Aza-Michael addition of chiral hydrazines to alkylidene malonates

The conjugate spontaneous addition of chiral N,N-dialkylhydrazines 1 to dimethyl alkylidene/arylidene malonates 2, 5-10 affords the corresponding β-hydrazino esters in moderate-to-good yields and selectivities. d-Mannitol-derived hydrazine 1a afforded best results, mainly due to the higher stability of the products 3, 11-16.     

Synthesis of eight-membered iminocyclitols from d-glucose

The Baylis-Hillman reaction of 3-O-benzyl-α-d-xylo-pentodialdo-1,4-furanose 2 afforded a diastereomeric mixture of l-ido- and d-gluco-configurated α-methylene-β-hydroxy esters 3a and 3b, respectively, in 1:1 ratio. Conjugate addition of benzyl amine on 3a gave adduct 4a as a major product while, addition of benzyl amine to 3b gave only one diastereomer 4b. Reduction of ester functionality in 4a/4b, opening of 1,2-acetonide functionality followed by reductive amino-cyclization under hydrogenation condition afforded azocanes 1c/1d in good yield.     

Synthesis of γ-fluoro-α-amino acids by Claisen rearrangement

A series of N-protected glycine and alanine esters 4-7 of different fluorinated allylic alcohols 1 was prepared using the dicyclohexylcarbodiimide/dimethylaminopyridine method. All fluorinated esters of this type failed to react in an esterenolate Claisen rearrangement under the general conditions of the Kazmaier variant of this rearrangement. Change of the solvent from tetrahydrofuran to the less coordinating diethyl ether enabled the rearrangement of N-Boc-protected glycine esters 4a-c of 2-fluoroalken-3-ols 1a-c to form N-Boc-2-amino-4-fluoroalk-4-enecarboxylic acids 8a-c, while the rearrangement failed with N-Boc-alanine esters and all amino acid esters of 2-fluoroallylic alcohol (1e). This might be due to competing deprotonation of the position β to fluorine. Similarly to the esters 4a-c, the TFA-protected glycine esters 5a-c of 2-fluoroalken-3-ols 1a-c were rearranged. Deprotection of the Boc or the TFA group under salt-free conditions yielded the free amino acids 11a-c, which might be seen as mimics for N-alkylasparagines a group of lipoproteins.     

Synthesis of pyrrolo[3,2-b]benzofurans and pyrrolo[3,2-b]naphthofurans via addition of a silyloxypyrrole to activated quinones

The uncatalyzed reaction of N-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-2-tert-butyldimethylsilyloxypyrrole 3 with 1,4-quinones bearing an electron withdrawing group at C-2 has been studied. Use of 1,4-quinones 4, 5 bearing an ester group at C-2 provided an efficient synthesis of the respective pyrrolidinobenzofuran adduct 9 or pyrrolidinonaphthofuran adduct 10 whereas use of 1,4-quinones 6, 7 and 8 bearing an acetyl group at C-2 afforded silyloxypyrroles 11, 12 and 13 resulting from direct electrophilic substitution of the silyloxypyrrole by the electrophilic quinone. Addition of Eu(fod)₃ to the reaction of 2-acetyl-1,4-naphthoquinone 7 and 3-acetyl-5-methoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone 8 with N-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-2-tert-butyldimethylsilyloxypyrrole 3 provided a method for obtaining the pyrrolidinonaphthofuran adducts 14 and 15 together with silyloxypyrroles 12 and 13. Oxidative rearrangement of pyrrolidinonaphthofuran adduct 15 to pyrrolidino pyranonaphthoquinone 16 using ceric ammonium nitrate in acetonitrile provided a novel approach for the synthesis of an aza-analogue of the pyranonaphthoquinone antibiotic kalafungin.     

Ionic liquid phase organic synthesis (IoLiPOS) methodology applied to the three component preparation of 2-thioxo tetrahydropyrimidin-4-(1H)-ones under microwave dielectric heating

An ionic liquid phase organic synthesis (IoLiPOS) has been developed for the preparation of 2-thioxo tetrahydropyrimidin-4(1H)-ones. Treatment of the starting poly(ethyleneglycol)ionic liquid phases (PEG_n-ILPs) 1 with acryloyl chloride 2 afforded a serie of (PEG_n)-ILPs bound acrylate 3 in quantitative yields. Michael addition of aliphatic primary amines 5 to the PEG₁-ILPs 3(a,d) allowed the preparation of β-aminoesters 6 in high yields. Addition of alkyl isothiocyanates 7 to 6 gave the corresponding thioureido esters 8 in the third step. The final cyclization-cleavage under microwave/solventless strategy provides, under basic conditions, the expected 2-thioxo tetrahydropyrimidin-4(1H)-ones 9 in high purity after flash chromatography. According to the IoLiPOS methodology, the NMR method was used to establish loading of all the PEG-ionic liquid phases intermediates.     

Regioselective synthesis of 4- and 5-oxazole-phosphine oxides and -phosphonates from 2H-azirines and acyl chlorides

A simple and efficient regioselective synthesis of 4-oxazole-phosphine oxides 11 and -phosphonates 12 from 2H-azirine-phosphine oxides 1 and -phosphonates 6 is described. The key step for the synthesis of oxazoles 11 is a base-mediated ring closure of vinylogous α-aminophosphorus compounds derived from phosphine oxides 4 and from phosphonates 8. These derivatives 4 and 8 are obtained by reaction of functionalized azirines 1 and 6 with acyl chlorides 2 and subsequent acid-catalyzed ring opening of N-acylaziridine-phosphine oxides 3 and -phosphonates 7. Regioselective thermal ring cleavage of N-acylaziridine-phosphine oxides 3 leads α-chloro-β-(N-acylamido)-phosphine oxides 13 and their treatment with bases gives 5-oxazole-phosphine oxides 16.     

A practical procedure for the synthesis of multifunctional aldehydes through the Fukuyama reduction and elucidation of the reaction site and mechanism

A highly efficient heterogeneous Pd/C catalyst D1 was found to effect the reduction of thiol esters 1 to the corresponding aldehydes 2 with such a low catalyst loading as 0.5-1.0 mol %. The chemical properties of the Pd/C catalysts together with the XRF analysis reveal that the reduction is most likely to proceed on the solid surface of the Pd/C catalyst rather than in the solution phase outside the pores. A reaction mechanism through oxidative addition of Pd to the thiol esters 1 was postulated by detection of the oxidative addition intermediate by React IR analysis. A practical purification of 2 was accomplished by conversion to water-soluble bisulfite adducts 7.     

Palladium mediated synthesis of isoindolinones and isoquinolinones

The palladium-catalyzed reactions of 2-iodo-N-substituted benzamides 5-10 with acrylic esters 11-14 led to N-substituted-3-alkylisoindolinone esters 15-22 in good yields. The esters of isoindolinones 15-22 underwent hydrolysis reactions yielding the N-aryl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-oxoisoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid 26-31 in good yields.     

An efficient synthesis of (E)-α,β-unsaturated ketones and esters with total stereoselectivity by using chromium dichloride

(E)-α,β-Unsaturated ketones 1 or esters 2 can be obtained with complete stereoselectivity by reaction of different 2-chloro-3-hydroxy ketones 3 or esters 4 and CrCl₂. A comparative study of the results of synthesis of ketones 1 with CrCl₂ or samarium is performed. A mechanism to explain both β-elimination reactions has been proposed.     

Novel carotenoid pyropheophorbide A esters from abalone

A series of carotenoid pyropheophorbide A esters, fucoxanthin pyropheophorbide A ester (1), halocynthiaxanthin 3′-acetate pyropheophorbide A ester (2), lutein pyropheophorbide A esters (3) and (4), and mutatoxanthin pyropheophorbide A ester (5), were isolated from the viscera of the abalone Haliotis diversicolor aquatilis. These structures were determined based on UV-vis, MS, and NMR spectroscopic data.     

Asymmetric addition of diethylzinc to aromatic aldehydes by chiral ferrocene-based catalysts

A series of chiral C₁- and C₂-symmetric ferrocenyl Schiff bases (1a-c), ferrocenyl aminoalcohols (2a), ferrocenylphosphinamides (2b-c), 1,1′-ferrocenyl-diol (3), and 1,1′-ferrocenyl-disulfonamide (4) were prepared and employed as base catalysts or as ligand for titanium(IV) complexes in the asymmetric addition of diethylzinc to aromatic aldehydes. High enantioselectivity up to almost 100% ee was achieved for the alkylation of benzaldehyde and p-methoxybenzaldehyde with 1 or 3. In contrast, however, the β-aminoalcohol (2a) and phosphinamides (2b and c) that are ubiquitous classes of base catalysts for this reaction proved inefficient in our hands, regardless of the types of substrates or reaction conditions. Comparative studies show that there exist various reaction parameters governing not only chemical yields but also optical yields. These include steric and electronic environment of the substrate, the solvent, the reaction temperature, and the nature of the ferrocene moieties.     

A concise approach to (+)-1-epi-castanospermine

A concise enantioselective synthesis of (+)-1-epi-castanospermine (2) is described, which featured the use of chiral non-racemic tetramic acid derivative 5 as a synthetic equivalent of the challenging synthon A through a highly diastereoselective vinylogous Mukaiyama type reaction.     

A novel procedure for the synthesis of multifunctional ketones through the Fukuyama coupling reaction employing dialkylzincs

Treatment of thiol esters 1 with dialkylzincs 2 in the presence of zinc bromide, that was in situ prepared from zinc dust and bromine, provided various functionalized ketones 3 in high yields. The reaction mechanism, which may shift the Schlenk equilibrium from dialkylzincs 2 to reactive alkylzinc bromide 5, was postulated to account for the facile coupling reaction.     

One-pot facile conversion of Baylis-Hillman adduct into N-alkyl 3-(E)-alkylidene-5-substituted sulfonylpiperidine-2,6-dione. Formal synthesis of tacamonine

A stepwise [3+3] strategy to N-alkyl 3-(E)-alkylidene-5-substituted sulfonylpiperidine-2,6-dione 1 used various N-alkyl α-substituted sulfonylacetamides 2 and α,β-unsaturated esters 3 as starting materials. α,β-Unsaturated esters 3 were generated by Baylis-Hillman reaction. A ring closure mechanism was proposed for the reactions. This method provides a convenient formal synthesis of tacamonine.     

Iron(0) and ruthenium(0) complexes with tridentate phosphonite ligands and their potential for ketene formation from methyl iodide, CO and a base

An efficient route to the novel tridentate phosphine ligands RP[CH₂CH₂CH₂P(OR′)₂]₂ (I: R = Ph; R′ = i-Pr; II: R = Cy; R′ = i-Pr; III: R = Ph; R′ = Me and IV: R = Cy; R′ = Me) has been developed. The corresponding ruthenium and iron dicarbonyl complexes M(triphos)(CO)₂ (1: M = Ru; triphos = I; 2: M = Ru; triphos = II; 3: M = Ru; triphos = III; 4: M = Ru; triphos = IV; 5: M = Fe; triphos = I; 6: M = Fe; triphos = II; 7: M = Fe; triphos = III and 8: M = Fe; triphos = IV) have been prepared and fully characterized. The structures of 1, 3 and 5 have been established by X-ray diffraction studies. The oxidative addition of MeI to 1-8 produces a mixture of the corresponding isomeric octahedral cationic complexes mer,trans-(13a-20a) and mer,cis-[M(Me)(triphos)(CO)₂]I (13b-20b) (M = Ru, Fe; triphos = I-IV). The structures of 13a and 20a (as the tetraphenylborate salt (21)) have been verified by X-ray diffraction studies. The oxidative addition of other alkyl iodides (EtI, i-PrI and n-PrI) to 1-8 did not afford the corresponding alkyl metal complexes and rather the cationic octahedral iodo complexes mer,cis-[M(I)(triphos)(CO)₂]I (22-29) (M = Ru, Fe; triphos = I-IV) were produced. Complexes 22-29 could also be obtained by the addition of a stoichiometric amount of I₂ to 1-8. The structure of 22 has been verified by an X-ray diffraction study. Reaction of 13a/b-20a/b with CO afforded the acetyl complexes mer,trans-[M(COMe)(triphos)(CO)₂]I, 30-37, respectively (M = Ru, Fe; triphos = I-IV). The ruthenium acetyl complexes 30-33 reacted slowly with 2-tert-butylimino-2-diethylamino-1,3-dimethylperhydro-1,3,2-diazaphosphorine (BEMP) even in boiling acetonitrile. Under the same conditions, the deprotonation reactions of the iron acetyl complexes 34-37 were completed within 24-40 h to afford the corresponding zero valent complexes 5-8. It was not possible to observe the intermediate ketene complexes. Tracing of the released ketene was attempted by deprotonation studies on the labelled species mer,trans-[Fe(COCD₃)(triphos)(CO)₂]I (38) and mer,trans-[Fe(¹³COMe)(triphos)(CO)₂]I (39).     

The synthesis and structural characterization of N-para-ferrocenyl benzoyl dipeptide esters: The X-ray crystal structure of N-{para-(ferrocenyl)benzoyl}-l-alanine-glycine ethyl ester

A series ofN-para-ferrocenyl benzoyl dipeptide esters 2-5 were prepared by coupling para-ferrocenyl benzoic acid (1) to the dipeptide ethyl esters using the conventional 1,3-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC), 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HOBt) protocol. The dipeptides employed in the synthesis were Ala-Gly(OEt) (2), Ala-Ala(OEt) (3), Ala-Leu(OEt) (4) and Ala-Phe(OEt) (5). The compounds were fully characterized by a range of NMR spectroscopic techniques, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). In addition the X-ray crystal structure of the l-alanine-glycine derivative 2 has been determined.     

Synthesis of threo-β-aminoalcohols from aminoaldehydes via chelation-controlled additions. Total synthesis of l-threo sphingosine and safingol

Chelation-controlled addition of organocuprates to N-carbamoyl aminoaldehydes, prepared from functionalized amino acids, generated predominately the threo-β-amino alcohol derivatives through chelation with the carbamoyl moiety. The carbamate group is a stronger chelating group than other potentially good chelators, for example ethers, esters, thioethers, and gives good diastereoselectivity with cuprates. Thus addition of lithium divinylcuprate to the aldehyde generated from the serine derivative 25 in the presence of extra copper for chelation afforded the threo compound 26 in 83% yield. Cross-metathesis and cleavage of the protecting groups furnished l-threo sphingosine 21. In addition the lyso-sphingolipid protein kinase C inhibitor, safingol, 22, was prepared from commercially available O-benzyl N-BOC serine 28 in six steps and 56% overall yield by this method.     

Synthesis of selenium bridged metallacycles via oxidative addition of diaryl diselenide across Re-Re bond: Novel one-pot reaction approach

One-pot synthesis of novel M₂E₂L₂ type metallacycles [L(CO)₃Re(μ-SeR)₂Re(CO)₃L] (1-5) was accomplished by oxidative addition of diaryl diselenide to low-valent transition metal carbonyl with monodentate pyridine ligands. In metallacycles 1-5, where L = pyridine ligand, R = C₆H₅, CH₂C₆H₅, the pyridyl groups bonded to metal centres invariably adopted cis conformation due to π-π interaction whereas, in compounds 1a and 2a, the pyridyl ligands were oriented in trans conformation. When bulky phenyl groups are introduced at para position of pyridyl rings, as in case of metallacycle 3, the steric hindrance disrupts the soft interaction and resulted into the expansion of space in between two phenylpyridyl groups and created a void. The Metallacycles 1-5 have been characterised by elemental analysis, NMR, IR, absorption and emission spectroscopic techniques. Molecular structures of 1, 1a, 2, 2a, 3 and 4 were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis and the structural studies of 1, 2, 3 and 4 revealed that the pyridyl groups attached to the metal centres exhibited cis conformation, while 1a, 2a displayed trans conformation.     

Neat total synthesis of six monoterpenic alkaloids of the actinidine series

A concise enantiopure synthesis of six monoterpenic alkaloids of the actinidine series possessing a cyclopenta[c]pyridine skeleton, (+)-deoxyrhexifoline (4), (+)-boschniakinic acid (5), (+)-boschniakine (6), (−)-plantagonine (7), (−)-indicaine (8) and (−)-tecostidine (9) is reported starting with the chiral precursor 3-bromo-5-((4R)-phenyloxazolin-2-yl)pyridine (10). It involves a C-4 regioselective connection of a butene appendice and an intramolecular 5-exo-trig Heck annulation sequence followed by hydrogenation of the exocyclic alkene. Mixture of (3R)- and (3S)-7-((4R)-phenyloxazolin-2-yl)cyclopenta[c]pyridines was separated by HPLC before being transformed into enantiopure natural products (4-9) by modification of the oxazoline group.     

3-Amino- and 3-acylamido-2-phosphonopyridines: synthesis by Pd-catalyzed P-C coupling, structure and conversion to pyrido[b]-anellated PC-N heterocycles

Palladium catalyzed cross-coupling of 3-amino- and 3-acylamido-2-bromopyridines 1a-f with triethyl phosphite allowed the synthesis of 3-amino- and 3-acylamido pyridine-2-phosphonic acid diethyl esters 2a-f, whereas nickel catalysts, although providing access to related anilido-2-phosphonates, proved inactive. Reduction of the aminophosphonate 2a with LiAlH₄ afforded 3-amino-2-phosphinopyridine (3a), which was cyclocondensed with dimethylformamide dimethyl acetal (DMFA) via phosphaalkene intermediates 4a to the novel pyrido[b]-anellated 1,3-azaphosphole 5a. Reaction of amidophosphonates 2b-f with LiAlH₄ did not result in the expected reductive cyclization, as shown by closely related anilido-2-phosphonates, but led to product mixtures containing N-secondary 3-amino-2-phosphinopyridines 3b-f as the main or major component. The conversion of 3b,d,e with DMFA to 5b,d,e provides first examples of N-substituted pyrido[b]-anellated azaphospholes. Structures were confirmed by multinuclear NMR and X-ray crystallography (for 2c, 3b).