-lactams, pyrroles, imidazolines, pyrrolines, and imidazoles.     

Efficient Synthesis of Dimeric Oxazoles,Piperidines and Tetrahydroisoquinolines from N‐Substituted 2‐Oxazolones

A mild and practical method for the construction of heterocycles from N‐substituted 2‐oxazolones through cascade, BF₃?Et₂O/H₂O‐catalyzed reactions involving iminium ion generation and trapping by external or internal olefinic and aryl moieties is described. Mechanistic and computational studies revealed the strong protic acid HBF₄ as the initiating catalyst for these cascade reactions. Providing access to novel molecular diversity, these processes may facilitate chemical biology studies, drug discovery efforts and natural products synthesis.     

Cu-assisted C–N bond formations in six-membered N-heterocycle synthesis

Abstract

One of the highly emerging and important aspect of organic chemistry is the metal-catalyzed synthesis of the heterocycles. The methodologies used earlier for its synthesis were less approachable to the organic chemist because of their high cost, highly specified instrumentation and inconvenient methods. For both the stereoselective and regioselective synthesis of six-membered nitrogen-containing heterocycles, cyclic reactions that are Cu-catalyzed have known to be very efficient. The presented review covers the varied applications of Cu as a catalyst and its importance in the formation of six-membered nitrogen-containing heterocycles. The fascinating research that has been done in this area is also enclosed in this review.     

Synthesis of five-membered N-heterocycles using Rh based metal catalysts

Abstract

One of the highly emerging and an important aspect of organic chemistry is the metal catalyzed synthesis of heterocycles. The methodologies used earlier for their synthesis were less approachable to the organic chemist because of their high cost, highly specified instrumentation, and inconvenient methods. For both the stereoselective and regioselective synthesis of five-membered nitrogen containing heterocycles, cyclic reactions that are Rh-catalyzed have known to be very efficient. The present review covers the varied applications of Rh as a catalyst and its importance in the formation of five-membered nitrogen containing heterocycles. The fascinating research that has been done in this area is enclosed in this review.     

Ag-mediated synthesis of six-membered N-heterocycles

Abstract

One of the highly emerging and an important aspect of organic chemistry is the metal catalyzed synthesis of heterocycles. The methods used earlier for the synthesis of heterocycles were significant in the organic synthesis and developing cost-effective, improved and facial methods were beneficial to construct the complex architectures. For the both stereoselective and regioselective synthesis of six-membered nitrogen containing heterocycles, cyclic reactions that are Ag-mediated have known to be very efficient. The present review covers the applications of Ag in the formation of six-membered nitrogen containing heterocycles.     

Applications of Dainshefsky's Dienes in the Asymmetric synthesis of Aza‐Diels‐Alder Reaction

Asymmetric hetero‐Diels‐Alder (AHDA) reactions provide a multitude of opportunities for the highly efficient, regio‐ and stereoselective construction of various heterocycles in enantiomerically pure form. The asymmetric aza‐Diels‐Alder (A‐aza‐DA) reaction using diversely hetero‐dienophiles and hetero‐dienes have been increasingly developed as a valuable method for the synthesis of functionalized nitrogen ring systems. The purpose of this review is to give a detailed discussion of the A‐aza‐DA reaction particularly, the stereoselective reactions of imines as dienophiles with Dainshefsky dienes to obtain optically pure aza‐Diels‐Alder products. The development of stereoselective variants of the reaction make use of imines as the dienophile and Dainshefsky dienes is at the forefront of these studies. This review updates the A‐aza‐DA reactions covering the literature from 1972 till date     

Metal and organo-complex promoted synthesis of fused five-membered O-heterocycles

Abstract

One of the highly emerging and an important aspect of organic chemistry is the metal and organo-complex promoted synthesis of the heterocycles. The methodologies used earlier for its synthesis were less approachable to the organic chemist due to their high cost, highly sophisticated instrumentation and problematic methods. For both stereoselective and regioselective synthesis of fused five-membered O-containing heterocycles, cyclic reactions that are metal and organo-complex promoted have been known to be very efficient. The present review article covers the different applications of metals and organo-complexes in the formation of fused five-membered oxygen containing fused heterocycles. The fascinating research that has been done in this area is enclosed in this review.     

Application of titanium catalysts for the syntheses of heterocycles

The metal catalyzed synthesis of heterocycles is becoming an important and highly rewarding protocol in organic synthesis. Traditional approaches require expensive or highly specialized equipment or would be of limited use to the synthetic organic chemist due to their highly inconvenient approaches. Titanium-mediated cyclization reactions have been recognized as some of the simplest and useful tools for regio- as well as stereoselective syntheses of five-membered N-heterocycles. This review summarizes the applications of titanium catalysts with emphasis of their synthetic applications for different heterocylces. This review covered interesting discoveries in the past few years.     

Synthesis and structure of novel 1lambda4,2,6-thiadiazines

S,S-Disubstituted sulfodiimines 9 are known to be versatile building blocks for the synthesis of various sulfur-nitrogen-containing heterocycles. Addition-condensation reactions of 9 with three different activated carbonylsubstrates 14-16 lead to several new 1lambda(6),2,6-thiadiazine-3-ones 17-20. S-Debenzylation via a novel synthetic approach utilizing different electrophiles such as TMSCl, Alk(3)O(+)BF(4)(-), Tos(2)O, and Mes(2)O gives rise to a variety of so far hardly known 1lambda(4),2,6-thiadiazine-3-ones 25 and 26. Structure elucidation reveals NH/CH tautomers in solution as well as a tetrahedral asymmetric sulfur attached to the conjugated planar N/C skeleton. The structural features of the 1lambda(4),2,6-thiadiazines 25 and 26 as well as their reactivity toward certain electrophiles will be discussed in detail. Alkylation with Alk(3)O(+)BF(4)(-) preferably results in formation of the 3-alkoxy-1lambda(4)-2,6-thiadiazines 29. In the presence of acid or base, also the N-2-alkyl isomers 30 are formed. Mesylation of 26 with methanesulfonic acid anhydride followed by aminolysis furnishes a variety of the desired heterocycles 5 in moderate overall yield.     

Bismuth(III) reagents in steroid and terpene chemistry

Steroid and terpene chemistry still have a great impact on medicinal chemistry. Therefore, the development of new reactions or "greener" processes in this field is a contemporaneous issue. In this review, the use of bismuth(III) salts, as "ecofriendly" reagents/catalysts, on new chemical processes involving steroids and terpenes as substrates will be focused. Special attention will be given to some mechanistic considerations concerning selected reactions.     

Advancements in the Synthesis and Applications of Cationic N‐Heterocycles through Transition Metal‐Catalyzed C−H Activation

Cationic N‐heterocycles are an important class of organic compounds largely present in natural and bioactive molecules. They are widely used as fluorescent dyes for biological studies, as well as in spectroscopic and microscopic methods. These compounds are key intermediates in many natural and pharmaceutical syntheses. They are also a potential candidate for organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs). Because of these useful applications, the development of new methods for the synthesis of cationic N‐heterocycles has received a lot of attention. In particular, many C?H activation methodologies that realize high step‐ and atom‐economies toward these compounds have been developed. In this review, recent advancements in the synthesis and applications of cationic N‐heterocycles through C?H activation reactions are summarized. The new C?H activation reactions described in this review are preferred over their classical analogs.     

Azides in the Synthesis of Various Heterocycles

In this review, we focus on some interesting and recent examples of various applications of organic azides such as their intermolecular or intramolecular, under thermal, catalyzed, or noncatalyzed reaction conditions. The aforementioned reactions in the aim to prepare basic five-, six-, organometallic heterocyclic-membered systems and/or their fused analogs. This review article also provides a report on the developed methods describing the synthesis of various heterocycles from organic azides, especially those reported in recent papers (till 2020). At the outset, this review groups the synthetic methods of organic azides into different categories. Secondly, the review deals with the functionality of the azido group in chemical reactions. This is followed by a major section on the following: (1) the synthetic tools of various heterocycles from the corresponding organic azides by one-pot domino reaction; (2) the utility of the chosen catalysts in the chemoselectivity favoring C−H and C-N bonds; (3) one-pot procedures (i.e., Ugi four-component reaction); (4) nucleophilic addition, such as Aza-Michael addition; (5) cycloaddition reactions, such as [3+2] cycloaddition; (6) mixed addition/cyclization/oxygen; and (7) insertion reaction of C-H amination. The review also includes the synthetic procedures of fused heterocycles, such as quinazoline derivatives and organometal heterocycles (i.e., phosphorus-, boron- and aluminum-containing heterocycles). Due to many references that have dealt with the reactions of azides in heterocyclic synthesis (currently more than 32,000), we selected according to generality and timeliness. This is considered a recent review that focuses on selected interesting examples of various heterocycles from the mechanistic aspects of organic azides.     

Recent methods for the synthesis of (E)-alkene units in macrocyclic natural products

(E)-Alkene units are frequently found in macrocyclic natural products. Among the reactions that form the double bond during the cyclization, the classical Horner-Emmons coupling is still frequently used with success. During the last decade, ring-closing metathesis has emerged as a very powerful tool for the synthesis of large rings, but the E/Z selectivity, which is rarely predictable, depends on many factors which will be discussed in this review. The best solution might be a two-step procedure involving ring-closing alkyne metathesis (RCAM) followed by stereoselective reduction of the macrocyclic alkyne unit to the corresponding E double bond.     

Synthesis of polynuclear heterocycles via the reaction of α-ester carbanions with quaternized nicotinamide salts. A facile stereoselective synthesis of sesbanine

α-Ester carbanions add to N-benzylnicotinamide salts to give C-4 and C-6 substituted primary products. The C-4 substituted dihydronicotinamides undergo a further reaction involving nucleophilic attack of the amide nitrogen on the carbonyl group of the ester. The resulting cyclization products can be oxidized and debenzylated to 1,2-dioxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-2,7-naphthyridine derivatives. The sequence of reactions has been utilized in the synthesis of several heterocycles and in the stereoselective synthesis of the alkaloid sesbanine.     

Erlenmeyer Synthesis for Azlactones Catalyzed by Ytterbium(III) Triflate under Solvent‐Free Conditions

A series of 4‐arylidene‐2‐phenyl‐5(4)‐oxazolones were synthesized from cyclodehydration–condensation of hippuric acid, aromatic aldehydes, and acetic anhydride catalyzed by ytterbium(III) triflate under mild conditions in excellent yields.     

Brønsted acid-catalyzed highly stereoselective arene-ynamide cyclizations. A novel keteniminium Pictet-Spengler cyclization in total syntheses of (+/-)-desbromoarborescidines A and C

[reaction: see text] A Br?nsted acid-catalyzed highly stereoselective arene-ynamide cyclization is described. These reactions constitute a keteniminium variant of Pictet-Spengler cyclizations, leading to efficient synthesis of nitrogen heterocycles and related alkaloids. Total syntheses of desbromoarborescidines A and C are illustrated here as first applications of this methodology.     

Samarium diiodide induced ketyl-(het)arene cyclisations towards novel N-heterocycles

In this tutorial review we discuss recent advances in the field of ketyl-(het)arene cyclisations promoted by samarium diiodide and related processes. Couplings of samarium ketyls with carbon-carbon multiple bonds are perhaps the most useful reactions to create carbocycles and heterocycles of various ring sizes. They have also successfully been exploited for the synthesis of biologically active compounds or natural products. In this article we intend to summarise our diversity orientated approaches towards nitrogen heterocycles and emphasize other approaches with SmI(2) as well as electrochemical cyclisation methods providing similar N-heterocycles. We also briefly discuss our recently published formal total synthesis of strychnine employing a new samarium diiodide induced cascade reaction as key step. All these examples demonstrate the high synthetic potential of samarium ketyl-(het)arene cyclisations for the preparation of various types of important heterocyclic compounds.     

Coinage Metal-Catalyzed Asymmetric Reactions of ortho-Alkynylaryl and Heteroaryl Aldehydes and Ketones

Coinage metals have become the metal of choice due to their excellent catalytic activity in organic transformation processes. Combining various chiral ligands and coinage metals became a productive area of research and access to heterocyclic derivatives according to an efficient and sustainable manner. This review was devoted to the various recently developed coinage metal-catalyzed domino processes of ortho-alkynylaryl and heteroaryl aldehydes and ketones leading to functionalized heterocycles. Various gold chiral complexes were presented, and methods of preparations of chromenes along with indoles were covered. Ag-chiral complexes are also prone to interesting activities such as cyclization followed by reduction and functionalization with enolizable ketones or (diazomethyl)phosphonate. Asymmetric Cu-catalyzed domino cyclization and asymmetric transfer hydrogenation reactions efficiently led to functionalized chromenes. Some remarkable examples involving copper associated with ruthenium in the context of a cyclization and asymmetric hydrogenation process were also presented.     

Overview on the phosphonation of the C=X functional groups utilizing alkyl phosphites

The main objective of this survey is to provide a comprehensive review of recent achievements related to the phosphonation processes, applying alkyl phosphites and different electrophiles (C?X, X: O, N, or C). The review discusses the important reactions of trialkyl and dialkyl phosphite reagents with a variety of aldehydes, ketones, aldimines, ketimines, hydrazones, oximes, diazo compounds, thio- and isocyanates as well as activated olefins as a convenient methodology for the synthesis of biologically important α-hydroxy- and α-aminophosphonates as well as heterocycles containing phosphorus and substituted heterocyclic phosphor esters. We are herein concentrating only on reactions that lead to phosphorylated products as they represent a vast and important research area of interest for academic, as well as for industrial, pharmaceutical and phytopharmaceutical chemists. The literature survey has been fully covered up by our group and others over the last 25 years.     

Carbohydrates as Chiral Auxiliaries in Stereoselective Synthesis. New Synthetic Methods (90)

Carbohydrates are inexpensive natural products in which numerous functional groups and stereogenic centers are combined in one molecule. By directed regio-and stereoselective formation of derivatives they can be converted into efficient chiral auxiliaries for controlling asymmetric syntheses. Stereoelectronic effects and pre-orientation of the reactive and shielding groups through formation of complexes can often be used for effective diastereofacial differentiation. In aldol reactions and alkylations on carbohydrate ester enolates intramolecular complexation promotes simultaneous elimination with formation of ketene. The steric, stereoelectronic, and coordinating properties of carbohydrate templates can also be used selectively to attain high levels of asymmetric induction in processes such as Diels–Alder reactions, hetero-Diels–Alder reactions, [2 + 2] cycloadditions, cyclopropanations, and Michael additions. It was possible with bicyclic, strongly stereodifferentiating carbohydrate auxiliaries to achieve a diastereoselective synthesis of carboxylic acid derivatives branched in the β position by a new 1,4-addition of alkylaluminum halides to α,β-unsaturated N-acylurethanes, in which methylaluminum halides and higher alkyl- or arylaluminum compounds behave mechanistically in a strikingly different manners. As complex ligands in chiral reagents and promoters, carbohydrates allow highly stereoselective reductions and aldol reactions that lead, amongst others, to chiral alcohols and β-hydroxy-α-amino acids in excellent enantiomeric excesses. Glycosylamines offer the possibility of versatile stereoselective applications: in the presence of Lewis acids the corresponding aldimines permit high-yielding syntheses of enantiomerically pure α-amino acids by Strecker and Ugi reactions, controlled by steric and stereoelectronic effects and by complex formation. They can be used with equal efficiency for asymmetric syntheses of chiral homoallylamines and for asymmetric Mannich syntheses of β-amino acids and chiral heterocycles, for example alkaloids.