Acetoacetic alkylidene-, esters

The synthesis of the pyridine ring from ethyl acetoacetate, aldehydes, and ammonia proceeds extraordinarily readily. The mechanism is as follows. In the first phase the aldehydes react with the acetoacetic ester to form alkylidene bis-acetoacetic esters. The 1 5-diketone derivatives so formed undergo ring closure by introduction of a molecule of ammonia and elimination of two molecules of water ... 

Another important reaction of diketene derivatives is the Hantzsch pyridine synthesis (101). This synthesis is the preparation of 1,4-dihydropyridines (14) starting either from two acetoacetic esters, which react with an aldehyde and ammonia or a primary amine or from 3-aminocrotonates and 2-alkylidene acetoacetic esters, both diketene derivatives. Several such dihydropyridines such as nifedipine [21829-25-4] (102), nimodipine [66085-59-4], and nicardipine [55985-32-5] exhibit interesting pharmaceutical activity as vasodilators (blood vessel dilation) and antihypertensives (see Cardiovascularagents). 

The preparation of (83) (Expt 8.29) is an example of the Hantzsch pyridine synthesis. This is a widely used general procedure since considerable structural variation in the aldehydic compound (aliphatic or aromatic) and in the 1,3-dicarbonyl component (fi-keto ester or /J-diketone) is possible, leading to the synthesis of a great range of pyridine derivatives. The precise mechanistic sequence of ring formation may depend on the reaction conditions employed. Thus if, as implied in the retrosynthetic analysis above, ethyl acetoacetate and the aldehyde are first allowed to react in the presence of a base catalyst (as in Expt 8.29), a bis-keto ester [e.g. (88)] is formed by successive Knoevenagel and Michael reactions (Section 5.11.6, p. 681). Cyclisation of this 1,5-dione with ammonia then gives the dihydropyridine derivative. Under different reaction conditions condensation between an aminocrotonic ester and an alkylidene acetoacetate may be involved. 

Solid-phase synthesis of substituted pyrazolones 550 from polymer-bound /3-keto esters 549 has been described (Scheme 68) <2001EJ01631>. Trisubstituted pyrazole carboxylic acids were prepared by reaction of polymer-bound arylidene- or alkylidene-/3-oxo esters with phenylhydrazines <1999S1961>. 2-(Pyrazol-l-yl)pyrimi-dine derivatives were prepared by cyclocondensation of ethyl acetoacetate and (6-methyl-4-oxo-3,4-dihydropyrimi-din-2-yl)hydrazine with aromatic aldehydes <2004RJC423>. Reactions of acylated diethyl malonates with hydrazine monohydrochloride in ethanol afforded 3,4-disubstituted-pyrazolin-5-ones <2002T3639>. Reactions of hydrazines with A -acetoacetyl derivatives of (45 )-4-benzyloxazolidin-2-one (Evans oxazolidinone) and (2R)-bornane-10,2-sultam (Oppolzer sultam) in very acidic media gave pyrazoles retaining the 3(5)-chiral moiety <1999S157>. 

Meyer and co-workers were one of the first groups to use preformed enamines to synthesize 1,4-dihydropyridines in their synthesis of unsymmetrical fiased nifedipine analogs. Michael addition of alkylidene acetoacetic esters substituted with various aryl groups 188 and enaminocarbonyls 189 (where = 1 or 2) in the presence of refluxing ethanol led to the corresponding fused systems 190 in good yield. 

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