Adamantane synthesis

Adamantane synthesis. Irish chemists1 report a new catalyst that is much more effective than the so-called AlBr3 sludge catalyst (2, 20) for isomerization of strained tricyclic hydrocarbons into adamantanes. The catalyst is prepared from alumina and chloroplatinic acid followed by sequential treatment with H2, HC1, and SOCl2. The catalyst can be reactivated by treatment with 02 at 500° and then repetition of the H2-HCl-SOCl2 treatment. 

Adamantane synthesis, catalyst Aluminum bromide. c/s-Addition to alkynes Diisobutylaluminum hydride. 

Hyperflorin, an antibiotic isolated from St. John s wort Hypericum perforatum L.), has been found on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic evidence to possess structure (639). ° A review on the conformational analysis of bicyclo[3,3,l]nonanes has appeared,and the conformations of l,5-disubstituted-3,7-dimethyIenebicyclo-[3,3,l]nonane derivatives have been shown, on the basis of lanthanide-induced n.m.r. shifts, to be predominantly in the double-chair form. In a notable paper that contains a wealth of information pertinent to adamantane synthesis, it has been reported that bicyclo[3,3,l]nonane-3,7-dicarboxylic acid, its dimethyl ester, and various derivatives exist mainly in the chair-boat conformation. The synthetic entry to these systems is illustrated for the above diester (643) in which the starting point is adamantanone (640) thus, ring expansion with diazomethane followed by SeOj oxidation gave the a-diketone (641) which was cleaved with periodate to give the diacid (642). Esterification using diazomethane gave (643) which exists, as does the diacid, as... 

The synthesis of adamantane (15), tricyclo[3.3.1.1 ]decane [281-23-2] by heating tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene (14) [6004-38-2] in the presence of aluminum trichloride illustrates another aspect of the synthetic utiHty of DCPD (80). Adamantane is the base for dmgs that control German measles and influenza (80-81) (see ANTIVIRAL AGENTS). 

Enamine addition to an unsaturated ester, followed by an intramolecular alkylation, provided a facile synthesis of an adamantane bis-/3-ketoester 674). Michael addition of pyrrolidinocycloheptene to other acrylic esters 668) and of other enamines to acrylic acids 675), a chloroacrylonitrile 676), and an unsaturated cyanocarboxamide (577) were reported. 

Dicyclopentadiene can be hydrogenated conveniently over a platinum catalyst in a Parr apparatus. The tetrahydro product is used in the synthesis of adamantane (Chapter 15, Section I). 

A second example of the use of esters as enolates is the formation of Meerwein s ester, an intermediate in the synthesis of substituted adamantanes (6). Dimethyl... 

Protoadamantanone is a versatile intermediate for the synthesis of not only protoadamantane derivatives,but also 1,2- and 2,4-disubstituted adamantanes, ° 2-substituted noradamantanes," and 4(5)-substituted 4-homoprotoadamantanes. ... 

Figure 13. Various stages in synthesis of adamantane based on the work reported in Refs. [43 and 44].

Schleyer s Lewis acid-catalyzed rearrangement method, which is based on diamondoid thermodynamic stability during carbocation rearrangements, has had little or no success in synthesizing diamondoids beyond triamantane. In recent years, outstanding successes have been achieved in the synthesis of adamantane and other lower molecular weight diamondoids [42 9]. Some new methods have been developed and the yield has been increased to 60%. 

Extensive investigations have been performed related to the synthesis of new adamantane derivatives with better therapeutic actions and less adverse effects. For example, it has been proved that adamantylamino-pyrimidines and -pyridines are strong stimulants of mmor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) [132]. TNF is a substance that can improve the body s namral response to cancer by killing cancer cells. Another example is 1,6-diaminodiamantane [87], which possesses an antitumor and antibacterial activity. Also, many derivatives of aminoadamantanes have antiviral activity like 3-(2-adamantyl) pyrolidines with two pharmacophoric amine groups, which have antiviral activity against influenza-A virus [133]. 

Adamantane has also been used for lipidic nucleic acid synthesis as a hydrophobic group. Two major problems in gene delivery are the low uptake of... 

Calixarenes, which are macrocyclic compounds, are one of the best building blocks to design molecular hosts in supramolecular chemistry [158]. Synthesis of calix[4]arenes, which have been adamantylated, has been reported [105, 109]. In calix[4]arenes, adamantane or its ester/carboxylic acid derivatives were introduced as substituents (Fig. 29). The purpose of this synthesis was to learn how to employ the flexible chemistry of adamantane in order to construct different kinds of molecular hosts. The X-ray structure analysis of p-(l-adamantyl)thiacalix[4]arene [109] demonstrated that it contained four CHCI3 molecules, one of which was located inside the host molecule cavity, and the host molecule assumed the cone-like conformational shape (Fig. 30). 

Figure 29 (a) Synthesis route of the molecule (b) (i) S8, NaOH, tetraethyleneglycol dimethyl ether, heat, (28%). (b) Adamantane upper rim derivative based on the thiacalix[4]arene platform. (c,d) The carboxylic acid and ester derivative of adamantane can also be used as substituents. Taken from Ref. [109] with permission. 

Covalent attachment of adamantane molecules is a key strategy to string them together and construct molecular rods. The McMurry coupling reaction was employed to obtain polyadamantane molecular rods (see Fig. 35) [170]. As another example, synthesis of tetrameric 1,3-adamantane and its butyl derivative has been reported [171] (see Fig. 36). 

Adamantane can be used to construct peptidic scaffolding and synthesis of artificial proteins. It has been introduced into different types of synthetic peptidic macrocycles, which are useful tools in peptide chemistry and stereochemistry studies and have many other applications as well. Introduction of amino acid-functionalized adamantane to the DNA nanostmctures might lead to construction of DNA-adamantane-amino acid nanostmctures with desirable stiffness and integrity. Diamondoids can be employed to constmct molecular rods, cages, and containers and also for utilization in different methods of self-assembly. In fact, through the development of self-assembly approaches and utilization of diamondoids in these processes, it would be possible to design and constmct novel nanostmctures for effective and specific carriers for each dmg. 

R. B Morland, Heteroadamantanes, The Improved Synthesis and Some Reactions of 2-Hetero-adamantanes, RhD Dissertation, Chemistry, Kent State University, 1976. 

Pioneering work on the desulphonylation of jS-ketosulphones was carried out by Corey and Chaykovsky - . This reaction was part of a sequence which could be used in the synthesis of ketones, as shown in equation (53). The main thrust of this work was in the use of sulphoxides, but Corey did stress the merits of both sulphones and sulphonamides for different applications of this type of reaction. The method soon found application by Stetter and Hesse for the synthesis of 3-methyl-2,4-dioxa-adamantane , and by House and Larson in an ingenious synthesis of intermediates directed towards the gibberellin skeleton, and also for more standard applications . Other applications of the method have also been madealthough it does suffer from certain limitations in that further alkylation of an a-alkyl- -ketosulphone is a very sluggish, inefficient process. Kurth and O Brien have proposed an alternative, one-pot sequence of reactions (equation 54), carried out at — 78 to — 50°, with yields better than 50%. The major difference between the two routes is that the one-pot process uses the desulphonylation step to generate the enolate anion, whereas in the Corey-House procedure, the desulphonylation with aluminium amalgam is a separate, non-productive step. 

The synthesis begins with the halogenation of adamantane (74) with bromine to give 76 or chlorine and AlClg to give 75. The four bridgehead positions... 

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