Mild addition of carbon nucleophiles to pyridine and quinoline N-oxides under different activation conditions

In the course of our syntheses of functionalised pyridine and quinoline derivatives, we examined the reactivities of pyridine and quinoline N-oxides towards the nucleophilic addition of acidic carbon derivatives. Different activating reagents were used, such as PyBroP, triflic anhydride and a combination of pyrrolidine phosphoramide and triflic anhydride.     

Gold-catalyzed addition of carbon nucleophiles to propargyl carboxylates

Propargyl carboxylates react with 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds and electron-rich arenes in the presence of Au(I) catalysts to give enol carboxylates via alpha,beta-unsaturated Au(I) carbenes or Au(I)-coordinated allenes formed by 1,2- or 1,3-acyl migration, respectively.     

Copper-catalyzed conjugate addition of allene-derived nucleophiles to alkenyl-substituted carboxamides

Catalytic Michael addition reaction represents a fundamental importance in organic synthetic chemistry. Whereas corresponding conversions toward intrinsically low reactive enamide remains an ongoing challenging. We herein report a copper-catalyzed conjugate addition of allenes to β-substituted alkenyl amides, one of the most challenging Michael acceptors. The present method utilizes readily available allenes as the latent carbon-based nucleophiles and simple, common β-substituted alkenyl amides ...     

Enantioselective organocatalytic conjugate addition of organoboron nucleophiles

This review covers the use of organoboron nucleophiles in enantioselective conjugate additions catalyzed by organic-based catalysts. It is divided into sections based on the type of nucleophile, with each section arranged in roughly chronological order. The categories of nucleophiles are alkynyl, alkenyl, and aryl boronates or borates. The principle modes of catalysis, iminium formation and boron chelation, are covered.     

Stereoelectronic control in addition of nucleophiles to an amidinium ion.

Nucleophilic addition to 1,3-dimethyl-5-phenyl-1,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidinium ion provides a quantitative measure of stereoelectronic control. This amidinium ion presents the nucleophile with two distinct paths for attack. Axial attack is favored by interaction between the orbital of the developing bond and antiperiplanar lone pairs on the nitrogens. Reaction of the amidinium salt with diverse nucleophiles (D(-), H3C(-), n-Bu(-), PhCH2(-), allyl(-), Ph(-), C5F6(-), CH2=CH(-), HC triple bond C(-), PhC triple bond C(-), CN(-)) produces mixtures of cis and trans stereoisomers. Both kinetic and thermodynamic product distributions were measured by 1H NMR, before and after acid-catalyzed equilibration. The values provide insight into the roles of steric and stereoelectronic forces at the transition state and in products. Stereoelectronic effects on reactivity are found to be weak (ca. 1 kcal/mol).     

Conjugate addition nitro-Mannich reaction of carbon and heteroatom nucleophiles to nitroalkenes

The conjugate addition nitro-Mannich reactions of ethyl-β-nitroacrylate (1) and β-nitrostyrene (2) with electron rich aromatic nucleophiles, stabilized carbanions, alcohols, amines, thiols, and diphenyl phosphine oxide were investigated. The one pot conjugate addition nitro-Mannich reaction was unsuccessful except for the addition of alkoxides to 2 in alcohol as solvent. Isolation of the conjugate addition products followed by deprotonation with ⁿBuLi and treatment with a simple imine in the presence of TFA led to β-nitroamine derived products. Products derived from 1 spontaneously cyclised in only a few examples and on the whole led to inherently unstable products. Products derived from 2 were isolated as their trifluoroacetamides, gave good yields of single diastereoisomers for aromatic and alkoxide nucleophiles and the structures were verified by single crystal X-ray crystallography. Products derived from amine nucleophiles were isolated in low yields while sulfur nucleophiles gave poor diastereoselectivities.     

Stereoselective conjugate addition of nitrogen nucleophiles to 3,3,3-trifluoro-1-nitropropene

In order to access 1,2-diamines incorporating perfluorinated groups, the Michael-like addition of nitrogen nucleophiles to 3,3,3-trifluoro-1-nitropropene has been investigated using racemic and optically pure nucleophiles such as amines, amides, oxazolidin(on)es, and thiazolidin(on)es. Complete diastereoselectivity of the addition was achieved with 4-phenylthiazolidine-2-thione.     

Regioselectivity in the palladium-catalyzed addition of carbon nucleophiles to carbocyclic derivatives.

The regioselectivity of Pd-catalyzed malonate additions and arylations to cycloalkenyl esters can be predicted by completing a stereochemical analysis of the Pd-pi-allyl complex. The Pd-catalyzed malonate additions which have the greatest degree of regioselectivity are in which substituents have a steric influence in blocking the incoming nucleophile. Cyclopentenyl substrates displayed lower regioselectivity than the cyclohexyl counterparts presumably due to increased planarity of the system. Arylations using tin and hypervalent silicon reagents were compared.     

Mild persubstitution of di- and tetrabrominated arenes with arylthiolate nucleophiles

A mild selective protocol was used to prepare tetrakis(2-chlorophenylthio)anthracene from tetrabromoanthracene and sodium 2-chlorobenzenethiolate avoiding the thiolate self-attack. The uncatalyzed nucleophilic substitution of a series of mono-, di-, and tetrabrominated arenes by arylthiolate ions was attempted in mild conditions to investigate the scope of the substitution reaction regarding the size of the aromatic system as well as the number of bromine atoms. Successful reactions afforded only the persubstituted products in good purity and yield after a simple workup and chemoselectivity of Br versus Cl substituents was achieved for the tetrabromide.     

The double addition reaction of alkoxymethyl nucleophiles to esters to generate novel polyoxygenated species

The development of a double addition reaction of alkoxylmethyl nucleophiles to a variety of functionalized aryl and alkyl esters to give polyoxygenated products is reported. Key features include broad electrophile substrate scope and good yields. Structurally diverse nucleophiles were investigated and were found to successfully undergo diaddition. This development now allows facile access to this novel class of polyoxygenated molecules.     

Anti-markovnikov addition of nucleophiles to a non-conjugated olefin via single electron transfer photochemistry

Nucleophilic solvent has been added regiospecifically in an anti-Markovnikov manner to a simple non-conjugated olefin, 1-methylcyclohexene, through single electron transfer induced photochemistry using the 1-cyanonaphthalene - biphenyl pair for achieving photooxidation.     

The addition of sp2- and sp-hybridized nucleophiles to a bridgehead bromoketone

The reaction of various sp2- and sp-hybridized organolithium species with bromoketone 1 is presented. In most cases, control over the course of the process is possible and products from simple addition, addition followed by a quasi-Favorskii rearrangement or addition, rearrangement, and addition can be selectively prepared.     

A general organic catalyst for asymmetric addition of stabilized nucleophiles to acyl imines

Cinchona alkaloid-derived thiourea catalysts promote nucleophilic additions to acyl imines for the asymmetric synthesis of secondary amine adducts. The hydroquinine-derived thiourea catalyst efficiently promotes the aza-Henry reaction of nitroalkane with acyl imines, affording β-nitroamines in good yields with enantioselectivities of 90-98% ee and diastereoselectivities up to 97%. The scope of the reaction also includes dimethyl malonate as a nucleophile to access β-amino esters in high enantiopurity. Under the optimized reaction conditions, secondary amine adducts of high enantiopurity are generated based on various aromatic and α,β-unsaturated acyl imines.     

Synthesis of 1,2-bisalkylidenecyclopentanes from 1,6-allenynes via stereoselective addition of nucleophiles to ruthenacyclopentenes

Ruthenium-catalyzed cyclization of 1,6-allenynes occurs via the addition of heteroatom nucleophiles to ruthenacyclopentenes, providing functionalized 1,2-bisalkylidenecyclopentanes in a highly regio- and stereoselective manner.     

Kinetics and mechanism of the addition of nucleophiles to alpha,beta-unsaturated thiol esters

Compounds containing the UV-absorbing chromophores p-methoxycinnamate, p-methoxycinnamide, or anthranilate and an alpha,beta- or alpha,beta,gamma,delta-unsaturated thiol ester (crotonyl or sorboyl) have been prepared. These compounds are subject to nucleophilic attack at the C=C conjugated to the thiol ester carbonyl group. The kinetics of the reactions of these thiol esters with N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC), N-acetylcysteamine, and N(2)-acetyl-L-lysine (NAL) have been studied, and the thiol addition products have been identified. The reaction rates increased at higher pH, and the reaction of NAC thiolate with a crotonyl thiol ester in 1:1 (v/v) acetonitrile/aqueous HEPES exhibited buffer catalysis as a result of protonation of the enolate intermediate. At the same concentration, NAC underwent approximately 300-fold more reaction than NAL with a crotonyl thiol ester at pH 9.8. Additionally, a crotonyl thiol ester was found to be 7.9 times more reactive than a sorboyl thiol ester toward NAC addition. These unsaturated thiol esters may serve as a means of covalently binding UVA and UVB sunscreens to the outer layer of skin to provide long-lasting protection.     

FeCl3-catalyzed addition of nitrogen and 1,3-dicarbonyl nucleophiles to olefins

A direct intermolecular addition of nitrogen and 1,3-dicarbonyl nucleophiles to stabilized double bonds (styrenes, 1,3-dienes, enol-ethers, sugars.) in the presence of green and inexpensive FeCl₃ catalyst is described.     

TiCl4-promoted addition of nucleophiles to open chain α-amidoalkylphenyl sulfones

Linear α-amidoalkylphenyl sulfones are converted into the corresponding N-acyliminium ions by treatment with TiCl₄ at low temperature and then made to react with different nucleophiles such as allyltrimethylsilane, silyl ketene acetal, anisole and thiophene.