Carbonyl compounds, a-nitroaryl

As discussed in Chapter 9, various nucleophiles can be introduced at the ortho position of nitroarenes via the VNS process. This provides a useful strategy for the synthesis of indoles. One of the most attractive and general methods of indoles and indolinones would be the reductive cyclization of a-nitroaryl carbonyl compounds (Eq. 10.54). The VNS and related reactions afford a-nitroaryl carbonyl compounds by a simple procedure. For example, alkylation of 4-fluoronitrobenzene with a lactone silyl enol ether followed by reductive cyclization leads to tryptophols (Eq. 10.55).73... 

The reaction of nitroarenes with silyl end ethers and ketene silyl acetals in MeCNATiF with 1 equiv. of TASF, followed by in situ oxidation with Br2 or DDQ, provides an easy route to a-nitroaryl carbonyl compounds (Scheme l).12 The use of these compounds as reagents for the synthesis of arylacetic acids, propionic acids, indoles, 2-indolinones and other heterocyclic compounds has recently been described.88... 

Silyl enol ethers and ketene silyl acetals add to aromatic nitro compounds in the presence of TASF(Me) to give intermediate dihydro aromatic nitronates which can be oxidized with bromine or 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-l,4-benzoquinone to give a-nitroaryl carbonyl compounds the latter are precursors for indoles and oxindoles. The reaction is widely applicable to alkyl-, halo-, and alkoxy-substituted aromatic nitro confounds, including heterocyclic and polynuclear derivatives (eq 7). 

A modified version of Friedlnder synthesis utilizing a 2-nitroaryl carbonyl compound is sometimes used to synthesize quinoline skeleton. Friedlnder synthesis itself is somewhat complicated because of the difficulty in preparing the necessary 2-aminoaryl carbonyl compounds. 

Reductions of aromatic nitro compounds provide a simple and general access to various heterocyclic compounds through the domino process (Scheme 9.23). Quinolines are important skeletal moieties present in various natural products and biologically active compounds [58]. Most common methods of their preparation involve condensation of o-amino benzaldehydes with an enolizable carbonyl compound (Friedlander synthesis) [59]. Miller et al. [60] reported an efficient synthesis of quinolines 109, in which a reduction of o-nitroaryl carbaldehyde by SnCl2 followed by condensation with an enolizable carbonyl compound in the presence of ZnCl2 yielded 109 through a domino process. In 2001, Bunce et al. [61] reported a domino nitroarene reduction/reductive amination sequence for the preparation of tetrahydroquinoline-4-carboxylic ester 110 with excellent yields. 

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