Stereospecific synthesis of highly functionalized tricyclic beta-lactams by radical cyclizations using titanocene monochloride

The reductive opening of epoxyimonobactams 1 with titanoncene (III) chloride gives rise to radicals that can be trapped by intramolecular pi systems (i.e., conjugated alkenes and lactone and amide carbonyls) in a stereospecific way to give new carbocyclic compounds such as tribactam 2.     

Gold-catalyzed cyclizations of alkynol-based compounds: synthesis of natural products and derivatives

The last decade has witnessed dramatic growth in the number of reactions catalyzed by gold complexes because of their powerful soft Lewis acid nature. In particular, the gold-catalyzed activation of propargylic compounds has progressively emerged in recent years. Some of these gold-catalyzed reactions in alkynes have been optimized and show significant utility in organic synthesis. Thus, apart from significant methodology work, in the meantime gold-catalyzed cyclizations in alkynol derivatives have become an efficient tool in total synthesis. However, there is a lack of specific review articles covering the joined importance of both gold salts and alkynol-based compounds for the synthesis of natural products and derivatives. The aim of this Review is to survey the chemistry of alkynol derivatives under gold-catalyzed cyclization conditions and its utility in total synthesis, concentrating on the advances that have been made in the last decade, and in particular in the last quinquennium.     

Facile synthesis of highly functionalized ethyltrifluoroborates

Organotrifluoroborates are generating increased interest because of their ease of preparation and purification and indefinite shelf life. Herein we report the preparation of organotrifluoroborates bearing functional groups that can be manipulated at different stages of the synthetic route, exploiting the inertness of their carbon-boron bonds. The alkylation of 2,2-dicyanoethyltrifluoroborate with a variety of electrophiles and of (EWG)2CH2 with potassium iodomethyltrifluoroborate resulted in di- and trisubstituted ethyltrifluoroborates in good to excellent yields.     

Phosphine-catalyzed synthesis of highly functionalized coumarins

2-Styrenyl allenoates are converted into cyclopentene-fused dihydrocoumarins through phosphine-catalyzed regio- and diastereoselective [3 + 2] cycloadditions. Remarkably, changing the solvent from THF to benzene promotes the conversion of the 2-(2-nitrostyrenyl) allenoate into a tricyclic nitronate through a previously undocumented mode of phosphine catalysis. This nitronate was subjected to efficient face-, regio-, and exo-selective 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions to provide tetracyclic coumarin derivatives.     

Intramolecular cyclizations of functionalized diynes

Examples of intramolecular cyclizations of functionalized diacetylenes are considered in the review. Cyclizations occur with the participation of one of the triple bonds that leads to ethynyl-substituted heterocycles, or of two triple bonds that is used in the synthesis of polycondensed heterocyclic systems and ensembles.     

Phosphine-triggered synthesis of functionalized cyclic compounds

Nucleophilic phosphine catalysis has proven to be a powerful tool in organic synthesis, which can provide easy access to cyclic, bicyclic or polycyclic carbocycles and heterocycles. Owing to their comparatively strong and readily tunable nucleophilicity, phosphines can be easily tailored to efficient annulation reactions with good control over reaction selectivity. This has resulted in a tremendous increase in their scope and in a concomitant number of reports where phosphine-triggered annulation reactions occur. This tutorial review summarizes the recent achievements in this area.     

Efficient synthesis of highly functionalized cyclic aminimides

[reaction: see text]. Simple condensation reactions of various alpha,beta-epoxy or alpha,beta-aziridinyl methyl esters with 1,1-dialkyl hydrazines provided cyclic aminimides (1,1-dialkyl-3-oxopyrazolidines) with a heteroatom substituent at the 4-position in good yields. The reaction proceeds smoothly, without any coreagent, providing the product as an easily isolable precipitate. The reaction is expected to be a good candidate for combinatorial synthesis of a highly functionalized five-membered ring scaffold. The scope and limitations of this reaction were investigated by varying the substituents R(1)-R(5).     

Stereocontrolled synthesis of highly functionalized spirocyclic pyrans

Highly functionalized spirocyclic pyrans can be obtained through the Achmatowicz rearrangement of furyl carbinols by taking advantage of the different rates of reaction for epoxidation and nucleophilic addition. Through this methodology, spirocyclic units of various ring sizes can be selectively generated with complete stereocontrol.     

XY-ZH compounds as potential 1,3-dipoles. Part 65: atom economic cascade synthesis of highly functionalized pyrimidinylpyrrolidines

The results of the reaction of aminomethyl heterocycles and 4,6-dimethyl-2-formylpyrimidine and of activated secondary amines with different aryl/heteroaryl or aliphatic aldehydes and N-methylmaleimide or maleimide are described. In the former case the reactions gave single diastereomers via endo-transition states whilst the latter gave a mixture of diastereomers, which are believed to arise from anti-dipoles via endo/exo transition states. The stereochemistry of the cycloadducts was determined by ¹H NMR and confirmed by X-ray crystallography.     

Practical synthesis of a highly functionalized thiazole ketone

Compound 1 is a uniquely substituted ketone prepared via addition of a thiazole anion to an aromatic nitrile in good overall yield. An exploration into the generality of the addition of thiazole anions to nitriles allowed us to make a variety of thiazole ketones in good to excellent yields. The non-odorous thiolate-mediated demethylation reaction used in the synthesis of 1 is also presented.     

The Overman rearrangement in carbohydrate chemistry: stereoselective synthesis of functionalized 3-amino-3,6-dihydro-2H-pyrans and incorporation in peptide derivatives

A stereocontrolled synthesis of an unsaturated sugar bearing two amino groups (one of them masked as an azide), using an Overman rearrangement as key step, is described. This scaffold is used to prepare two peptides having aromatic fragments, which have shown activity as calpain inhibitors.     

Efficient microwave-assisted synthesis of highly functionalized pyrimidine derivatives

A generally applicable one-pot procedure for the rapid, easy, and diverse asymmetric functionalization of pyrimidines was developed that requires minimum efforts for the purification of the final products. 4-Amino-6-aryl-substituted pyrimidines are prepared in good yields by combined microwave-assisted amination and Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions. The acid-mediated amination reaction affords the products as easily separable salts in 30-40 min reaction time.     

Organocatalytic enantioselective synthesis of highly functionalized polysubstituted pyrrolidines

The organocatalytic conjugate addition of different aldehydes to beta-nitroacrolein dimethyl acetal, generating the corresponding highly functionalized nitroaldehydes in high yields and with high stereoselectivities, has been studied in detail. These transformations have been achieved by using both readily available starting materials in a 1:1 ratio as well as commercially available catalysts at a 10 mol % catalyst loading. Furthermore, a very short and efficient protocol has been devised for the preparation of highly enantioenriched pyrrolidines containing two or three contiguous stereocenters starting from the obtained Michael adducts. 3,4-Disubstituted pyrrolidines have been obtained in a single step by Zn-mediated chemoselective reduction of the nitro group followed by intramolecular reductive amination, and trisubstituted homoproline derivatives have been prepared by means of an olefination reaction and a cascade process involving chemoselective reduction of the nitro group followed by a fully diastereoselective intramolecular aza- Michael reaction.     

Efficient synthesis of highly functionalized vinylogous thiol esters

A series of vinylogous thiol esters 2,3 and 2,6-dioxo-1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridines (cyclic vinylogous thiol esters) 4 were prepared in high to excellent yields from the tandem reaction of readily available α-alkenoylketene diethylthioacetals 1 and diethyl malonate. A plausible mechanism, which involves a base catalyzed retro-Michael ring opening of cyclohexanenes 2 to give vinylogous thiol ester 3, is disclosed.     

An efficient synthesis of highly functionalized chiral lactams

A new method was developed to synthesize highly functionalized lactams via a one pot reductive amination/lactam formation reaction. This methodology is amenable for parallel synthesis and was used to prepare a large number of lactam analogs in a library format with good ee (de) retention.     

Gold-catalyzed heteroannulation and allyl migration: synthesis of highly functionalized indole derivatives

Highly substituted indole derivatives have been prepared in good to excellent yields by a novel gold-catalyzed cyclization accompanied by [3,3]-migration of the allyl strategy. We have been able to introduce an allyl group at the C1 position of pyrano[3,2-e]indol-6(7H)-one and pyrrolo[3,2-f]quinolin-7(6H)-one moieties that provide a scope for further transformation.