Synthesis of 2,3,4,6,7,8-Hexahydro-5H-1-benzopyran-5-ones and 3-(6-Oxo-1-cyclohexenyl)alkanoic Acids by Reduction of 4,6,7,8-Tetrahydro-2H-1-benzopyran-2,5(3H)-diones

Comparative results on the reduction of 4,6,7,8-tetrahydro-7,7-dimethyl-2H-1-benzopyran-2,5(3H)-diones 1 are reported. Hydride reduction (LiAlH₄ in Et₂O or NaBH₄ in i-PrOH) affords 2,3,4,6,7,8-hexahydro-5H-1-benzopyran-5-ones 5 in 30-60% isolated yield. Photochemical reduction of 1b and 1d (direct irradiation at λ = 300 or 254 nm in i-PrOH, or sensitized irradiation in acetone/i-PrOH or benzene/i-PrOH) gives 3-(6-oxo-1-cyclohexenyl)alkanoic acids 6 in 50–80%, while 1c affords the isomeric 3-(4,4-dimethyl-6-oxo-1-cyclohexenyl)-4-methyl-4-pentenoic acid ( 9 ) in 73% isolated yield. Electrochemical reduction (Hg, CH₃CN, Bu₄N⁺ClO, ?2.6 V vs. Ag/Ag⁺) requires more than 4 Farad/mol for the consumption of 1 without any major product being detected.     

Synthesis of α,β-unsaturated oxathiolanes

The formation of α,β-unsaturated oxathiolanes 2 from α,β-unsaturated carbonyl derivatives was achieved selectively and in high yields using the heterogeneous catalyst APSG·HCl.     

Reaction of singlet oxygen with α,β-unsaturated aldimines

The reaction of singlet oxygen with N-1-(2-alkenylidene)-t- butylamines ( and ) gives the unsaturated hemiperacetal derivatives ( and 4) of the hydroperoxy aldimines ( and ). Several α, β-unsaturated aldimines which are held in the s-trans conformation failed to react with singlet oxygen.     

Reaction of Cα,O-dilithiooximes with functionalized carbonyl compounds. Part 2 . Reaction with α-chloroketones and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones

The reaction of Cα,O-Dilithiooximes 2 and α-chloroketones afforded 5-(hydroxymethyl)-Δ²-soxazolines 4 . α,β-Unsaturated aldehydes and ketones reacted with 2 to give the corresponding acyclic 1,2-addition products 5 . The latter were cyclized with phosphorus pentoxide to 5-vinyl-Δ²-isoxazolines 6 .     

Reissert compound studies. LXV . Preparation of reissert compounds derived from α,β-unsaturated acid chlorides

Reissert compounds derived from α,β-unsaturated acid chlorides were prepared. The conjugate base obtained from these Reissert compounds exhibited the following carbanion reactions: 1) Alkylation, 2) Condensation with benzaldehyde, 3) Rearrangement to give dimeric compounds rather than simple rearranged compounds. In the case of alkylated isoquinoline Reissert compounds, the attempted rearrangement led to ring annellated amines.     

Synthesis and transformations of (±)-trans-4aβ(H), saα(H)-octahydro-4α,7β-dimethyl-2H-1-benzopyran-2-one

Hydrogenation of 4,7-dimethylcoumarin ( 1 ) in alkaline medium has been shown to furnish a mixture of (±)-trans-4aβ(H),8aα(H)-octahydro-4α,7β-dimethyl-2H-1-benzopyran-2-one ( 2 ), (±)-trans-4aβ(H),8aα(H)-octahydro-4α,7α-dimethyl-2H-1-benzopyran-2-one ( 3 ) and (±)-cis-4aα(H),8aα(H)-octahydro-4α,7α-dimethyl-2H-1-benzopyran-2-one ( 4 ) in 40:25:35:ratio, respectively. The stereochemistry of the major hydrogenation product 2 , has been established by transforming it to p-menthane derivatives e.g. (±)-2 (R)-[2′(R)hydroxy-4′(R) methylcyclohex-(1′S)-yl]propan-1-ol ( 20 ) and (±)-trans-3α,6β-dimethyl-3aβ(H),7aα(H)-octahydrobenzofuran ( 12 ). Starting from a mixture of lactones 2, 3 and 4 , lactone 3 has been obtained in pure state employing a sequence of reactions.     

[3+3] Cyclization reactions of β-nitroenamines and β-enaminonitriles with α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acid chlorides

New indolizidines, quinolizidines, and octahydro-pyrido[1,2-a]azepines of lactam type were synthesized from 2-nitromethylene-pyrrolidine, -piperidine, and -hexahydroazepine, respectively, by [3+3] cyclizations with α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acid chlorides. In the case of quinolizidines, a double bond migration was observed, and explained in terms of amidity percentage. Cyanomethylene-pyrrolidine gave indolizidines of lactam type, while transformations of 1-cyanomethylene-tetrahydoisoquinoline resulted in lactams as well as ketones, when simple open-chain acid chlorides or cinnamoyl chloride were used, respectively.     

β-lithiations of carboxamides. Synthesis of β-substituted-α,β-unsaturated amides

N-Methyl-2-methyl-3-(benzotriazol-l-yl)propanamide, on treatment with butyllithium forms a dianion which on treatment with alkyl and benzyl halides, aldehydes and ketones affords monosubstituted products; with ethyl p-toluate, a lactam is formed. The alkylated derivatives eliminate benzotriazole in the presence of base to afford trisubstituted α,β-unsaturated amides.     

Synthesis of new heterocyclic ring systems. Reaction of indolines and hexahydrocarbazole with α,β-unsaturated acids

Reactions of indoline (I), 2-methylindoline (II) and hexahydrocarbazole (III) with α,β-unsaturated acids in the presence of polyphosphoric acid have been investigated. Reaction of 1 with acrylic acid afforded two compounds which were identified as 1,2,4,5-tetrahydro-6H-pyrrolo-[3,2,1-ij] quinolin-6-one (IV) and 2,3,5,6,9,10-hcxahydro-1H-cyclopenta[f lpyrrolo [3,2,1-ij|-quinoline-1,8-dione (VII). The reaction oi 1 with crotonic acid gave compounds V and VIII, analogous-to IV and VII. The reaction of II with acrylic acid yielded two compounds VI and IX, whereas with crotonic acid, only X was isolated. With 111, acrylic acid afforded 5,6,8,9,10. 11,8a,11a-octahydro-4H-pyrido[3,2,1-jk]carbazol-4-one (XI) and a compound with a heretofore unknown ring system, viz., 2,3,5,6,7,8,11,12,5a,8a-decahydro-1H-cyclopenta[h] pyrido [3,2,1-jk |earbazole-1,10-dione. The structures of these compounds were deduced on the basis of their spectral and analytical data.     

The high resolution mass spectra of α,β-unsaturated and α-chloromercuri-α,β-unsaturated steroidal ketones

The high resolution mass spectra (500 eV) of some α,β-unsaturated steroidal ketones have been studied and compared with the spectra of the corresponding α-chloromercuri ketones. In the latter, the carbon-mercury bond frequently remains intact at the expense of the fission of two carbon-carbon bonds. The abundance of mercury-containing ions allows the use of the mercury atom fingerprint in confirming ring B fragmentation of the steroid nucleus at C(6)–C(7) and C(9)–C(10) for 5α-androst-1-ene-3,17-dione, 1,4-androstadiene-3,17-dione and their 2-chloromercuri derivatives; and at C(7)–C(8) and C(9)–C(10) for 1,4,6-androstatriene-3,17-dione, 1,4,6-androstarien-17 β-ol-3-one and their 2-chloromercuri derivatives. 2-Chloromercuri-1,4,6-androstatriene-3,17-dione and 2-chloromercuri-1,4,6-androstatrien-17 β-ol-3-one also give an abundant ion as the result of ring C fragmentation at C(8)–C(14) and C(11)–C(12), the chloromercuri group being replaced by a hydrogen atom. This ring C cleavage gives the only recognizable distinctive fragmentation ion for 1,4,6-pregnatriene-3,20-dione and 2-chloromercuri-1,4,6-pregnatriene-3,20-dione. For most of the mercurated steroids, the low resolution mass spectra (70 eV) are reported. In these spectra, the fragmentation patterns are similar to those obtained using the higher ionization energy employed for the high resolution spectra.     

Reactions of α,β-unsaturated ketones with cyanoacetamide

3-Aryl-1-phenyl-2-propen-1-ones Ia-f and aroylphenylacetylenes Va-d reacted under reflux for 3 hours with cyanoacetamide in the presence of sodium ethoxide to give the corresponding 4-aryl-3-cyano-6-phenyl-2-(1H)pyridones VI. However, when ketones Ia-e were refluxed with cyanoacetamide for one hour in the presence of sodium ethoxide or piperidine, they gave the corresponding 4-aryl-3-cyano-3,4-dihydro-6-phenyl-2-(1H)pyridones IIIa-e, which upon heating with selenium gave the corresponding 2-pyridones VI. The structures of the products are based on chemical and spectroscopic evidence.     

Reaction of α,β-unsaturated carbodiimides with enamines leading to fused pyridine derivatives

The treatment of (5,5-dimethyl-3-oxo-1-cyclohexenyl)iminotriphenylphosphorane ( 2 ) with phenyl isocyanate ( 3a ) gave N-(5,5-dimethyl-3-oxo-1-cyclohexenyl)-N'-phenylcarbodiimide ( 4a ) in situ. The reaction of 4a with enamines proceeded smoothly to afford the pyridine ring formation with the elimination of amine. This means that 4a is regarded as a new class of 2-aza-1,3-butadiene. The scopes and limitation of this reaction are also discussed.     

Condensation of 3-methylbenzoxazolinone with α,β-unsaturated acids

The reaction between 3-methylbenzoxazolinone and some unsaturated acids in PPA leads to mixtures of compounds, depending on the acid: 6-crotonyl- (or cinnamoyl)-3-methylbenzoxazolinones, 2,3-dihydro-2,5-(or 2,7)dioxo-3-methylcyclopenta[f]benzoxazoles and 6-(3-oxo-indanyl)-3-methylbenzoxazolinones. The structure of the products was established by ¹³C and ¹H nmr spectroscopy and (or) by independent synthesis. Possible mechanisms of the reaction are discussed; when competition is possible as in the last step of the cyclization, the benzene ring shows a higher reactivity than the aromatic nucleus of the benzoxazolinone; the contrary is observed when the benzene ring is p-chloro-substituted.     

Applications of 1,4-addition of grignard reagents to α,β-unsaturated acid derivatives. III—configuration studies of α,β-diaryl-α,β-dialkylpropionitriles

The configuration of twenty-four different α,β-diaryl-α,β-dialkylpropionitriles has been determined using nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. The erythro form showed greater deshielding of the methine hydrogen and alkyl groups in its spectra than the corresponding threo isomer. The former, however, showed less deshielding of the aryl groups than the threo isomer. Infrared spectra were not suitable for assignments of configuration.     

Synthesis of α,β-unsaturated ketone from α-iodo ketone using photoirradiation

Irradiation of α-iodo ketone in hexane under a nitrogen atmosphere with a high-pressure mercury lamp (λ>300nm) at room temperature afforded the corresponding α,β-unsaturated ketones in good yield. This reaction affords a new, clean and convenient synthetic method for the α,β-unsaturated ketone.     

Synthesis of 3-substituted 5-arylisoxazoles from α,β-unsaturated oximes

The synthesis of 3-substituted 5-arylisoxazoles from oximes of α,β-unsaturated ketones is studied. The formation of the isoxazole derivatives takes place by cyclization of oximes in the presence of iodine and potassium iodide. The presence of isoxazoline is detected. On the basis of the results a plausible mechanism is suggested.     

Lipophilic Functionalized Cobyrinic-Acid Derivatives. Part 1. Cobester α-monoacids (α,α,α,β,β,β-hexamethyl α-hydrogen Coα, Coβ-dicyanocobyrinates)

The four α,α,α, β,β,β,-hexamethyl α-hydrogen Coα, Coβ-dicyanocobyrinates 2b, d–f , with a free b-, d-, e-, and f-propionic-acid function, respectively, were prepared by partial hydrolysis of heptamethyl Coα, Coβ-dicyanocobyrinate (cobester; 1 ) in aqueous sulfuric acid. The cobester monoacids 2b, d–f were obtained as a ca. 1:1:1:1 mixture which was separated. The monoacids were purified by chromatography and isolated in crystalline form. The position of the free propionic-acid function was determined by an extensive analysis of 2b, d–f using 2D-NMR techniques; an analysis of the C,H-coupling network topology resulted in an alternative assignment strategy for cobyrinic-acid derivatives, based on pattern recognition. Additional information on the structure of the most polar of the four hexamethyl cobyrinates, of the b-isomer 2b , was also obtained in the solid state from a single-crystal X-ray analysis. Earlier structural assignments based on 1D-NMR spectra of the corresponding regioisomeric monoamides 3b, d–f (obtained from crystalline samples of the monoacids 2b, d–f ) were confirmed by the present investigations.     

The reaction of α,β-unsaturated aldimines with benzofuroxan

Benzofuroxan reacts with imines derived from crotonaldehyde and cinnamaldehyde, to form 2-imino-methylquinoxaline 1,4-dioxides.     

The chemistry of coumarin derivatives,part 2. Reaction of 4-hydroxycoumarin with α,β-unsaturated aldehydes

4-Hydroxycoumarin (= 4-hydroxy-2H-1-benzopyran-2-one) reacts with enals to give 1,2- or 1,4-addition products, depending on the nature and relative location of the substituents on the olefinic double bond (Scheme 2). The resulting adducts further react intra- or intermolecularly, affording dimeric coumarins or pyranocoumarins in the case of 1,2-addition and acetalic pyranocoumarins in the case of 1,4-addition. With enals bearing alkyl groups at C(β), 2H-pyrano[3,2-c]coumarins are the only products formed, and the reaction represents an easy and straightforward entry into this class of recently described biologically active natural products.