Synthesis of the enantiomers of the dual function 2‐nitroimidazole radiation sensitizer RB 6145

Short, efficient pathways are described for the synthesis of racemic 2‐nitroimidazole radiation sensitizer RB‐6145 ( 2a ) and each of its corresponding (R)‐ and (S)‐enantiomers ( 2b and 2c , respectively). The synthesis of each enantiomer commences with the appropriate chiral epichlorohydrin and utilizes a novel application of 3‐trimethylsilyl‐2‐oxazolidinone ( 3b ) as a mild, safe surrogate for highly toxic aziridine. The synthesis of the (R)‐enantiomer ( 2b ) has been successfully scaled up to provide multi‐kilo quantities of material for early stage preclinical evaluation.     

ESI‐MS/MS of expanded porphyrins: a look into their structure and aromaticity

Electrospray mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry was used to investigate the gas‐phase properties of protonated expanded porphyrins, in order to correlate those with their structure and conformation. We have selected five expanded meso‐pentafluorophenyl porphyrins, respectively, a pair of oxidized/reduced fused pentaphyrins (22 and 24 π electrons), a pair of oxidized/reduced regular hexaphyrins (26 and 28 π electrons) and a regular doubly N‐fused hexaphyrin (28 π electrons). The gas‐phase behavior of the protonated species of oxidized and reduced expanded porphyrins is different. The oxidized species (aromatic Hückel systems) fragment more extensively, mainly by the loss of two HF molecules. The reduced species (Möbius aromatic or Möbius‐like aromatic systems) fragment less than their oxidized counterparts because of their increased flexibility. The protonated regular doubly fused hexaphyrin (non‐aromatic Hückel system) shows the least fragmentation even at higher collision energies. In general, cyclization through losses of HF molecules decreases from the aromatic Hückel systems to Möbius aromatic or Möbius‐like aromatic systems to non‐aromatic Hückel systems and is related to an increase in conformational distortion. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis of 3,4‐dihydro‐1(2H)‐isoquinolinonesxs

Approaches toward the preparative‐scale synthesis of target 3,4‐dihydro‐1(2H)‐isoquinolinones 1–3 are presented. Compounds 1 and 2 were prepared via a Schmidt rearrangement on easily obtained indanone precursors, but in low overall yield. A better method to make this class of compounds is exemplified by the large‐scale synthesis of 2 via a Curtius rearrangement sequence. Thus, high‐temperature thermal cyclization of an in situ formed styryl isocyanate from precursor 8 in the presence of tributylamine gave the corresponding 1(2H)‐isoquinolinone ( 9 ). Catalytic hydrogenation of 9 provided the desired 3,4‐dihydro‐5‐methyl‐1(2H)‐isoquinolinone ( 2 ) in 65 % overall yield. Similar reduction of a commercially available 5‐hydroxy‐1(2H)‐isoquinolinone precursor 10 followed by an O ‐alkylation/amination sequence gave target 3 in good overall yield. The route proceeding via the Curtius rearrangement is recommended for large scale synthesis of other 3,4‐dihydro‐1(2H)‐isoquinolinones. Only when deactivating substituents or sensitive functionality within the benzenoid ring render the high temperature ring closure of the intermediate isocyanate inefficient might a Schmidt rearrangement protocol be the method of choice.