Aldehydes aziridination

Class III, the reactive chemicals, include epoxides, aldehydes, aziridines, quinones (generally, all alkylating agents) (Hermens Verhaar, 1995). These chemicals (or their activated metabolites) react covalently with nucleophilic sites in cellular biomacromolecules (e.g., through nucleophilic substitution, Michael-type addition, or Schiff-base reactions) or gain an oxidative stress through redox cycling to derive toxic effects (Bradbury et al., 2003). 

The first involves the reaction of aziridine with an aldehyde or a ketone and the treatment of the resulting carbinol with hydrogen selenide (Scheme 69) (Methode I). 

The reaction of hydrogen sulfide with aziridines in the presence of aldehydes or ketones provides a simple route to two-substituted thiazohdines (2,114-116). 

Thermolysis of the aziridine (446) in the presence of diphenylketene gave a mixture of the pyrrolidone (447 minor product) and the oxazolidine (448 major product). In this instance the preferential addition to the C=0 bond is explained in terms of steric effects (72CC199). Similar addition to diphenylacetaldehyde takes place with the same orientation and the oxazolidine (448a) was obtained. When the reaction of the aziridine with the aldehyde was carried out in the presence of hydrogen selenide a selenazolidine was obtained (72BSB295). 

Aroylaziridines (32) and aromatic aldehydes react to give oxazolidines (33), the stereochemistry of which suggests reaction very largely through the trans-azomethine ylide, irrespective of the aziridine configuration (70JCS(C)2383). 

Asymmetric Synthesis of Epoxides and Aziridines from Aldehydes and I mines... 

This review summarizes the best asymmetric methods for preparing epoxides and aziridines from aldehydes (or ketones) and imines. 

Asymmetric transformation of imines into chiral aziridines remains less well developed than the analogous transformation of aldehydes into epoxides [49, 50, 51]. The reported methods can be divided into three conceptual categories involving... 

A novel guanidinium ylide-mediated procedure has recently been reported by Ishi-kawa [62]. Though not an imine transformation, it does employ an imine precursor in the fonn of an aldehyde. Guanidinium ylides react with aldehydes to form aziridines (Scheme 1.35). The mechanism for the formation of the aziridine is believed to involve [3+2] cycloaddition between the guanidinium ylide 112 and the aldehyde, followed by stereospecific extrusion of the urea with concomitant aziridine formation. 

As described in Section 2.3.2, vinylaziridines are versatile intermediates for the stereoselective synthesis of (E)-alkene dipeptide isosteres. One of the simplest methods for the synthesis of alkene isosteres such as 242 and 243 via aziridine derivatives of type 240 and 241 (Scheme 2.59) involves the use of chiral anti- and syn-amino alcohols 238 and 239, synthesizable in turn from various chiral amino aldehydes 237. However, when a chiral N-protected amino aldehyde derived from a natural ot-amino acid is treated with an organometallic reagent such as vinylmag-nesium bromide, a mixture of anti- and syn-amino alcohols 238 and 239 is always obtained. Highly stereoselective syntheses of either anti- or syn-amino alcohols 238 or 239, and hence 2,3-trans- or 2,3-as-3-alkyl-2-vinylaziridines 240 or 241, from readily available amino aldehydes 237 had thus hitherto been difficult. Ibuka and coworkers overcame this difficulty by developing an extremely useful epimerization of vinylaziridines. Palladium(0)-catalyzed reactions of 2,3-trons-2-vinylaziri-dines 240 afforded the thermodynamically more stable 2,3-cis isomers 241 predominantly over 240 (241 240 >94 6) through 7i-allylpalladium intermediates, in accordance with ab initio calculations [29]. This epimerization allowed a highly stereoselective synthesis of (E) -alkene dipeptide isosteres 243 with the desired L,L-... 

A variety of methods for the asymmetric syntheses of aziridine-2-carboxylates have been developed. They can be generally classified into eight categories based on the key ring-forming transformation and starting materials employed (i) cyclization of hydroxy amino esters, (ii) cyclization of hydroxy azido esters, (iii) cyclization of a-halo- and ot-sulfonyloxy-(3-amino esters, (iv) aziridination of ot, 3-unsaturated esters, (v) aziridination of imines, (vi) aziridination of aldehydes, (vii) 2-carboxylation of aziridines, and (viii) resolution of racemic aziridine-2-carboxylates. 

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