Cobalt-catalyzed regioselective carbocyclization reaction of o-iodophenyl ketones and aldehydes with alkynes, acrylates, and acrylonitrile: a facile route to indenols and indenes

An efficient cobalt-catalyzed carbocylization for the synthesis of indenols and indenes and a new method for reductive decyanation are described. 2-Iodophenyl ketones and aldehydes 1a-g undergo carbocyclization with various disubstituted alkynes 2a-k in the presence of Co(dppe)I(2) and zinc powder in acetonitrile at 80 degrees C for 3 h to afford the corresponding indenol derivatives 3a-s and4a-m in good to excellent yields. For some unsymmetrical alkynes, the carbocyclization was remarkably regioselective, affording a single regioisomer. The cobalt-catalyzed carbocyclization reaction was successfully extended to the synthesis of indene derivatives. Thus, the reaction of 2-iodophenyl ketones and aldehydes (1) with acrylates H(2)C=CHCO(2)R (7a-d) and acrylonitrile H(2)C=CHCN (7e) proceeds smoothly in the presence of Co(dppe)Cl(2)/dppe and zinc powder in acetonitrile at 80 degrees C for 24 h to afford the corresponding indenes 8a-k and 9a-c in moderate to good yields. Interestingly, when 7e was employed for the carbocylization, reductive decyanation also occurred to give an indene derivative without the cyano functionality. A possible mechanism for this cobalt-catalyzed carbocyclization reaction is also proposed.     

Preparation of stable fulvene and difulvene aldehydes from benzaldehydes and an indene-derived enamine: formation of novel indene-fused benzodiazepines and attempted syntheses of di- and tricarbaporphyrinoid systems

Although carbaporphyrins and related systems have been widely studied, far less work has been carried out on the synthesis of porphyrin analogues with more than one carbocyclic subunit. Fulvene aldehydes are potentially valuable intermediates for studies of this type. A versatile methodology has been developed where benzaldehydes are reacted with an indene-derived enamine in the presence of dibutylboron triflate to give fulvene monoaldehydes. This chemistry allows halo, alkyl, methoxy or cyanovinyl units to be introduced and the resulting fulvenes are stable compounds that are easily purified by column chromatography. Isophthalaldehydes afford difulvene dialdehydes that are equally stable and these can be reduced with CeCl₃-NaBH₄ to give the related dicarbinols. The difulvene dialdehydes failed to give macrocyclic products when reacted with o-phenylenediamine in the presence of CeCl₃ but instead gave unprecedented bis-indene-fused benzodiazepines. Fulvene monoaldehydes also reacted under these conditions to give benzodiazepine products in good yields. These results highlight the potential utility of fulvene aldehydes for synthetic applications both inside and outside of the area of porphyrin analogue chemistry.     

Syntheses and reactivity of meso-unsubstituted azuliporphyrins derived from 6-tert-butyl- and 6-phenylazulene

A series of six azuliporphyrins with substituents on the seven-membered ring were prepared by two different "3 + 1" routes from 6-tert-butyl- and 6-phenylazulene. The substituted azulenes can be converted into dialdehydes under Vilsmeier-Haack conditions, and these react with tripyrranes in the presence of TFA in CH2Cl2 to give azuliporphyrins in excellent yields. Alternatively, tripyrrane analogues can be prepared by reacting the substituted azulenes with an acetoxymethylpyrrole in the presence of acetic acid, and following a deprotection step, these condensed with a pyrrole dialdehyde to give the related azuliporphyrins in 45-51% yield. Five of the azuliporphyrins were sufficiently soluble in CDCl3 to afford high-quality proton and carbon-13 NMR data. The internal CH and NH resonances were observed near 3 ppm, although the precise values were dependent upon substituent effects. The presence of a tert-butyl group on the azulene moiety slightly enhanced the diatropicity of the macrocycle compared to the phenyl-substituted azuliporphyrins. Polar solvents also increased the downfield shifts to the external protons by stabilizing the dipolar resonance contributors that are responsible for the carbaporphyrinoid aromatic character. A tert-butyl-substituted azuliporphyrin also gave X-ray quality crystals, and this allowed the first structural analysis of a free base azuliporphyrin to be conducted. The macrocycle is near planar, and the azulene unit was only tilted out of the plane by 7.4 degrees. An analysis of the bond lengths suggests that a 17 atom delocalization pathway significantly contributes to the aromatic properties of this system. Protonation of azuliporphyrins affords dications with enhanced diamagnetic ring currents where the internal CH shifts to ca. -3 ppm. Again, the chemical shifts are influenced by the substituents and the presence of an electron-donating tert-butyl group on the azulene subunit increases the macrocyclic diatropicity. Two of the substituted azuliporphyrins were reacted with nickel(II) acetate or palladium(II) acetate in DMF to give the corresponding organometallic derivatives, and these stable complexes were isolated in excellent yields. Addition of pyrrolidine to NMR solutions of 23-substituted azuliporphyrins 19 demonstrated that nucleophilic addition products were present in equilibrium with the parent porphyrinoids, but these adducts are less favored than for azuliporphyrins lacking the 23-substituents. Although nucleophilic attack of a peroxide anion is believed to be the first step in the conversion of azuliporphyrins to benzocarbaporphyrins with t-BuOOH and KOH, the tert-butyl or phenyl substituents in azuliporphyrins 19a and 19b did not inhibit this chemistry. Two benzocarbaporphyrin products were isolated and characterized in each case, and mechanisms are proposed to explain the origins of these oxidative ring contraction products.     

Synthesis,spectroscopy and metallation of mixed carbaporphyrinoid systems

Modified tripyrranes incorporating furan and thiophene rings were found to condense with benzene, pyridine and indene dialdehydes to give a series of novel porphyrin analogues, including thia- and oxa-carbaporphyrins; the latter readily forms nickel(II) and palladium(II) organometallic complexes.     

Synthesis of sapphyrins, heterosapphyrins, and carbasapphyrins by a "4 + 1" approach

Sapphyrins are an important group of expanded porphyrins that show valuable anion binding characteristics. In this study, a "4 + 1" route to sapphyrin systems has been developed. Reaction of dialdehydes with a known tetrapyrrole intermediate 11b incorporating a bipyrrolic subunit afforded a wide range of sapphyrin-type products. The best conditions for these reactions involved carrying out the condensation of the dialdehydes with the tetrapyrrole in TFA-dichloromethane, followed by oxidation with dilute aqueous solutions of ferric chloride. A pyrrole dialdehyde reacted under these conditions to give sapphyrin in 50% yield, while furan and thiophene dialdehydes afforded the corresponding oxa- and thiasapphyrins in 66-90% yield. Pyrrole dialdehydes with fused phenanthrene or acenaphthylene rings also reacted with 11b to give the related phenanthro- and acenaphthosapphyrins in excellent yields. As was the case for acenaphthoporphyrins, the acenaphthosapphyrin gave longer wavelength absorptions than the corresponding phenanthrene fused structure, although the differences were not as marked as those seen in the porphyrin series. Reaction of 11b with 1,3-diformylindene gave a benzocarbasapphyrin in 38% yield, while a triformyl cyclopentadiene reacted with the tetrapyrrole to give a carbasapphyrin aldehyde in 7-12% yield. The free base carbasapphyrins were unstable but the monoprotonated hydrochloride salts could easily be isolated and characterized. Carbasapphyrins retain a strong diatropic ring current due to the presence of 22pi electron delocalization pathways. In the presence of trifluoroacetic acid, C-protonated dications are generated. Condensation of 1,3-azulenedicarbaldehyde with 11b gave an azulisapphyrin dihydrochloride salt in 35% yield, and this also showed a strong diatropic ring current. Addition of base gave the unstable free base form, while pyrrolidine formed an unstable adduct that showed an intense Soret band at 480 nm. These results demonstrate that many of the themes observed for modified porphyrins and carbaporphyrins also apply to the sapphyrin series, although in some cases reduced stability hampers these investigations.     

Synthesis, spectroscopy, and reactivity of meso-unsubstituted azuliporphyrins and their heteroanalogues. Oxidative ring contractions to carba-, oxacarba-, thiacarba-, and selenacarbaporphyrins

This paper reports the first detailed study on meso-unsubstituted azuliporphyrins, an important family of porphyrin-like molecules where one of the usual pyrrole rings has been replaced by an azulene subunit. Although the azulene moiety introduces an element of cross-conjugation, zwitterionic resonance contributors with tropylium and carbaporphyrin substructures give azuliporphyrins diatropic character that falls midway between true carbaporphyrins and nonaromatic benziporphyrins. Protonation affords an aromatic dication where this type of resonance interaction is favored due to the associated charge delocalization. Two different "3 + 1" syntheses of meso-unsubstituted azuliporphyrins have been developed. Acid-catalyzed reaction of readily available tripyrrane dicarboxylic acids with 1,3-azulenedicarbaldehyde, followed by oxidation with DDQ or FeCl(3), affords good yields of azuliporphyrins. Alternatively, azulene reacted with acetoxymethylpyrroles (2 equiv) in refluxing acetic acid/2-propanol to give tripyrrane analogues, and following a deprotection step, condensation with a pyrrole dialdehyde in TFA-CH(2)Cl(2) gave the azuliporphyrin system. The latter approach was also used to prepare 23-thia- and 23-selenaazuliporphyrins. However, reaction of the azulitripyrrane with 2,5-furandicarbaldehyde produced a mixture of three oxacarbaporphyrins in moderate yield. The free base forms of thia- and selenaazuliporphyrins both showed intermediary aromatic character that was considerably enhanced upon protonation. The UV-vis spectra for azuliporphyrins and their heteroanalogues showed four bands between 350 and 500 nm and broad absorptions at higher wavelengths. Addition of TFA gave dications that showed porphyrin-like spectra with Soret bands between 460 and 500 nm. In the presence of pyrrolidine, azuliporphyrins and their heteroanalogues undergo nucleophilic attack on the seven-membered ring to give carbaporphyrin adducts. These systems also undergo oxidative rearrangements under basic conditions with t-BuOOH to give benzocarbaporphyrins. The selenaazuliporphyrin afforded two benzoselenacarbaporphyrins, a previously unknown core-modified carbaporphyrin system. The proton NMR spectra for these compounds showed strong diatropic ring currents with the internal CH resonance upfield above -5 ppm, while the meso-protons resonated downfield near 10 ppm. The UV-vis spectra were also porphyrin-like and gave strong Soret bands at ca. 440 nm.     

Lewis acid-mediated cycloaddition of methylenecyclopropanes with aldehydes and imines: a facile access to indene, THF, and pyrrolidine skeletons via homoallylic rearrangement protocol

Methylenecyclopropanes (MCPs) 1 can react with aldehydes and aldimines to give the corresponding indene, THF, and pyrrolidine cycloaddition products in the presence of BF(3).OEt(2) under mild reaction conditions.     

Synthesis of the indene, THF, and pyrrolidine skeletons by Lewis acid mediated cycloaddition of methylenecyclopropanes with aldehydes, N-tosyl aldimines, and acetals

Methylenecyclopropanes (MCPs 1) react with aldehydes, N-tosyl aldimines, and acetals to give the corresponding indene, THF, and pyrrolidine cycloaddition products in the presence of BF3 x OEt2 under mild reaction conditions. Some special transformations of MCPs 1 with aldehydes have been reported in this paper. A plausible reaction mechanism has been discussed, which is based on a deuterium-labeling experiment and the Prins-type reaction mechanism.     

A novel approach to benz[e]indenes

A number of benz[e]indene derivatives have been prepared at room temperature in good to excellent yields by treating 3-(2-formyl-cycloalkenyl)-acrylic acid esters with diphosphorus pentasulfide. An azulene derivative was also synthesized by this simple method.     

Reactions of arylacetylenic compounds with arenes in the presence of aluminum halides

Conjugated arylacetylenic ketones and aldehydes, propargyl-type alcohols, and arylacetylenes reacted with arenes in the presence of AlBr₃ or AlCl₃ as catalyst to give substituted indenes. 3-Arylpropynoic acids under analogous conditions gave rise to 3,3-diarylindan-1-ones, while the corresponding methyl esters were converted into methyl 3,3-diarylprop-2-enoates. The key intermediates in the transformations of acetylenic ketones and aldehydes and propargyl-type alcohols into indene derivatives are resonance-stabilized propargyl—allenyl cations -C≡ C-C⁺ ? -C⁺=C=C which reacted with one of the resonance structures to give isomeric indenes, depending on the substituent nature.     

An efficient synthesis of polysubstituted tetrahydrofuran and indene derivatives via the Lewis acid-mediated cycloadditions of VCPs with aldehydes

A variety of polysubstituted tetrahydrofuran and indene derivatives were prepared in moderate to excellent yields via the cycloadditions of vinylidenecyclopropanes with common aldehydes in the presence of Lewis acid. The polysubstituted tetrahydrofuran 3 could undergo further transformations to the indene product 4 and furan derivatives 5.     

Hetarylation of cyclopentadiene,indene, and azulene

The direct hetarylation of cyclopentadiene, indene, and azulene with several benzopyridines in the presence of acyl halides was studied. It is shown that the most electrophilic N-benzoyl-isoquinolinium salt is capable of hetarylating CH acids with pK_a<21.     

Synthesis of the Indene,THF, and Pyrrolidine Skeletons by Lewis Acid Mediated Cycloaddition of Methylenecyclopropanes with Aldehydes,N‐Tosyl Aldimines,and Acetals

Methylenecyclopropanes (MCPs 1 ) react with aldehydes, N‐tosyl aldimines, and acetals to give the corresponding indene, THF, and pyrrolidine cycloaddition products in the presence of BF₃?OEt₂ under mild reaction conditions. Some special transformations of MCPs 1 with aldehydes have been reported in this paper. A plausible reaction mechanism has been discussed, which is based on a deuterium‐labeling experiment and the Prins‐type reaction mechanism.     

CuCl catalyzed oxidation of aldehydes to carboxylic acids with aqueous tert-butyl hydroperoxide under mild conditions

Oxidation of aldehydes to the corresponding carboxylic acids can be performed highly efficiently at room temperature with 70% tert-butyl hydroperoxide (in water) in the presence of a catalytic amount of easily available ligand free CuCl in acetonitrile as solvent under very mild conditions. This oxidation protocol works well for various aldehydes including aliphatic aldehydes and aliphatic dialdehydes.     

Macrocycles by Olefination of Dialdehydes with 1,3-Bis(dimethylphosphono)-2-propanone

Conjugated cyclic divinyl ketones containing fifteen and seventeen membered rings have been prepared in a single step by condensation of 1,3-bis (dimethylphosphono)-2-propanone ( 10 ) with the dialdehydes 14 , 17 , 20 , and 42 in the presence of hydrogencarbonate in aqueous t-butyl alcohol at reflux without using high dilution techniques. The more highly unsaturated aldehydes give better yields and ketones 34 and 36 , or mixtures of the two, were transformed to muscone ( 1 ) and Exaltone® by standard procedures. Civetone ( 2 ) was prepared by hydrogenation of 43 in pyridine solution. Dienone 29 appears to be the first α, β-unsaturated ketone in which one of the β-vinyl proton resonates at higher field than the corresponding α-proton.     

Evaluation of solid-phase microextraction methods for determination of trace concentration aldehydes in aqueous solution

A method for trace analysis of a wide range of aldehydes (saturated/unsaturated aliphatic, aromatic aldehydes, including hydroxylated species, and dialdehydes) in an aqueous solution was optimized. An evaluation of three solid-phase microextraction (SPME) techniques (headspace, liquid-phase, and on-fiber derivatization) with o-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyl)hydroxylamine hydrochloride (PFBHA) aldehyde derivatization was performed focusing on the optimization of the main extraction parameters (temperature and time). The optimized method employed the liquid-phase SPME (D-L-SPME) of derivatized aldehydes at 80 degrees C for 30 min. Limits of detection (LODs) using this optimal method were in the range of 0.1-4.4 microg/L for the majority of aliphatic (saturated, unsaturated), aromatic aldehydes and dialdehydes. Formaldehyde LODs and those of some hydroxylated aromatic aldehydes were between 32 and 55 microg/L. Headspace SPME using an on-fiber derivatization generally showed a lower sensitivity and several compounds were not detected. Another technique, the optimized headspace SPME of aldehydes derivatized in aqueous solution, was not as sensitive as D-L-SPME for hydroxylated aromatic aldehydes. The developed method was used to analyze aqueous particulate matter extracts; this method achieved higher sensitivities than those obtained with US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Method 556.     

Synthesis of a series of aromatic benziporphyrins and heteroanalogues via tripyrrane-like intermediates derived from resorcinol and 2-methylresorcinol

Tripyrrane analogues were prepared by reacting resorcinol or 2-methylresorcinol with 2 equiv of an acetoxymethylpyrrole in the presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid and calcium chloride. Following removal of the benzyl ester protective groups, the resorcinol-derived benzitripyrrane was reacted with a pyrrole dialdehyde to give an aromatic hydroxyoxybenziporphyrin. However, furan and thiophene dialdehydes gave highly insoluble products that could not be fully characterized. The methylresorcinol-derived tripyrrane analogue reacted with pyrrole, furan, thiophene, and selenophene dialdehydes to give unstable porphyrinoids that were further oxidized with [bis(trifluoroacetoxy)iodo]benzene to give stable benziporphyrin derivatives. These oxidized benziporphyrins showed strongly diatropic properties by proton NMR spectroscopy where the differences in chemical shifts (Δδ) were >18 ppm in some cases. The selenophene-derived system was further characterized by X-ray crystallography, and these results showed that one of the pyrrole subunits in this crowded structure was tilted by 21° relative to the mean macrocyclic plane. The tripyrrolic system reacted with silver(I) acetate to give the corresponding silver(III) organometallic complex. Regioselective alkylation with methyl or ethyl iodide and potassium carbonate gave diastereomeric mixtures of N-alkyl derivatives, and the N-ethyl substitution products showed highly diastereotopic characteristics.     

Oxidation of alcohols by transition metal complexes—iv : The rhodium catalysed synthesis of esters from aldehydes and alcohols

Both RhH(CO)PPh₃)₃ and a catalyst made in _situ from RhCl₃·3H₂O, PPh₃ and Na₂CO₃ catalyse the reaction of a range of aldehydes with simple primary alcohols to give esters together with alcohols formed by reduction of the aldehydes. The proportion of ester can be increased by adding an efficient hydrogen acceptor. The reaction can also be used to produce 5- and 7-membered lactones from aromatic dialdehydes. Propan-2-ol and the _{in situ} catalyst reduce some aromatic aldehydes to the corresponding alcohols without concomitant ester formation.     

Adaptation of the Rothemund reaction for carbaporphyrin synthesis: preparation of meso-tetraphenylazuliporphyrin and related benzocarbaporphyrins

Electrophilic substitution of azulene has recently been shown to provide the means by which carbon-carbon bonds can be generated to form novel macrocyclic systems such as calixazulenes. These studies inspired us to develop a "one-pot" Rothemund-type synthesis of meso-tetraphenylazuliporphyrin. Azuliporphyrins, a group of cross-conjugated carbaporphyrinoids that exhibit intriguing chemistry and metallation properties, have previously only been available by multistep syntheses. In this work, azulene, pyrrole and benzaldehyde were shown to react in a 1:3:4 ratio in the presence of boron trifluoride etherate to give meso-tetraphenylazuliporphyrin 7a. The free base shows only a minor diatropic ring current, but addition of TFA generates the related dication which shows greatly enhanced diatropicity where the internal CH shifts from delta = +3.35 to -0.5 ppm. Addition of pyrrolidine to 7a gave rise to a carbaporphyrin adduct which showed a porphyrin-like UV/Vis spectrum and the internal CH shifted further upfield to give a resonance near delta = -5.7 ppm. Treatment of 7a with tertbutyl hydroperoxide in the presence of potassium hydroxide afforded a mixture of benzocarbaporphyrins 9a-c. These tetraphenylcarbaporphyrins were fully aromatic by NMR spectroscopy and gave typical porphyrin-type UV/Vis spectra with a strong Soret band near 446 nm. This new methodology makes these important porphyrin analogues readily available for further study.     

Cyanobenzoylation and hydrocyanation of aldehydes with benzoyl cyanide using no catalyst

[reaction: see text] In the presence of MS 4A in DMSO, cyanobenzoylation of various aldehydes with benzoyl cyanide proceeded very smoothly to give the corresponding cyanohydrin benzoates in high to excellent yields without an acid or a base. On the other hand, reaction of aldehydes with BzCN in DMSO-H(2)O also occurred readily to afford the corresponding free cyanohydrins exclusively.