4-Alkoxy-azetidin-2-ones

Alkoxy-azetidin-2-one has been reported to be transformed into 5-oxa-cepham (VII, Fig. 6) by intramolecular alkylation of the (3-lactam nitrogen atom [255],... 

O-Alkylation of A-unsubstituted /3-lactams to give the corresponding 2-alkoxy-l- etines can be achieved by reaction of the azetidin-2-ones with hard electrophiles (trialkyloxonium tetrafluoroborates) followed by treatment with base (cf. Section 5.09.4.3.1) (67JHC619, 69LA(725)124). In contrast, reaction of the A-unsubstituted azetidin-2-ones (73) or their derived anions with a variety of softer electrophiles results in A-substitution, and some representative reactions are illustrated in Scheme 7. 

O-Alkylation of the readily available iV-unsubstituted azetidin-2-ones (/3-lactams) constitutes a versatile route to 2-alkoxy-l-azetines (cf. Section 5.09.3.2.3). Thus treatment of the /3-lactams (266) with trialkyloxonium tetrafluoroborates followed by basification affords the 2-alkoxy-l-azetines (267) in moderate yields (67JHC619,69LA(725)124). Similar treatment of the azetidine-2-thiones (268) (available from thiation of the corresponding /3-lactams with phosphorus pentasulfide) affords the analogous 2-ethylthio-1-azetines (269) (67JHC619), which are generally more stable than their 2-alkoxy analogues. 

Treatment of 4-(2-bromoalkyl)azetidin-2-ones 205 with L1AIH4 in diethyl ether yielded 2-(l-alkoxy-2-hydroxyethyl)-azetidines 206 and small amounts (1-5%) of r-4-(2-bromoalkyl)azetidines 81 (Equation 56) <20060L1101 >. A 1,2-fission of the starting material followed by a nucleophilic substitution of bromide led toward the formation of these compounds. 1,4,4-Trisubstituted azetidin-2-ones 207 could be reduced to the corresponding azetidines 208 using lithium aluminium hydride in diethyl ether under reflux for 7-16h (Equation 57) <1996JOC6500>. 

A novel N(l)-C(4) cleavage of azetidin-2-one 320 or 321 forming a-alkoxy-7-keto amides 322 has been observed by addition of 2-(trimethylsilyl)thiazole to cis- or /ra r 4-formylazetidin-2-ones (Equation 111) <20040L1765>. 

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