N,N′,N″-Tri-Boc-guanidine (TBG): a common starting material for both N-alkyl guanidines and amidinoureas

In this Letter, we describe the unexpected reaction pattern of N,N′N″-tri-Boc-guanidine (TBG) with amines at room temperature and under reflux conditions affording N-substituted guanidines and amidinoureas, potentially important compounds with extensive applications in medicinal chemistry. This investigation shows that TBG is an excellent, readily available common starting material for the synthesis of various N-alkyl guanidines as well as N-alkyl-N′-substituted amidinoureas by simply manipulating the reaction conditions.     

Two-step derivatization and mass spectral distinction of α2,3 and α2,6 sialic acid linkages on N-glycans by MALDI-TOF

Sialic acid linkages on N-glycans were distinguished by MALDI-TOF MS after two steps derivatization by dimethylamine and ammonium hydroxide. By using this method, more than 20 kinds of sialic acid with detailed linkage information were detected on A549 cells.     

N-Dealkylation of Amines

N-dealkylation, the removal of an N-alkyl group from an amine, is an important chemical transformation which provides routes for the synthesis of a wide range of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, bulk and fine chemicals. N-dealkylation of amines is also an important in vivo metabolic pathway in the metabolism of xenobiotics. Identification and synthesis of drug metabolites such as N-dealkylated metabolites are necessary throughout all phases of drug development studies. In this review, different approaches for the N-dealkylation of amines including chemical, catalytic, electrochemical, photochemical and enzymatic methods will be discussed.     

Synthesis of oxindoles via Cu-mediated reactions between N-phenylacrylamides and ethyl 2-bromo-2-methylpropionate

A novel way of synthesizing alkylated oxindoles via Cu-mediated atom transfer radical addition reaction between N-phenylacrylamides and ethyl 2-bromo-2-methylpropionate has been described. It was found that the use of N,N,N′,N′-1,1,2,2,-tetramethylethylenediamine as ligand was important for achieving good yields. Additionally, the use of DMSO as solvent and running the reaction at 130?°C were also crucial. In some cases, the product can be further brominated when the reaction temperature was raised to 150?°C.     

Simplified beta-glycosylation of peptides

A simple and effective activating system for S-phenyl thioglycosides, namely N-iodosuccinimide and catalytic copper(I) triflate, promotes beta-O-glycosylation at the serine and threonine hydroxyls of “mono-,” di-, and tripeptides. The same activator combination promotes carboxamide beta-N-glycosylation of asparagine-containing mono-, di, and tri-peptides, as well as a nucleoside carboxamide and a sulfonamide. An important feature of the copper(I) triflate method is that undesired amide O-glycosylation is largely circumvented. For both sets of biologically important acceptor sites (HO– and –CONH₂), a beta-GlcNAc-equivalent donor is demonstrated to provide the linkages efficiently. Streamlined deprotection sequences have been developed based on global hydrogenolysis that lead smoothly to the parent glycopeptides. The core glycopeptide region for biological protein N-glycosylation, represented by N⁴-(β-N-acetyl-D-2-glucosaminyl)-Asp-Gly-Thr-OH, has been prepared in solution, purified, and characterized as the fully deprotected (mono)glycosylated tripeptide.     

Palladium-catalyzed highly regioselective and stereoselective arylation of electron-rich allylamines with aryl bromides

A palladium-catalyzed, highly efficient Heck arylation of electron-rich N,N-diprotected allylamine derivatives with a wide range of aryl bromides under ligand-free conditions has been developed. In the presence of Pd(OAc)₂ and an appropriate additive, the reaction proceeds with excellent regioselectivity and stereoselectivity, leading exclusively to the γ-arylated (E)-allylamine products in good to excellent yields. It was found that the choice of solvent, olefin, additive and temperature has an important influence on the reaction. Worthy of note is that good results were observed only when using N,N-diprotected allylamines containing carbamate moiety, and the steric properties of allylamines also have important impacts on the regiocontrol. The use of TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy) or HQ (hydroquinone) as the additive is also crucial for securing a faster reaction rate. This method provides a straightforward approach for the efficient synthesis of various γ-arylated, linear (E)-allylamines.     

PtCl4-catalyzed cyclization of N-acetyl-2-alkynylanilines: A mild and efficient synthesis of N-acetyl-2-substituted indoles

An efficient synthesis of N-acetyl-2-substituted indole derivatives via direct intramolecular hydroamination of N-acetyl-2-alkynylaniline derivatives was developed. The reaction could be applied to a wide range of substrates employing only 1–2?mol% of PtCl₄ as the catalyst to furnish the desired indole products in moderate to excellent yields. The current protocol is efficient, reliable and scalable, and could serve as an important tool for convenient and rapid access to this important class of N-heterocyclic skeleton from readily available substrates.     

Diastereoselective synthesis of 6-functionalized 4-aryl-1,3-oxazinan-2-ones and their application in the synthesis of 3-aryl-1,3-aminoalcohols and 6-arylpiperidine-2,4-diones

Halocyclocarbamation of benzyl N-(1-phenyl-3-butenyl)carbamates afforded 6-functionalized 4-aryl-1,3-oxazinan-2-ones with moderate to excellent diastereoselectivity depending on the N-substituent. Importantly, in contrast to reported cyclocarbamations of homoallylic carbamates, which are generally trans-diastereoselective, cyclization of N-unsubstituted Cbz-protected homoallylamines led to cis-1,3-oxazinan-2-ones, predominantly. The use of N-benzylated and in situ prepared N-silylated derivatives resulted however in trans-selectivity. Transition states are proposed to explain the stereochemical influence of the N-substituent on the cyclocarbamations. The functionalized 1,3-oxazinan-2-ones could be further elaborated towards biologically or synthetically important 6-arylpiperidine-2,4-diones and 3-aryl-1,3-aminoalcohols.     

Antibacterial activity of N-quaternary chitosan derivatives: Synthesis, characterization and structure activity relationship (SAR) investigations

Quaternary N-(2-(N,N,N-tri-alkyl ammoniumyl and 2-pyridiniumyl) acetyl) derivatives of chitosan polymer, chitooligomer, and glucosamine (monomer) were synthesized for the purpose of investigating the structure activity relationship (SAR) for the antibacterial effect. Novel methods were used in the synthesis. The final chitosan and chitooligomer derivatives could thus be obtained in two steps without prior protection of the hydroxyl groups. However, in order to obtain chitosan derivatives with the bulky N,N-dimethyl-N-dodecyl- and N,N-dimethyl-N-butyl side chains three steps were needed, starting from 3,6-O-di-tert-butyldimethylsilyl chitosan (3,6-O-di-TBDMS chitosan) as the key intermediate. The quaternary ammoniumyl acetyl derivatives of glucosamine were synthesized from glucosamine or tetra-O-acetylglucosamine. N,N,N-trimethyl chitosan (TMC) was used as reference compound for investigation of antibacterial activity. Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) protocols were used to determine MIC and MLC for activity against clinically important Gram-positive strains Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), and S. aureus (MRSA) (ATCC 43300), and Gram-negative strains of Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), P. aeriginosa (ATCC 27853) and Enterococcus facialis (ATCC 29212). The MIC values for the compounds ranged from 8 to ?8192 mg/L. In general the N-(2-(N,N-dimethyl-N-dodecyl ammoniumyl) acetyl) derivatives of chitooligomer and glucosamine monomer were more active against bacteria than derivatives with shorter alkyl chains. In contrast the N-(2-(N,N-dimethyl-N-dodecyl ammoniumyl) acetyl) derivatives of chitosan were less active than derivatives with N-(2-N,N,N-trimetylammoniumyl) acetyl or N-(2-(N-pyridiniumyl) acetyl) quaternary moiety. N,N,N-trimethyl chitosan (TMC) was the most active compound in this study.     

Catalyst-free aminobromination of alkenes with N-methyl-p-toluenesulfonamide as nitrogen resource

A catalyst-free electrophilic aminobromination system was described with N-methyl-p-toluenesulfonamide (p-TsNHCH₃) and N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) as nitrogen and bromine resources. The reaction can give vicinal haloamines in good yields, excellent regioselectivities, and stereoselectivities under convenient and mild condition. The existence of N-methyl group in the nitrogen resource was found to play an important role in the formation of vicinal haloamine product.     

Aromatic motifs in the design of Ephedra ligands for application in the asymmetric addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes and diphenylphosphinoylimines

Using N-benzylephedrine as a model, a collection of N-arylmethylephedrine derivatives has been prepared. These derivatives were prepared by treatment of ephedrine with selected aldehydes to create oxazolidines 8a–e. Reduction of the oxazolidines with lithium aluminum hydride afforded the target β-amino alcohols 9a–e. When applied in the catalytic asymmetric addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes and diphenylphosphinoylimines, the derivatives yielded product enantioselectivities that were comparable to those of N-benzylephedrine. An N-cyclohexylmethylephedrine derivative was also prepared; this β-aminoalcohol did not perform well in the catalytic addition of diethylzinc to 2-naphthaldehyde, thus suggesting that the aromatic motif is important in terms of maintaining a reasonable level of asymmetric induction. Finally, N-benzyl-N-methyl-2-amino-1,2-diphenyl-1-ethanol, an analogue of the N-benzylephedrine derivative, was prepared. This compound yielded comparable enantioselectivities in the catalytic asymmetric addition when employed as a ligand.     

A modular synthesis of chiral aminoindanol-derived imidazolium salts

A modular synthesis of N-substituted chiral imidazolium salts derived from (1R,2S)-(+)-1-amino-2-indanol is described. A wide range of amines are amenable to late stage introduction of the N-substituent to provide N-aryl, N-alkyl, and N-amino imidazolium salts, which serve as precursors to chiral N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs). A multi-gram synthesis of the N-mesityl derivative provides an important imidazolium salt for ongoing studies aimed at the development and understanding of NHC-catalyzed annulations. Critical to the success of this synthetic strategy is a chemoselective alkylation, 6-exo-tet ring closure of a formamide onto an epoxide, and a heterocyclic interconversion strategy.     

Enantioselective inclusion of amide guests into a chiral N,N′-ditrityl amino amide host to compensate the loss of hydrogen bonds broken by installation of trityl groups

A new crystalline N,N′-ditrityl amino amide host included several amide guests in the host cavity to form inclusion crystals. Although the installation of trityl groups into (S)-2-aminopropanamide broke its inherent hydrogen bonds of amide groups, inclusion of guest amides compensated the loss of hydrogen bonds. X-ray crystallography showed that these inclusion cavities and host–guest interactions such as hydrogen bonds, van der Waals interaction, and CH?O interactions play important roles for highly enantioselective inclusion. The enantiomeric inclusion was 67% ee (S-form) for N-phenyl 2-methylbutanamide, 82% ee (S-form) for N-phenyl 2-chlorobutanamide, and 83% ee (S-form) for N-phenyl 2-bromobutanamide.     

Investigation of amination in 4-chloro-2-phenylquinoline derivatives with amide solvents

Novel 4-amino-2-phenylquinoline derivatives were synthesized by reacting various 4-chloro-2-arylquinoline compounds having activated chloro group with the corresponding amide solvents at reflux for overnight. The activity of amination by the amide solvents depended on the competition between the steric and electronic effect of the N-substituents on the amino group. Their activities were shown as N,N-dimethylformamide>N,N-diethylformamide>N-methylformamide>formamide>N,N-dimethylacetamide>N,N-dimethylpropionamide. The yields for the amination products seemed proportional to the ease of the dissociation of the amides.     

ZnO nanoparticles-mediated regioselective synthesis of methyl-N-alkylated 1,2,3-triazole-4-carboxylates

The 1,2,3-triazoles are versatile synthetic intermediates of many biologically active compounds, and their N-1 substituted analogues are potential pharmaceutically important derivatives. In this study, an efficient regioselective N-alkylation reaction of methyl-1H-1,2 3-triazole-4-carboxylate 3 with alkyl halides 4 catalyzed by ZnO nanoparticles in the presence of potassium hydroxide as base and DMSO as solvent is reported which leads to methyl N ₁-alkylated 1,2,3-triazole-4-carboxylates 5 in good yields.     

ATRP of 3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate and preparation of “stable” gelable block copolymers

ATRP of a gelable monomer, 3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (TESPMA), mediated by CuBr/N,N,N’,N’’,N”-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA) using ethyl 2-bromoisobutyrate (2-EBiB) as initiator was studied. The results indicate that polymerization follows the first-order kinetic. PolyTESPMA (PTESPMA) is much more stable to moisture which is important for exploring the properties of its block copolymer. A series of PEO-b-PTESPMA block copolymers with different composition were prepared. Self-assembly of PEO-b-PTESPMA has also been explored in a mixture of methanol and water and polymeric vesicles have been obtained. By introducing the gelation catalyst, the block copolymer vesicles can be stabilized by the silica networks.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Catechol-Containing Polyacrylamides with Adhesive Properties

In this study, a row of four analogous dopamine acryl- and methacrylamide derivatives, namely N-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyethyl) acrylamide, N-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyethyl) meth acrylamide, N-phenethyl methacrylamide, N-(4-hydroxyphenethyl) methacrylamide were synthesized and characterized by ¹H-NMR and ¹³C-NMR, followed by further solvent-based radical polymerization with N-hydroxyethyl acrylamide. All copolymers were characterized by ¹H-NMR, dynamic differential calorimetry, and gel permeation chromatography. The dependency of the used comonomer ratios to the molecular mass of the corresponding copolymers has been described. The synthesis of the various polymers serves as a feasibility study and provides important data for a future biometric application in the medical field. We synthesized N-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyethyl) acrylamide copolymer up to 80 mol% by free radical polymerization without using any protecting groups. All polymers show identical perfect adhesive properties by a simple scratch test. Further, the monomers were used as a photo reactive glue formulation to test its adherence to a medical titanium surface sample by tensile shear test.     

Synthesis and network structure of ionic poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide-co-acrylamide) hydrogels: Comparison of swelling degree with theory

At four different charge densities, ionic hydrogels based on N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMAAm), acrylamide (AAm), and itaconic acid (IA) were synthesized by free-radical cross-linking copolymerization in water with N,N-methylenebis(acrylamide) (BAAm) as the cross-linker, ammonium persulfate (APS) as the initiator, and N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylenediamine (TEMED) as the activator. The swelling behaviors of these hydrogels were analyzed in buffer solutions at various pH. It was observed that the swelling behavior of cross-linked ionic poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide-co-acrylamide) [P(DMAAm-co-AAm)] hydrogels at different pHs agreed with the modified Flory-Rehner equation based both on the phantom network and affine network models and the ideal Donnan theory. In addition, the kinetics of swelling of the hydrogels was studied in pH 2, 5 and 9 buffer solutions. The swelling curves exhibited the characteristic features of transport process, apparently the Fickian diffusion of fast rates.     

Synthesis of N-hydroxyenamide, a potential precursor of chartelline

In our synthetic plan for chartelline A-C, a compound including N-hydroxyenamide moiety was designed as an important intermediate. Synthesis of the required N-hydroxyenamide by N-acylation of a suitable oxime derivative has been developed using model compounds.     

Ionic liquids as additives in high performance liquid chromatography: Analysis of amines and the interaction mechanism of ionic liquids

As novel solvents, ionic liquids have many applications in synthesis, catalysis and analytical separation, i.e. extraction and chromatography separation. In this paper, some amines including benzidine, benzylamine, N-ethylaniline and N,N′-dimethylaniline are separated using ionic liquids as additives for the mobile phase in high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The effects of the length of alkyl chain or counterions on different ionic liquids and their concentrations on the separation of these analytes are performed. The differences between ionic liquids and tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBA) on the separation of o-, m-, p-phthalic acids are compared and the results show that ionic liquids are ion-pair reagents in essence, although their hydrophobicity and hydrogen bonding also play important roles.