Synthesis of 3-alkoxycarbonylaminomethylcarbonylamino-4-benzoyl-1,2-dihydropyridines and their cyclization to 5-phenyl-1,3,8,9-tetrahydro-2H-pyrido[3,4-e]-1,4-diazepin-2-ones

The regiospecific reaction of 3-benzyloxycarbonylaminomethylcarbonylamino-4-benzoylpyridine (6a) , or 3-t-butoxycarbonylaminomethylcarbonylamino-4-benzoylpyridine (6b) , with either acetyl chloride or ethyl chloroformate, and either n-butylmagnesium chloride or phenylmagnesium bromide afforded the respective 1-acetyl (or ethoxycarbonyl)-2-n-butyl (or phenyl)-3-benzyloxy (or t-butoxy) carbonylaminomethylcarbonylami-no-4-benzoyl-1,2-dihydropyridines 7 in 60-75% yield. Reaction of 1-acetyl (or ethoxycarbonyl)-2-n-butyl (or phenyl)-3-t-butoxycarbonylaminomethylcarbonyl-4-benzoyl-1,2-dihydropyridines 7b, 7f, 7d, 7h with trifluoroacetic acid gave the corresponding 5-phenyl-8-acetyl (or ethoxycarbonyl)-9-n-butyl (or phenyl)-1,3,8,9-tetrahydro-2H-pyrido[3,4-e]-1,4-diazepin-2-ones 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d respectively in 45–63% yield. N¹-Methylation of 5-phenyl-8-acetyl-9-n-butyl (or phenyl)-1,3,8,9-tetrahydro-2H-pyrido[3,4-e]-1,4-diazepin-2-ones 8a, 8b using sodium hydride and iodomethane yielded the corresponding N¹-methyl derivatives 9a (48%) and 9b (54%). Oxidation of 5,9-diphenyl-8-ethoxycarbonyl-1,3,8,9-tetrahydro-2H-pyrido[3,4-e]-1,4-diazepin-2-one (8d) using p-chloranil afforded 1,3-dihydro-5,9-diphenyl-2H-pyrido[3,4-e]-1,4-diazepin-2-one (10) . 5-Phenyl-8-acetyl-9-n-butyl-1,3,8,9-tetrahydro-2H-pyrido[3,4-e]-1,4-diazepin-2-one (8a) and the corresponding 8-ethoxycarbonyl analog 8c exhibited weak anticonvulsant activity indicating that 8a and 8c may be acting at the same site as the 7-halo-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one class of compounds.