Aldehydes nitrile oxides

Although the unsaturated nitrile oxides 124 can be prepared via the aldoxime route (see Scheme 8), the older procedure suffers from the disadvantage that a tenfold excess of allyl alcohol and two additional steps are required when compared to Scheme 15. Therefore, unsaturated nitro ether 123 that can be prepared by condensation of an aldehyde 120 and a nitro alkane followed by Michael addition of alcohol 122, was a useful precursor to nitrile oxide 124 [381. The nitrile oxide 124 spontaneously cyclized to ether 125. This procedure is particularly suitable for the synthesis of tetrahydrofurans (125a-h) and tetrahydropyrans (125i-k) possessing Ar substituents in 72-95% yield (Table 12). The seven-membered ether 1251 was obtained only in 30% yield on high dilution. The acetylenic nitro ether 126 underwent INOC reaction to provide the isoxazole 127. 

Catalytic enantioselective crossed aldehyde-ketone benzoin cyclizations of ketoaldehydes, such as 13, readily obtained from an aryl nitrile oxide and a 1,3-diketone, were studied in order to perform the synthesis of complex molecules. Significant asymmetric induction was observed with chiral triazolium salts such as 14, in the presence of DBU as base, leading to compound 15 in high yield and with 99% ee in favor of the R enantiomer <06AG(E)3492>. 

Dipolar addition of ethyl propiolate to the nitrile oxide 285, prepared by chlorination of the corresponding oxime, gave, after removal of protecting groups, the C-glycosyl-isoxazole205 (286). These reactions further demonstrate the utility of anomerically functionalized C-/3-D-ribofuranosyl derivatives that can be prepared from the versatile aldehyde 100. 

Dioxolanes 39 derived from a, 3-unsaturated aldehydes react with nitrile oxides R2CNO to give the corresponding isoxazolines 40 with the 1,3-dioxolan-2-yl substituent in position 4 as main products, and their 5-isomers as minor products with good regioselectivity and synthetically useful yields. The corresponding... 

I.3.4.2. Intermolecular Cycloaddition at C=X or X=Y Bonds Cycloaddition reactions of nitrile oxides to double bonds containing heteroatoms are well documented. In particular, there are several reviews concerning problems both of general (289) and individual aspects. They cover reactions of nitrile oxides with cumulene structures (290), stereo- and regiocontrol of 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of imines and nitrile oxides by metal ions (291), cycloaddition reactions of o-benzoquinones (292, 293) and aromatic seleno aldehydes as dipolarophiles in reactions with nitrile oxides (294). 

Silver(ll) oxide, present on a silver anode in aqueous alkali, will also cany out the oxidation of primary amines to nitriles. Oxidation of the intermediate imine at the silver anode is however relatively slow so that hydrolysis to the aldehyde becomes an important side reaction [97], a-Amino acids give nitriles in good yields at the silver(li) oxide electrode. 

From the 1980s on, many efforts were directed toward asymmetric induction of nitrile oxide cycloadditions to give pure (dia)stereoisomeric isoxazolines, and acyclic products derived from them (17,18,20-23). The need to obtain optically active cycloaddition products for use in the synthesis of natural products was first served by using chiral olefins, relying on 1,2-asymmetric induction, and then with optically active aldehydes or nitro compounds for the nitrile oxide part. In the latter case, insufficient induction occurs using chiral nitrile oxides, a problem still unsolved today. Finally, in the last 5 years, the first cases of successful asymmetric catalysis were found (29), which will certainly constitute a major area of study in the coming decade. 

Nitrile oxides are generally not isolable dipoles but are prepared in situ in the presence of a dipolarophile. However, some stable derivatives are known (see below). A common source of nitrile oxides (1) are aldehydes (2) (making it very convenient to obtain chiral, optically active derivatives) that are converted into the respective oximes (5). From these, there is a choice concerning the actual precursor. A hydroximoyl halide (4), or a nitroalkane (6) can be used, the latter also being... 

Optically active aldehydes are available in abundance from amino and hydroxy acids or from carbohydrates, thereby providing a great variety of optically active nitrile oxides via the corresponding oximes. Unfortunately, sufficient 1,4- or 1,3-asymmetric induction in cycloaddition to 1-alkenes or 1,2-disubstituted alkenes has still not been achieved. This represents an interesting problem that will surely be tackled in the years to come. On the other hand, cycloadditions with achiral olefins lead to 1 1 mixtures of diastereoisomers, that on separation furnish pure enantiomers with two or more stereocenters. This process is, of course, related to the separation of racemic mixtures, also leading to both enantiomers with 50% maximum yield for each. There has been a number of applications of this principle in synthesis. Chiral nitrile oxides are stereochemicaUy neutral, and consequently 1,2-induction from achiral alkenes can fully be exploited (see Table 6.10). 

Examples of optically active aldehydes or nitroalkanes that have been used for the generation of nitrile oxides (mostly via hydroximoyl chlorides) and subsequent cycloadditions to olefins are collected in Table 6.9. 

Intramolecular nitrile oxide cycloadditions were first studied by Garanti and coworkers (24) in 1975, employing 0-allyl derivatives of salicylic aldehyde. The first example of a carbocycle-forming process was reported in 1977 (25). This process (sometimes referred to as INOC) has seen many extensions and applications for the synthesis of natural and unnatural products alike, notably by the groups of Kozikowski, Curran, Fukumoto, and Shishido (see Section 6.4). 

It is worthy to note that four of the eight possible diastereomeric pyrrolidine-polyols are accessible by this method. The configuration at C(l) (nitrile oxide part) depends on the enantiomeric aldehyde precursor chosen. The 5-epimers were obtained as a separable 1 1 mixture and were derived from the nonselective cycloaddition (see Section 6.2.3.4). 

Intramolecular nitrile oxide-alkene cycloadditions also provide efficient access to six-membered rings such as cyclohexanes or decalins that are heavily adorned with functional groups and side chains. For example, this strategy was used to prepare racemic hemaldulcin (213), which is a 3,6-disubstituted cyclohexenone found in a Mexican plant that possesses a strong sweet taste. Starting from (2Z,6E)-famesal (209) (328) (Scheme 6.88), the aldehyde was treated with hydroxylamine... 

For intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions, the application of nitrones and nitrile oxides is by far most common. However, in increasing frequency, cases intramolecular reactions of azomethine ylides (76,77,242-246) and azides (247-259) are being reported. The previously described intermolecular approach developed by Harwood and co-workers (76,77) has been extended to also include intramolecular reactions. The reaction of the chiral template 147 with the alkenyl aldehyde 148 led to the formation of the azomethine ylide 149, which underwent an intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition to furnish 150 (Scheme 12.49). The reaction was found to proceed with high diastereoselectivity, as only one diaster-eomer of 150 was formed. By a reduction of 150, the proline derivative 151 was obtained. 

Isoxazoles and their partially or fully saturated analogs have mainly been prepared, both in solution and on insoluble supports, by 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of nitrile oxides or nitrones to alkenes or alkynes (Figure 15.10). Nitrile oxides can be generated in situ on insoluble supports by dehydration of nitroalkanes with isocyanates, or by conversion of aldehyde-derived oximes into a-chlorooximes and dehydrohalogenation of the latter. Nitrile oxides react smoothly with a wide variety of alkenes and alkynes to yield the corresponding isoxazoles. A less convergent approach to isoxazoles is the cyclocondensation of hydroxylamine with 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds or a,[3-unsatu-rated ketones. 

The catalytic cysteine-215 of PTP-1B is highly reactive toward oxidation and electrophiles and as such it is a tempting target for fragment discovery. Ockey and Gadek assembled a set of 19 reversible electrophiles, such as aldehydes, nitriles and boronic acids.1271 They then used electrospray ionization mass spectrometry to look for one-to-one complexes and three of the compounds were found to form covalent complexes. The dissociation constants ranged from 25 to 150 p,M and one of the compounds was also able to inhibit PTP-1B with an IC50 of 60 xM. 

A cycloreversion mechanism is suggested for the transformation of the nonisolable cycloadduct 90 to the aldehyde 91 and isothiocyanate 92 <1996BCJ719> and for the spiro-1,4,2-oxathiazole intermediates 94 to the dioxothiazoline 95 and the aryl isothiocyanate 92 <2001MOL510>. Both cycloadducts are obtained by cycloaddition reactions of nitrile oxides 88 to thiocarbonyl compounds (Scheme 12). 

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