Totalsynthese von Decarboxybetalainen durch photochemische Ringöffnung von 3-(4-Pyridyl)alanin

Total Synthesis of Decarboxybetalaines by Photochemical Ring Opening of 3-(4-Pyridyl)alanine A photochemical approach is presented for the total synthesis of the decarboxybetalaines, which were previously known from the mild decarboxylation of the natural plant colorants, the betalaines: Irradiation of rac-3-(4-pyridyl)alanine ( 1 ) yielded the rac-2-decarboxybetalamic-acid-imine ( 4 , 86%), presumably via a Dewar pyridine 2 , a cyclic aminal 3 and an electrocyclic ring opening. The imine-zwitterion 4 was treated with three amines, namely (S)-cyclodopa ( 6 ), (S)-proline ( 7 ), and indoline ( 8 ), to afford three decarboxybetalaines, namely (2S)-17-decarboxybetanidine ( 9 , red, 34%), (2S)-13-decarboxyindicaxanthine ( 10 , yellow, 56%), and rac-16-decarboxyindobetalaine ( 11 , orange, 78%), respectively. The structures of these coloring matters were confirmed by their electrophoretic behavior and their spectroscopic properties. 17-Decarboxybetanidine 9 was shown to be a ca. 1:1 mixture of two C(15)-epimers 9a and 9b , separable by chromatography. The configuration of 9a was determined as (2S, 15S) and that of 9b as (2S, 15R), by correlating their optical rotations with those of betanidine ( 12a ) and isobetanidine ( 12b ), respectively. The decarboxybetalaines 9 , 10 , and 11 did not show the double-bond isomerism at C(β), (Cγ) of the chromophore which had been found characteristic for the corresponding betalaines 12 , 13 , and 14 .