Iron‐Catalyzed Aminomethyloxygenative Cyclization of Hydroxy‐α‐diazoesters with N,O‐Aminals

A new and efficient cyclization reaction has been developed to synthesize cyclic α,α‐disubstituted β‐amino esters via iron‐catalyzed intramolecular aminomethyloxygenative cyclization of diazo compounds with N,O‐aminal under mild reaction conditions. A broad range of hydroxy‐α‐diazoesters with different substituents and various N,O‐aminals were compatible with this protocol, affording the corresponding α,α‐disubstituted β‐amino esters bearing a five‐ to eight‐membered oxacycle in good yields.     

A Conjugate Addition Approach to Diazo‐Containing Scaffolds with β Quaternary Centers

Structurally complex diazo‐containing scaffolds are formed by conjugate addition to vinyl diazonium salts. The electrophile, a little studied α‐diazonium‐α,β‐unsaturated carbonyl compound, is formed at low temperature under mild conditions by treating β‐hydroxy‐α‐diazo carbonyls with Sc(OTf)₃. Conjugate addition occurs selectively at the 3‐position of indole to give α‐diazo‐β‐indole carbonyls, and enoxy silanes react to give 2‐diazo‐1,4‐dicarbonyl products. These reactions result in the formation of tertiary and quaternary centers, and give products that would be otherwise difficult to form. Importantly, the diazo functional group is retained within the molecule for future manipulation. Treating an α‐diazo ester indole addition product with Rh₂(OAc)₄ caused a rearrangement to occur to give a 2‐(1H‐indol‐3‐yl)‐2‐enoate. In the case of diazo ketone compounds, this shift occurred spontaneously on prolonged exposure to the Lewis acidic reaction conditions.     

Synthesis of α‐Nitro‐α‐diazocarbonyl Derivatives and Their Applications in the Cyclopropanation of Alkenes and in O?H Insertion Reactions

A facile and highly efficient method for the preparation of α‐nitro‐α‐diazocarbonyl derivatives by a diazo‐transfer reaction involving (trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl azide has been developed. These substrates undergo a rhodium‐catalyzed cyclopropanation reaction with a variety of alkenes. A systematic study of the reaction indicated that the diastereoselectivity of the cyclopropanation could be effectively controlled through the modification of the steric bulk of the diazo reagent. A novel O? H insertion reaction of the metal? carbene complex derived from the α‐nitro‐α‐diazocarbonyl reagent afforded the corresponding novel α‐nitro‐α‐alkoxy carbonyl derivatives.     

Stereoselective Synthesis of Highly Functionalized Nitrocyclopropanes through the Organocatalyic Michael‐Addition‐Initiated Cyclization of Bromonitromethane and β,γ‐Unsaturated α‐Ketoesters

A highly diastereo‐ and enantioselective cyclopropanation of β,γ‐unsaturated α‐ketoesters with bromonitromethane has been successfully developed through a domino Michael‐addition/intramolecular‐alkylation strategy. Acceptable yields (up to 89 %) and enantioselectivities (up to 96 % ee) have been obtained.     

Reactions of α,β‐Unsaturated Thioamides with Diazo Compounds

Several reactions of the α,β‐unsaturated thioamide 8 with diazo compounds 1a – 1d were investigated. The reactions with CH₂N₂ ( 1a ), diazocyclohexane ( 1b ), and phenyldiazomethane ( 1c ) proceeded via a 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition of the diazo dipole at the C?C bond to give the corresponding 4,5‐dihydro‐1H‐pyrazole‐3‐carbothioamides 12a – 12c , i.e., the regioisomer which arose from the bond formation between the N‐terminus of the diazo compound and the C(α)‐atom of 8 . In the reaction of 1a with 8 , the initially formed cycloadduct, the 4,5‐dihydro‐3H‐pyrazole‐3‐carbothioamide 11a , was obtained after a short reaction time. In the case of 1c , two tautomers 12c and 12c ′ were formed, which, by derivatization with 2‐chlorobenzoyl chloride 14 , led to the crystalline products 15 and 15 ′. Their structures were established by X‐ray crystallography. From the reaction of 8 and ethyl diazoacetate ( 1d ), the opposite regioisomer 13 was formed. The monosubstituted thioamide 16 reacted with 1a to give the unstable 4,5‐dihydro‐1H‐pyrazole‐3‐carbothioamide 17 .     

Efficient synthesis of 3‐arylaminopyrroline‐2‐ones by the tandem reaction of anilines and β,γ‐unsaturated α‐ketoesters

A concise and efficient synthetic approach to 3‐arylaminopyrroline‐2‐ones from anilines and β,γ‐unsaturated α‐ketoesters in boiling dichloromethane has been developed. This protocol possesses many advantages such as short reaction time, high isolated yields, and expanding substrate scopes. According to the isolated intermediates and controlled reactions, the reaction was tentatively proposed to involve the Michael addition/condensation and subsequent intramolecular cyclization. The structures of the title compounds were unambiguously confirmed by various spectral data such as X‐ray crystallographic analysis.     

Synthesis of Functionalized Pyrazoles via 1,3‐Dipolar Cycloaddition of α‐Diazo‐β‐ketophosphonates,Sufones and Esters with Electron‐Deficient Alkenes

1,3‐Dipolar cycloaddition of diazo compounds with olefinic substrates is a promising atom‐economic strategy for the construction of functionalized pyrazoles. Over the last few years, our group has been engaged in the synthesis of phosphonyl/sulfonylpyrazoles and pyrazole esters by employing Bestmann‐Ohira Reagent (BOR) and its sulfur and ester analogs as 1,3‐dipole precursors with various dipolarophiles. This account describes the novel synthetic methods developed in our laboratory, in the perspective of closely related work by others, for the synthesis of phosphonyl/sulfonylpyrazoles, pyrazole esters and the total synthesis of Withasomnine, a natural product, by using 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition as the key step.     

Reactions of unsymmetrical α‐diazo‐β‐diketones with imines: Syntheses of 4H‐1,3‐oxazin‐4‐ones

Cycloaddition reactions of an unsymmetrical α‐diazo‐β‐diketone, 2‐diazo‐1‐phenyl‐1,3‐butanedione, with a series of imines having various substituents were studied. The results indicated that only cycloadducts derived from acetylphenylketene, which was generated by the thermal Wolff rearrangement of 2‐diazo‐1‐phenyl‐1,3‐butanedione with phenyl migration, and imines were obtained. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 13:165–168, 2002; Published online in Wiley Interscience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/hc.10015     

1,3-Dipolar Addition of Methyl α-Diazoacetoacetate to Enamines： A New Synthetic Route to 5-Amino-4,5-dihydrofurans

The reaction of methyl α-diazoacetoacetate with enamines catalyzed by dirhodium and copper complexes underwent formal 1,3-dipolar addition to give 5-amino-4,5-dihydrofurans in moderate yields. The reaction was suggested to proceed via a nucleophilic addition of enamines to rnetal-carbenes and a subsequent intramolecular cyclization of the resulting zwitterionic intermediates.     

Copper(I)‐Mediated Denitrogenative Macrocyclization for the Synthesis of Cyclic α3β‐Tetrapeptide Analogues

A copper(I)‐mediated denitrogenative reaction has been successfully developed for the preparation of cyclic tetrapeptides. The key reactive intermediate, ketenimine, triggers intramolecular cyclization through attack of the terminal amine group to generate an internal β‐amino acid with an amidine linkage. The chemistry developed herein provides a new synthetic route for the preparation of cyclic α₃β‐tetrapeptide analogues that contain important biological properties and results in rich structural information being obtained for conformational studies. With the success of this copper(I)‐catalyzed macrocyclization, two histone deacetylase inhibitor analogues consisting of the cyclic α₃β‐tetrapeptide framework have been successfully synthesized.     

Microwave‐Assisted Tandem Organocatalytic Peptide‐Coupling Intramolecular aza‐Michael Reaction: α,β‐Unsaturated N‐Acyl Pyrazoles as Michael Acceptors

Conjugated N‐acyl pyrazoles have been successfully employed in the organocatalytic enantioselective intramolecular aza‐Michael reaction as ester surrogates. Bifunctional squaramides under microwave irradiation provided the best results in this transformation. Furthermore, this protocol has been combined with a peptide‐coupling reaction in a tandem sequence. The final products were easily converted into the corresponding ethyl esters.     

Protonation‐Assisted Conjugate Addition of Axially Chiral Enolates: Asymmetric Synthesis of Multisubstituted β‐Lactams from α‐Amino Acids

β‐Lactams with contiguous tetra‐ and trisubstituted carbon centers were prepared in a highly enantioselective manner through 4‐exo‐trig cyclization of axially chiral enolates generated from readily available α‐amino acids. Use of a weak base (metal carbonate) in a protic solvent (EtOH) is the key to the smooth production of β‐lactams. Use of the weak base is expected to generate the axially chiral enolates in a very low concentration, which undergo intramolecular conjugate addition without suffering intermolecular side reactions. Highly strained β‐lactam enolates thus formed through reversible intramolecular conjugate addition (4‐exo‐trig cyclization) of axially chiral enolates undergo prompt protonation by EtOH in the reaction media (not during the work‐up procedure) to give β‐lactams in up to 97 % ee.     

Highly para‐Selective C−H Alkylation of Benzene Derivatives with 2,2,2‐Trifluoroethyl α‐Aryl‐α‐Diazoesters

Compared to the most popular directing‐group‐assisted strategy, the “undirected” strategy for C−H bond functionalization represents a more flexible but more challenging approach. Reported herein is a gold‐catalyzed highly site‐selective C(sp²)−H alkylation of unactivated arenes with 2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl α‐aryl‐α‐diazoesters. This protocol demonstrates that high site‐selective C−H bond functionalization can be achieved without the assistance of a directing group. In this transformation, both the gold catalyst and trifluoroethyl group on the ester of the diazo compound play vital roles for achieving the chemo‐ and regioselectivity.     

Two‐Step Synthesis of Multifunctional γ‐Lactams from γ‐Lactone

We present herein an efficient and rapid method for the synthesis of N,1‐dialkyl‐4‐(2‐hydroxyethyl)‐5‐oxopyrrolidine‐3‐carboxamides based on the conversion of γ‐lactone to γ‐lactam via the conjugate addition of primary amines to an ethyl α‐functionalized acrylate followed by intramolecular cyclization.     

An intramolecular N‐arylation approach to 3‐functionalized 4,9‐dihydropyrrolo[2,1‐b]quinazolines

A series of 4,9‐dihydropyrrolo[2,1‐b]quinazolines containing electron withdrawing groups at the 3‐position have been prepared by the palladium‐catalyzed intramolecular N‐arylation of some 2‐aminopyrroles having a 2‐bromobenzyl group at the N‐1 position. Important for success of the reaction is the use of X‐phos, a biphenyl mono‐phosphine ligand, instead of xantphos, a more standard diphosphine ligand, and the use of t‐BuOH as reaction solvent. J. Heterocyclic Chem., (2011).     

Convenient synthesis of poly(γ‐benzyl‐L‐glutamate) from activated urethane derivatives of γ‐benzyl‐L‐glutamate

A series of activated urethane‐type derivatives of γ‐benzyl‐L ‐glutamate were synthesized, and their potential as monomers for polypeptide synthesis was investigated. The derivatives of the focus of this work were a series of N‐aryloxycarbonyl‐γ‐benzyl‐L ‐glutamate 1 , of which aryl groups were phenyl, 4‐chlorophenyl, and 4‐nitrophenyl. These urethanes 1 were reactive in polar solvents such as dimethylsulfoxide, N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF), and N,N‐dimethylacetamide (DMAc), and were efficiently converted into poly(γ‐benzyl‐L ‐glutamate) (poly(BLG)) under mild conditions; at 60 °C without addition of any catalyst. Among the three urethanes, that having 4‐nitrophenoxycarbonyl group 1c was the most reactive to give poly(BLG) efficiently, as was expected from the highly electron deficient nature of the nitrophenoxycarbonyl group. On the other hand, the urethane 1a having phenoxycarbonyl group was also efficiently converted into poly(BLG), in spite of the intrinsically less electrophilicity of the phenoxycarbonyl group. In addition, the successful formation of poly(BLG) by the reaction of 1a favored its diluted concentration (0.1 M) much more than 2.0 M, the optimum initial concentration for 1c . ¹H NMR spectroscopic analyses of the reactions in situ revealed that the predominant pathway from 1 to poly(BLG) involved the intramolecular cyclization of 1 into the corresponding N‐carboxyanhydride, with release of phenol and its successive ring‐opening polymerization with release of carbon dioxide. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 2649–2657, 2008     

Rhodium‐Catalyzed Cascade Reaction of 1,6‐Enynes Involving Addition,Cyclization, and β‐Oxygen Elimination

The reaction of arylboronic acids with 1,6‐enynes that contain an allylic ether moiety is catalyzed by a rhodium(I) complex to produce cyclopentanes with a tetrasubstituted exo olefin and a pendant vinyl group. The reaction is initiated by the regioselective addition of an arylrhodium(I) species to the carbon–carbon triple bond of the 1,6‐enyne. The resulting alkenylrhodium(I) compound subsequently undergoes intramolecular carborhodation of the allylic double bond in a 5‐exo‐trig mode. β Elimination of the methoxy group affords the cyclization product and the catalytically active methoxorhodium(I) species. The use of alkyl Grignard reagents instead of arylboronic acids as organometallic nucleophiles was also examined.     

Reactions of α‐diazoketones with indolinone imines: Synthesis of new 1,3,3‐triaryl‐1′‐methylspiro[azetidine‐2,3′‐indoline]‐2′,4‐diones

The paper describes the synthesis of new 1,3,3‐triary‐1′‐methylspiro[azetidine‐2,3′‐indoline]‐2′,4‐diones from reaction of the 2‐diazo‐1,2‐diarylethanones with 3‐arylimino‐1‐methyl‐2‐indolinones. The compounds have been characterized by satisfactory analytical and spectral (IR, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR) data. The diarylketenes, generated in situ from thermal decomposition of the 2‐diazo‐1,2‐diarylethanones, react with azomethine linkage in preference to carbonyl group leading to the formation of products.     

α‐Amino Acid‐Isosteric α‐Amino Tetrazoles

The synthesis of all 20 common natural proteinogenic and 4 otherα‐amino acid‐isosteric α‐amino tetrazoles has been accomplished, whereby the carboxyl group is replaced by the isosteric 5‐tetrazolyl group. The short process involves the use of the key Ugi tetrazole reaction followed by deprotection chemistries. The tetrazole group is bioisosteric to the carboxylic acid and is widely used in medicinal chemistry and drug design. Surprisingly, several of the common α‐amino acid‐isosteric α‐amino tetrazoles are unknown up to now. Therefore a rapid synthetic access to this compound class and non‐natural derivatives is of high interest to advance the field.     

Synthesis of α‐maleimide‐ω‐dienyl heterotelechelic poly(methyl methacrylate) and its cyclization by the intramolecular Diels–Alder reaction

The synthesis of heterotelechelic poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) containing α‐maleimide‐ω‐dienyl end‐groups and its subsequent intramolecular cyclization are described. The anionic polymerization of methyl methacrylate was carried out with 3‐tert‐butyldimethylsilyloxypropyl‐1‐lithium and 5‐bromo‐1,3‐pentadiene as the initiator and terminator, respectively, to synthesize α‐hydroxy‐ω‐dienyl‐PMMA. The introduction of the maleimide group to the α chain end by the reaction of the sodium salt of the polymer with N‐(3‐chloromethylphenyl)‐maleimide or N‐(3‐bromomethylphenyl)‐maleimide was not successful because of the nucleophilic addition of alkoxide to the carbon carbon double bond of the maleimide group. When 4,4′‐bismaleimidediphenylether was allowed to react with the alkoxide, the aimed α‐maleimide‐ω‐dienyl‐PMMA was obtained in a good yield. Ring closure by the intramolecular Diels–Alder reaction was carried out by the heating of the dilute polymer solution in tetrahydrofuran. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 237–246, 2000