The preparation of 1,2,4-triazines from α,β-diketo-ester equivalents and their application in pyridine synthesis

The α-Chloro-α-acetoxy-β-keto-esters were prepared from β-keto-esters in good overall yields. These compounds reacted as α,β-diketo-ester equivalents with amidrazones yielding triazines, generally in good yields, or with an amidrazone and 2,5-norbornadiene in a one-pot aza Diels-Alder reaction to give the corresponding pyridines.     

A convenient synthesis of 2,2′-bipyridine derivatives

Picolinates 7 were prepared from the corresponding α-chloro-β-keto-esters 6. Esters 7 were converted into 2,2′-bipyridine derivatives 10 via triazines 9 using an aza Diels-Alder reaction.     

A convenient synthesis of substituted 2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridines

The 2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridines 7a-c were prepared in good yield by reacting α-acetoxy-α-chloro-β-keto-esters 3a-c with bis-amidrazone 4 and 2,5-norbornadiene 6 in ethanol at reflux. Compounds 3a and 3b gave the 2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridines 9a and 9b, respectively, in moderate yield when treated with compound 4 and enamine 8.     

A convenient synthesis of substituted 2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridines

The 2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridines 8a and 8b were prepared in good yield by reacting α-acetoxy-α-chloro-β-keto-esters 1 (R¹ = ⁿPr and Ph) with the bis-amidrazone 7 and 2,5-norbornadiene 5 in ethanol at reflux.     

Reaction of β-trifluoroethoxy vinamidinium salts with carbon nucleophiles

β-Trifluoroethoxy vinamidinium salts 1 reacted smoothly with various types of the carbanions, generated by treatment of ketones, esters, amide and nitriles with LDA, to give the corresponding trifluoroethoxylated multifunctional dienamine derivatives 3 in moderate to good yields. On the other hand, the reaction of 1 with lithium acetylide and other carbanions derived from methyl compounds bearing sulfonyl, sulfinyl, and phosphonyl groups produced the corresponding α,β-unsaturated aldehydes 5 in good yields.     

Synthesis and hetero-Diels-Alder reactions of (E)-α-perfluoroalkanesulfonyl-α,β-unsaturated ketones

Catalyzed by ammonium acetate, the Knoevenagel reactions of β-keto perfluoroalkanesulfones 1 with aromatic aldehydes 2 afforded α-perfluoroalkanesulfonyl-α,β-unsaturated ketones 4 in moderate to good yields. The possible mechanism for the reactions was proposed. These fluorine-containing α,β-unsaturated ketones, which are electron-poor 1-oxa-1,3-butadienes, could be used in inverse electron demand hetero Diels-Alder (HDA) reaction with electron-rich olefins to give tetrasubstituted dihydropyrans 6 in quantitative yields.     

Enantioselective organocatalyzed cascade reactions to highly functionalized quinolizidines

An organocatalyzed one-pot Michael addition-Pictet-Spengler sequence of β-ketoamides and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes was developed, which provided access to highly substituted indolo[2,3-α]quinolizidines and benzo[α]quinolizidines in moderate to good yields and good to excellent enantioselectivities. For aromatic α,β-unsaturated aldehydes 1a-j products 10a-r containing a stable enol configuration were obtained.     

Synthesis of new α,α,β,β-tetrafluoroesters

Substituted phenyl iodides or diiodides reacted with ethyl iodotetrafluoroproponylate ICF₂CF₂CO₂Et, 1 in the presence of copper powder to give the coupled products 2 or 3 in good yields. Addition of 1 to ethylene and allyl acetate proceeded smoothly under thermal and radical conditions to give the corresponding adducts, which underwent elimination reaction to give β-vinyl and β-allyl α,α,β,β-tetrafluoroesters, CH₂CHCF₂CF₂CO₂Et, 4 and CH₂CHCH₂CF₂CF₂CO₂Et, 5, respectively. 1 also readily reacted with 1,5-hexadiene and 1-hexene with copper or palladium complex, followed by reduction to remove iodine to produce ω-alkenyl-α,α,β,β-tetrafluoroester CH₂CH(CH₂)₄CF₂CF₂CO₂Et 6 and α,α,β,β-tetrafluoroester C₄H₉CH₂CHICF₂CF₂CO₂Et.     

Synthesis and substitution reactions of β-alkoxyvinyl bromodifluoromethyl ketones

β-Alkoxyvinyl bromodifluoromethyl ketones 1a, 1b and 1c were synthesized by the reaction of bromodifluoroacetic anhydride with appropriate vinyl ethers in high yields. The acyclic enone 1a reacted with amines to give the corresponding β-aminovinyl bromodifluoromethyl ketones 2 in good yields. The reaction of 1a with electrophilic reagent ICl yielded α-iodoenone 4. The substitution reaction of the cyclic enones 1b and 1c with thio-nucleophiles gave the corresponding difluoromethylene thioethers 6. The three-component reactions of 2 with primary amines and formaldehyde gave multifunctional 1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidine 3 in moderate yields.     

Asymmetric synthesis of α-fluoro-α-sulfenyl-β-ketoesters using DBFOX-Ph/Ni(II) complex

Enantioselective α-sulfenylation of α-fluoro-β-ketoesters 4 with phenylsulfenyl chloride catalyzed by DBFOX-Ph/Ni(II) complex afforded the corresponding α-fluoro-α-sulfenyl-β-ketoesters 2 in moderate to good yields with excellent enantiomeric excesses up to 93% ee. α-Fluoro-α-sulfenyl-β-ketoesters can be effectively converted to tri-fluorinated α-sulfenylcarboxylates by the use of DAST, which should be useful intermediates for the synthesis of non-racemized fluorinated isosteres of pharmaceutically attractive SM₃₂. The enantioselective α-phenylsulfenylation as well as α-pentafluoro-phenylsulfenylation of non-fluorinated β-ketoesters 5 were also carried out under the same catalyst conditions affording up to 95% ee of the products 6-8.     

Practical method for synthesis of 2,3-disubstituted indole derivatives promoted by β-(benzotriazol-1-yl)allylic O-stannyl ketyl radicals

Treatment of β-aryl-β-(benzotriazol-1-yl)-α-primary alkyl (or aryl)-α,β-unsaturated ketones 1 with n-Bu₃SnH (4 equiv) in a catalytic amount of AIBN in PhH at reflux afforded 3-alkyl (or aryl)-2-arylindoles 8 in good yields. However, when tert-butyl group is bonded at α-position, 3-acyl (or aroyl)-2-arylindoles 9 were obtained as major products along with phenanthridines 5 as minor products.     

Synthesis of new triazole substituted pyroaminoadipic and pipecolic acid derivatives

Racemic 5-(4,5-substituted-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1yl)-pyroaminoadipic and pipecolic acid derivatives were synthesized from meso dimethyl-α,α′-dibromoadipate 1 in good yields using mild reaction conditions. The key step of this reaction sequence was the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of an acetylenic compound on α-azido-α′-bromoadipate 2. A reactive α-(substituted-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)-α′- bromoadipate derivative 3a-d was generated and reacted with sodium azide followed by Pd/C-catalyzed hydrogenation to provide lactams 5a-d. The chemoselective reduction of the amide carbonyl group of 5a-d with BH₃ followed by acid hydrolysis provided 5-(4,5-substituted-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl) pipecolic acids in racemic form.     

Hydroacylation of 2-butyne from the alcohol or aldehyde oxidation level via ruthenium catalyzed C-C bond forming transfer hydrogenation

Under the conditions of ruthenium catalyzed transfer hydrogenation, 2-butyne couples to alcohols 1a-1j to deliver α,β-unsaturated ketones 3a-3j in good to excellent isolated yields with complete E-stereoselectivity. Under identical conditions, aldehydes 2a-2j couple to 2-butyne to provide an identical set of α,β-unsaturated ketones 3a-3j in good to excellent isolated yields with complete E-stereoselectivity. Nonsymmetric alkyne 4a couples to alcohol 1d or aldehyde 2d in good yield to deliver enone 3k as a 5:1 mixture of regioisomers. Thus, intermolecular alkyne hydroacylation is achieved from the alcohol or aldehyde oxidation level. In earlier studies employing the same ruthenium catalyst under slightly different conditions, alkynes were coupled to carbonyl partners from the alcohol or aldehyde oxidation level to furnish allylic alcohols. Therefore, under the conditions of C-C bond forming transfer hydrogenation, all oxidation levels of substrate (alcohol or aldehyde) and product (allylic alcohol or α,β-unsaturated ketone) are accessible.     

Synthetic application of fluorinated vinamidinium salts: Synthesis of fluorinated 1,3-butadienylphosphonates by the reaction with Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reagents

The reaction of β-fluoro vinamidinium salt 1 with Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reagents (HWE) such as diethyl(ethoxycarbonyl)methylphosphonate (2a), diethyl(methoxycarbonyl)methylphosphonate (2b), diethyl-2-oxopropylphosphonate (2c), diethyl benzylphosphonate (2d), tetraethyl methylenediphosphonate (2e) and diethyl cyanomethylphosphonate (2f) under basic conditions gave the fluorinated 1,3-butadienylphosphonates 3 in moderate to good yields. The phosphonates 3 could be hydrolyzed with a 10% HCl aqueous solution to afford the corresponding γ-(diethylphosphono)-α-fluoro-α,β-unsaturated aldehydes 7 in good yields. The treatment of the phosphonate 3c with an NH₃ aqueous solution at 70 °C produced the pyridine derivative 8 in 60% yield.     

β,β-Difluoro analogs of α-oxo-β-phenylpropionic acid and phenylalanine

A simple three-step procedure converted the readily accessible (2-bromo-1,1-difluoroethyl)arenes (2) into α-aryl-α,α-difluoroacetaldehydes (1). Subsequent hydrocyanation, hydrolysis, oxidation and again hydrolysis afforded β-aryl-β,β-difluoro-α-oxopropionic acids (3). Reductive amination transformed the oxoacids 3 into a separable mixture of α-hydroxyacids 11 and racemic β,β-difluoro-β-phenylalanine derivatives (4). Enantiomerically pure β,β-difluorophenylalanine (l-4a) was obtained when α,α-difluoro-α-phenylacet-aldehyde (1a) was condensed with homochiral 1-phenylethylamine, hydrogen cyanide added to the resulting imine, the diastereomeric mixture thus produced hydrolyzed to the carboxamides (15) which were found to be separable by fractional crystallization or chromatography. The pK_a values of the β-aryl-β,β-difluoroalanines (4) were measured and biological profile of the latter probed. 3-(4-Chlorophenyl)-3,3-difluoro-2-oxopropionic acid (4c) proved to be a potent (K_i 27 μM) and selective inhibitor of arogenate dehydratase, a key enzyme catalyzing the last step of the phenylalanine biosynthesis.     

Synthesis of 2,2′-bipyridyl derivatives using aza Diels-Alder methodology

Amidrazone 1 and the tricarbonyl derivatives 2a-c gave the triazines 3a-c, respectively, which reacted with 2,5-norbornadiene 4 in boiling ethanol yielding the corresponding novel 2,2′-bipyridines 5a-c in good yield. Triazine 6 gave the 2,2′-bipyridyl derivative 7 (65%) with compound 4 in 1,2-dichlorobenzene at 140°C.     

Two-carbon homologation of ketones via sily ketene acetals: Synthesis of α,β-unsaturated acids and α-trimethylsilyl δ-ketoacids

The reaction of C,O,O-tris(trimethylsilyl)ketene acetal 1 with saturated, cyclic and aromatic ketones 2 proceeds smoothly in the presence of titanium chloride to give (E)-α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids 3 with fairly good stereoselectivity. With α,β-unsaturated ketones 4, α-trimethylsilyl δ-ketoacids 5 (syn + anti) are obtained according to Michael-type 1,4 addition. These diastereoisomers are separated and the configurations of 5a are achieved by X-ray molecular analysis.     

Features and applications of reactions of α,β-unsaturated N-acylbenzotriazoles with amino compounds

Promoted by triethylamine, α,β-unsaturated N-acylbenzotriazoles reacted with amino compounds in a variety of ways. Thus, N-cinnamoylbenzotriazoles reacting with aromatic amines afforded novel addition products β-benzotriazolyl amides 3, which might be normally formed from the alternative but unknown 1,4-addition of benzotriazole to N-cinnamoylamides. The type 3 compounds could also result from the reaction between N-crotonoylbenzotriazole and aliphatic amines. However, normal 1,4-addition could occur between α,β-unsaturated aliphatic N-acylbenzotriazoles and aromatic amines, leading to β-amino N-acylbenzotriazoles 4 in good yields. In addition, exclusive 1,2-addition of aliphatic amines to N-cinnamoylbenzotriazoles gave excellent yields of cinnamides 5. Accordingly, three possible routes were proposed to rationalize the formation of compounds 3-5. Finally, with o-phenylenediamine and o-aminothiophenol as the substrates, the 1,4- and 1,2-addition to α,β-unsaturated N-acylbenzotriazoles could take place concurrently and the corresponding heterocycles 1,5-benzodiazepine-2-one and 1,5-benzothiazepine-4-one were constructed, respectively.     

New efficient synthesis of 4-aminocarbonyl substituted 4H-3,1-benzoxazines by a Passerini 3CC/Staudinger/aza-Wittig sequence

α-Acyloxy-carboxamide azides 1, obtained from Passerini reaction of easily accessible o-azidobenzaldehyde with isocyanides and carboxylic acids, reacted with triphenylphosphine to give various 4-aminocarbonyl substituted 4H-1,3-benzoxazines 3 in moderate to high yields via sequential Staudinger and intramolecular aza-Wittig reaction. However, α-hydroxy carboxamide azides 5 were obtained in moderate yields when pyruvic acid was used in the Passerini reaction. Further sequential reaction of azides 5 with triphenylphosphine and isocyanates produced 2-amino-4-aminocarbonyl substituted 4H-1,3-benzoxazines 8 via a tandem Staudinger/aza-Wittig/heterocumulene-mediated annulation.     

Diastereoselective addition of nitro compounds to α,β-unsaturated γ-butyrolactones

Herein, we report our results on the diastereoselective addition of nitro compounds to α,β-unsaturated γ-butyrolactones, which afforded the corresponding Michael adducts 9-17 in moderate to good yields and good to excellent diastereoisomeric ratio. A one-pot conversion of α,β-unsaturated γ-butyrolactones 7 and 8 to the corresponding trisubstituted keto-γ-butyrolactones 24 and 25 via a tandem Michael-Nef protocol is also described.