Photoinduzierte Reaktionen von 3-Phenyl-2H-azirinen mit Carbonsäureestern 40. Mitteilung über Photoreaktionen

Irradiation (280–350 nm light) of a benzene solution of 3-phenyl-2H-azirines 1a – e in the presence of carboxylate esters, whose carbonyl groups are activated by electron withdrawing groups situated in the acyl or alkyl moiety, produces 5-alkoxy-3-oxazolines (Tab. 1 and 4, Scheme 2) isolated in 18–82% yield. These heterocycles undoubtedly originate by regiospecific addition of the ester carbonyl group to the azirine-derived benzonitrile-methylide ‘dipole’ (Scheme 1). The 5-(2,′ 2′, 2′-trifluoroethoxy)-3-oxazolines, derived from 2′, 2′, 2′-trifluoroethyl carboxylic esters, on treatment with methanolic hydrogen chloride at low concentration, are smoothly transformed into the corresponding 5-methoxy-3-oxazolines (e.g. 16 → 17 , Tab. 5). Utilizing this process, various hitherto relatively unknown 9. 5-alkoxy-3-oxazolines become accessible. The constitution of the adducts is based essentially on spectral data. The structure of trans-5-methoxy-2,4-diphenyl-5-trifluoromethyl-3-oxazoline (trans- 14 ), the addition product of methyl trifluoroacetate and the benzonitrile-benzylide from 2,3-diphenyl-2H-azirine ( 1d ), was determined by X-ray crystallography (Section 5). Benzonitrile-isopropylide ( 22 ), resulting from the photochemical transformation of 2,2-dimethyl-3-phenyl-2H-azirine ( 1a ), also reacts with S-methyl thiobenzoate to give 2,2-dimethyl-5-methylthio-4,5-diphenyl-3-oxazoline ( 26 ). Ethyl cyanoacetate protonates predominantly the dipolar species derived from 1a at the nitrile C-atom and yields after work-up ethyl α-cyano-cinnamate ( 29 ) and ethyl isopropylidene-cyanoacetate ( 30 ) (Scheme 4). The relative rate of addition (k_rel) of benzonitrile-isopropylide ( 22 ) to methyl α-haloacetates and dimethyl oxalate was determined by competition experiments (Section 6). Log k_rel correlated satisfactorily (r = 0.97) with the pK_a of the acide derived from the ester reactant: log k_rel = ? 1.72 pK_a + 2.58 or with Taft's substituent constants σ*: log k_rel = 2.06 σ* ? 4.11 k_rel(methyl dichloroacetate) = 1; Section 7.1]. On the basis of the results obtained, the mode of reaction of the so-called benzonitrile-methylide ‘dipole’ is discussed and a model for the transition state of addition of ester-carbonyl groups is proposed that accounts for the observed regiospecifity and steroselectivity.